Reception – Let’s Celebrate!

In Reception this half term, we have been learning about different celebrations. We started by learning about the Hindu festival of Diwali. We looked at how people celebrate the festival of lights and made our own rangoli patterns and Diva lamps. We also shared the story of ‘Rama and Sita’ and discussed how the first Divali came about!

We then looked at Bonfire Night and talked about fire safety. We were really lucky to get a visit from the local fire station. The children were excited to go on the fire engine, use the hose, and learn about the firefighters’ equipment. We also went to the campfire to learn how to be safe around a fire (we even toasted some marshmallows).

At the end of October, we experienced first-hand how many children in the United Kingdom celebrate Halloween. When we visited the campfire, Miss Taylor read us the story ‘Room on the Broom’, which kicked off our spooky learning about magic! We couldn’t believe it when we found a broken broomstick on our carpet. Who could it belong to?! The children enjoyed locating the missing witch, and they helped her numerous times across the half-term, creating various spells and potions. At home, the children made some beautiful witches’ and wizards’ hats, and we went to the hall where they had the chance to show off their beautiful creations.

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 magical event. Then, through focused writing practice, children learn the joy of writing, using phonics and the conventions of a sentence. The children loved drawing Meg (the witch) from Meg and Mog and they added some great passwords that made the pictures come to life!

Finally, it was time to celebrate Christmas. The ‘Land of Faraway’ was turned into Santa’s workshop, and the children had lots of fun wrapping presents, writing cards, and pretending to be Santa and his elves. We had a Christmas craft day, making cards, eco-friendly Christmas decorations, and reindeer food. We also worked really hard to help the Grinch enjoy Christmas a little more!

We all worked so hard to bring the nativity story to life in our end-of-term play! The children were fantastic on stage and made us all proud. Well done, Reception!

What The Student Says

"I loved when Santa came to visit! He gave us all a present. I got a book about Christmas!" - RPC child

"I was a little scared on the stage but then everyone started signing so it was ok." - RAH child

"My favourite was when the Land of Faraway became Santa's workshop! I wrote lots of cards for my mum." - RPC child

"I love coming to Drawing club!" - RAH child

"My password will make the Grinch be a little nicer." - RPC child

"I loved going to the campfire! My marshmallow was delicious." - RPC child

What knowledge and skills have been developed?

What have we learnt:
• That Diwali is the festival of light
• That Hindus celebrate Diwali
• How people celebrate Diwali – Occasion wear, rangoli etc.
• Similarities and differences between a range of celebrations- Bonfire night/ Diwali
• The changes that occur during autumn
• To know some simple bonfire night traditions
• How to be safe around a fire (and around fireworks)
• Who the Fire Service are and know they help us
• About parts of a fire engine
• What a firefighter wears as uniform and how it keeps them safe
• Who Jesus is and why he is special
• That Christmas is a Christian festival/ celebration
• The story of the Christmas Nativity
• Why Christmas Day is significant
• Why we give presents at Christmas
• How people celebrate Christmas around the world

What the Teacher says

It has been such a treat to see the children become so engaged with their learning this half term. It was lovely to see them all so enthusiastic about exploring different cultures' ways of celebrating. It was incredible to see the impact that Drawing Club had on the children's enjoyment in writing. They are becoming more and more confident in having a go at writing down their fabulous ideas. The level of engagement has been so high and this was reflected in their progress.

I was so proud to see how hard everyone worked to deliver an incredible performance in the Nativity play! It was truly amazing to see them grow in confidence when performing on stage. They were all so brave when delivering their lines and singing in front of their grown ups!

- Miss Procter, RPC Class Teacher

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