Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception)
Academic Year 2023/2024
Reception’s Caterpillars
Just before the Easter holidays, Reception took delivery of some caterpillars. heir growth was photographed over the holidays, and since being back at school we have observed them transforming into a chrysalis. We are awaiting the next stage of their life cycle now, hoping to have some beautiful butterflies fluttering around soon!
Unconventional Menagerie Visit Reception
Today we had a visit from the Unconventional Menagerie who brought a range of nocturnal and diurnal animals (animals that are awake during the night and day). ]During the session, we had the opportunity to look at, hold or stroke the animals. Chris told us many interesting facts about where they live, how old they were and what they ate. We were all so brave and had a great time during the visit.
Anti-bullying Week
As part of our work on Anti-Bullying Week we all came to school dressed as superheroes. We started the week with an assembly by Miss Curran and the school councillors. They introduced the words “bullying” and “banter”. We had an understanding of what bullying means but had no idea of what banter is. We thought about the qualities that a superhero would need to stand up to bullies. We designed our anti-bullying superheroes with the characteristic they would possess. We learned that bullying can be hurting others physically, name calling and making jokes. We don’t want anyone at school to feel unhappy because of bullying so we know that we should help other people by telling a trusted grown up if there is a problem.
Interfaith Week
Our theme for Interfaith week this year was “All God’s Creatures.” We thought about how God made all the animals and made a wonderful world for them to live in but unfortunately we are messing it up. We had to think about ways in which we could help the animals who live in our local environment. Then we used our art skills to paint and collage pictures of animals we would find in our local area.
A Police Car Visits Reception!
Today we had a visit from PC Washington. He brought along a police car for us all to see. We were so excited to sit inside, press the sirens and see the blue lights flash!
World Mental Health Day 2023
Today was ‘World Mental Health Day’. We all wore something yellow to celebrate.
We started today by having an assembly delivered by Mr. Nicholls dressed as a yellow duck and Mrs. Goodwin as a yellow chicken. They really made us laugh!
However, the assembly reminded us the purpose of the day was to remember to always talk to each other, to our parents, friends and teachers and share our thoughts and feelings.
During our carpet time, we listened to the story of ‘The Colour Monster.’
There were many different coloured monsters that represented different feelings.
Together, we shared how we felt, right at that very moment in time and made links to the coloured monster that we could be.
We had a great day making our own monsters using toilet rolls, designing our own monsters on paper plates and shared with an adult, as a discussion, when we feel sad, happy, scared and angry.
Our Christmas Party
It was party day on Wednesday 20th December and the children in Reception and KS1 had a very special visitor. Even though it is his busiest time of the year, Santa came to visit St Mark’s and brought a present for each child on the nice list. Luckily, all the children were on this list! He couldn’t stay long though as he is super busy getting ready for Christmas Eve. We had a lovely time at our parties and the children enjoyed party food and party games or dancing. It was such a lot of fun.
Reception Make Christmas Cards
The children in Reception have been learning about some of the traditions associated with Christmas. One of the traditions is to send a card to someone you care about. We looked at some images that we associate with Christmas and tried to represent them using different materials. We thought they looked wonderful!
Born in The Barn
The children in Reception and Year 1 took part in their Nativity “Born in the Barn” on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st December.
All of the children looked and sounded amazing. They learned all their lines and sang every song beautifully. The audience were so impressed with each and every child. It was a lovely way to end a long half term.
DT Week – Week Beginning 27th November
During DT week, the children in Reception were designing their own Gingerbread men.
First, we had to taste different ingredients to decorate our Gingerbread Man. We tasted blueberries, bananas, grapes, icing, skittles and chocolate chips. Some of us weren’t sure about the icing or the blueberries but nearly all of us enjoyed the sweets and chocolate chips.
We thought about how we could try and make our Gingerbread men as healthy as possible by adding fruit as well as sweets and chocolate.
Once we had designed them, we were able to start making them. We had chosen what we needed so the teachers were able to buy the right ingredients. We were all given a gingerbread man and used our plans to help us decorate them. We were so proud of our finished products! Then came the best part… eating them! Once we had shown our mums and dads what we had made, we enjoyed eating them.
Academic Year 2022/2023
Reception Receive a Visit from the ‘Farm on Wheels’
This week, we had a super visit from the ‘Farm on Wheels.’ The children were all excited to see the animals that Stella had brought along in her trailer. Inside the trailer was a calf, a donkey, chicks, rabbits and a guinea pig. Peter rabbit was a particular favourite. Everybody had the chance to hold him and stroke his soft fur. Stella had also started to train the rabbits to walk on a lead and the children were able to take them for a walk on the grass. The children learnt the names of all of the animals and listened carefully to the facts which Stella shared.
Reception Learn About Farms by Hatching Chicks!
The children in Reception have been learning about farms this half term. As part of this topic, Bernard’s Farm donated some eggs for us to try and hatch ourselves. Mrs Burton and Mrs Baggaley made sure the incubator was the right temperature and turned the eggs every morning and every night for 3 weeks and then… out came Oreo, Hobnob and Cookie. We have loved holding them and listening to them every day but now they are getting too big for the box – Hobnob has even learned to jump onto the top of the box and wants to start learning in Reception – so Sarah and Carl and going to collect them this week and take them back to their farm where they can enjoy a little more space.
PC Washington asks Reception ‘How can the police help us?’
This week we had a visit from PC Washington, who came to help us to answer our weekly question ‘How can the police help us?’
PC Washington explained why the uniform that he wore was so important and we listened to the radio and talked about how it was used. He then described how his job helped to keep us safe in our community.
We all then had the opportunity to ask PC Washington different questions about his job, the favourite being, “Do all police officers eat doughnuts?”
Paramedic Lindsey Visits Reception
On Tuesday 7th March, the children in Reception had a visit from Mrs Nicholls’ sister Lindsey. She works as a paramedic and came in to talk to the children about her job. Firstly, she showed us her uniform and explained how she isn’t allowed to wear any jewellery or badges as germs can stay on them and make poorly people even more poorly. She showed us the clothes that keep her safe like her helmet and hi-vis coat.
We were all really excited to see what paramedics carry in their medical bag. Lindsey showed us that she has bandages, heart monitors, splints and slings. We loved it when she tested them out on Mrs Nicholls and Mrs Burton! She also showed us different masks to help people when they are struggling to breathe.
Finally, she taught us that we should only call for an ambulance in an emergency – doctors surgeries and pharmacies are a good for minor injuries so that the paramedics are able to save people’s lives.
Location
Main Primary Site
St. Mark's CE Primary School
Wood Terrace, Shelton
Stoke on Trent, ST1 4LR
Nursery Class
Within Thomas Boughey
Children's Centre
College Road, Shelton
Stoke on Trent ST4 2DQ
Links
