Celebration of the Word
Thank you to everyone who attended Reception’s Celebration of the Word. We are incredibly proud of all the children for their hard work and achievements this year.
Paper Plane
During MADD STEM Week, Reception children explored the theme of ‘Change and Adapt’ by turning a piece of paper into a paper plane. They were amazed at how far their aeroplanes could fly and eagerly looked for ways to improve them to fly even further. The children used chalk to measure the distance that their planes flew.
Science Buddies
The Reception children had a brilliant time working with Science Buddies during MADDSTEM Week.
They thoroughly enjoyed becoming scientists and getting involved in exciting experiments. Wearing protective clothing and equipment added to the excitement. They showed excellent fine motor skills when using pipettes and listened attentively throughout. A highlight for many was creating their own volcanic eruptions and watching an eruption blast out a bottle of pop.
Bee Art
We have loved learning about the bees this week. Check out our fabulous bee pictures that some of the Reception children have made today! We used bubble wrap to make the honeycomb and drew our own bees!
Beekeeper Visit on World Bee Day
What better way to celebrate World Bee Day than with a visit from a beekeeper! Kari’s Nana, Michelle, is a beekeeper and kindly volunteered her time this afternoon to visit us.
Michelle brought along some bees for the children to take a closer look at. Reception and Nursery were fascinated by Michelle’s suit and even had the opportunity to wear a miniature version themselves.
Michelle showed us a smoker that she uses when caring for her bees. The children were able to hold and explore a honeycomb, smell a candle which was made from pure beeswax and had a taste of some delicious honey!
We would like to say a huge thank you to Michelle, our beekeeper. Kari, your Nana is simply bee-rilliant!
Balance Bikes
Reception have now completed their balance bike training. The weather held out for them and they were able to take part in all 3 sessions to build their skills. They learnt about bike safety, holding their balance and listened superbly to instructions. Well done Reception!!
Our Local Area
After learning about our school environment at the beginning of the year, we have now been learning about our local area. We know that our school is in England which is in Hebburn town. The children were challenged to make a ‘mini’ Hebburn in our classroom. They looked at familiar local buildings such as St. Aloysius Church, Mambos and Aldi.
We will then compare our local area to India. We will look at the similarities and differences between England and India.
VE Day 80th Anniversary
In Reception, we have been learning about rationing during the war. The children explored how food was limited during that time and how people had to make do with the ingredients they had available. We learnt that some of the rationed items included were eggs, meat and cheese. Although, some items such as vegetables and bread were not rationed.
To bring this history lesson to life, the children engaged in a baking session and made their own ration cookies using simple ingredients. We used grated carrot, flour, butter and syrup.
We also took part in a wide range of activities within the provision in our classroom including a Union Jack transient art, decorating a spitfire picture and creating bookmarks. We also discussed how we can pledge to spread peace at St. Aloysius.
PE
Reception took advantage of the lovely weather and had PE outdoors. We loved working in teams, completing relay races, running, skipping and jumping!
Signs of Spring
The children had the exciting opportunity to explore the signs of spring in nature. They took photographs of blooming flowers, budding trees, and other seasonal changes, capturing the beauty of this time of year. This activity helped them develop their observational skills while learning about the natural world around them.
Clay Butterflies
This half-term during Design and Technology, the children in Reception have had the opportunity to create their very own butterflies using clay. The children worked incredibly hard to mould the clay by creating the body and wings of a butterfly. We were very impressed with the children’s fine motor skills and creativity. We can’t wait to see the final painted and decorated butterflies!
Making Houses
The children had the opportunity to engage in a hands-on activity inspired by the classic story of The Three Little Pigs. Using Duplo blocks, straws, and lollipop sticks, they carefully constructed their own versions of the three houses—one made of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks. The children had to think carefully of how to make a 2D/3D house structure using the resources provided. The children demonstrated excellent creativity and imagination.
Shrove Tuesday
The children in Reception had a fantastic time celebrating Shrove Tuesday by enjoying their pancakes.
It was wonderful to see so many happy faces enjoying this fun activity. The children’s behaviour was excellent and they all remembered how to keep safe around the fire circle.
A big thank you to Mrs Crawford for being a fantastic chef in our Secret Garden!
Language Day – Spanish
In Reception, we have been learning all about Spain! We learnt to say ‘Hola’ and ‘Buenas dias’ and counted up to 5 in Spanish.
We looked at the Spanish flag and designed our own making sure that we selected the right colours for it- red and yellow.
We had a look at the different food they have in Spain like paella and churros. We then tasted chorizo, Spanish omelette and olives. The Spanish omelette was the class favourite but we weren’t sure about olives. We ended the day with some flamenco dancing!
Language Day – BSL
In Reception, we have been learning British Sign Language (BSL). As we recently took part in activities for Children’s Mental Health Week, the focus of our afternoon was learning BSL signs for feelings.
We adapted the Nursery Rhyme ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ to support our learning of BSL:
“If you’re happy and you know it sign like this (sign)…
If you’re sad and you know it sign like this (sign)…
If you’re excited and you know it sign life this (sign)…
If you’re angry and you know it sign like this (sign)…”
Towards the end of our afternoon, we sang a variety of different nursery rhymes using BSL. We had so much fun signing and signing the afternoon away!
Please look at our school Facebook page to see a video of us singing and signing on 21/02/2025.
Dentist Visit
Thank you to Violet’s mam, Claire, for giving up her time to tell Reception all about her special job as a dentist. We learnt all about keeping our teeth clean and talked about which food is healthy and unhealthy for our teeth. We loved the props and our special stickers. Lots of us now want to be dentists in the future!
Nurse Visit
Earlier this week, our Reception children had a visit from Nurse Vicky (George’s mam), who taught us all about healthy and unhealthy foods.
The children were very engaged whilst listening about the importance of having a balanced diet. Nurse Vicky told us that having too much sugar can lead to a condition called diabetes.
A huge thank you to Nurse Vicky for volunteering her time to come and see us!
BSL Nursery Rhyme Club
The Reception BSL Nursery Rhyme Club have been working super hard the last few weeks.
So far we have learnt to sing and sign:
If You’re Happy and You Know It
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Five Little Speckled Frogs
Fruit Kebabs
Reception had great fun making their fruit kebabs this week. They all put an apron on and washed their hands. They then took turns to peel and wash their fruit. They carefully cut the fruit using the bridge grip to keep them safe. Then they threaded them onto their kebab stick and loved eating the delicious fruit for snack!
Police Visit
What an exciting day in Reception! We’ve been learning all about ‘People Who Help Us’, and guess who stopped by to say hello? Our amazing friends from Northumbria Police Force!
A huge thank you to Officer Page (Joseph’s mam) and her colleagues for volunteering their time to come in today!
The children had so much fun meeting the officers, learning about their important work, and even getting a close-up look at their cool gear.
Take a peek at what we got up to–it’s not every day you get to meet real-life heroes!
Other Faiths
In Reception, we have been learning about other faiths including Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism.
We know that Buddhists are devoted to Buddha. We also learnt about meditating and we were able to gather together and meditate. Please see the videos below of us meditating:
Pantomime
Thursday 19th December
Reception had an absolutely amazing time at the pantomime. They laughed, sang and danced all the way through Cinderella.
Nativity
Well done to Reception for their fantastic performances this week. The children were absolute super stars and we are so proud of them all.
Little Chefs
On Monday, our Little Chefs from Reception enjoyed their final cooking session. They made their own crispy cakes, following the recipe used in our school kitchen. We were very impressed at how well they listened to and followed instructions. They talked about the smell and texture of the ingredients and we all agreed that the finished cakes looked delicious. Well done, Reception.
EYFS Co-ordination Challenge
Miss Cunningham’s Reception class had so much fun at the EYFS co-ordination challenge at the Urban Factory. They demonstrated a range of fantastic skills including balancing, jumping and throwing.
Reception’s Perfect Pasta Sauce
This week during their cookery club, the children made delicious pasta sauce. First they designed a label for their container to carry their sauce home in. They then washed and chopped the vegetables independently; they tryto keep the pieces the same size to ensure even cooking. They then softened the vegetables in a pan before adding tomato purée and passata sauce. The children then blended the ingredients to make a smooth sauce. We are very proud of their excellent fine motor skills and cooking capabilities.
Reception Kindness Cafe
Thank you to our Reception parents and children for attending our first Kindness Cafe. It was a lovely morning and the children were so excited to have breakfast together!
Cookery Club
This week the children made savoury wraps, choosing their own fillings and preparing ingredients independently. They perfected their claw hold while chopping the cucumber and tomatoes and enjoyed grating the carrots and cheese. The process of grating took great concentration; the children had to apply lots of pressure, testing their finger muscles. Great coordination, well done! The children were very proud of their tasty looking wraps.
Melting Ice
W/C 18.11.2024
On Tuesday, our little scientists in Reception carried out an experiment. They made predictions about which materials would have the greatest effect on melting ice. The children discovered that vinegar and sugar DO NOT make ice melt but salt and hot water DO make ice melt. Well done Reception!
Reception’s Cookery Club
This week the children in Reception followed a dairy free recipe to make dough. They listened carefully to instructions, used their maths skills to add ingredients and worked their finger muscles while kneading their dough. Their dough looked amazing and we can’t wait to find out how it turned out after they baked it at home.
Reception’s First Cookery Club
On Monday, Reception children had their first cooking club. They learned about the importance of washing their hands before handling food. We discussed how to use a knife safely and they learned the bridge cut and claw cut; everyone was able to chop their own fruit to make fruit kebabs. Well done!
Nurse Visit
The nurses came to visit us. They talked to us about two very important things.
1) How to wash our hands.
We listened to the story ‘Hey Duggee – The Handwashing Badge’ and it told us how easily germs can spread. We then learnt a song to sing whilst we wash our hands.
2) Keeping our teeth clean and healthy.
We know that you need to brush your teeth twice a day and should drink at least 6 cups of water. We explored different food and liquids which are healthy and unhealthy.
Mark Making
In expressive arts and design this half-term, we have been looking at mark making. This week we have been looking at marks in nature. We explored the texture and lines in leaves and made our own leaf prints using wax crayons, paint, ink and printing in play dough. We had lots of fun.
Phonics Cafe
A big thank you to Reception parents for coming to our Phonics Cafe. It was lovely to see how excited the children were to show off their phonics skills!
Other Faiths
As part of our Personal Development Day, Miss Hussain talked to us about her religion. She shared a lovely story ‘The Proudest Blue’ and explained that wearing her hijab is part of her faith and that she wears it to cover her hair, neck and ears. We learnt that Muslim women wear a hijab and men wear a turban or hat when praying and that they pray 5 times a day. We talked about how important it is to respect one another and celebrate our differences. We loved trying on hijabs and learning about Miss Hussain’s faith.
Conker season
Today in our secret garden session Reception explored conkers. We looked at how they are hidden in spiky shells. We used real hammers to remove them from their shells. We discussed our safety rules first by using two hands and also protecting our eyes with safety glasses. Reception listened and everyone was very sensible. Well done Reception.