Reception Class 2019 – 2020
Making healthy sandwiches
This week we have been talking about how to stay healthy and how foods can be good or bad for us. We had a visit from a lovely lady from Warburtons. She brought in some bread buns and different sandwich fillers for us to try. The children talked about making a healthy sandwich and were then able to make it too. They all enjoyed making and eating their sandwiches.
A visit from the Fire Brigade
This week the children were treated to a visit from the Fire Brigade. The Fire Fighters talked about their jobs and how they help people. They showed the children their uniform and answered the children’s questions. The children even got to go inside the Fire Engine and use the fire hose. They had a fantastic time.
Christmas Disco
This week we had our Christmas Disco. The children all looked very grown up in their party clothes. There was lots of dancing and games. The children loved playing Pass the Parcel. We all had a fantastic time.
Parent Crafts
Thank you to all of the adults who attend our Parent Craft session. The adults helped the children to make lots of Christmas Crafts to take home. The decorations will look lovely on the tree.
Christmas Lunch
This week we all enjoyed a fantastic Christmas Lunch. The children enjoyed pulling crackers and wearing Christmas hats. The dinner was delicious. Thank you to the kitchen staff.
Tree Decorating
This week we decorated the Christmas tree in the Hall. The children brought in a decoration from home to hang on the tree. Thank you for your contributions.
Visit to Santa
This week we went to visit Santa at the Town Hall. The children were very excited to meet him and tell him all of the things they would like for Christmas. They were very well behaved on our walk to and from the Town Hall and showed good manners when talking to Santa.
Whatever next!
This week we had a space rocket land on our Stage. Baby Bear had been coming back from Space when he crashed his rocket in our school! The children found lots of clues around the outdoor area, showing who had crashed and what was in the rocket. They decided to write down what they could find and send it to the police.
Phonic and Action Word Workshop
We held a Phonic and Action Word Workshop today. The children enjoyed showing their adult all of the fun games that we do in school to help them learn their sounds and their tricky words.
Measuring
Some children have shown an interest in measuring themselves using a metre ruler. They talked about who was the tallest. They went around measuring walls and stones and saying if they were longer or shorter. Some children enjoyed weighing the bricks on our large wooden scales. They talked about which side was heavy and which was light. This led on to the language of heavier/lighter and heaviest and lightest.
Halloween
The children enjoyed using the Witches and Wizards den. They made some potions, adding different ingredients. The children write their potions down and added them to our spell book. They also enjoyed hammering golf tees into pumpkins.
Jam tarts
This week we have been learning about number 3. We have met Thelma Three from Ten Town and found out that she sometimes makes the wrong choice and took 3 jam tarts. We decided to make our own jam tarts. We rolled out the pastry and cut out the correct shape. We then added jam to our tarts and cooked them in the oven. They were tasty to eat at snack time!
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears
This week we read the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. We talked about the characters in the story and some of the repeated language we could hear in it. We practised saying the language together as we read the story. We then turned our role play area into the 3 bears house and retold the story using masks and props. Some of the children even went away and made their own masks of the 3 Bears and Goldilocks. They used them to retell the story.
Conkers
The children have loved looking at conkers (some still in their shells) with magnifying glasses. They used the language of smooth, hard, spikey etc to describe what they could feel and see. Some of the children cracked open the shells and enjoyed finding conkers. One shell even had 2 conkers inside of it! The conkers were used around the setting and some children used them to make faces in our Transient Art area.
Exploring movement using balls and pipes
The children decided to use pipes and guttering to see how they could move the ball around the outdoors. They worked as a group to solve the problem of the ball not moving. They decided to put it on a slant so that it would move. It still got stuck so we looked at where and why. Some children realised that two pipes together created a bump so one of the children moved one piece under the other and away the ball went!
Ourselves
This week we have been learning about Ourselves. We have looked at our faces and talked about the different features that they can see. We also talked about feelings and expressions. The children have used metal resources to make their own faces, as well as using leaves, conkers and shells. The children had great fun and made some amazing faces.
Raising Money for Jude
The children all looked amazing this week, coming to school in football strips and their own clothes. They enjoyed trying to score a goal past Mr Shannon.
Stay and Play Session
Thank you to all of the parents/carers who came to our Stay and Play session this week. The children loved showing you around their favourite parts of Reception.
Hand Washing
This week we had 2 visitors who came to tell us how important it is to wash our hands. We watched a video and answered some questions. The visitors put glitter on the children’s hands to show how germs can spread. Then we all had a little song to show us how to wash our hands properly.
Our First few weeks at Ox Close Primary School
The children have all settled into Reception class very well and are enjoying exploring their new environment, as well as establishing new friendships with their peers and adults.
Class RB Â and RSÂ Archive – 2018 – 2019
Reception Class 2018 – 2019
June
Fingerprints
This week Sam came in to show us how fingerprints are taken. All the children had their fingerprints taken and learned all about how each fingerprint is unique.
Computers
We have had good fun on the computers in the Media Room this week.
Fathers Day
We had some of our adults in this week to take part in some PE activities as well as some art and craft too. Everyone enjoyed making the dream catchers and the ball popper.
Hall Hill Farm
We had a lovely trip to Hall Hill Farm. We saw lots of different animals and we got to feed them too. We enjoyed a tractor ride which was very bumpy. We had out lunch in the bard before playing in the large play area. Some of us fell asleep on the way home.
April
Week 2 Outdoor Learning for RS
This week RS found an egg that a Firebird had laid. They made nests for them to keep them safe. They hammered leaves onto materoal to make prints. They made a fire and enjoyed making and drinking hot chocolate. They have had an amazing 2 days with Sam Jackson. It is the turn of RB for the next 2 Fridays. They can’t wait.
Our visit to Spennymoor Police station
This week we also got to visit the local Police Station. We saw the custody suite, the cells and the place where they do fingerprints and photos of criminals. We also got to try on some clothes as well as looking inside a Police van and trying the siren. we had great fun today and learned lots about how the Police do their job.
Jet and Ben
This week we had a visit from Jet and Ben, the Police dogs. They were very well behaved and their handler showed us some things that they can do. We found out about all of the things that the dogs do to help the Police. We got to try on some Police hats and uniforms too.
Week 1 Outdoor Learning for RS
This week RS spent friday in the Outdoor classroom with sam Jackson. They all had a turn at Pond dipping and found lots of interesting creatures, even finding 3 newts! They found a letter from Esmerelda (a fairy) asking if they could make a house for her. Reception enjoyed using lots of natural materials to build their house and were very ceative. They even made a fire and enjoyed toasting marshmallows and eating them too.
Sponsored Superhero Day
This week was our Sponsored Superhero Day. The children took part in lots of fun, physical activities. They were challenged to move along the Trim Trail without falling off! They had to climb, swing and jump around the trail. They were challenged to complete ball activies as well as balancing and throwing and catching. We even had a massive spiderweb that the children had to try to go through and get out on the other side. The children had a fantastic day, raising lots of money for Reception. Thank you to all parents for your continued help and support with school.
March
Planting Potatoes
This week we have planted our potatoes. We are taking part in a national competition to see how well we can grow potaotes. When they are ready to be harvested we will weigh them and send our results in to the competition. We are trying hard to win! We have decided that we need to water them often and put them in a sunny spot in the garden. We will watch how they grow and let you know the results at the end of June.
Outdoor P.E
This week the children took part in various outdoor physical challenges. All of the children tried their best and were praised for their listening skills and their fantastic behaviour.
Fire Fighters
This week we had a visit from the Fire Fighters. There were five of them and they came in to talk to us about what it means to be a Fire Fighter and the job they do. The children were very excited to learn all about it and all of them had a chance to squirt the fire hose, which they thought was brilliant. They had to cover their ears when the siren sounded! We also learnt that when we see a Fire Engine we need to give them 2 thumbs up, which we all did as they were leaving.
Homework
The children brought in thier homework books and all of the wonderful things they have been doing over the last few weeks. There was a display in the hall to show it all off and lots of adults came to have a look. The children enjoyed talking about what they had been doing, showing off all of the learning that has taken place. Thank you to all of the support that you give the children at home. It makes all the difference.
Science Week
We decided to investigate how flowers drink water and where it goes. We got some daffodils and put some in water and then some in coloured blue water. The children were amazed when, after only 1 day, the daffodils started to go blue. They used magnifying glasses to look carefully at the flowers, talking about their stem, petals and nectar.
Pancake Day
Today we made Pancakes. We enjoyed measuring out all of the ingredients and mixing them together. We talked about safety around hot surfaces. We all enjoyed choosing which topping to have on our Pancakes. They were delicious.
February
Multiskills
This week some of us took part in Multiskills activities at the Leisure Centre. We had lots of fun trying new activities and trying our best.
Sand Kitchen
The children have enjoyed using the Sand Kitchen this week. They were very imaginative, using the small water butts as intercoms for a drive through. The children were taking customers orders and using the sand and equipment to make pizza, chips, sausages as well as ice cream and chocolate cake! We all had a great time.
Obstacle Races
This week we have been taking part in Obstacle races. We made our own tracks and added extra things in to challenge ourselves.
Banquet
This week we have taken part in a Medieval Banquet, as part of our conclusion to a topic on Castles, knights and dragons. The children enjoyed dressing up and entertaining the King and Queen. We had jesters doing balancing and juggling. We had knights showing off their fighting skills, as well as singers, dancers and musicians. After the entertainment we all enjoyed a feast. Thank you to everyone for sending in food and drink for what was a lovely morning.
Storytelling
Adam Bushnell, a local author and storyteller, came to our school this week. We went to the log cabin to learn about dinosaurs. We got to see teeth and bones from long ago as well as naming lots of dinosaurs. Adam was amazed at our knowledge about dinosaurs! We all had a great time planning a story about dinosaurs and retelling it back in class.
Orange for Love for Louis day 2019
The children and staff enjoyed an exciting Orange day in aid of Love for Louis. We ate orange jelly, made pictures using oranges and dressed our snowman orange too. We all had a lovely time in aid of such a great cause. Thank you for your continued support.
Maths Parent Workshop
Thank you to all of the parents that were able to make it to our Maths morning. The children showed their adult all of the things they can do to help them learn in a fun way. We spent some time on the laptops, looking at games that can help support children at home.
January
Reception have made a great start to this term. We have been reading Traditional Tales and retelling them through drama.
Making Porridge
We have followed instructions to make porridge.
Making masks
Following on from our reading of Traditional Tales some children decided to make thier own masks of the characters. They used these masks to retell the stories.
Building houses
After reading the story ‘The 3 Little Pigs’ the children enjoyed building houses. They worked together to make the house of straw, the house of sticks and the house of bricks. They used their houses to retell the story.
Snow
The children enjoyed seeing the snow that fell this week. They looked at how it fell and how it laid on the ground. Some of the chidlren enjoyed brusing it and making marks in it. Others enjoyed getting as much as posible to make snowballs. Other children collected some snow and decided to see where it would melt the quickest. Some came inside and some stayed outside.
Woodwork
The children have been interested in joining materials this week using hammer and screws. They showed good knowledge of safety, remembering to wear their goggles and how to hold the equipment safely and correctly.
Investigating Magnets
This week the children have enjoyed investigating magnets. They have enjoyed finding things that are made out of metal and sorting objects into metal and non metal. They have had lots of fun.
Nativity
We are so very proud of Reception’s amazing Nativity! They have practised so hard and everyone did amazing with their speaking, singing and actions. We will be sending home photos of the children in their costumes but here are some for you to look at. Well done Reception!
Christmas Crafts
Thank you to all the adults that came to our Christmas Craft morning. It was fantastic to see everyone making so many lovely Christmas crafts and being covered in glitter!!! We hope that you will keep your special crafts and decorations for many years to come.
Visiting Santa
Reception enjoyed visiting Santa at the Town Hall. He asked them if they had been good all year! Santa gave all of the children some chocolates for being so good!
Christmas Lunch
Reception enjoyed having a Christmas lunch together. We loved pulling crackers and listening to Christmas music while we ate our dinner.
Christmas Activities
After sending Buddy the Elf to Reception, Santa has given the children lots of Christmas activities to do! We have even set up a grotto in our classroom. The children can make toys, wrap presents and write lists, labels and addresses so that people get the right presents.
Decorating the Tree
The children helped to decorate our classroom and then helped to decorate the Christmas tree in the hall. They loved hanging their own baubles onto the tree. Thank you to everyone that contributed and sent a bauble or decoration in. We are looking forward to enjoying the tree over the next few weeks.
Asda
Last Wednesday some of us went to Asda to deliver the baubles we had made for their Christmas tree. We enjoyed seeing their beautiful tree and adding our decorations to it.
Shapes
Over the last 2 weeks we have been learning about 2D shapes. We have looked for shapes in the classroom as well as outside. We have used the 2D shapes to make pictures. Some of us made rockets with the shapes and named them whilst some of us used lollipop sticks to make 2D shapes. We also used shapes to make repeating patterns. We had lots of fun investigating shapes.
Trim Trail
We used the Trim Trail this week to see how far we could get across it. Some of us were very confident and managed to get across it all. Some of us needed some adult help but we kept on trying and didn’t give up.
Numbers
This week we have enjoyed using our throwing skills to find numbers in a tuff tray. We had to aim carefully at the numbers in the tray and try to hit them. We shouted out the numbers that we hit.
Drive Through
This week we enjoyed using the traffic signals to make our own road. We then decided to make it into a McDonald’s Drive Through. We got some food and used crates to make the window where orders are taken. We got some paper and clip boards and started taking food orders. We had children who drove the cars through and then some wanted to go inside so we made tables and chairs for them too.
Diwali
This week we enjoyed learning about Diwali. We looked at the Rangoli patterns and made our own patterns. We made Diva lamps using clay. When the clay was dry we painted it and added our own candle.
Phonics and Action Word Workshop
Thank you to all the adults that came to our workshop this week. We hope that you enjoyed seeing how we teach Phonics in Reception and how to support you child with recognising sounds, sound formation, blending and segmenting. Lots of adults also enjoyed seeing some Action Words games. We hope that you will enjoy playing some of these games at home as they are all fun and easy to make. We have made a booklet you can download below showing all of the games we played in the workshop if you need some inspiration or you were unable to attend.
Autumn Walk
This week children have been interested in looking for signs of Autumn. They have talked about and wanted to have a look for signs outside of our outdoor area. They have enjoyed using a sheet to identify signs of Autumn. They were amazed at the giant mushroom we found on the top field.
Being Builders
The children have shown an interest in using tools to fix and build things. They have worked together to make different structures and shown good problem solving skills when things haven’t worked. Some children were builders, coming into school to fix things and help out. They have had lots of fun.
Racing Cars
The children have shown an interest in racing cars and seeing how far their cars would travel. They started off racing them down the hill, then decided to try rolling them down a ramp to see if it made a difference. There was lots of discussion about the best vehicle to use and whether to push the car first. Some children wanted to measure how far the cars went so they used metre rulers to help them.
Making Faces
This week we have looked at our faces in the mirror and talked about what we could see. We then used wood and metal objects to make a self portrait.
Mud Kitchen
This week we have been exploring the Mud Kitchen. We have enjoyed mixing water and soil to make different mixtures. We have added leaves, sticks, conkers and fir cones to make cakes, cookies and chicken pies!
Building
We have been learning about builders and how buildings are made. Some of us drew the building we would like to make and then worked with others to make it. We enjoyed using the cement mixer to mix cement for the bricks. We showed good sharing, team work and problem solving skills.
Stay and Play
This week Reception enjoyed a Stay and Play session with an adult from home. They enjoyed showing their adult all of the fun things they like to do and their favourite areas to work in.
Pirate Day
What a fun day we have had! All of Reception looked great in their pirate costumes and took part in lots of pirate activities. We have been looking for treasure, walking the plank, playing with pirate toys, making pirate flags and hats, reading pirate stories and we finished the day with our pirate run this afternoon. Thanks to all the adults that came to support our Pirate Day. It was a huge success and the children have loved being pirates for the day – aaaaaargh!
Opticians
This week Reception have enjoyed visiting our Optician role play area for a check up! The children have been testing each other’s eyes and have loved trying on different glasses. It has been great seeing children writing names, sounds and numbers independently when writing appointment cards and receipts.
Superheroes
Lots of Reception have loved being Superheroes this week and have enjoyed making their own masks and coming up with their own Superhero names. Check out these fantastic Superhero poses…
Looking for Minibeasts
Lots of children enjoyed finding creatures in our outdoor area this week. So much so, that the children helped to improve our minibeast area! We moved it around and the children collected logs, sticks, leaves etc. to put inside so that we can attract even more creatures!
First Week at School
Reception have enjoyed a fantastic first few days at school! Everyone has been getting to know each other and exploring their new indoor and outdoor classroom. We are all very excited for the year ahead!
