Welcome To Reception Class
olgahargreaves@gladwin.brighton-hove.sch.uk
bethmarcantonio@gladwin.brighton-hove.sch.uk
wb 28th March
This week has been Autism Awareness (and acceptance) week at PGS. This has given us an opportunity to focus in more closely on what Autism is. It is likely all children will meet someone else in their lives who is Autistic, whether that is a child or an adult.
We have watched and talked about the video clip 'Amazing Things Happen' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezv85LMFx2E and this has supported our ongoing conversations in reception class around being inclusive, respective and a good friend to others. We also listened to a story 'Lola's Wobbly Lunchtime' by Jodie Isitt about a rabbit who is autistic and sees the world differently. The story prompted lots of talk amongst the children.
wb 21st March
This week we have been enjoying the story of 'What the Ladybird Heard'. We have researched information about different farm animals and found out the names of where they live (sty, stable, hutch etc) and the different names given to the male, female and baby (bull, cow, calf etc).
Alongside this learning we have been developing our understanding of the numbers that combine to make 10 (number bonds). The children are becoming more and more confident at learning not only the 2 numbers to make 10, e.g. 6+4, 5+5, 8+2 but also finding other combinations, e.g. 5+2+2+1. The love and excitement over playing with numbers has been fantastic this week!
wb 14th March
This week we have enjoyed reading 'My Map Book' by Sara Fanelli. Many of us have started creating our own maps, playing with floor maps and following maps to find clues and treasure! We have talked about the things we see on our journey to school and that some landmarks are there all the time such as a post box, park, shop etc and some things might change each day such as the people we see.
wb 7th March
We have enjoyed lots and lots of play this week helping our physical development and social development too. Some children found dinosaur fossils whilst being archaeologists whilst others have explored building different structures. We have also experimented with water colour paints this week after reading Rain Child by Claire Thompson and watching her YouTube video as to how she created the pages for her book. Over the coming weeks we will continue to work with water colours and experiment with creating our own scenes using a water colour was background and natural loose parts.
wb 28th February
This week we have enjoyed celebrating World Book Day. We have published our Colour Monster Books, dressed up, shared stories with friends, been 'caught reading' in interesting places and have had lots of fun. The children in reception love listening to stories, it is a key part of their day. They also talk fondly about listening to stories at home too and will often tell us of books they have at home.
wb 21st February
This week the children have enjoyed seeing their friends again after the half term break. We have enjoyed reading and talking about the book ‘The Colour Monster’. Just like us, the Colour Monster experiences many different feelings. The children have been brilliant at using ‘Just Right’ to try and identify how they are feeling. We are trying out many different ways to help us return to the ‘green’ if we find ourselves in the ‘orange’, ‘red’ or ‘blue’. Some children like to sit quietly and read a book, others need a drink of water or a crunchy snack and some find colouring calming. In Reception Class we are learning to help ourselves and each other feel Just Right and in the green.
wb 7th February
After learning about the celebration of Chinese New Year we ended our week with our own celebration. We all took part in a dragon dance around the school and enjoyed a tasty fortune cookie. The children have found it really interesting learning about another country and culture and have incorporated so much into their own free play.
wb 31st January
This week we have started talking about China, panda bears and Chinese New Year. Some children have become interested in other countries and the world map and have extended their learning in this area. Other children have been immersed in everything bear related and made fantastic comparisons to our previous learning about brown bears and polar bears. All children are seeing themselves as learners and enjoy ‘stretching their brain’.
wb 24th January
We're going on a bear hunt, we're going to catch a big one, what a beautiful day, we're not scared!
After learning the story of the Bear Hunt incredibly well the children enjoyed an outdoor PE/drama session on Friday re-enacting the journey. They were brilliant, expressive and had lots of fun.
wb 17th January
This week has been all about brown bears! The children have really engaged in learning more about bears and have loved learning to draw them. We have seen some wonderful drawings, paintings and puppets. And the writing we have seen has been just amazing! So many children are choosing to draw and write and really stretch their brains during our Explore and Learn time. We are incredibly proud of all of them.
wb 10th January
wb 3rd January
Happy New Year to all our families!
We have spent the first few days of this new term settling back into our routines and the children have been amazing. We have been on a winter walk around our school grounds looking for signs of seasonal change. When you are out and about over the next few weeks see what you can spot that tells you it is winter. We spotted bare tree, rosy cheeks, frosty plants and much more.
In class we have also started learning the poem/story 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' - you can find the link on our Google Classroom. It has been wonderful to watch children already re-enacting it out on the playground. We will be using this story to inspire lots of the learning that takes place over the coming weeks.
wb 13th December
This week we have been full of festive cheer and busy making, decorating, singing and celebrating! We have spoken lots about traditions and the meaning of the word. We have read, listened to and watched 'The Night Before Christmas' which is a Christmas Eve tradition in many households. See the links here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19XNS6SBRYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jste5RdFW7o
We also had a very special visitor on Wednesday..... Father Christmas!! He came into our class and gave every child a little present.
When we think back to September we are so proud of how far the children have come socially, emotionally and academically. They have worked their socks off and are now ready for a good rest over the Christmas break.
We wish all our families a very Merry Christmas. See you in the new year!
wb 6th December
This week we are directing you to our Google Classroom to watch our class Nativity Play. We are so proud of all the children. They worked really hard and all really enjoyed themselves.
wb 29th November
This week we have continued rehearsing for our Christmas Nativity and have started to talk about the different traditions families have to celebrate Christmas. We have also been printing using some paint and nativity stampers to create a stable scene. Whilst doing this we have practised using both our colour mixing skills and new vocabulary we have learned.
During Explore and Learn times the children have all been so imaginative and have enjoyed the open-ended construction materials that have been available in the environment. Rockets, trains, robots, crowns and much more have been made. The children have loved taking about their creations and some great conversations have taken place.
wb 22nd November
Christmas has started in reception this week! We have read the story of the Nativity in preparation for our end of term Christmas performance. Some new words arose as we read different versions so we discussed them together as a class. Words such as manger, inn keeper, stable, shepherd. We also used Google Earth to find our school and then gradually zoomed out to see our local area and then find where Bethlehem is located. The children loved looking at Google Earth. We will be exploring maps and trying to create our own in the next couple of weeks.
You may have also heard your child singing many of our Christmas songs. Next week will start practicing our acting skills. We have all the costumes in school so no need to get anything!
wb 15th November
Another busy week stretching our brains in Reception class! This week we have been exploring and talking about 2D shapes and doing our best to use full sentences and the correct mathematical language. What shapes can you spot in your home? We have also read the book 'Have you filled a bucket today?' and linked this with One Kind Word (anti-bullying week). We have been making an extra effort to fill each others buckets with kind words and actions. We are also still enjoying exploring autumn and on Thursday Mrs Hargreaves discovered a long line of children in our woody area. When asked why they were lining up so patiently (it wasn't time to come inside) the reply was "we're waiting for our turn to jump on the leaves." On closer inspection there was a HUGE pile of leaves perfect for jumping on - great fun was had by all!
wb 8th November
This week we have enjoyed reading a couple of stories together as a class.... 'Stanley's Stick' and 'Not a Stick'. The stories inspired us to venture onto our school field and go exploring for the best sticks we could find! After collecting our sticks we then thought and talked about what our sticks could be - we all have incredible imaginations. Some of the children's ideas included a hairbrush, an aeroplane and even a rabbit! We have all spent time this week turning a picture of a stick into a drawing of something else and many of us have had a really good go at writing to go alongside it. The children are applying all their amazing learning in phonics to their writing now - magic!
This week has included Remembrance Day. We have watched the CBeebies video linked below and also created some stunning poppies using small loose parts.
wb 1st November
It has been great to all come together this week after the half term break. We have learned about Diwali which is a very important festival celebrated by many people around the world. Diwali is often celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs but can be celebrated by other religions too. In class we have made Diva lamps using play dough and small loose parts, explored making Rangoli patterns using Numicon and also read information about this ‘festival of lights’ using different fiction and non-fiction books. Alongside Diwali, this week has also been Bonfire night and we have exercised our fingers making firework patterns using black paper and pastels.
We have all certainly noticed the change in weather in our return to school and have talked about the seasonal change occurring, how we need to dress appropriately to keep warm and dry and have been outdoors spotting signs of Autumn.
AUTUMN TERM 2 - Seasons Come, Seasons Go
We have a busy half term ahead of us as we immerse ourselves in many more wonderful stories and experiences. We will also be working towards our Christmas performance in December which is always a really special event. See below for a snap shot of what we will be focusing on.
wb 18th October
This week we have been fascinated by spiders and have been learning lots about their lifecycle. We have learnt lots of new words such as hatchling, spiderling, female and male. We have listened to lots of stories about how clever spiders are when they create their webs and how patterns can appear in them too. Alongside our super spider learning this week we have also been very active this week with our daily balance bike sessions and had great fun developing our skills of balance and coordination. Everyone is now ready for a rest over half term - see you all soon!
wb 11th October
wb 20th September...
wb 13th September...
Wow - we have had a fabulous first week getting to know one another! The children have been amazing at picking up the new routines very quickly and have settled so well. We have spent lots of time exploring the indoor and outdoor learning environment. Take a look at the photo slideshow below to see what we have been up to. We have built, performed, created, sung, moved, collaborated, investigated and so much more. We have also shared many stories about starting school and are working really hard on learning each others names as the basis for developing further friendships.
wb 6th September...
We have really enjoyed welcoming you all for your Stay and Play session and 1:1 meetings this week. It was wonderful to see the children start to explore their new classroom and interact with one another. This half term the theme of our learning journey is called 'Where are Story Begins'. We follow a curriculum very much led by nature and the seasons, festivals and celebrations and children's own interests. Interweaved into every single day we also immerse ourselves into high quality texts encouraging talk and the exploration of new vocabulary. Make sure you check our Reception page on this website each week to follow our learning journey.
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