Welcome to Reception's Class Page 

Here you will find lots of information about Reception and what we have been learning about! 

Important information about Reception 

Contact information: Reception@st-marymagdalene.sandwell.sch.uk. If you ever have any concerns or questions please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Our PE sessions are on Wednesday mornings. You need to come to school in your PE kit. PE kits include a white top, black shorts, tracksuit bottoms or leggings, and black pumps. Earrings are not to be worn on PE days. 

Homework is sent out for each half term and needs to be returned to school in the week before each holiday.

In Reception we love to learn through play! Every day the children are given time to work with adults, peers and independently and explore their interests and needs. Our indoor and outdoor provision aims to allow children to develop in all 7 areas of learning. 

Autumn 1 

This is our first term in Reception so we have been settling into Reception and making lots of new friends. We have talked about what we do in Reception, our class rules and our families. We have been busy learning some of our new sounds and showing each other our fabulous number skills. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to: 

Week beginning 20th/27th September 

This week we have been focusing on the Owl Babies story. We have been retelling the story using a story map, creating our own story maps and exploring our feeling fantastic through looking at how Bill felt through the story. 

Week beginning 4th October

This week we have been focusing on our new story 'Ruby's Worry'. We talked about different feelings and how we could help Ruby or someone else if worried or anxious. The children were amazing at giving advice to others. 

We had a special visit from the Librarian this week, sharing some different stories. 

Our Stunning Start- 12th October 

We enjoyed our stunning start today with a theatre company. We learnt all about Space; acting out stories and finding the clues to find the missing alien! 

Autumn 2 

This half term we are going to be learning about Celebrations leading onto learning all about Christmas and the history of Christmas. Throughout this half term, there are many celebrations that occur all over the world. We will be exploring the importance of celebrations such as Diwali, Bonfire night, Hanukkah, and Christmas. 

Week beginning 1st November 

We talked about Halloween and our celebrations. We looked at pumpkins, carving them and exploring with our senses. 

We then discussed how there were some other celebrations this week including Diwali and Bonfire night. The looked at the reason behind Diwali and how people celebrated. We made our own Diva lamps and learnt from dances. The children also created their own pretend bonfires with wood and re-enacted bonfire night with some fantastic firework displays. 

Week beginning 8th November 

After showing interest in the world after them last week, we decided to explore some of the countries in the world and explored how life could be different in different places. We talked about celebrations that happen in different countries and even learnt a bit of French! 

We had a special note left by Moonpin and Minpin and discovered that they were back in our Nursery Garden. We looked for clues and talked about what they thought Moonpin and Minpin would look like. We invited a year 1 child in to tell us what they remember from last year to help us. 

We also discussed 'Remembrance Day' this week and the children were amazing at showing respect and staying silent for two minutes. 

Week Beginning 15th November

This week we continued to explore countries. We looked at the story 'Handa's Surprise' and talked about the differences and similarities in Africa. 

In our snappy maths' sessions we explored Shapes and went on a shape hunt. The children were very good at spotting and describing shapes in the environment. 

Over this week we have started to notice lots more signs of Autumn and have enjoyed talking about the leaves falling from the trees and the autumn treasures we can find. Aarna showed us how to do leaf printing with wax crayons.  

Spring 1 

This half term we are going to be learning all about the 'Traditional Tales'; exploring well known books such as the Enormous Turnip, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Gingerbread Man. We will be retelling stories, creating our own story maps and even creating our own traditional tales! 

Week beginning 24.1.22 

The children have been learning our new story 'The Gingerbread Man'. We learnt the story and used a story map to retell the story. We became Authors and improved the story using some of our Grandma Fantastic Words. The children blew us away with their language using words such as freezing, scrumptious and colossal. We dived into History comparing fairy tales now and from a long time ago. 

Week beginning 31.1.22 

This week we have had to unexpectantly become detectives! We made Gingerbread Men on Tuesday and one to came alive and escaped! We went on a hunt around the school and found lots of clues! We even asked our site manager, who was sure they had seen something whizz past! The Gingerbread Man was spotted in lots of places around West Bromwich! See if you can recognise some of the places he has visited! We created maps to help us locate him, but he is currently still on the loose... Keep your eyes peeled Reception! 

We also discussed Chinese New Year. We wrote some words in Chinese, explored the Chinese traditions and even explored some real Chinese artefacts! 

Week Beginning 7.02.22

This week we started our story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We have been busy becoming Authors and writing the own our version of Goldilocks. Look at all the fantastic language we have used! 

Week Beginning 14.02.22

This week we have been busy celebrating Valentines day. We have been writing cards to people we love and talking about why Valentines day is celebrated. 

Linking to last week's story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the children decided they wanted to make some porridge. Unfortunately the magic struck again and Goldilocks has been up to her tricks stealing my porridge! We will be investigating this week and inviting her in to ask her some questions! 

Spring 2 

We are starting this half term with a visit from the Animal man. This has been something the kids have shown a real interest in. Following on from this we are going to be learning all about animals, what they need and how they survive. We will be exploring the role of the vet and linking this with other people who help us. 

Summer 1

This half term we are learning all about Space. We are going to be learning, ordering and creating the 8 planets, learning all about Neil Armstrong and creating our own space stories. We may even get the chance to zoom into space... 

Week beginning 9th May 

This week we have created our own Space song. We have used instruments and the tune of 'She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes'. 

Weeks beginning 16th May and 23rd May 

Over these two weeks, we will be creating our own Space story looking at some of the things we have learnt this half term. 

Summer 2 

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be looking at an Author 'Julia Donaldson'. The children love her stories. We are going to be looking at some stories she has wrote such as the Gruffalo, Snail and the Whales and Room on the Broom. 

There are also lots of special events this half term including sports day, stay and play sessions, meet the teachers, our school trip and enterprise fayre. 

Week beginning 06.06.2022

This week we have been exploring the Gruffalo's child. We looked at Shadows and found out that the mouse was tricking us and actually he was not the big bad mouse. We decided to help find him to prove this. Ben and Astara made some fabulous creations to help us find him- including some climbing gear so we could get up high and a compass to show us the way to go. The children made maps, posters and wrote notes to the mouse! 

Week beginning 13th June 

This week we have started planning for our enterprise. We have been looking at designs of bracelets and even having a try at designing and making our own. 

We have also carried on our learning about the Gruffalo's child and have enjoyed making some trails. 

Week beginning 20th June 

This week we have been creating our own story based on the Gruffalo's child. We swapped the character, setting and plot. The children amazed us with their writing and story map making. 

Week beginning 27th June

This week has been an exciting one in Reception where we have been celebrating the Gruffalo's Baby birthday. He turned 3 this week and the children have been busy writing invitations, creating birthday banners and making birthday cakes. Take a look at what we have been up to... 

Learning through play

In Reception we learn best through play and child initiated activities. Have a look through this slideshow to see us in action! 

We follow the White Rose curriculum for Maths. If you want to find out more about these individual blocks visit the White Rose-  website on Reception SOL | White Rose Maths | Free Teaching Resources.