Autumn 1: (November)

We're Going on a Bear Hunt 

This half-term we will be using our prediction skills to find out what is living in our classrooms!

After half-term, we discovered a LARGE cave in our rooms, footprints leading to the cave and sticks and leaves scattered around the floor. We even heard strange growling sounds coming from underneath the cave. The children were very interested in finding out what it could be ... so we researched which animals live in caves, examined the footprints more carefully and looked closely at a small piece of fur. All the clues made us think it was a BEAR!!!

At first, we were a little bit scared but soon realised that this bear was very kind and friendly and enjoyed spending time in our rooms. We were just getting used to enjoying our new friendship and sharing stories together when the bear VANISHED! 

Where has the bear gone, and how can we find it? We have described the bear and are going to use this description to help us get it back. Please look around the local area and see if you can spot any clues which might lead to the safe return of our bear. 

The journey begins as Reception embarks upon a 'Bear Hunt' around The Vaynor First School. 

Watch this space! 

 

 

Our enquiry question: Is the bear trying to make friends with the family? 

 

Autumn 1: (September)

We have started school!

All the teachers would like to thank the new boys and girls of Reception 2024 for settling into Reception life so well. They have embraced new routines, friendships and classrooms with enthusiasm and a determination to achieve.

We have already started to recognise our names on our coat pegs, box files and reading folders so that we ensure we remember where to find our belongings. 

The children have devised their own class rules to keep our friends happy and safe. We are trying very hard to follow them and enjoy moving up the zone board for trying our best! 

Sharing books and Little Wandle books have gone home, and we are trying hard to get those 5 signatures a week (checked every Monday) so that we receive a stamp on our reading chart. Grown-ups don't forget to look carefully at the RED reading challenge letter and help us to keep our Vaynor reading promise. Sharing books are brought back into school and changed for a new one that day. Little Wandle books are brought back on a Monday and a new book will be given out on a Thursday.

Our fingers and thumbs have been working extremely hard, and we are trying to strengthen those muscles to help develop our pencil grip. We have enjoyed exploring the funky fingers table and using the playdough, threading, pencil control sheets and name writing activities. We are working towards our dynamic tripod grip by using our 'pinchy fingers'!

In Maths we are learning to develop subitising skills (saying how many objects are in a group without counting them). We are also developing our one to one correspondence skills, recognising numerals, ordering numbers, creating a repeating pattern and singing number songs and rhymes. 

Finally, we ask Walt the puppet what we are learning about each day. He is a little cheeky at times, but we all like getting to know him.

Here is a picture of Walt: 

Our Topic this term is: Marvellous Me!

We have been thinking hard about what makes us unique, and the teachers have already sent home the 'Marvellous Me' bag/box. Each child will have the opportunity to fill this with items that are special to them. We will all get a chance to explain and share why they are so important to us and display them in our classrooms. 

We have an Investigation Area in our classrooms and have been busy using our senses to explore what we look like and who we are. We have particularly enjoyed the smelling pots and using our sense of smell to guess what might be inside each pot. 

Soon it will be Walt's birthday and we are busy guessing how old he might be, making preparations for his party and thinking about our birthdays and how we will celebrate them. 

Our enquiry question is: Are we all the same?

We will be exploring our favourite things, our special people and our happy places. We will learn to understand that everyone is unique and has different special qualities. We will learn to tolerate and be interested in others as we settle into our new classrooms. 

 

Characteristics of Effective Learning in Reception

The characteristics of effective learning describe the behaviours we use in order to learn. 

At The Vaynor First School we use our 3 dinosaur puppets to support our learning.

We have the:

 Exploraptor

The Exploraptor helps us to play and explore

                                                                           Tryceratops

The Tryceratops helps us to try very hard and concentrate on our learning. 

Thinkosaurus

The Thinkosaurus helps us to think about our learning, have ideas and make connections.