Trotts Hill Primary School and Nursery
Welcome to Reception
Welcome to Reception. Your class teacher is Mrs O’Brien. Mrs Metcalfe and Mrs Norman are your teaching assistants. Our apprentice is Miss Kelly. Your midday supervisors are Mrs Mehan and Mrs Haggerty.
As we enter our final term in Reception, we continue to offer a stimulating learning environment with plentiful opportunities, which will challenge and support children to extend their learning every day.
The children are well used to the routines of the day by now and we will continue with whole class, as well as small group Literacy and Maths, alongside our topic activities. This term the children will also learn gymnastics, on a Wednesday, and will eventually begin practise for Sports Day so therefore need their PE kits in school at all times.
To ensure a smooth transition into Year 1, we are working hard to support the children to be as independent as possible, which includes being responsible for their belongings, dressing and undressing and using cutlery correctly. Please continue to support your children with this at home. We will also begin to join the rest of the school for whole school assemblies.
Above all, we want the children to enjoy their last term in Reception and leave us with a love for learning.
Week commencing 24th June 2024
LI: To achieve Scootability Level 2
This week, we were very lucky to have Mr Feetham, come in to teach us 'Scootability'. We learned about being safe on pavements near driveways and other obstacles. We learned how to control our scooter by playing some games.
Week commencing 20th May 2024
LI: to make a map
At the weekend we had a visit to our school from an alien. We watched a video of the alien landing from reception class, secret cameras! We looked at Trotts Hill School on google earth and discussed where the alien might have gone in our school grounds. We then drew our own maps and identified where we thought the spaceship might have landed and the route the alien may have take around the school.
Week commencing 13th May 2024
LI: to learn about weddings
This week Reception have been reading The Scarecrow's Wedding. We have also been learning about weddings in different cultures. We talked about the similarities and differences and some children shared their experiences of weddings that they had been to.
We then had the opportunity to dress up and act out our own imaginary wedding.
Week commencing 6th May 2024
LI: to build a bridge
This week Reception have been reading The Three Billy Goat's Gruff. Following on from our writing about the Three Billy Goats Gruff this week, we made our own bridges out of different resources. Children could choose from a range of resources to make their bridges and tested them using compare bears, people and animals.
Week commencing 29th April 2024
LI: to create our own superheo
This week Reception have been reading the book Supertato. We made our own superheroes using potatoes, carrots, googly eyes and other materials. The children enjoyed acting out Supertato roleplay in choosing time.
Week commencing 22nd April 2024
LI: to create patterns
This week in maths Reception have been learning about patterns. We have looked at different examples of patterns and have had a go at making our own patterns using our bodies (tapping our heads then tapping our shoulders etc.), natural resources and different colours.
Week commencing 15th April 2024
LI: to find out information about tigers
This week we have been reading The tiger who came to tea and have been learning all about tigers. We watched a video about a tiger conservation project in India and found India on a globe. We compared the environment they live in in India to our environment in Stevenage and talked about why Stevenage wouldn't be a good place for tigers to live! The children produced some fantastic independent writing about tigers.
Week commencing 18th March 2024
LI: to learn about chickens
This week we have been learning all about chickens! We have been reading 'Where oh where is Rosie's Chick?' in Literacy and doing some fantastic writing linked to the story. We have learnt about and labelled the different parts of a chicken and drawn out the lifecycle of a chicken. On Thursday, Mrs Spendlove brought her two hens to visit the school. Reception got to ask lots of thoughtful questions about the hens and used clipboards to sketch them. Some children who always show exemplary behaviour were chosen to help feed the chickens. Well done Reception, Bessie and Goldie loved visiting you!
Week commencing 11th March 2024
LI: to come up with creative ideas
This afternoon we watched a performance of ‘The Flower Waltz’ from The Nutcracker. We discussed what we liked about the performance, and then had a go at creating our own dances using scarves as props.
‘They look just like me at my ballet, it’s easy to copy the moves.’ Amelia
‘I liked doing the leaps’ Ava
‘They were on their tiptoes’ Cooper
‘I liked it when they done their curtsies’ Emmie
Week commencing 4th March 2024
LI: to compare height
This week we have been exploring height in Maths by building taller and shorter towers. We have also been comparing the height of the children in Reception class!
Week commencing 26th February 2024
LI: To listen and follow instructions to plant a bean
This week we planted beans - linked to our book ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’. Children watched a video of a bean plant growing, and we discussed how we would plant it and what we would do to take care of it.
Week commencing 12th February 2024
LI: To make a pancake
This week was Shrove Tuesday and we made pancakes. We measured all of the ingredients, mixed them together and then poured the batter into an oiled frying pan. We observed the batter turn from a liquid to a solid. The colour changed from yellow to brown when it cooked! The pancakes tasted delicious with orange and / or lemon squeezed on top.
Week Commencing Monday 5th February 2024
Today we spent the afternoon learning all about the Lunar New Year. We watched a video on CBeebies which followed a Chinese family as they prepared for the new year celebrations. We also learned all about why there are different animals for each year. During CIL, we had lots of activities including colouring, Chinese writing, ordering the numbers/animals, noodles in the mud kitchen, using chopsticks to find gold coins in the rice, making lanterns and dragons and performing dragon dances.
Week Commencing Monday 29th January 2024
LI: to make a pictogram
In Reception this week we have been thinking about different kinds of transport - linked to our book 'The Naughty Bus'. We worked together using Purple Mash to make a pictogram showing the different ways we got to school in the morning. The most common mode of transport was walking, followed by car. During CIL time some children used Purple Mash on the interactive whiteboard to make their own pictograms.
Week Commencing Monday 22nd January 2024
LI: to make a finger puppet
This week Reception have been reading 'We're going on a bear hunt' by Michael Rosen. We made finger puppets to help us retell the story ourselves. The children used felt and fabric glue to make the finger shape, then added ears, eyes and other details using a pen. We hope that when they are dry we can use our story maps and puppets to retell the story at home.
Week Commencing Monday 15th January 2024
LI: to find out about the South Pole
This week as part of our topic lessons, Reception have been finding out about the South Pole. We looked at where the South Pole was on a map and talked about what the weather is like there, and what kind of animals live there. We then made our own Emperor penguins during CIL time.
Week Commencing Monday 8th January 2024
LI: to make/design a digger
This afternoon we watched part of a 'Maddie’s how do you know' episode about diggers. We found out about how they work and what the different parts of a digger are called. We then spent time designing our own diggers either on paper or with duplo. Children were able to use their amazing phonics skills to label their designs.
Week Commencing Monday 11th December 2023
LI: to perform a nativity play
This week Reception performed their production of 'A Wriggly Nativity'. The children did a wonderful job singing the songs and remembering their lines - the whole Reception team is very proud of them!
Week commencing Monday 4th December 2023
LI: to recognise ordinal numbers
This week sees the beginning of Hanukkah and we have read The Very Hungry Caterpillars 8 nights of Chanukah. We read what happens on each of the days, in the run up to The Festival of Light, on the 8th night. The children worked well in teams to order the pictures from the story and then number them from 1 - 8. We will continue to look at ordinal numbers throughout the week.
Week commencing Monday 27th November 2023
LI: to make gingerbread men
This week Reception made gingerbread men! All of the children helped to weigh out and mix the ingredients together, roll out the dough and cut out their gingerbread men. This afternoon we decorated them using icing and raisins.
Week Commencing Monday 20th November 2023
LI: to understand safety in the dark
In PSHE this week we discussed how to stay safe outside now that it is getting dark earlier in the day. We looked at a presentation about different ways that we can stay safe and thought about what clothes we can wear that will help cars to see us when we are out walking. We looked at pictures of clothes with reflective patches on them and noticed how they made a person very easy to see when a car drove past them. We them spent time designing our own reflective coats and rucksacks.
Week Commencing Monday 13th November 2023
LI: to celebrate anti-bullying week
This week we have been completing different learning linked to anti-bullying week. We came in on Monday wearing odd socks and talked about different things that we can do to be kind to each other. We have also been completing kindness colouring and have been reading the story 'The Colour Monster' to help us identify our different feelings.
Week Commencing Monday 6th November
LI: to explore the forest area
This week in forest school we had a lovely time exploring the forest area with our friends from Nursery. Children were free to play in the woods and gather different natural resources in baskets. We found lots of different kinds of mushrooms, leaves and berries.
WC Monday 30th October
LI: to understand firework safety
This week we have been learning all about Bonfire Night. We watched a firework display online, and looked at a firework safety PowerPoint. We discussed all of the ways that we can stay safe around fireworks and bonfires, and the children made their own firework pictures with chalk.
WC Monday 16th October
Today we were very lucky to have a visit from Miss MacDonald, a Reception parent, who talked to us about her role as a children’s nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
She talked to us about her job looking after children and showed us some of the equipment and resources she uses. We were then allowed to play with these things during CIL. Nurse MacDonald's visit has really inspired our children - such as building an ambulance and role playing. Thank you from all of us.
WC Monday 9th October
This week we have been celebrating World Mental Health Day - or 'Hello Yellow' day. Children came to school dressed in yellow. We made hearts and letters for a display using yellow resources. We read books about kindness and positive behaviour and then we learned all about Zones of Regulation. These are new areas in our classroom that support us to think about how we are feeling, understand those feelings and to learn strategies that aid us in regulating our emotions and behaviours. All of these things can help our overall mental health.
WC Monday 2nd October 2023
This week we have been discussing the Harvest Festival. We talked about what the Harvest Festival is and why we celebrate it, and children bought in food to donate to our local food bank. We also created a healthy food plate and talked about what foods are healthy and unhealthy choices.
WC Monday 25th September 2023
LI: to celebrate European Day of Languages
This week we celebrated European Day of Languages. The children made posters celebrating the languages they spoke at home as part of their home learning.
WC Monday 18th September 2023
LI: to represent our family
This week in Reception we shared who was in our family and who we lived with at home. We talked about the names of different family members and if we had any brothers and sisters or pets. We then drew pictures to represent people in our family.
WC 11/9/23 - LI: To learn about our senses
This week Reception have been learning about our different senses. They have completed fun activities such as identifying different smells, guessing which items are in a feely bag by using touch and going on a sound hunt in our school grounds.
