Autumn A
Week 8
Witch's Kitchen
Reception have explored the text and enjoyed finding the rhyming words. We have been acting out the story "What's in the Witch's Kitchen?" by Nick Sharratt in our role play area and enjoyed making potions.
"Zoo on the Broom" Zoo Lab Workshop
Rob the wizard came to visit Reception and shared a story about a friendly witch Zog. She rode on her broomstick through towns, forests and a bog. The helpful kind witch offers a ride to animal hitchhikers, who we got to meet. We were introduced to many exciting creatures including a tarantula, snake, giant snail, rat and even a hissing cockroach.









Magical Mud Experiment
Reception made green cornflour slime. We experimented squeezing the mixture and rolling it into a ball. The mixture felt different and changed when we stopped rolling it. The children developed their observational skills by describing how the mixture felt and talked about the changes they could see and feel.
Read Write Inc. Parent Workshop
Write a Spell
Reception wrote their own spell containing CVC words, using the sounds we have been learning in phonics.




Bubbling Magic Potion
We mixed together bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to make fizzy potions. Look what happens when the ingredients are mixed together. What words can you use to describe the potion?
Halloween Party
Our Reception children had a spooktacular time at their Halloween party. The children enjoyed the spooky games which included pass the parcel and pin the tail on the black cat. I'm sure you'll agree that the children looked frightfully good in their Halloween costumes and party clothes.
Ten Frame
Reception have been developing their number sense through a race to 10 game. We have been learning to recognise dice patterns and how to fill a ten frame systematically.
Week 7
Pumpkin Soup
Our story for the week was "Pumpkin Soup" by Helen Cooper. Every day the characters, Squirrel, Duck and Cat slice up a pumpkin from their pumpkin patch, stir in some water and salt to make the perfect pumpkin soup… until the day the animals want to swap jobs! We used our senses and phonic knowledge to describe a pumpkin from Squirrel, Duck and Cat's pumpkin patch.






Sensory Play
Reception used their senses to investigate and describe the pumpkins.



Autumn Mono Printing
The children enjoyed creating their own mono prints by rolling paint onto a perspex panel and using their fingers to create a leaf design. Once they were happy with their picture the children placed a sheet of plain paper on top and pressed down. When the paper was lifted away the children were amazed that their picture had transferred onto their paper.
Yayoi Kusama
Reception looked at the art work of Yayoi Kusama. Inspired by her bright colours, sculptures, installations and paintings, we created our own polka dot pumpkin artwork. Here are some photos!
Pumpkin Hammering
To develop our hand eye co-ordination we hammered golf tees into pumpkins.








Comparing Groups
This week in Maths the children have been comparing groups of objects, finding the group that has more or fewer. They have been using the stem sentences ".... has more than ..." "... has fewer than ...". The children have found the word 'fewer' a little tricky but have become more confident as the week has progressed.
Week 6
Leaf Man and Andy Goldsworthy
Our story of the week is "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert. We used photos of transient artist Andy Goldsworthy for inspiration. Reception used Autumn treasures such as leaves, conkers, sticks and acorns to make our own animal, people and patterned designs.






Fine Motor Challenge
The children painted with cotton buds for pincer grip development.
Numberblock 4
This week we were introduced to Numberblock Four, one jumped onto Three. Reception made stampoline patterns and investigated how many different shapes they could make.



Hedgehog Bread
Reception made a hedgehog bread roll. The children followed a recipe, kneaded the bread, let it rise, shaped it with scissors and put it in the oven ready for hometime.
Week 5
Owl Babies
This week Reception listened to the story "Owl Babies" by Martin Waddell. We discussed what the owl characters could be saying and feeling. The children then wrote their own labels i.e. sad. We learned that baby owls are called ‘owlets’.




Owl Toast
We made toast and fruit look like an owl in this fun and simple snack recipe.
Composition of 3
Reception explored how numbers can be composed of 1s and, from this, began to investigate the composition of 2 and 3. Here we are making our collections of 3 things so that Numberblock Three can see what 3 looks like. We used the stem sentence "1 and 1 and 1 makes 3".
Numberblock 2
We made collections of 2 and played a sorting game. Reception took it in turns to subitise the picture cards and sorted them into a 1 and 2 pile.
The Button Box
This week in Maths we have been learning all about grouping. We listened to a lovely story "The Button Box" by Margarette S. Reid. We matched buttons and sock pairs by identifying 'the same'. The children then helped to sort Miss Knowles' buttons, thinking about colours, size and number of holes.






Sorting Objects
We helped squirrel sort the Autumn treasures by colour, texture and type. Some ideas included 'brown and not brown' and 'smooth, bumpy and both smooth and bumpy'.
Week 4
Room on the Broom
Reception listened to the rhyming story "Room on the Broom" by Julia Donaldson. The children used puppets and prompts to act out and recall story events. They sequenced the characters on a broom and used labelled the animals using their letter sound knowledge.



Make a Wand Challenge
We wrapped ribbons and decorated magic wands using star stickers for our finger challenge. Bippity boppity boo! Abracadabra! Iggety, ziggety, zaggety, zoom!



Touch Counting and Comparing Sets of Jewels
The children have been developing their counting skills to identify how many there are in a set. We counted out a set of jewels from a larger set, remembering the ‘stopping number’ and knowing that this means they have selected the correct number in total. Reception also developed 1:1 correspondence, by counting numbers at the same time as touching.




Reception worked in pairs and compared sets of jewels. We identified who has 'more' and who has 'fewer' jewels.



Week 3
Our First Bushcraft Adventure
Mrs McHatton shared the bushcraft rules and how to stay safe. We explored the woodland area with our friends.
Subitise
In Maths, we have been looking at the numbers 1-3 and learning to 'subitise' - seeing how many there are without counting and recognising 1, 2 and 3 in different positions and patterns. Here we are sorting cards into 3 and 'not 3'.
Match and Sort into Sets
Reception found objects that match and are the same. We then guessed the sorting rule and grouped objects into sets.
Walking Through the Jungle
We’ve been reading "Walking Through the Jungle" by Julie Lacome. This repeating story was great for retelling from start to finish, as we recalled the ‘action words’ used throughout the story: walking, running, leaping, swinging, creeping and wading.
In our writing we made a list of the animals from the story, listening carefully to the initial sounds. In phonics we have been linking sounds to letters and some children are beginning to use these letters in their writing.



Make a Snake Challenge
We looked at photographs of snakes and their repeating patterns, particularly focusing on how the patterns are the same all along their bodies. Reception described the pattern out loud together, “Black, white, black, white...”. Many children chose to make a snake with bright colours to scare off predators. The children cut out their curled and straight snake designs. The bingo dobbers were a popular choice when adding scales.
Designing, Cutting and Decorating Snakes ✍️✂️👩🎨
Snakes 🐍






Witches and Wizards PE
This week in our Get Set 4 PE lesson there was a Witches and Wizards theme. We had to stop when the freeze spell was cast and to avoid other witches as we flew around the room. In a giant circle we created magic potions. While playing 'the magic catcher' tag game we had to run to a cauldron hoop when hocus pocus was called.
Witches and Wizards PE 🧙♀️🧙♂️🪄
Roald Dahl Day
We watched short clips of the Roald Dahl story "The Enormous Crocodile". Reception played in the muddy river water tray, created wanted posters, completed a giant crocodile jigsaw and practised turn taking whilst playing the game crocodile dentist.
The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl 🐊






Week 2
Portraits
This week we have been thinking about ourselves and what makes us special. We shared the gorgeous book "We Are All Different" before discussing and comparing our hair, eye and skin colours. We used paint sticks to make our own portraits whilst carefully looking at our facial features in a mirror.
🪞👀 I look in the mirror and I can see ...
Week 1
Our First Week
My delightful new Reception class have settled into school life seamlessly! Here they are enjoying their first week. We have been learning routines and how to use the classroom equipment. They explored the indoor and outdoor environments, stayed for lunch and have been making new friends. All of the children have settled in very well and I am looking forward to a fun filled year! Have a look at some of the things we have been up to ...
In Reception we balance adult led activities and child initiated play. Through adult led activities we can introduce children to new ideas and provide opportunities for them to develop their skills. During play children explore their own ideas, learn how to use resources and use imagination and creativity.





