SUMMER 1

It has been a half-term full of fun, curiosity and fantastic learning in Reception – the children have really thrown themselves into each new topic with enthusiasm!

We began the half-term by diving into our “Under the Sea” topic. The children loved discovering the many different creatures that live beneath the waves. We explored what they look like, what they eat and some amazing facts about their habitats. The children were so engaged and impressed us with their growing writing skills as they began to record their own facts about sea creatures.

In Week 2, we moved on to “Use, Reuse, Recycle,” where we started thinking about how we can all help to look after our planet. We read the story Somebody Swallowed Stanley, which sparked lots of thoughtful discussions about pollution and the impact rubbish can have on our oceans and wildlife. The children showed great understanding when talking about how to keep our environment clean and what we can do to make a difference.

Our “Pirates” week was full of adventure and imagination! The classroom was transformed as we set sail on pirate journeys, made hats and eyepatches, and even enjoyed a fantastic pirate dress-up day and party. The outdoor area became our very own shipyard, where we built boats and bravely walked the plank – there were plenty of giggles along the way!

Next, we explored life on the “Farm.” The children learnt about different farm animals and how they help us in our everyday lives – from cows giving us milk to hens laying eggs and sheep providing wool. We also began to understand where our food comes from, learning about fields, crops and harvesting.

We then moved on to “Amazing Animals,” where we explored habitats around the world. The children were fascinated by the differences between the rainforest, jungle, African savannah and the Arctic. They enjoyed learning new facts about the animals that live there and how they are adapted to their environments.

One of the highlights of our half-term was a fantastic visit from BugFest, which truly brought our previous learning about minibeasts to life. The children had the incredible opportunity to handle a giant centipede, stick insects, a giant land snail, scorpions and even a cockroach! They also got to see a tarantula and a bird-eating spider up close. We were so proud of how brave and sensible the children were during this hands-on experience, and it was wonderful to see their excitement and curiosity.

Finally, we ended the half-term with our “Dinosaurs” topic – and what a roar-some time we had! The children loved learning the names of different dinosaurs and finding out whether they were carnivores or herbivores, how big or small they were, and even which ones could fly. Their creativity really shone as they designed and drew their own dinosaurs, coming up with imaginative names and features.

Throughout the half-term, the children worked incredibly hard with their writing and have produced some wonderful pieces. It has been lovely to see their confidence grow, along with their independence in their learning and play.

It truly has been a fantastic half-term, and we are so proud of all they have achieved. We are now looking forward to our final half-term in Reception, with lots more exciting learning ahead before the big step into Year 1!

 

SPRING 2

We have had a wonderful and busy few weeks, and we are delighted to share an overview of all the exciting learning that has taken place. The children have worked extremely hard, and we are very proud of the progress they have made. Their enthusiasm for learning has truly shone through, and all the teachers have commented on the fantastic strides being made in both phonics and maths—well done, children! Here is a re-cap of our magical Spring 2 half term.

Week 1
We began the term with the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. They planted their own beans and loved watching them grow over time. Alongside this, we focused on counting activities, helping to build confidence with numbers through fun and engaging tasks.

Week 2
Our learning moved on to Our Bodies, where the children explored how our bodies work. We also celebrated World Book Day, which was a fantastic opportunity to share a love of reading. In maths, the children enjoyed working with the  Numberblocks to develop their understanding of number.

Week 3
This week, we read The Tadpole’s Promise and explored the fascinating life cycles of frogs and butterflies. The children were very curious and thoroughly enjoyed learning about how living things grow and change.

Week 4
Our theme was Mad About Minibeasts. We were lucky to enjoy glorious weather for our forest trip, where the children took part in a minibeast hunt. They were thrilled to discover ants, ladybirds, butterflies, beetles, and worms in their natural habitats—such a wonderful hands-on experience!

Week 5
In our final week of term, we focused on spring and Easter. We went on a spring walk to observe the beautiful changes happening around us. The children also enjoyed making Easter cards and decorating Easter eggs, showing great creativity and care. The Easter egg hunt was a great success, with the children working together enthusiastically to find the missing eggs.

 

SPRING 1

What a fantastic half-term we have had in Reception!

Over the past six weeks, we have truly become storytellers. Each week we explored a different traditional tale and brought the stories to life in so many exciting ways.

We began with ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, where we used wonderful adjectives to describe the wolf and produced some fantastic writing. The children worked so hard to make their descriptions exciting and detailed.

In Week 2, we enjoyed ‘The Enormous Turnip’. We acted out the story together and learnt how important teamwork is — we really had to pull together! We even made our own vegetable soup using carrots, potatoes and, of course, turnips. It was delicious!

Week 3 brought us ‘The Three Little Pigs’. We learnt about speech bubbles and wrote our own for the different characters. In our science learning, we explored materials and carried out an experiment using a hairdryer as the “Big Bad Wolf” to see which materials were strong enough not to be blown down. The children loved predicting and testing their ideas!

Our Week 4 focus was ‘The Gingerbread Man’, which was definitely a class favourite. The Gingerbread Man was even caught on camera visiting our classroom! We baked our own gingerbread people, decorated them beautifully and made sure to eat them quickly before they could run away!

In Week 5, we explored ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. The children produced some wonderful writing about the different things Goldilocks did in the story. We also tasted porridge — and we agreed it was “just right”!

Finally, in Week 6, we enjoyed ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’. We loved designing and building bridges using different materials, testing which structures were the strongest.

Throughout the half-term, the children have fully immersed themselves in role-play. They made masks and puppets to retell the stories and became experts at sequencing events and joining in with repeated refrains. Our story maps showed fantastic recall, and each week the teachers performed the story — which was definitely the highlight!

In Maths, we have been developing our skills in subitising (knowing how many without counting), counting objects carefully to match numerals, and sharing into equal groups. We have also been learning about 2D shapes and their properties, finishing with an exciting shape hunt around the school.

In Phonics, the children have worked incredibly hard learning new sounds. We are seeing growing confidence in both reading and writing, and we are so proud of the progress everyone is making.

It has been a super busy and exciting half-term in Reception. We cannot wait for all the learning, laughter and adventures that next half-term will bring!

 

 

AUTUMN 2 

What a magical and memorable Autumn 2 we have had in Reception! We began the term diving into the enchanting world of Room on the Broom. The children loved dressing up, acting out the story, and exploring positional language, which linked beautifully to our maths learning on prepositions.

Our excitement continued with a wonderful forest trip where we explored the natural environment and learned all about Leaf Man. The children collected leaves and natural materials to recreate their own imaginative Leaf Man artwork.

This term, we also learned about different celebrations. We talked about birthdays and explored how people around the world celebrate special occasions in their own ways. As Christmas approached, the children were thrilled to discover that a cheeky elf had come to visit our classroom! Each day, we enjoyed searching for his latest hiding place and sharing the mischief he had been up to.

The highlight of the term was certainly our Christmas Nativity. The children worked incredibly hard—practising songs, learning their lines, dressing up, and speaking with confidence. We are so proud of their fantastic performance.

In maths, we deepened our understanding of counting, composition, subitising, shapes, and comparing quantities, carefully exploring who had more or fewer during practical activities.

We also launched our weekly Explorers Club, giving the children regular opportunities to visit the forest, build confidence outdoors, and develop their curiosity about the world around them.

It has been a wonderful term full of learning, laughter, and new adventures. We are so proud of everything Reception have achieved!

 

 

AUTUMN 1

What a wonderful start to the school year we’ve had in Reception! The children have settled beautifully into school life, making many new friends and growing in confidence each day.

We began the term by learning all about each other – our likes and dislikes, and what makes each of us special and unique. Our first story was ‘Meesha Makes Friends’, which helped us think about how it feels to start school and how we can be good friends by being kind, sharing and helping others. We then read ‘Our Class is a Family’, which reminded us that we are all part of one big class family. The children also explored their own families and discovered that every family is special in its own way.

Next, we enjoyed ‘The Colour Monster’ and learned all about our emotions – how to recognise them, talk about them, and understand that it’s okay to feel different emotions. We also loved ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’, which taught us about having a positive “can do” attitude and that we might not be able to do things yet, but with practice and perseverance we can achieve anything!

As part of Black History Month, we learned about Mary Seacole. We talked about how she was brave, kind and helpful, and thought about ways we can show those qualities in our own lives. The children loved role-playing in our hospital area and making their own “medicine” just like Mary!

To finish the half term, we explored the festival of Diwali and learned about how it is celebrated around the world. The children created beautiful Diva lamps, colourful Rangoli patterns and intricate henna designs.

In Phonics, the children have been doing a wonderful job learning new sounds and how to write them. They have also started to blend and segment sounds to read and write simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. The children have been working very hard and are making fantastic progress!

In Maths, we started by sorting and matching objects by colour, size and shape. We then moved on to comparing quantities using words like more, less and the same. The children enjoyed making ABAB patterns and even challenged themselves to make patterns with three colours! We also explored measurement, comparing items that were bigger or smaller, and used cubes to measure objects around the classroom – even finding out who was the tallest and shortest in our class! More recently, we’ve been learning about numbers 1 to 5, recognising numerals and counting out matching quantities.

It’s been a fantastic start to the year and we’re so proud of all the children’s hard work, enthusiasm and progress. We can’t wait to see what new adventures and learning the next half term will bring!