Reception

Well, the children have blown us away with their continued enthusiasm for learning. Our Topic this term is ‘Let’s Build’ and that is exactly what they have been doing! Totally engrossed in the story of the Three Little Pigs, they read alternative versions, became familiar with repetitive language, and retold the story in their own words. They have enjoyed a range of practical activities including building houses for the pigs in the woods, making cheese straws and marshmallow pigs, testing materials and map reading around the school grounds. The learning of the Three Little Pigs Rap has been a highlight with so many words for them to remember, amazing!

Continuing the traditional story route, they enacted the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, some writing amazing stories, others creating their own story maps and then using a magnet to move characters around their map. We took a walk along the lane, discussing road safety and which way to face if they had to walk (with an adult) on a road without a footpath. At the end of the lane, they had to walk carefully over the bridge, but unfortunately their ‘trip trapping’ woke the Troll and they had to give him a reason not to eat them! We looked at a painting entitled Water Lilies by Claude Monet and over several sessions learning about techniques including a wash, experimenting with different sized brushes and sponges they created some stunning artwork. 

Budding engineers used a large range of materials in a challenge to build a bridge over the ‘river’. Here they had to work in teams of four, negotiating and adapting their work, only being given a certain length of time before moving to the next set of resources. Lots of evaluating took place with groups discussing what went well and what could be improved. They designed trolls and discussed feelings, and how it affects others when we are unkind. We also looked at when anger and anxiety stop us making the right choices and after reading ‘Bruce’ a cloud that got very cross, they learnt breathing techniques, counting to 5 several times to calm themselves. 

Chinese New Year was celebrated, tasting food, learning about traditions and customs including a dragon dance, which they did after making their own concertina dragons. They wrote numbers in Chinese and using magnets helped the 12 animals from the Chinese Zodiac out the river and used the ordinal numbers to arrange them. All the children know which year they were born in and we talked about the really big numbers 2016 and 2017. One child wanted to know about the Great Wall of China, so as a class we researched on the internet.  

We are ‘building’ a super group independent learner here in Reception.