Such a lot of new learning!
Wow! Reception have been ‘on fire’ with their learning over the past couple of weeks!
Last week, we had a special RE focus week, covering our first unit God/ Creation with the enquiry question Why is the word ‘God’ so important to Christians? The children listened well to The Creation Story from the Bible and have learnt so much about what Christians believe about how the world began. We are so pleased that so many children are now sharing their thoughts and ideas during whole class learning time.
On Monday, we celebrated Odd Socks Day for Anti-Bullying Week, starting by learning about what bullying is - when someone does something unkind ‘several/ lots of times on purpose’. We talked about how everyone needs to show courage, to ‘speak up’ and use their ‘power for good’ to promote friendship and stop bullying. We looked at all our odd socks and talked about how we are all different and unique. We read several books about friendship, worries and bullying, including The Rainbow Club. We then drew a picture of how to be a good friend.
On Tuesday, we learnt about why we wear poppies using a Reception-appropriate PowerPoint, short cBeebies animation and a beautiful story called Where the Poppies Now Grow. The children were really interested in learning more about the past and we focused on how much courage the soldiers must have shown. In small groups, the children looked closely at artefacts from World Wars 1 and 2, such as uniform, helmets and medical kits. They were really interested and especially liked trying on the helmet! They also enjoyed making paper plate poppies whilst continuing to discuss historical facts.
In Newsday Tuesday and on Wednesday afternoon, we focused on becoming historians again and finding out why we celebrate Bonfire Night. The children were fascinated by The Gunpowder Plot story – they couldn’t believe people wanted to blow up the king! They were very glad that the plot failed! Groups of children then furthered their historical skills by looking closely at artefacts such as a lantern, a pickaxe (for digging the tunnel), a felt hat and helmet. Again, they particularly enjoyed trying on the clothes and hats!
In Maths, it’s been all about the number 2! We have been exploring the many ways that 2 can be represented: the numeral, 2 cubes or 2 of any object, Numberblock 2, Numicon 2, a huge variety of ways using our fingers and so on. Remember, 1 and another 1 is 2!
Finally, today we have celebrated Children in Need by wearing yellow, spots or non-uniform. The children watched several video clips about real children in need, whether through illness, disability or poverty. We supported the children to understand how our money raised can help these children and encouraged them to think of other ways such as treating everyone with respect, giving away toys or clothes you no longer need, donations to food banks or simply by making someone feel welcome with kind words or a smile.
One more thing…the Christmas singing practice has started! 😊
What a start to the half term! It’s non-stop from here on in!
Have a lovely weekend.
The Reception Team 😊