Reception Blog
Week Beginning 16th December 2024
What an exciting last week of the year we have had!
We started the week off with our Marble Jar treat! We had a party and movie day. The children loved going to the Steam Cabin for our party in the afternoon! We were very impressed with their moves when we played musical statues!
On Tuesday, Reception thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas walk around Stoke Poges Village. We walked up to Mr and Mrs Benians’ house and the children were amazed at the Elf Workshop! They even got to experience a flurry of snow! They loved seeing the Elf Houses in their village and all took turns to make a wish on The Wishing Chair!
On Wednesday, our Year 6 Buddies came down to do some Christmas crafts with us. The children enjoyed colouring and creating with their buddies and spreading some festive cheer! In the afternoon, we watched
On Thursday, we had our class party day! The children enjoyed dancing and playing to Christmas songs and had a wonderful time!
Well done Ladybirds and Butterflies for completing your first full term at The Stoke Poges School! We are so proud of you and we look forward to seeing you in January for lots more learning and fun!
Week Beginning 9th December 2024
We have had another exciting and Christmas filled week!
This week we performed our first ever show on stage! The children thoroughly enjoyed performing 'The Night Before Christmas' for their grown-ups. They sang beautifully and performed their poem wonderfully! They also loved taking their grown-ups around their Christmas Market, collecting all the Christmassy crafts they have been making. The children will receive a Microsoft Teams log in on Monday (in their orange reading record) so that you can access the video used during their performance.
The children have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Christmassy activities this week, including writing their letters to Santa, making Christmas Wish Lists and making reindeer food using oats, sparkles and gems!
The Ladybirds and Butterflies have also filled up their marble jars! We are so proud of them and cannot wait to celebrate their achievement on Monday!
Well done Reception!
Week Beginning 2nd December 2024
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Reception, and what an exciting week we have had!
The children came in to school on Monday to some very exciting news! Santa had visited our classrooms with his reindeer, elves and gingerbread men! He even emailed Mrs Jenkins and Miss McDade some videos of his visit! We were all so excited to see the decorations they left for us and it was so exciting to meet the Elves! They even decorated the doors! We were very lucky that Santa left us all a little candy cane to enjoy too!
The children have been very busy this week preparing for their Christmas Show and Market next week! They can't wait to perform for their grown ups and share their Christmassy creations with you!
We cannot wait to welcome you for 'Reception's Night Before Christmas' and our Christmas Market on Tuesday 10th December!
Week Beginning 25th November 2024
We have had a Maths filled week this week!
The children have thoroughly enjoyed engaging in some Maths activities in all of our learning areas. In the sand pit, the children were making footprints and measuring them with cubes and even wrote how many cubes their foot measured on the whiteboard! We opened up our Maths sheds for the children to explore too. They used the large wooden dominoes to match numbers and they used the large Numicon to order numbers to 10 and represent their number bonds to 5.
In PSHE this week, we have been continuing our topic of 'Celebrating Differences'. This week, we were thinking about how our houses are all different. We discussed different types of houses and the children were challenged to work in groups and create a house using different materials. There were five groups and five materials: wooden blocks, Duplo, junk modelling, waffle bricks and magnetic shapes. We were so impressed with how well the children worked in teams to complete the challenge!
We have started our rehearsals for our Christmas Show! We have been practising some songs and poems that we cannot wait to share with you on Tuesday 10th December! We have also been busy making creations for the Christmas Market after our show!
Well done Ladybirds and Butterflies for another fantastic week of learning!
Week Beginning 18th November 2024
We have had another fabulous week in Reception!
In Drawing Club this week, we have been using the animation 'Batfink' as a stimulus. The children have drawn and described Batfink.
Each vocabulary word has a corresponding action. The vocabulary words learnt this week in Drawing Club:
- Spark
- Sidekick
- Rapid
- Idle
- Napping
- Rescue
- Thrilling
- Hurdle
We have been thinking about our senses this week. The children went on a listening walk around school on Wednesday. We walked around the whole outside of the school and all through the school. We noted down the different sounds we could hear and found that there were some sounds that we heard in both areas! We have also been learning about light and dark and the children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring with the torches and puppets to create shadows in the reading corner.
We have enjoyed learning about nocturnal animals. The children can identify and describe nocturnal animals as animals that sleep in the daytime and are awake at night time. We learnt about different owls and we couldn't believe the size of some of them! We learnt that some owls can see over 2 metres away in the dark! We read 'The Leaf Thief' which is a story about a squirrel who lives in a tree and the leaves keep disappearing! We found out that the thief was actually the wind! The children have created their own leaf themed suncatchers with paper plates and autumnal coloured tissue paper.
This week's Poetry Basket rhyme was called 'Owl'. Here are some of our Reception children performing it!
Well done Butterflies and Ladybirds for another fantastic week in Reception!
Week Beginning 11th November 2024
This week, we have been learning all about Remembrance. We attended our first ever assembly alongside the whole school and we were so impressed with how well the children sat and listened to the Prefects as they explained why we commemorate Remembrance Day. We learnt about the conditions of the trenches for the soldiers and why we use poppies to symbolise Remembrance Day. We learnt that there are different coloured poppies too. For example, the purple poppy is to remember the animals that lost their lives during the wars.
The children made their own tissue paper poppies and have enjoyed engaging in poppy themed activities in the maths and writing areas. The children also created their own poppies with playdough on the malleable table. We have been discussing our school value for this month which is Respect. The children have been earing lots of marbles this week by showing this school value.
Week Beginning 4th November 2024
What a fantastic (and very busy) first week back we have had!
This week, we have been learning about Bonfire Night. The children learnt about Guy Fawkes and why Bonfire Night is celebrated. We discussed how we can keep safe on Bonfire Night and the children learnt about how to safely use sparklers. We learnt about fireworks and how they are used to celebrate Bonfire Night, but that they are also used for many other celebrations all over the world, such as Diwali and New Year.
As part of our DT learning, the children thoroughly enjoyed designing and making their own edible sparklers. They drew pictures of what they wanted their sparkler to look like before making their own with breadsticks, royal icing sugar and rainbow sprinkles. The children then enjoyed eating them whilst watching a video of fireworks!
The children have also enjoyed going on an Autumn walk around the school grounds. They had a tick list of signs of Autumn and couldn't believe how many they found! If you go on a walk this weekend, see what signs of Autumn you can spot!
On Wednesday, The children took part in the Whole School Cross Country event! They did so well and ran with their Year 6 Buddies to score points for their Team colour!
In Drawing Club this week, we have been using the story 'What's In The Witch's Kitchen' as a stimulus. The children have drawn and described the Witch or Christopher Pumpkin and have thought about who else might have been invited to the Witch's party.
Each vocabulary word has a corresponding action. The vocabulary words learnt this week in Drawing Club:
- Disgusting
- Delicious
- Spooky
- Escape
- Cackle
- Slimy
- Surprise
- Courage
This week's Poetry Basket is called 'Breezy Weather'. Here are some of our Reception children performing the poem!
Week Beginning 21st October 2024
What a fantastic first half term we have had in Reception!
In Drawing Club this week, we have been using the story 'Christopher Pumpkin' as a stimulus. The children have drawn and described the Witch or Christopher Pumpkin and have thought about who else might have been invited to the Witch's party.
Each vocabulary word has a corresponding action. The vocabulary words learnt this week in Drawing Club:
- Celebration
- Hair-Raising
- Cheerful
- Surprise
- Industrious
- Distasteful
- Terrified
- Plotting
In Maths this week we have started learning about numbers 6-10. The children have been practising their one-to-one correspondence counting as well as using the rhymes to help them to write each number.
We have been learning about Halloween this week and how different people celebrate it all over the world. The children have been making their own Halloween potions in the mud kitchen using bicarbonate of soda and vinegar, Using hammers to improve their fine motor skills by hammering nails and golf tees in to the pumpkin and they have thoroughly enjoyed exploring and describing the pumpkins! This week we have also been learning about the festival of Diwali. We learnt that it is celebrated all over the world and that it is known as 'The Festival of Light'. The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about Diwali and have made their own Rangoli patterns with the loose parts, Mendhi patterns with powder paint and have used paper plates to make their own Diya lamps.
We are so proud of our Ladybirds and Butterflies for how well they have settled in during their first half term at The Stoke Poges School!
Week Beginning 14th October 2024
We have had another fabulous week in Reception!
In Drawing Club this week, we have been using the story 'The Colour Monster' as a stimulus. The children have drawn and described the feelings and emotions in the story and have even drawn their own colour monster!
Each vocabulary word has a corresponding action. The vocabulary words learnt this week in Drawing Club:
- Discombobulated
- Ineffectual
- Assist
- Shimmering
- Sobbing
- Enraged
- Evaporate
- Timid
- Tranqulity
In Maths this week we have continued to learn about numbers one to five. The children have been using the unifix cubes to make the Cbeebies Numberblocks and have been ordering numbers on a washing line!
The children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Literacy and Maths sheds outside. They have enjoyed using a variety of writing materials, as well as using the velcro target board to practice their aim and their maths skills to add up their points!
This week's Poetry Basket rhyme was called 'A Basket of Apples'. Here are some of our Reception children performing it!
Well done Butterflies and Ladybirds for another fantastic week in Reception!
Week Beginning 7th October 2024
We have had another wonderful week in Reception!
We have started our 'Drawing Club' sessions. These sessions help to build children's vocabulary, their writing skills, their imagination and their comprehension skills. This week, we have been using the story 'The Little Red Hen' as a stimulus. The children have drawn and described the Little Red Hen and the other characters in the story.
Each vocabulary word has a corresponding action. The vocabulary words learnt this week in Drawing Club:
- Baking
- Ingredients
- Concocting
- Rising
- Unhelpful
- Just desserts
- Stuffing
- Collaborating
In Maths this week we have continued to learn about numbers one to five. The children have been ordering numbers, recognising and writing numbers and have been matching Autumn treasures to the numeral and Numicon. We have continued using Numberblocks as a hook for each lesson and the children are thoroughly enjoying our 'Maths Meetings'. In Phonics this week, we have learnt the following sounds: e, l, and h.
In the sand pit, the children have been filling bamboo pipes with sand and using the sticks they collected on their Autumn walks to write their name. They have enjoyed exploring the junk modelling area and we have been so impressed with their imagination and creativity!
The children thoroughly enjoyed performing for their grown ups at their Harvest Stay and Play. We were so impressed with how confidently they performed the poems and songs during their first ever performance at The Stoke Poges School! Well done Ladybirds and Butterflies!
Here are some of the Ladybirds and Butterflies performing the Poetry Basket poems we have learnt so far!
Well done Butterflies and Ladybirds for another fantastic week in Reception!
Week Beginning 30th September 2024
We have had another lovely week in Reception.
We have been thinking about Birthdays this week and how we celebrate them. The children created decorations for the home corners, made birthday cakes with playdough and even designed their own birthday cards. We have been reading the story 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'. In the mud kitchen this week, the children have been creating treats for the Tiger. We have been very impressed with their creativity and imagination! The children have been making their own Numberblocks and exploring the Autumn Treasures they collected over the weekend. They used adjectives to describe the different objects such as "spiky" for the pine cones and "shiny" for the conkers.
We have continued our daily phonics sessions. This week we have learnt the 'k', 'u', ‘b’, and ‘f’ sounds. The children have completed some rainbow writing to practise forming each sound and the phonics booklet for these sounds will be sent home today.
We have continued our Maths Meetings this week and the children have thoroughly enjoyed learning with Cbeebies Numberblocks. This week, we have learnt about the numbers 4 and 5. Here are the rhymes we have taught the children for how to write each number:
4- "down and over and down some more, that's the way we make a four"
5- "across, down and round to the end, number five is round the bend"
We look forward to another wonderful week ahead with our Ladybirds and Butterflies.
Week Beginning 23rd September 2024
We have had another lovely week in Reception. The children have enjoyed painting self-portraits, using the mirrors to look at their different features. We have discussed how we all look different but are all special.
In Art this week, we have been learning about colour mixing. The children have been combining primary colours to create secondary colours by using paint mixed with water. They were using the pipettes to squeeze a little of each colour on to a cotton pad and observed how the colours changed! We have also introduced Doodle Books to the Reception children. These books are for them to access throughout the day and they can mark make, draw and write freely in these.
We have continued our daily phonics sessions. This week we have learnt the 'n', 'p', ‘g’, ‘o’ and ‘c’ sounds. The children have completed some rainbow writing to practice forming each sound and the phonics booklet for these sounds will be sent home today.
We have started our Maths Meetings this week and the children have thoroughly enjoyed learning with Cbeebies Numberblocks. So far, we have learnt about the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Here are the rhymes we have taught the children for how to write each number:
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Straight down in a line, number one is looking fine!
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Around and back on the railway track, two two!
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Around a tree, around a tree. That's the way we make a three!
We look forward to another wonderful week ahead with our Ladybirds and Butterflies.
Week Beginning 16th September 2024
We have had a fantastic first week in Reception! The children have started to settle in and become more familiar with their surroundings. We have enjoyed singing, decorating our names with dabby paints, circle times and exploring all of the activities in each area. They have also loved learning this week's Poetry Basket rhyme - Pointy Hat!
In Phonics this week, we have learnt the following new sounds: m, a, s, d, t, and i
We have been so impressed with how well the children are settling in to Reception and we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead! Well done for a fantastic first full week at The Stoke Poges School!
