Home Classes Welcome to reception - oak and maple classes

Welcome to Reception - Oak and Maple classes

Miss Richford and Mrs Cooper would like to welcome all children and their families to Sandown School.

We acknowledge that starting school can be an exciting but also an anxious time for both children and their parents and carers. Therefore, we work hard to ensure that all families have a smooth transition from Nursery into Reception. We begin this in July with communication with nurseries, home visits, Teddy Bears Picnics and inviting all parents and carers to Class Dojo. When the school year begins in September, we focus on the children being happy and settled above all. We truly believe that happy, settled children become motivated, independent learners.

We are also very lucky to have two Nurture Teaching Assistants, who run Sandown Seagulls, Mrs Groves and Miss Blackman and a Speech and Language Teaching Assistant, who works closely with the children.

Term 1

Let’s Explore

What a fantastic start to Reception! The children have settled in well to their first term at school. We have done a lot of exciting things this term! The children have begun their phonics journey and are enjoying learning lots of new sounds. They have also been learning to read and represent numbers. In the Let’s Explore project, the children explored their classroom and school grounds to help them feel settled and happy in their new surroundings. We also learnt about the local environment and found out about places the children have visited on holiday. The children enjoyed looking at and creating maps for journeys. We ended the term with a trip to explore our local area. Our journey ended at Christ Church Ore, where we met Rachel, who told us about the church and why it is a special place for Christians. Thank you to all the parents for their support in their child’s first term at school.

Term 2

Marvellous Machines

This term in Reception, we have been learning about technology, how it is part of our daily lives and how machines can help us. We started the term making smoothies using a blender and explored other machines that make our lives easier, such as hoovers, calculators, telephones, and robots. The children built their own circuits and had the opportunity to tinker with the inside of some machines. To consolidate the learning, we designed, built and created our own marvellous machines, which we showcased to the other Reception class at our Marvellous Invention Convention. We had a very exciting visit from the local fire service exploring their fire engine, uniform and equipment. We ended the term with a visit from Father Christmas, a Christmas dinner and our spectacular nativity performance of ‘The Twinkly Nativity’. We certainly have some stars in the making.

Term 3

Long Ago

This term, we have been exploring the topic ‘Long Ago’. We began the term by taking an adventure to the Sandown Museum, where we looked at objects from long ago and compared them to the ones we use today.

As well as looking at how objects and places have changed over time, we also looked at how the children have changed from babies to now and how they will change in the future. We were lucky enough to have a visit from a mother and their baby, where we learnt more about what babies can do and how they change as they grow. During the term, we looked at old toys and discussed how people used to make their own toys, food and clothes. We even made our own peg dolls.

At the end of the term, we invited our grandparents into school. We asked them a lot of questions, and they talked to us about what life was like for them as children and in school. They also taught us how to play some traditional games.

Term 4

Ready, Steady, Grow

This term we have been learning about food and farming by exploring where food comes from, what plants and animals need to grow and how to keep ourselves healthy. We started the term with an adventure to The Hastings Country Park, where we went on a walk to see and learn about the food sources in the area and where they come from.

Throughout the term, we have been creating our own pictures of plants, fruits, vegetables and animals, thinking carefully about which parts are required.

We have enjoyed trying new foods and preparing food to eat, following instructions and recipes. We have made a fruit salad and butter.

We have been exploring our Sandown gardens with Kathryn, our school gardener, looking at spring flowers, planting bean seeds, strawberry plants, and potatoes, and cutting off the tops of root vegetables to grow the scraps.

We also celebrated World Book Day and Science Week this term. On World Book Day, we dressed up as our favourite book characters, got ready for a story, and spent the day sharing lots of books, creating our own Elmer the elephant, and recommending books for others to read.

The focus for Science Week this year was ‘Curiosity: What’s Your Question?’. Over the week, we became curious by asking questions as we explored bubbles and growing seeds in different temperatures and conditions. We also enjoyed a visit from Nicole from Glow Inspire, where we were immersed in stories through Science. At the end of the week, we went to a STEM-related Career Café.

At the end of the term, our parents joined us to find out what we had been learning and to plant sunflower seeds to take home and take care of.

Term 5

This term, Reception went on an ‘Animal Safari’. The children learned about animals that live around the world. They started the term by learning how to care for pets and what all animals need to grow, survive and stay happy and healthy.

The children learned about animal features and practised sketching them, remembering to include all their features. They explored various animal habitats and compared the animals that live across the globe with animals that live here in the UK. how they survive in the wild as well as comparing how animals are similar or different. They learned how to look after animals and the importance of caring for our local and global environments.

Welcome to Reception - Oak and Maple classes

Terms 1 & 2

Terms 3 & 4

Term 3

Terms 5 & 6

Term 5