Summer Term 2025: Glorious Growth 

This half-term, our topic is ‘Glorious Growth’. We will find  some 'mysterious' seeds and will need to use our inquisitive minds to determine what the seeds are and what they might grow into. We will use information books, the internet, and our own knowledge of growth to help us find out more. Once we have found out that we have bean seeds, we will think about how to plant seeds and read Jasper’s Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth.  We will try to follow some of Jasper’s planting advice, but the boys and girls in Reception might not always agree with Jasper’s planting techniques and might have to sequence their ideas so that they can help Jasper to improve his planting techniques. We will plant our own beans and take care of them, making  sure that they have just the right amount of sunlight and water.  

Once our beanstalk starts to grow, we will begin  to read Jack and the Beanstalk.  We will let our imaginations run wild as we think about what new land might be at the top of our beanstalks. The boys and girls will use actions as they perform each part of the story, and this will help us to remember the story and be able to retell it to our friends and perform it to the other Reception classes.  

Spring Term 2 2025

Stomp Dinosaur Stomp!

 

This half-term, the  boys and girls have had the opportunity to observe our living eggs hatch into beautiful chicks. We looked after them for a little while and made sure they had everything they needed. When it was time to say goodbye to our chicks, so they could continue to grow in their new homes, we had another very 'egg-citing' discovery! An unusual egg was found in our playground, and it was like nothing we had ever seen before. We made predictions of what could be growing inside the egg and where it had come from. The boys and girls transformed into explorers and went hunting for clues. After a few days, we decided we needed some more help from an expert. We got in touch with a Palaeontologist who helped us take care of the egg until it was ready to hatch. One morning, we were filled with excitement as a small dinosaur had popped out of the egg overnight. The children shared their knowledge of dinosaurs with their friends as we researched the different types of dinosaurs and discussed what they looked like. Sadly, the dinosaur went missing, so the children decided to use their prior knowledge and create a missing poster to help find him. They wrote descriptive sentences using their segmenting fingers to help their spelling. We used our scientific knowledge to find out what our dinosaur likes to eat and left a tasty trail for him to come back to us.  Once our dinosaur had returned, we tried to make him feel safe and happy in the classroom by creating some of our own dinosaur friends for him and volcanoes for him to explore. The excitement didn't stop there because it was time for even more eggs, but this time in the form of chocolate eggs. The children learnt all about Easter and the symbolism of eggs during this celebration. 

Spring Term 1 2025

Naughty bus 

 

After the Christmas holiday, we came back to school to receive 2 presents left on our teacher’s chair. We opened them and found a little red bus and a book. What does this mean…? Who should we say ‘thank you’ to?  

The first few pages of the book taught us about a big city called London. We have looked at how this city is different from where we live in  Redditch and have compared the different landmarks. Lots of children have been very knowledgeable as they talk about landmarks in Redditch and have identified the water tower, Morton Stanley Park and The Vaynor First School.  

After receiving the little red bus, strange things start to happen in our  classrooms and things are not quite as they should be. As we read more, we discover that this book is about a ‘Naughty Bus’ and it’s been busy in our school! 

Watch this space!!!!!

 

Autumn Term 2024

We're Going on a Bear Hunt 

This half-term we will be using our prediction skills to find out what is living in our classrooms!

After half-term, we discovered a LARGE cave in our rooms, footprints leading to the cave and sticks and leaves scattered around the floor. We even heard strange growling sounds coming from underneath the cave. The children were very interested in finding out what it could be ... so we researched which animals live in caves, examined the footprints more carefully and looked closely at a small piece of fur. All the clues made us think it was a BEAR!!!

At first, we were a little bit scared but soon realised that this bear was very kind and friendly and enjoyed spending time in our rooms. We were just getting used to enjoying our new friendship and sharing stories together when the bear VANISHED! 

Where has the bear gone, and how can we find it? We have described the bear and are going to use this description to help us get it back. Please look around the local area and see if you can spot any clues which might lead to the safe return of our bear. 

The journey begins as Reception embarks upon a 'Bear Hunt' around The Vaynor First School. 

Watch this space! 

 

Our enquiry question: Is the bear trying to make friends with the family? 

 

Autumn 1: (September)

We have started school!

All the teachers would like to thank the new boys and girls of Reception 2024 for settling into Reception life so well. They have embraced new routines, friendships and classrooms with enthusiasm and a determination to achieve.

We have already started to recognise our names on our coat pegs, box files and reading folders so that we ensure we remember where to find our belongings. 

The children have devised their own class rules to keep our friends happy and safe. We are trying very hard to follow them and enjoy moving up the zone board for trying our best! 

Sharing books and Little Wandle books have gone home, and we are trying hard to get those 5 signatures a week (checked every Monday) so that we receive a stamp on our reading chart. Grown-ups don't forget to look carefully at the RED reading challenge letter and help us to keep our Vaynor reading promise. Sharing books are brought back into school and changed for a new one that day. Little Wandle books are brought back on a Monday and a new book will be given out on a Thursday.

Our fingers and thumbs have been working extremely hard, and we are trying to strengthen those muscles to help develop our pencil grip. We have enjoyed exploring the funky fingers table and using the playdough, threading, pencil control sheets and name writing activities. We are working towards our dynamic tripod grip by using our 'pinchy fingers'!

In Maths we are learning to develop subitising skills (saying how many objects are in a group without counting them). We are also developing our one to one correspondence skills, recognising numerals, ordering numbers, creating a repeating pattern and singing number songs and rhymes. 

Finally, we ask Walt the puppet what we are learning about each day. He is a little cheeky at times, but we all like getting to know him.

Here is a picture of Walt: 

Our Topic this term is: Marvellous Me!

We have been thinking hard about what makes us unique, and the teachers have already sent home the 'Marvellous Me' bag/box. Each child will have the opportunity to fill this with items that are special to them. We will all get a chance to explain and share why they are so important to us and display them in our classrooms. 

We have an Investigation Area in our classrooms and have been busy using our senses to explore what we look like and who we are. We have particularly enjoyed the smelling pots and using our sense of smell to guess what might be inside each pot. 

Soon it will be Walt's birthday and we are busy guessing how old he might be, making preparations for his party and thinking about our birthdays and how we will celebrate them. 

Our enquiry question is: Are we all the same?

We will be exploring our favourite things, our special people and our happy places. We will learn to understand that everyone is unique and has different special qualities. We will learn to tolerate and be interested in others as we settle into our new classrooms. 

 

Characteristics of Effective Learning in Reception

The characteristics of effective learning describe the behaviours we use in order to learn. 

At The Vaynor First School we use our 3 dinosaur puppets to support our learning.

We have the:

 Exploraptor

The Exploraptor helps us to play and explore

                                                                           Tryceratops

The Tryceratops helps us to try very hard and concentrate on our learning. 

Thinkosaurus

The Thinkosaurus helps us to think about our learning, have ideas and make connections.