The children have been learning about the Easter story. We recalled celebrating the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day and then had to think about him as a grown man 33 years later. Jesus encouraged everyone he met to choose kindness but some people encouraged others to make bad choices. After Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday, many of his followers felt sad as they moved his body to a cave. A miracle happened, though, as Jesus came back to life on Easter Sunday. Celebrations of Easter centre around new life and the egg is symbolic of new life.

We made nests for our chocolate eggs and the children wrote down instructions so that they can make the delicious treats again. We noticed that the chocolate and butter were solid until we warmed them up. Then they became a liquid that would coat our cornflakes. The nests solidified when we cooled them in the fridge.

Eggs and bunnies have been the focus of our Easter crafts. We have used scissors and torn paper for our Easter cards, created a mechanism with split pins for our cracking eggs and used a stapler (under supervision) for joining ears onto our bunnies.

We wish all of our families a peaceful and restful Easter break.

As part of our Journeys topic, we have been exploring why animals migrate. We talked about how animals, just like people, need food, safe places to live, and the right kind of weather. When these things change during the year, some animals travel to new (and sometimes very distant) places, where it is easier to find what they need. We looked at a few different animals over the course of the week.

Butterflies

Butterflies need warm weather and lots of flowers for nectar. So, when the seasons change and flowers disappear, butterflies move to places where food is easier to find. The children were amazed to learn that such small insects can travel so far using their wings and the sun to guide them.

Zebras

Zebras migrate across the plains of Africa to find fresh grass and water. When the grass in one area is eaten or dries up, the zebras travel on together in herds to new places, where the grass is fresh and tasty.

Geese

Geese fly long distances in a V-shape formation to warmer places during winter. Flying together like this helps the geese save energy and stay together as a group. The children loved honking just like the geese, encouraging their friends to keep going. When the weather becomes warmer again, the geese travel back to the places where they build nests and raise their chicks.

Humpback whales

These huge ocean animals travel thousands of miles each year between cold and warm waters. In colder waters, humpback whales can find plenty of food like tiny sea creatures. When it is time to have their babies, they swim to warmer oceans, where their calves can be born and grow safely.

Through learning about butterflies, zebras, geese, and humpback whales, the children have started to understand that migration happens in many different environments: in the sky, on land and in the ocean. Even though these animals are very different from one another, they migrate for similar reasons: to find food, to stay safe, and to care for their young.

Migration shows us just how clever and adaptable animals can be as they travel across our amazing planet.

We use our five senses to explore the world around us.

When we look and when we see, we use our eyes.

On our walk around the school grounds, we noticed lots of signs of Spring: velvety buds on our class tree, proud yellow daffodils, a clear blue sky and some wriggling minibeasts.

When we listen and when we hear, we use our ears.

Thinking back to Bird Week, we identified the calls of some feathered friends. Arlo definitely has a career in ornithology if he wants one: he was brilliant! We also made instruments in the DT workshop.

When we eat and when we taste, we use our tongue.

Definitely our favourite sense, we enjoyed tasting sour lemon, bitter chocolate, sweet raisins and salty crisps. Can the children tell you which part of their tongue will taste sweet, bitter, sour and salty flavours?

When we sniff and when we smell, we use our nose.

We discussed how important our noses are for keeping us safe. If we smell smoke, we know that we need to move to safety. Sour milk warns us against drinking it. You can see from the photos that some of the smelling bags – garlic and coffee – evoked a certain degree of repulsion! Most of us liked the washing powder though.

When we touch and when we feel, we use our skin.

We dared to dip our hands into the feely box to try and identify the objects in there. Were they bumpy, smooth, rough, soft, hard, furry? Again, we considered how our senses keep us safe; we drop objects, that feel hot, so they do not damage our skin.

Please encourage the children to talk about their senses over the weekend and to consider how the senses often work together to deepen our experiences.

A map is a special picture that shows us where things are. It’s like a treasure map, but instead of treasure, it shows places – like our home, the park, or the shops. It helps us know where we are going so we don’t get lost. The little lines and shapes tell us how to get from one place to another.

On Wednesday, we followed a picture map around school. Can the children recall what they noticed on our journey and where we ended up?

Happy Mother’s Day

We are thankful to our mums and to everyone else who helps us at home. Can any of you mums spot yourself amongst the portraits that the children drew this week?

This week, we have been learning about churches. We discovered that a church is a place where Christians come to worship. Christians are people who believe in the religion, Christianity. There are lots of different types of churches all over the world: some new and some old.

Christian worship involves praising and thanking God. There are lots of ways Christians worship God: through music, songs or hymns; reading from The Bible; saying prayers; listening to sermons. Church services can be different depending on the church and the type of service.

We visited St. John’s Church, where Rev. Sharon encouraged us to go on a hunt for lots of objects. Can the children recall what they discovered by looking at these photos? Who sits in the pews? Who does the chair belong to? What are the numbers for? Where does the water in the font come from? Why are there pictures in stained glass windows?

Look at our own stained glass windows, which required us to cut carefully and tear tissue paper into correctly-sized pieces.

We also built our own model of the church.

Thank you to the parents, who were able to join us for our trip.

Traditional Tales are very old stories, that have been told and retold for many, many years. These stories were spoken long before they were written down and made into books. They are stories that almost everybody knows. Characters often make very good choices or very unwise choices. They often begin with ‘Once upon a time’ and end with ‘They all lived happily ever after’…’The end’.

Our Talk for Writing text this half term is the traditional tale: ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. We discovered that, even as a class, we know lots of different versions of the story. Often it rests on just how gory an ending we want for the Big Bad Wolf!

We have started to learn the model text. How much of the story imitation can the children recall by looking at the pictures? Please encourage them to include the actions.

Look at our gorgeous drawings of Little Red.

This week we have been learning about Lunar New Year. We started by looking at the places in the world where many people celebrate Lunar New Year. We discovered that Lunar New Year is a celebration of a new moon every Spring. Families prepare by cleaning the house before putting up decorations: lots of red for luck and flowers as a reminder of Spring. On the morning of Lunar New Year, new clothes are worn to recognise the fresh start and children are given red envelopes containing money. Lanterns are made to symbolise the brightness of Spring and people offer good luck messages. Feasts with eight or nine (lucky numbers!) dishes are eaten. Families then go outside to watch the dragon parade and dancing. After the parade, there are firecrackers to deter bad spirits. Each year is named after an animal. I wonder if the children can recall why this is? This year will be year of the horse.

Thank you so much to Audrey’s parents and to Mrs Bentley for talking to the children about how they celebrate Lunar New Year.

Have a super half term break everyone.

The National Literacy Trust encourages us to celebrate the magic of stories and the many ways that stories support children in their exploration of language, imagination and the world around them. The Trust reminds us that, “Storytelling doesn’t need to begin with a book, it can grow from a sound, a question, a walk in the garden or even a wriggly worm making its way through the soil”.

We discovered from poet, Simon Mole, that hungry birds stamp their feet on the ground to trick worms into thinking that it is raining so that they emerge from the soil, only to be gobbled up!

We used our bodies as percussion and concentrated hard to try and keep to the beat that Simon Mole and his musician friend, Gecko, taught us. Here is the link to the singalong so the children can show you at home.

Some of us chose to brave the chilly weather and dig for worms with Mrs Shazedi and then we talked about what our new friends looked like and how they moved.

In PE on Wednesday, we woke up and stretched like a worm, wriggled and squirmed through the soil, pushed and pulled hard as the ground became firmer, curled into a small ball to fit through a tunnel, jumped over puddles, balanced on a bumpy log, froze when birds came overhead and rolled down the hill home. Tired, at last, the worms curled up and rested, breathing slowly.

On Friday, the worm in our own storytelling session – Wil (Wilma/Wilbur) – thought that earth tasted disgusting so went in pursuit of tastier alternatives. Can the children tell you which foods their worm did and did not enjoy?

We discovered that all birds: have feathers; lay eggs; have a beak instead of teeth and have wings (but not all birds fly). After enjoying the book, ‘A Busy Day for Birds’ by Lucy Cousins, we went on our own birdwatch around the school grounds. Some children even brought in their own binoculars and books about birds later in the week. Can the children recall which birds they spotted or heard?

The children made cake for the birds, who visit our class apple tree, and then had a go at writing simple instructions to help them remember what to do next time. Some of us have been introduced to the magic pencil: it helps us to check our writing for capital letters and full stops.

We have also enjoyed playing bird bingo and creating a sliding mechanism so our birds can move towards each other.

Today, we met firefighter Dan and his bright red fire engine. Moosa flicked on the secret button and the blue lights started to flash. We discovered that the long ladder helps Dan and his friends climb up tall buildings. We noticed that his trousers were attached to his boots, which makes them faster to put on in an emergency. His helmet has a strong visor to protect his eyes and face. He explained that, as well as rescuing people from fires, firefighters also rescue people when they are trapped in cars. Can the children show you which piece of equipment is used for opening cars up?

Little Feet

Courtney joined us with her Elmer puppet to introduce us to the Little Feet initiative, which is designed to encourage us to walk and wheel more often. Courtney posed the question of why it is good to move our feet. “It gives us exercise.” Well done, Evie! We showed Elmer our muscles and talked about how, as well as being good for our bodies and minds to start the day with a walk, cycle or scoot, it is also good for the environment: reducing smelly pollution near school. Elmer loves to walk to school as it gives him the opportunity to notice the nature all around him. Courtney encouraged us to take care when we come across roads on our walk to school: we should stop, look both ways and listen for traffic before we cross. We need to think, ‘Is it safe?’. Which Reception class will make the biggest effort to walk or wheel to school and fill their sticker chart first, completing the Little Feet mission?