Reception- Dinosaurs

This half term has been very exciting in Reception, as our chicken eggs were delivered to school. In Reception, we all agreed to look after the eggs and care for them until they hatch and grow up a little before moving to our chicken coop outside. The children took an active role in learning the life cycle of a hen and created their own life cycle using different materials.  All of these chicks will become a part of our Clapgate family and we are excited to continue watching them grow.

Another learning topic that has sparked the children’s curiosity has been dinosaurs. They have not only learnt about different dinosaurs and their diets but have also demonstrated a deep understanding. They learnt that carnivores have sharp teeth in order to only eat meat and that herbivores have softer and blunter teeth to help them chew plants and leaves. We also learnt that omnivores mean they eat both.

We also learnt about human diets. We learnt about our diets as humans and discussed some people are vegetarians like herbivores and some are omnivores and eat both. We also discussed if we were carnivores we would feel sick eating meat all day.

In literacy, the children had the opportunity to be exposed to writing in a fun and interactive way through ‘Drawing Club’, which ‘opens up the magic world of tales and story to children whilst at the same time enriching their language skills, developing their fine motor and sharing really special time with them’. Drawing club, as the name suggests, starts with a drawing focussed on the character, setting or event. Then, through focused writing practice, children learn the joy of writing, using phonics and the conventions of a sentence. This half term we focused more on non-fiction texts. The children learnt how to draw dinosaurs and write facts about them.

To end our learning of dinosaurs, we were visited by Teach Rex. Teach Rex provides creative learning workshops with the power to ignite young minds and imaginations. This workshop is an interactive session, and it focusses on personal, social, and emotional development. Through effective questioning they explored different feelings and emotions with the children, while they get to know some impressive dinosaurs along the way.

What The Student Says

‘’ I loved the big T Rex. They are carnivores and eat meat.’’ RPC child

‘’ The chicks were so cute.’’ RAH child

‘’ An herbivore as blunt teeth to chew leaves.’’ RPC child

What knowledge and skills have been developed?

What have we learnt:

  • How to speak to unfamiliar adults to promote oracy
  • Key facts about Italian culture
  • Explored a kitchen, spoke to a chef, and tried home made pizza at an Italian restaurant
  • The life cycle of a hen
  • How to look after chicks
  • Focused on similarities and differences between dinosaurs features from the past and animals in the present
  • That dinosaurs have different diets- carnivores, omnivores and herbivores
  • Researched a well-known scientist- Mary Anning and her study of dinosaurs
  • Go on an archaeological dig to find fossils
  • Went pond dipping and created an observational drawing of what lives in that habitat
  • Created our own dinosaur fossil
  • Baked our own dinosaur biscuit, following a recipe
  • How to use a green screen in digital art
  • To use story maps to re tell a fairy tale
  • To use actions to retell a story

What the Teacher says

What a fantastic half-term this has been! We started off by looking after eggs, watching them hatch, and caring for them in their incubator until they were big enough to move into a pen. It was amazing to show the children a part of the life cycle.

This half-term, they have learnt about different habitats and animals. Another fun topic was dinosaurs. The children became fantastic palaeontologists and spent weeks researching dinosaur facts.

 It was incredible to see the Drawing Club's impact on the children's enjoyment of writing again this half term. All the children have progressed in phonics, which has improved their writing. They've been writing longer sentences this half term, and seeing independence in their writing has been amazing.

I am so proud of all the children and excited to see what the summer term brings.

-Miss Crowther, RPC Teacher

School Address:

Clapgate Primary School
10 Cranmore Drive
Belle Isle
Leeds
LS10 4AW

School Contacts:

Headteacher: Mrs Singleton
Deputy Headteacher: Miss Taylor
SENDCO: Mrs Lawton
Office: Mrs Austin, Miss Johnson, Mrs Belt and Miss Stamp
Chair of Governors: Mr Bache

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Tel: 0113 271 6700
Email: clapgate@clapgateprimaryschool.org

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