Loving our first year in school!
2018-19
Hello and welcome to Reception. Keep up to date with what is going on here.
The Gruffalo
We have been learning about the Gruffalo in Reception. We have enjoyed reading the story.
We created our own pictures of the Gruffalo by painting and using different mediums. Here are some of our creations:
The children have been exploring capacity, by pouring and filling different sized containers with Gruffalo tea.
Reception at Christmas
The reindeer came!!!
Here we are preparing for our wonderful Nativity play.
We had a wonderful time at our Christmas party.
We made snowmen cards.
We explored the snow and ice, it was freezing!!
Kindness Day UK
On Tuesday, Reception took park in Kindness Day UK. We looked for our friends that were being kind to us and rewarded them with a ‘smile’. We watched ‘What’s the Big Idea?’ which helped us to think of ways that we could be kind to each other.
We were rewarded with a certificate to show that we were kind and became members of the ‘Kindness Club’.
We have been artistic in Reception, celebrating bonfire night. Here are some of our firework pictures, which we have created by experimenting with different mediums.
We had a spooktacular ’24 Hours in Halloween’ in Reception. We dressed in some scary costumes, read witch stories, made Halloween pictures, got sticky in Halloween jelly, scooped out a pumpkin and had lots of Halloween fun. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to:
Funky Fingers
In Reception we have taken part in lots of activities to develop our fine and gross motor skills. These will help us to build our strength to become fantastic writers. Here are some photographs of what we have been up to:
Our First Week Full-Time
The Reception children have made a wonderful start to their schooling here at Sandylands. Here are some photographs of what we have been up to:
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2017-18
Saving Water
While the country has been basking in the heatwave. Reception have been considering the effects that it has been having on our water. The children designed posters to inform people to take short showers and avoid having baths. They also thought about the animals as they need water to live!
Art of the Term – Oil Pastels
This term in Reception we have been using oil pastels to create pictures. We looked at work from real artists and used these to inspire our own creations. Here is some of our artwork:
A Day at Greenlands Farm
We had a wonderful day at Greenlands Farm. We met lots of different animals from lambs to snakes, cows to mice and even a grumpy emu! The children stroked, held and fed the animals, it was a wonderful experience.
Philosophy on the Field
We had a brilliant morning with Gina who led special activities of Philosophy for Children on the school field with us. First we had a parachute game where we listened and changed places with each other. We then worked as a class team to keep the inflatable globe on the parachute.
Next we searched the field for objects deciding if we thought the objects we found should be on the field or shouldn’t be there. We explained our ideas and were surprised to find out how different children had different ideas.
Finally we worked in pairs to make dens for a little monster. It was fantastic how the children listened to each other and made structures using different things found on the field.
Here is our latest Reading Lighthouse, telling you all about what books we will be reading this half term and related acivities.
Reading Lighthouse – Sum 1
Malawi
As part of 24 Hours Around the World, Reception looked at the African country of Malawi. We looked at pictures from a school in Malawi, looking at how the children are the same and different from ourselves. We made pictures and painted the flag of Malawi.
We had an interesting talk about Lions as parts of our P4C. We watched a video of how a lion hunts a zebra and asked the question ‘Is it okay for a Lion to hunt a Zebra?’ The children placed their name alongside an answer and here are our some of the reasons for our answers.
Watercolour Painting Competition
Reception took part in the School Parliament Watercolour Painting challenge. The children all painted a picture using the watercolours. We then looked at each others painting choosing a favourite.
Here are our winners:
Well done to all the children for their brilliant paintings.
Babies
Today (6th March) we had a visit from baby Sophia. Sophia came in and we learned all the things that babies can and can’t do. Now we know how to look after the babies in our home corner!
World Book Day
The children loved dressing up as their favourite characters and reading their favourite stories.
Snow Day
It’s often we get snow, so when we do in Reception we love to explore and experience it. Here are some pictures of our snowy morning:
And then we warmed ourselves up with some hot chocolate.
Click below to read about Reading for this half term in Reception:
Reading Lighthouse – Spring 1
SUPERHEROES
What an exciting few weeks we have had in Reception. First our role play area was damaged:
We then wrote Police reports to inform the police of the damage.
We then received e-mails from Nick Fury the boss of the Superheroes to tell us that it was the Hulk who had caused the damage. We made hulk pictures and wrote sentences to tell the world that Hulk was missing.
The children became Superheroes of their own by making costumes.
We loved reading the story of Supertato. We learnt all about how healthy fruit and vegetables are. We made our own fruit smoothies and vegetable soup. Here are some of the super veg we created:
‘My Dad’
ROB enjoyed reading the story, ‘My Dad’ where it talks about all the things that the person’s Dad is good at. We then shared stories with ecah other about what our Mum’s and Dad’s are good at. Lots of the parents are good at fixing things, playing football and helping take us to swimming. It allowed children to think carefully about their own families as well as listen to the thoughts of others.
24 Hours in Science
Reception were fantastic scientists today. We looked at how we can make ice melt, finding things that were magnetic and non-magnetic, learnt how cars travel down a ramp, explored shadows and we even made toast and crispy cakes observing the changes! What a fun packed day! 
Winter Wonderland
Reception has been transformed into our Winter Wonderland thanks to ‘Red Batman’ the Elf and his little friends.
The children were welcomed to school today by our special Reindeer and a snow storm. It was magical!
The children can explore the Gruffalo cave but watch out what could be sleeping inside. While our construction area has been transformed into a toy workshop ready for all the toys to be made for lucky boys and girls.
The children showed their creativity in making snowmen. They selected different materials to make and decorate their winter snowmen.
Children in Need
The Reception and Nursery Children in Need was a great success. We raised £85.25 from dressing up in spotty clothes and our cake sale. Thank you for your cake donations and generous contributions.
24 Hours in Remembrance
On Friday 10th November, we had a special 24 hours in Remembrance where we thought about all the soldiers that help to keep us safe. We took part in a 2 minute silence, watched a video from the Cenotaph of poppy wreaths being laid and made our own poppies.
Fly A Kite
In Reception we are not put off by the weather. We used the heavy winds on Tuesday (17th Oct) to make and fly kites. We experimented wtih different ways of making the kites to make them fly successfully.
The Park
What an exciting time we had on our very first school trip!
We visited Williamson Park where we collected signs of autumn, climbed the hills and found some muddy puddles. We even saw some wildlife including creepy crawlies, birds and even a fast squirrel!
Reading and Phonics
We are introducing our first group of letter sounds. These are
WB 18.9.17: s, a, t, p
WB 25.9.17: i, n, m, d
WB 2.10.17: g o c k ck
WB 9.10.17: e u r
WB 16.10.17: h b f l
WB 23.10.17: ff ll ss
In Reception we not only want to develop readers but a love of reading. Each week your child will bring home 3 books to share and enjoy. Read each book many times through the week so that it becomes familiar to your child and they feel like they can read it themselves!
Don’t forget there are always our online Reading Bug scheme.
Any questions please see a member of staff.
2016-17
Summer Festival Day
What a fun day we have had at our Summer Festival Day. We made pizzas, had our faces painted, splatter painted, made tie dye headscarves, danced as cheerleaders and put on shows on our ‘Main Stage’. Here are some of the pictures from our exciting day.
Click below on our Newsletter to find out about key dates in Reception for the last few weeks of the school year.
Reception Newsletter
A Fantastic Day at Greenlands Farm
We had a wonderful trip to Greenlands Farm. The children loved seeing all the animals, petting them, brushing them and feeding the animals. We met a range of different animals, from pigs to goats, a corn snake and a rather friendly Turkey.
The children loved asking questions to find out more information about the animals. For many it was the first time they had been on a coach and we even had a picnic lunch (with a few friendly animals nearby).
The children all want to go on a trip everyday!
Down at the bottom of the Garden
We have taken advantage of the glorious spring weather by exploring in our Early Years garden.
We have planted our bean plants and prepared our planters ready for some vegatables .
The children have loved getting dirty, moving logs and stones to see what mini-beasts they could find.
International Day of Dance
As part of International Day of Dance we learnt some ballet, tap and modern dancing.
We were lucky enough to be shown an amazing ballet dance by Miss Chloe, a real life dancer! Mrs Dixon even dusted off her tap shoes to show us what to do. The children loved it and couldn’t wait to join in and learn how to dance too. The girls loved acting like fairies, while the boys were strong and tough showing their big muscles.
Animal Care
On Thursday (27.4) we were joined in school by Michael from Animal Care. He talked to us about the brilliant job that they do to look after animals. He even brought in one of their rescue dogs ‘Buddy’ for us to meet.
Morecambe Football
Every Friday morning sports coaches from Morecambe Football club will be coming into Reception to work with the children. They will be helping develop our physical core skills, as well as our teamwork and problem solving. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to:
21.4.17
24 Hours in St Patrick’s Day
Today in Reception we celebrated all things Irish in our 24 hours in St Patrick.
We made soda bread, wrote our wishes at the end of the rainbow, made shamrock hats and even took part in some Irish dancing.
Marvellous Morecambe
We have been making panakes, learning the recipe and ingredients as well as how to be safe around a hot pan.
We have loved looking at our houses on ‘Google Maps’. It helped us to remember the special number that our house has and it’s special road or street name.We even found our Reception bulding!
The Superheroes have arrived!
Reception is being taken over by a band of brave superheroes with a mission to protect us!
We have been completing Superhero challenges, here is a selection of our wonderful indepedent writing.
We have been painting and drawing our favourite Superheroes, here is our gallery.
Our story corner has been transformed into our ‘Hero Area’.
While we can read all about the adventures of our favourite superheroes in our comic area.
We have been making our own Superhero costumes using material and our creative skills.
Phonics
We are becoming increasingly confident with our reading. We are now learning our Phase 3 letter sounds.
Week Begnning: 9.1.17: sh, ch, th, ng
Christmas in Reception.
What a fun learning filled Christmas it has been in Reception.
We showed our growing confidence in speaking and singing aloud when performing to packed houses for our ‘Little Nativity’. DVD’s are still available if you have not got one yet!
We helped Santa’s Elf ‘Sandy’ by completing missions sent by him and Santa.
The children took on the roles of Elves in the workshop, designing and making toys for some lucky boys and girls.
We wrote our letters for Santa to tell him what we wanted this year.
We created our own Snowmen and compared their sizes, talking about the ‘tallest’ and ‘shortest’.
Everyday we completed a new writing challenge from our Disney Advent Calender, from writing the name of our best friend to thinking of a way to stop Olaf from melting!
Bella wanted ‘Elf Power’ as a new power. Troy’s favoutite song was ‘Go Go Power Rangers’. Jennifer’s best friend was Reginald.
Our Santa’s Workshop has been a real hit with the boys and girls. They have been making lots of model toys to help the Elves.
A mysterious elf has arrived from the North Pole on a mission from Santa to check we are all being good boys and girls. The elf (along with a few of his elf friends) has helped decorate the building and has been up to all sorts of different things from losing Santa’s Christmas letters to mixing up the numbers.
Keep checking to see what the elf has been up to next.
Our Disney friends have left us a different challenge behind each door of our advent calendar. We have had to write down the name our best friend for Timon and Pumba, think of a present for Elsa and build a new house for Rapunzel.
Nativity
The children have been busy learning songs for our Nativity performances on Tuesday 20th December. Tickets are now available, so come along and join in the Christmas spirit.
Even though it was a bit chilly we had a great ‘Get Active Day’ on Friday 25th November.
We took part in lots of games using our sports equipment outside: balancing, running, football, catch, bat a ball, parachute play and crawling to name a few. Inside we learned how to make animal shapes with our bodies through yoga for children and responding to music too. Hopefully your child was not too tired to enjoy themselves this weekend!
Can you spot the flamingo?
Balancing bonanza!
Working together.
On Thursday 1st December we will be having 24 Hours in Bedtime. Children can come to school dressed in their bedtime clothes (pyjamas, slippers) and bring with them their favourite bedtime story and teddy!
We love reading in Reception, here is our reading lighthouse for our ‘Night Time’ theme.
Find below our ‘Learning in Reception’ newsletter for November:
World Values Day
In Reception we have been thinking about how we can be ‘gentle’ towards our friends, showing how in Reception we value each other. Our friend ‘Zelda the Zebra’ has been watching out for children who are gentle and rewarding them with a special sticker.
Phonics
We have started learning our first phonemes (letter sounds).
We have learnt:
s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r,
Week Beg 17.10.16: h, b, f, l
You can help your child by asking your child about the letter sound, thinking of words that begin with each sound and finding the letters in their reading books.
PE
We are starting our PE lessons, can you please ensure that your child has a PE kit in school and that all items are named so that it is easy to return to the correct child.
You can help your child by encouraging them to change independently at home.
Autumn
We have been learning all about Autumn. We have been looking carefully at how the leaves change colour and fall from the trees.
You can help your child by looking for signs of autumn in the world around us.
Our Favourite Stories
We have been learning our favourite stories ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood,’ telling the stories and dressing up as our favourite characters.
You can help your child by reading your favourite stories at home.
Reading Meeting
Thanks to all those that attended our recent reading meeting. It was great to see so many faces. Phonics packs are being produced for those parents that were unfortunately unable to attend.
The children have been receiving their first home reading books. These books are either picture books or ones that have simple text. These books are perfect for developing reading behavour such as turning the pages, finding pictures and words and developing the language of stories. Every child will receive 3 books a week to read and share at home. We are trying to develop reading enjoyment and fluency so read each book as many times as you like. If there is a book that your child loves let us know and we can help to choose similar books in the future!
2015-16
Storm Hunting
This morning we have been listening to the thunder and looking for lightning.
While inside, we made our own cosy storm shelter to share our favourite stories.
24 Hours In America
To celebrate American Independence Day, Reception held a special 24 Hours in America. The children learned about the American flag, the different buildings, took part in some American sports and of course loved all things Disney.
Our Trip to Greenlands Farm
What a wonderful day we had at Greenlands Farm. We met many animals, holding them and feeding them. We nearly shared our lunch with 2 emus, was followed around by Sage the Turkey and was charged at by a ram.
48 Hours in Science
We started our final half term in Reception with a special 2 days dedicated to science. We had great fun exploring and demonstrating our understanding about the world around us.
We learned about how things change, testing how long it took our ice pops to freeze, how chocolate melted to make our crispy cakes and how bread changed in the toaster.
We tested which things were magnetic and non-magnetic.
We explored how our shadows were formed and drew around our friends shadows.
We loved exploring the water, testing what floated and what sunk.
Exploring in the Garden
We had great fun exploring in the garden.
We loved finding wildlife. We found worms, woodlice, spiders, snails and even 2 frogs!
Fun in the Sun
We had great fun playing and learning in the sun.
We loved creating stories when dressing up.
We showed our brilliant teamwork when playing in the water.
We loved exploring the soil, getting a little dirty!
Let’s hope for more sunny days!
Castles
What an exciting morning we had as we travelled on the train to visit Lancaster Castle and the Priory Church.
We have started learning all about Castles. We have helped to design and build our very own Castle in Reception.
Jack and the Beanstalk Maths Week
This week in Reception (29th March) we have been set a big challenge. We received a letter from Jack to inform us that despite popular belief it was his mum that chopped the beanstalk down and as a result he is stuck in the Giant’s Kingdom. Our challenge is to make our own beanstalk to rescue Jack. We will be doing this by completing challenges set by the Golden Goose. For every challenge we complete we will win a leaf to add to the beanstalk.
Day 1
The children completed challenges such as sorting different magic beans, counting beans and matching number egg shells. Our Beanstalk is really starting to grow.
Day 2
The beanstalk continued to grow thanks to our challenges. We counted how many pots we could fill with soil in a minute. We sorted the golden nuggets, putting the numbers in order. We guessed what Jack had stolen from the Giant and we used Giant tweezers to pick up beans.
Day 3
A box arrived and we had to guess what Jack had stolen from the Giant. Lucy correctly guessed it was a hammer, well done Lucy. We loved weighing the Golden egg, finding things that are heavier and lighter. We earned lots of leaves for our Beanstalk!
Day 4
We did it! We earned our final leaves to complete our beanstalk.
Jack succesfully climbed down the Beanstalk leaving us a letter to say thank you for rescuing him from the Giant’s Kingdom.
He left us a treat to say thank you. Mr O’Beirne and the children were very excited!
Once Upon a Time
This term we are retelling our favourite traditional stories.
The 3 Little Pigs
We loved the story of the 3 Little Pigs so much, we are dressing up as them and building our own houses to keep us safe from that nasty Wolf!
We loved walking around our local area, noticing the different houses.
We showed our artistic side by creating houses from our old rubbish!
Red Riding Hood
Our role play area was transformed into ‘Grandma’s Cottage’ and the ‘Deep Dark Wood’ where you might spot a wolf!
The children enjoyed talking about their families, showing photographs and painting what they are look like.
Harvey the Magician
On Tuesday 2nd February we were visited by Harvey the Magician. We had a fantastic experience learning all about how to stay healthy and joining in with his magic tricks.
Cake Sale
Many thanks for your brilliant support with our cake sale. Thanks for your fantastic support we raised over £70. This has allowed us to adopt a polar bear and a snow leopard through the charity WWF.
Library
Each Friday morning there will be a library for children from Reception and Nursery. This is an exciting opportunity to come and borrow a book from our library to share with your child at home. The library will be open every Friday morning before school from 8.40-8.50 in our new Community Hub building. The Early Years family support team will also be on hand.
Spring Term
This half term in Reception we are getting all wrapped up warm so we can learn all about our ‘Frozen Planet’. We have been visited by ‘Chick’ a young penguin who has lost his Daddy, we are going to try to help him find his way home.
We were shocked to hear that the ice is melting and it is now hard for Polar Bears to find food. We are hoping to raise money to sponsor a Polar Bear and help keep them safe.
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