Welcome to Reception’s Class Page
2020-21
On this web page you will see highlights of some of the exciting things we will be doing throughout the year. You will also find some useful links to key documents to support your child’s learning at home.
We have a class of 30 children that are hardworking, helpful and kind. Our class teacher is Miss Robertshaw and we are very lucky to be supported by Mrs Hart. On a Tuesday we are also supported by Mrs Deyes.
Summer Term 1
RE:
This half term, Reception will be learning about New Life. They will learn about the story of the empty tomb, and learn that Jesus appeared to his disciples. The children will begin to understand the special gift of joy and peace that Jesus gave to his friends (John 20: 19-21) and can give to us as well. They will hear the story of Jesus going back to his Father and learn that one day we shall hopefully go there too.
Topic:
This term, we will be learning about Spring and the new life Spring brings. We will be exploring plants and growth - how to plant seeds and what a plant needs to help it grow. We will be identifying the different parts of a plant and observing the changes that occur.
We will also be exploring the life cycle of the butterfly. We are very fortunate to have class caterpillars! The children have already been eagerly observing, in the coming weeks we will be discussing the different stages in the life cycle.
Maths:
In Maths this term, we will be exploring numbers beyond 10. The children will practise their subitising skills and explore different ways of making bigger numbers.
Spring Term 2
RE:
As part of our ‘Sorrow and Joy’ topic we have been reflecting on ways to be kind and helpful to others. We listened to the story of how Jesus helped Zacchaeus to say sorry and spoke about the importance of saying sorry to others. We also learnt about how Jesus forgave those who hurt him and spoke about times that we may have forgiven someone or asked to be forgiven. We then learnt about each of the special days in Holy Week and retold the Easter story.
Stations of the Cross:
We were very lucky to be invited to join Year 6 as they led our Stations of the Cross reflection. Each child had the opportunity to carry the cross around the field and listen to reflections about Jesus carrying the Cross. We finished the reflection with each child placing a pebble at the foot of the cross and thinking about the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
Topic:
This term the children have loved our Space topic! The role-play area was transformed into a space station. The children explored the area using their imaginations.
We received some very exciting letters from NASA who set us a new mission each week!
We began by learning about the role of the astronaut. We learnt about what an astronaut is and the tasks they might need to complete, how they travel to space, what they might need to take with them including what they might need to wear. We watched some videos of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. We then took on the role of the astronaut! Afterwards, the children wrote a set of instructions for an astronaut that needs to get to space.
The children made their own rockets using craft and junk modelling materials.
We also learnt about the moon - we explored how the moon might feel using our senses. After learning lots of exciting new facts, the children wrote a postcard from the moon to a loved one.
During our final week, we looked at each planet in the solar system and the sun. The children made their own planets/sun using craft materials.
Maths:
This term, we have been exploring shape. The children have been learning about both 2D and 3D shapes and the correct language and mathematical terms used for both. We went on a shape hunt and looked for shapes in our environment.
Census:
To celebrate Lets Count Day in school, Reception made their own tally charts. We started by finding out each person’s favourite fruit and creating a whole class tally chart. The children then decided to make their own and find out each other’s favourite colour, fruit and sport.
Science week:
Reception enjoyed making fizzy rockets, lava lamps and trialling the skittles experiment.
Spring Term 1
Despite this term being a little different, Reception have done a super job at adapting to our new way of learning. Here is what we have been up to this term:
RE:
This term in RE, we have been Getting to Know Jesus. We have learnt that Jesus loves each one of us and thought of ways in which we can show our love for Jesus. We found out about how Jesus welcomed children and we also read in the gospels how Jesus performed miracles and cured sick people. Afterwards, we thought of ways we can show kindness like Jesus and help those who are sick.
Topic:
As part of our topic ‘Once Upon a Time’, we have been looking at a selection of traditional tales including Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.
We wrote character descriptions about the pigs and the wolf from the Three Little Pigs story and we made houses out of straw, sticks and bricks.
We retold the story of The Gingerbread Man and wrote about our favourite characters. We then tried to create our own bridges to help the Gingerbread Man cross the river safely!
After reading the story of Little Red Riding Hood, we thought of some super words to describe the characters. The children then wrote sentences about their favourite characters using their chosen adjective. We also created our own maps to help Little Red get back to Grandma’s house safely.
Our final story was Cinderella. The children created their own carriages to help Cinderella get to the ball. They also wrote an invitation to one of their friends to invite them to our very own end of term (zoom) ball. We had a great time!
To finish off our topic, the children wrote their very own stories! They were fantastic!
Maths
In Maths this term, we have been very busy exploring mass, capacity, height and time! The children have experimented measuring the height and weight of various items including some of their favourite toys. We also did a time challenge, we had to try and jump, hop, write our name and run around the garden or playground for 30 seconds and then repeat the task for one minute.
Autumn 2
RE
As part of our God’s Family topic, we have been thinking about how God made each and every one of us and how we are all part of his family. We spoke about being part God’s family, the St Joseph’s family and our own family and how special that is. We also explored different ways in which we can show our love for God helping one another.
Topic
As part of our topic this term, we have been learning about worldwide celebrations and festivals. We begun our topic by learning about Bonfire Night. We discussed why it is celebrated and if or how we celebrate it. We also watched some videos of fireworks and discussed whether or not we like them and took part in various craft activities.
We also learnt about Remembrance Day and remembered those who fought for our country and also those that sadly died during the First World War. We learnt about the role of the soldier and the significance of the poppy.
We moved on to Diwali, exploring the story of Rama and Sita. The children enjoyed creating their own Rangoli patterns and doing so using different resources.
We learnt about Thanksgiving and how it is celebrated. We made cards for those that we love and made turkey hats.
We then moved on to Christmas. We experienced lots of celebrations together in school and had lots of festive fun! The children did a fantastic job in the Nativity, they worked so hard to remember their lines, dances and songs. We wrote our very own letters to Santa Claus and went to the post box to send them off to the North Pole. We also enjoyed the Christmas party, a games afternoon, eating Christmas dinner and lots of Christmas crafts!
Autumn 1
The children have made a brilliant start to life at St Joseph’s and have settled into school wonderfully. The children have been busy getting to know each other, making new friends and exploring the different areas and challenges in our classroom, both inside and out.
RE
This term we have been learning about God’s World. We have enjoyed learning about the Creation Story and exploring the wonderful things that God created. We watched videos and observed our natural world outside. The children then drew pictures of what they would like to thank God for creating.
Topic:
Our topic for this term has been All About Me. We have worked on our PSED skills by learning school and classroom rules and routines, building relationships with others and talking about ourselves and our families. During circle times, we also discussed why we are all special and how we are similar and different.
We enjoyed drawing and painting pictures of our families and created our own self portraits, using mirrors to look carefully at our features. The children also enjoyed acting out different narratives with their peers in the home corner, from making lunch for each other to having birthday parties.
Maths
We have been matching, grouping and sorting different objects. We have been looking at finding things that are different and the same and looking at different attributes that may group them together such as colour, size and shape. We also looked at comparing based on mass and capacity. The children really enjoyed making predictions and testing their ideas.
Literacy
We are well on our way with Phase 2 Phonics, the children have done a fantastic job! We have focused on learning a new sound and action linked to the sound each day using the Jolly Phonics scheme. The children are beginning to blend the sounds learnt to read and write CVC words. This term, we have also been learning our tricky words. Tricky words are words which cannot be sounded out, they have to be learnt by sight so please keep practising at home! I have attached some useful links underneath to help support your child.
In English, we have been working on our focus book; Kipper’s Birthday. We started off by looking at some clues and having a think about how and why they might be used in the story. We then created birthday cards for Kipper and party food lists, using initial sounds learnt in Phonics to create some great work.
Phase 2 Sounds and Tricky Words