Christmas Time in Reception

Making Jelly

As part of our Birthdays Topic, the Reception Class children had a wonderful time making and eating raspberry jelly. They watched with fascination as the jelly dissolved into the water. They used fabulous language to describe the different textures and the smells, as well as the changes they observed. It was also great fun eating our jelly. Click on the image to make it bigger.

Happy to be at School

The Reception children have settled very well into their new classroom. They are making lots of new friends and enjoying a wealth of experiences. Click on the photos to see a larger image.

Home Learning – Bog Babies

Look at these Bog Babies! Click on the photo to make it bigger. The children have had fun listening to the Bog Baby story, They have been busy making and drawing their own Bog Babies and finding a place for them to explore. If you have made a Bog Baby, send me a photo and I will put it here. Well done!

Mad about Minibeasts

Children have been sending in some more pictures of their home learning. Many are getting outside and exploring the natural world, while also getting their exercise. Lots of learning and exercise is taking place, indoors and outdoors – well done! Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Working at Home

Reception class children and their families have been VERY busy, working from home. Look at your friends, busy at work. Well done everybody! Keep the photos coming in. I shall post another blog soon. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

We are missing you very much – with best wishes from Mrs Caballero, Mrs Baker and Miss Kennedy.

Science Week in Reception

What a busy week it has been. Apart from learning about hand hygiene and keeping germs at bay, the children had a great time being young scientists. They made a cloud out of soap; they watched in wonder what happens when you mix vinegar with bi-carbonate of soda; they made their own bread using yeast, they explored electricity and created circuits and they made a rainbow of sweets. Just a regular week in Early Years in fact! Click on the picture to make it bigger.

World Book Day 2020

Pancake Day

It was a fairly cold day on Tuesday; perfect weather for a pancake race. Many of the children came prepared with their pans. Later, we made more pancakes out of playdough and had pancake races in the playground. In the afternoon we had our own pancakes and the children enjoyed the lemon juice and syrup toppings. Now, with some rather sticky fingers, we really are ready for Lent! Happy Pancake Day! Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Reception Trip to Catford Library

On 13th February, as part of our Once Upon a Time topic, the Reception children, and many of their parents, visited Catford Library.

It was great fun travelling upstairs on the 54 bus and looking out for the local landmarks. When we arrived at the library, each of the children chose a book to borrow for the classroom and then Max, the Librarian, told the children all about the benefits of joining the library and he read them a story.

We all had a wonderful time. Thank you to the many parents who supported us. It would be impossible to provide these experiences without your support.

Dare to be Brave!

The Reception children are becoming more and more confident using the apparatus during PE. They are developing strength, co-ordination and balance, along with their willingness to ‘have a go’.

What better time to ‘have a go’ than during our Dare to be Brave Week. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

The Year of the Rat

Welcome to the Year of the Rat! The Reception children enjoyed celebrating this wonderful festival. They have been creating lanterns, fans and dragons. They made kites and flew them on a windy day in the playground. They cooked a healthy vegetable noodle soup which they ate using chopsticks. They also made two beautiful dragons and to finish off the celebrations they all took part in a dragon dance through the school, drumming on their drums and dancing with their dragons. What a fabulous time they had. Happy New Year or, as they say in China, Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Keeping Warm with Hot Chocolate

The Reception children have been talking about how we keep warm in winter. They wanted to make hot chocolate. What a fabulous idea!

Introducing Barnaby Bear

Christmas in Reception

The Reception Class children very much enjoyed decorating the classroom and preparing for Christmas. They each had an Advent friend and together they compiled an Advent Calendar with Acts of Kindness for each day of Advent. They enjoyed taking part as twinkling stars in “Angel Express”, alongside KS1. They all brought in items of food and made jelly for our Christmas Party. Little did they know that Father Christmas was going to make a special guest appearance. They were delighted to meet Father Christmas and very pleased that he brought presents. Merry Christmas Everybody and a Happy New Year!!!

Diwali 2019

Reception class have been celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali. The children have been learning the story of Rama and Sita and the battle with the ten-headed evil king Ravannah.

As part of the celebrations, the children have made Diva lamps, to light the way home for Rama and Sita; they made Rangoli patterns, to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi who brings wealth and happiness; and they made Diwali sweets, which Hindu families share at this special time. What a lovely week it has been. There has been lots of music and dancing. To end the celebrations, we had a special circle time when the children had Bhindis on their foreheads and a quiet time of meditation.

We were very lucky to have an older brother from secondary school who came in to lend a hand. Thank you for helping us.

Have a look at our photos.

Fabulous Fruit Kebabs

Reception Class children had a fantastic time making healthy fruit kebabs to celebrate the end of our first half term at school.

The children chose the fruits that they liked best and chopped them down to size.

We were so lucky to have a helpful parent to come and support us in making our delicious fruity treats. Thank you for coming in to help us.

Scroll down to see our photos.

The End of the Summer Term

The weather was very hot for the last two weeks of the Summer term. We had a wonderful Teddy Bears’ Picnic in Beckenham Place Park when the sun shone brightly. It was also sunny the following day for our Sports Day. The children tried lots of different sports and then cooled off with a nice ice cream. You can click on the thumbnail pictures to make them bigger.

The children enjoyed treats, party games and dancing for our end of term party.

On the last day of term, we harvested our potatoes and ate them boiled with butter. The Reception children didn’t even know they liked boiled potatoes – but when they are home grown, they are the tastiest potatoes there are.

Thank you parents for all your support this year – for coming on our trips, practising the phonics and reading regularly with your children. Have a wonderful summer holiday.

Posting our letters home

The children have been writing letters home. On Tuesday we went off to the postbox in Blacklands Road to post the letters. It was a good opportunity to explore our local area.

A good start to Summer

What a busy week the children in Reception have had as they returned to school for the Summer term.  We have had lovely warm days and windy wet days.  The children learned about St George and made flags. They are also very much enjoying our transport topic.  This week we were reading stories about trains.  They had a lot of fun building their own trains and some buses too.  Next week we will be reading stories about buses and learning about the different types of vehicle that use our roads.  We will also be talking about our local environment and what we see on the way to school.  The children talked about the beautiful pink trees that are around us at the moment and they painted pictures.  They also planted potatoes and beans in the garden and will do some more planting next week.