Welcome to Reception

Welcome to our class blog for 2025 - 2026. We cannot wait to have so many wonderful times together learning new things.

With our Christian Vision “I can do everything through God who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13 I know we will all strive to do our BEST.

Mrs Durr and Miss Wilson

 

Please use the link below to see all the fantastic work completed in our Spanish Lessons.

2025 - 2026

 

27th March

This week, the children have enjoyed taking part in a range of Easter activities, including crafts and making their own Easter cards. They showed creativity and care in their work, and it was lovely to see them engaged in these activities.

In maths, we have been consolidating our knowledge of number bonds to 10. The children have continued to practise these key skills and are becoming more confident in recalling them.

We finished the week with our whole school Easter bonnet parade. It was wonderful to see the children so proud of their marvelously creative Easter bonnets!

20th March

This week we were invited to spend a wonderful afternoon with Year 4, who have been working hard on their DT project. They proudly shared the books they had designed and made, using a range of joins they have been learning about in their lessons. Reception children were captivated — they loved exploring how the pages were connected, feeling the different textures, and asking the older children questions. It was a lovely opportunity to see the progression through school and to celebrate creativity and teamwork.

In Maths, we have been learning all about number bonds to 10. The children used ten frames to explore all the different ways we can make 10. We also played a fun outdoor game where the children threw ten beanbags into two hoops, then worked out how many landed in each. This helped them understand that numbers can be split and recombined in different ways.

This week in Literacy, we learned how to write a list. We linked this to our class story The Extraordinary Gardener, and the children used their phonics knowledge to write a list of items you would need to plant a seed — just like Joe in the story! They sounded out words such as soil, pot, mud, can and seed, and practised writing each item on a new line.

13th March

We would like to say a huge thank you to all our wonderful mums who joined us for our Mother’s Day coffee morning/afternoon. The children were incredibly proud to share this special time with you. They especially enjoyed creating their beautiful Mother’s Day cards, using their very best writing to show just how much you mean to them. 

In maths this week, we have been building on our learning of numbers 1 to 8 by exploring the composition of numbers 9 and 10. The children have used ten frames and part–part–whole models to investigate how these numbers can be made in different ways. It has been lovely to see their confidence grow as they make connections and spot patterns. 

Outdoor learning this week was full of excitement as we used the parachute to help develop our upper body strength. The windy weather added an extra bit of fun as the parachute lifted and rippled—there were lots of smiles and laughter! The children worked brilliantly as a team and showed fantastic enthusiasm throughout. 

6th March

We had so much fun on World Book Day! The children took part in the whole school costume parade and enjoyed listening to stories from Tanzania. They explored similarities and differences by comparing the animals and landscapes in “We all Went on Safari” by Laurie Krebs, to their own experiences of going for a walk. In the afternoon, the children listened to stories read by their Year 5 Gardeners, experiencing the pleasure of reading together.

This week, we have been learning to double numbers. The children used their knowledge to double spots on ladybirds and cubes on ten frames. We've use strategies such as using visual representations like our fingers or objectsto help us double numbers confidently.

In Understanding the World, after listening to the story The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, we have been learning to name the different parts of a flower. The children explored flowers and discussed petals, stems, leaves, and roots.

27th February

On Wednesday we took part in our PTFA Sponsored Pancake Toss and the children had so much fun! They practised their throwing and catching skills while also working together, cheering each other on, and celebrating everyone’s attempts. It was a wonderful event full of laughter, energy, and lots of flipping pancakes!

In Literacy, we have started our new focus text The Extraordinary Gardener by Sam Boughton. The children have loved exploring the rich vocabulary in the story and talking about the magical world Joe creates. We sequenced the events of the story together and the children wrote sentences about what Joe planted in his garden.

This week in Maths we have been comparing objects using size vocabulary such as long, short, longer, shorter, longest, and shortest. The children explored these concepts through lots of hands‑on activities, including using cubes to measure different classroom objects. They enjoyed predicting which items would be longer or shorter and then checking their ideas using cubes as non‑standard units of measurement.

 

 

 

 

13th February

Reception have loved learning about Chinese New Year and exploring the different ways the festival is celebrated. The children learned about traditions such as lanterns, dragon dances and family feasts, and they were especially excited to make their own colourful Chinese lanterns with support from their Year 5 Gardeners. To deepen their understanding through play, we have also enhanced our home corner with Chinese decorations, utensils and role‑play resources, giving the children opportunities to recreate celebrations, share food, dress up and immerse themselves in the festivities.

 

 

 

 

6th February

In Expressive Arts and Design, we looked closely at the illustrations in Little Red by Bethan Woolvin. The children noticed that the illustrations only use red, white, grey and black. We then created our own artwork inspired by her style, focusing on colour choice and bold shapes. 

Following on from last week’s learning, the children have been using part–whole models (rather than ten frames) to explore the composition of the numbers 6, 7 and 8. We have been talking about how numbers can be split into different parts and put back together again. 

30th January

 In maths, we have been learning about the composition of 6, 7 and 8. The children have been representing these numbers in a variety of ways, with a strong focus on using ten frames. This has helped the children see that 6, 7 and 8 are all ’5 and a bit more’ e.g. 6 is 5 and 1 more.

In RE we have continued our learning linked to Special Places. We revisited our previous learning about what makes a special place Holy and the children explained articulately that a Holy place is somewhere you can feel close to God and somewhere that you can worship. To continue our learning, we created our own special places in our outdoor area.

23rd January

This week in RE, we continued exploring the idea of special places. Last week, the children thought about their own special places and why they matter to them. This week, we extended this learning by finding out about places of worship, including churches. 
To deepen our understanding, the children drew churches and used watercolour paints to bring their artwork to life. 

In Maths, we have been learning how to measure mass. The children used balance scales to investigate which objects were heavier or lighter and practised using the correct mathematical vocabulary to describe what they noticed. 

This week we have had a real focus on handwriting during phonics and literacy sessions. We’ve been practising correct letter formation and encouraging children to take their time and form each letter carefully. 

16th January

In PE this week we focused on ball skills. We have been learning how to roll a ball carefully, keep it under control, and move it with increasing accuracy. The children developed their skills through our 'busy bees' theme, buzzing around the space and playing a range of exciting games that encouraged teamwork, coordination, and spatial awareness.

In maths, we have been learning all about number bonds to 5 using Hungarian five frames. The children explored bonds using natural objects on a large frame and coloured dots on a smaller frame.

In Literacy, we have been developing our understanding of the four parts of the story 'Little Red'. The children created their own storyboards and explored our Little Red enhancement in our small world area.

9th January

Happy New Year! Despite the disruption caused by the snow on our return to school, the children came into school brilliantly on Monday morning. Their resilience and positive attitude set the tone for a fantastic week ahead.

On Monday afternoon, the children thoroughly enjoyed the pantomime performance of Dick Whittington. It was a wonderful experience filled with laughter and excitement.

This week, we’ve had Science Week in school. We kick started the week with a Mad Science Assembly. Scientific Sarah had the children gripped with her exciting experiments. In class, we learnt about Marie Curie and her work leading to the development of X-ray machines. We even made our own X-ray hands, exploring the idea of bones and skeletons.

We also had a special visitor who came in to talk to the children about her job working with scientists, to share their amazing discoveries. Zachary’s Mummy taught the children all about the amazing naked mole-rat and they asked some really great questions to find out more. They even named our own cuddly naked mole-rat Scrunchie Zoomie – a very fitting name!

This week, we consolidated our knowledge of the composition of numbers to 5, with a focus on addition. We introduced saying and recording number sentences during carpet time, and the children impressed us with their confidence and mathematical understanding.

We have moved into our new phonics groups and all the children are showing great progress. We have introduced partner practice, and every child is reading daily within their phonics groups.

In Literacy, we have moved on to our new focus text Little Red by Bethan Woollvin. The children were amazing at predicting what the story might be about from the clues that we looked at and they enjoyed the twist in the story when it was revealed.

5th December

This week, our classroom has been full of excitement as we prepare for the wonderful season of Christmas! We have been enhancing different areas of our learning environment to reflect this special time of year. We added a beautiful Christmas tree and festive decorations to our home corner to make it feel warm and joyful. We also added a Nativity scene to our small world area help us explore the story of Jesus’ birth, and we introduced arctic animals for imaginative play.

We listened carefully to the Christmas story and talked about the characters, thinking about why we celebrate Christmas and the importance of Jesus’ birth. The children shared their ideas and asked thoughtful questions, showing great curiosity and understanding.

To consolidate our learning, we drew some beautiful illustrations of the Nativity and used our small world resources to retell the story in our own words. It was wonderful to see the children engaging so deeply with the meaning of Christmas and reflecting on its significance.

 

28th November 2025

In Independent Learning, the children have shown fantastic motivation and curiosity. They have been developing their social skills across all areas of the classroom—taking turns, sharing ideas and supporting one another. Jigsaw puzzles have been a particular favourite this week, providing brilliant opportunities for spatial awareness, problem-solving and collaborative play. It has been lovely to see the children working together so enthusiastically. 

In Maths this week, we have been exploring four-sided shapes! The children enjoyed using lollipop sticks to create their own shapes, carefully thinking about the properties of squares and rectangles. We also cut out different four-sided shapes to design our very own Shape Superheroes, helping us to develop our mathematical vocabulary as we talked about sides, corners and straight edges. The children were wonderfully engaged and confident in using new language to describe and compare shapes.

21st November 2025

This week, the colder weather gave us a fantastic opportunity to learn about freezing and melting. We filled big containers with water and left them outside overnight. The next day, we discovered ice around our outdoor area and used lots of descriptive vocabulary such as smooth, slippery, sparkling, and solid to talk about how it looked and felt.

In maths, we have been learning about the conservation of numbers, focusing on 4 and 5. We explored different patterns of counters on ten frames and discovered that even when the counters were moved around, the amount stayed the same. This helps children understand that numbers don’t change just because their arrangement does.

We have been singing our story song Little Star and learning about the four parts of a story: opening, build-up, problem, and ending. To secure this learning, we drew illustrations from the story on a storyboard and then practised writing sentences using capital letters at the start and full stops at the end—Wise Owl reminded us of these important rules!

14th November 2025

This week, we listened to Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. The children enjoyed meeting the animal friends and talking about how they worked together to make their soup. We discussed the characters’ feelings and the cosy autumn setting. After exploring the story, the children took part in observational drawing of real pumpkins. They looked carefully at their shape, colour, patterns and textures and used pencils and crayons to draw what they could see, focusing on detail and control.

We took part in Anti-Bullying Week, joining in with Odd Sock Day and Crazy Hair Day to celebrate how we are all unique. We talked about kindness, friendship and how our differences make us special. We also learnt about the significance of the poppy for Remembrance. The children showed great maturity as we discussed why people wear poppies, and they observed a minute’s silence to show their respect for those who have served and sacrificed.

In maths, we have focused on the numbers 4 and 5. The children have been practising recognising the numerals, counting out sets of 4 and 5, and exploring how the numbers are made (their composition). Using counters, cubes, ten frames and practical objects has helped the children see how many different ways we can make 4 and 5.

In Literacy this week, we began exploring our new focus text Star in a Jar by Sam Hay. We listened to the story and talked about the characters, the setting and new vocabulary. The children have also been introduced to our example text, Little Star—a simpler version of the story that helps us understand story structure and provides examples of great story sentences. The children have practised writing their own simple sentence linked to the story in their writing books, focusing on saying the sentence, hearing initial sounds and having a go at writing independently.

7th November 2025

This week, we explored the festival of Bonfire Night. We learnt about why it is celebrated and how people mark the occasion with fireworks, bonfires, and gatherings. The children created vibrant firework art using pipe cleaners dipped in paint, experimenting with colour and shape. Outside, we worked collaboratively to make large-scale firework displays using chalks on the playground, developing our gross motor skills and creativity.

In maths, we’ve been learning all about circles and triangles. We discovered that circles have one curved side and triangles have three straight sides. The children sorted shapes, created pictures using circles and triangles, and used mathematical vocabulary to describe their properties. This helped us develop our understanding of shape and spatial awareness.

We’ve now moved into our new phonics groups and have been working hard on our Set 1 sounds. The children are learning to recognise and say each sound clearly, and we’ve been practising forming our letters correctly in writing. This helps us build strong foundations for reading and writing.

Autumn 1 Term

 

Starting School

Getting to know new friends

Playing and Exploring

European day of Languages

PE

Great Athletes Challenge 

Harvest

Diwali

2024-25

19.06.25

What an exciting week it’s been in Reception Class! The children were absolutely incredible during their very first whole school Sports Day. They showed such resilience, determination, and team spirit – we are so proud of each and every one of them!

We had so much fun on Wednesday using the parachute to play a variety of games together. The children were full of joy and laughter as they worked as a team to lift, wave, and run under the parachute.

It was wonderful to see how engaged they were—showing excellent listening skills, taking turns, and following instructions beautifully. Their behaviour was fantastic, and they really impressed us with how well they cooperated and supported one another throughout the activities.

A joyful session that brought smiles all round and helped us build on our teamwork and communication skills

The excitement didn’t stop there. On Thursday morning, we had a very special worship led by Emilia’s mummy, who shared her inspiring journey to becoming a professional footballer. She brought in her England caps, medals, and even her giant Panini football card! The children were thrilled and asked some brilliant questions to find out more about her experiences.

In maths, we’ve been focusing on number formation and sequencing. The children worked hard to create their own number tracks, which will be used in our maths and games area next week to support their learning through play.

A fantastic week full of energy, inspiration, and wonderful learning!

12.06.25

This week, we’ve been exploring rotating shapes in our maths lessons to support our mathematical development. We had lots of fun making patterns, experimenting with printing, and creating our own shape pictures using rotation.

In literacy, we began our new focus text The Storm Whale by Benji Davies. The children have really enjoyed getting to know the story and thinking about the characters. We enhanced our small world area with new resources to encourage storytelling and imaginative play. We also had some thoughtful discussions about how we could help to look after the whale and take care of the environment.

It’s been a creative and thoughtful week of learning!

22.05.25

This afternoon, Reception Class had a fantastic time finishing their Literacy unit with a hands-on planting activity. After spending the week learning how to write clear instructions for planting a seed, the children put their writing into action by planting their own seeds – just like Joe in The Extraordinary Gardener.

The activity gave the children a chance to follow their own instructions and see how writing can be used in real life. They were excited to get their hands dirty and enjoyed the experience of planting, showing great care and enthusiasm.

It was a lovely way to bring their Literacy learning to life, combining creativity, understanding, and a little bit of gardening magic!

20.05.25

This week in Maths, Reception Class have been busy securing their understanding of subtraction facts through practical activities. One of the highlights was playing skittles, where the children practised subtracting by counting how many skittles they knocked over each turn. 

To stretch their thinking even further, Mrs Myler set them a challenge to subtract from bigger numbers, which the children tackled with great enthusiasm and determination.

19.05.25

Reception Class had a wonderful time learning about Mental Health Day through a variety of fun and calming activities. The children explored the importance of looking after their mental well-being with a day full of mindfulness and play.

They began with mindfulness colouring, which encouraged calmness and focus. The class also enjoyed dancing, helping them express themselves and boost their mood through movement. Throughout the day, there was plenty of child-initiated play, giving the children the freedom to explore their own interests and develop their social and emotional skills.

One of the highlights of the day was a peaceful senses walk on the school field. During the walk, the children took time to really notice the world around them – they looked at the clouds, listened to the birds, and smelt the flowers, helping them feel connected to nature and be present in the moment.

It was a meaningful and enjoyable day that helped the children begin to understand how to take care of their mental health in simple, age-appropriate ways.

29.04.25

��️�� Reception Go on a Minibeast Hunt! ����

This week, Reception class put their learning into action as they went on an exciting minibeast hunt around our school grounds! ����

After exploring different minibeast habitats in class—like damp logs, leafy bushes, and hidden corners under stones—the children were eager to find out where their favourite creepy crawlies might be hiding in real life. Armed with magnifying glasses, observation pots, and lots of curiosity, they searched high and low, using everything they had learnt to make predictions and spot signs of life.

We discovered wriggly worms, speedy woodlice, tickly ants, and even a caterpillar tucked under a leaf. The children showed fantastic teamwork, gentle handling of the creatures, and brilliant recall of habitat facts. ����

What a fantastic way to bring science to life through outdoor learning! ��✨