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Reception

Reception Environment

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https://numbots.com/

https://www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/ey-numberblocks-at-home/

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https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

  • Oct 242025

    Visit by Real Superheros

    Reception had Hatfield’s fire fighters come and visit. First, the fireman showed the children what they had inside their fire engine. The children saw the different sized hoses. The children know that the small hoses are for little fires such as bin fires and, the bigger hoses are for larger fires such as house fires. The children walked around to the back of the fire engine. They saw the three ladders on the top of the fire engine and then the fireman showed the children the fourth secret ladder that is kept in the back compartment of the fire engine. Their tallest ladder is 13.5 metres.

    The children walked around to the other side of the fire engine and saw the two big tools used for moving cars, trucks, and trees. They were like a big super strong pair of scissors. The fireman then showed the children a magic key tool that is used for getting into buildings and breaking doors for quick entry.

    After looking at the equipment in the fire engine, the children had a turn at sitting inside the fire engine. They safely climbed up and then back down to get in and out. The children then lined up to have a turn at using the fire fighters hose, this was lots of fun.

    To finish our session, the fire men showed the children their safety uniform, kindly modelled by Miss Carter. They then showed the children how loud their siren and horn was.

    The firemen set the children a challenge to ask their grown-ups at home to check whether they have a smoke alarm in their house and, to check whether it is working. Fire fighters can come and fit smoke alarms in houses for free.

  • Oct 222025

    Visit by a Real Superhero

    Reception had a special visit from a paramedic. ‘Real Superheroes’ was their focus text in literacy and they had been discussing the different people who help them such as paramedics, teachers, postal workers, and supermarket workers. They knew that these are some of the occupations that have impacted their lives in some way.

    As a class they wrote some questions for the paramedic and had a virtual tour of the inside of an ambulance. They got to see and hold some of the equipment that the paramedic uses on a daily basis. He explained how he worked with other services such as the police and fire crew , that we linked back to our focus text.

    Overall, they really enjoyed the visit and it inspired some of the children to want to become paramedics when they are older.

  • Jun 302025

    Outdoor Adventurous Week 2025

    During the week beginning 30th June 2025 we completed our annual outdoor adventurous week. There were many activities planned each day throughout the week. On Monday the children completed some bug hunting before collecting nature items to create their own nature crowns. The children took their time to explore the school grounds when collecting their nature items for their crowns.

    On Tuesday the children made their very own ‘woolly weather teller’. They had to cut their wool to the correct length before using their fine motor skills to plait the wool. This activity took a lot of perseverance as it was fiddly when plaiting the strands of wool. The children persisted well and showed great fine motor strength!

    On Wednesday the children visited The Dell. They completed some litter picking, den building, and bug hunting. The children had free choice on what activity they wanted to take part in. They had an enjoyable and cool afternoon in the shaded woodland area.

    On Thursday the children prepped their own cheese pizza wraps to cook on the camp fire. They used trial and error skills when squeezing on the tomato puree, ensuring they had the right amount. They did not want too much or not enough. They used fine motor skills to squeezed on the tomato puree and then with the back of a spoon spread it over their wrap. They used pinchy fingers to spread the cheese over the top before folding the wrap. In the afternoon, the children followed the camp fire safety rules when taking it in turns to cook their pizza wraps. They stayed at a safe distance and listened well to instructions. The children then unwrapped their pizza wraps from the foil and enjoyed them whilst sitting around the camp fire.

    On Friday it was Reception’s usual forest school time. The children got to decorate their own wind mobiles before completing some woodwork in attaching it together for it to spin around when blown. The children also had the opportunity to complete some more den building. The children were very engaged with both activities and had a wonderful time concluding our busy outdoor adventurous week.

  • Jun 272025

    Forest School Parent Activity

    Ms Burns set up lots of fun activities for the children to complete with their grown-ups. The activities included making scented bags, scented hapa zome, and threading stick butterflies. The children used their fine motor skills when harvesting the scented herbs and pinching and poking them into their material. The children also used hammers safely to form a pressing motion to imprint the scented herbs.

    There were additional forest school activities out that the children know well, such as pinecone target shooting, the mud kitchen, and racking and den building. The children showed their grown-ups around the forest school area, showing them the activities they like taking part in. The children had opportunities to take part in all activities available.

  • Jun 262025

    Making sandwiches

    Reception carried out a design and technology activity by preparing and making their own sandwich.  This linked with the literacy focus text ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’.  The children have enjoyed reading and retelling the story and using their imaginations to make changes to the story.  They learnt the format and layout of instructions and wrote their own for sandwich making.

    The children developed fine motor skills when controlling the knives and graters when preparing the salad and cheese.  The children each got a turn to use the knives to cut the cucumber and tomatoes.  They also had a turn at using the graters when grating the cheese.  The children then enjoyed half of their sandwich at school and took the other half home to enjoy with loved ones.

  • Jun 162025

    Pirate Day!

    Year 2 had a fantastic day pretending to be pirates, crossing the choppy seas and avoiding Blankbeard and other pirates.  Captain Ward took them on an adventure where they had so much fun.

    They made trick dice, pirate pockets, ink to draw a treasure map, flags and necklaces.

    The children went on a treasure hunt to find the hidden treasure and discovered a surprise- it was not gold or jewels as they were expecting!

    Captain Ward also took them to a Pirate Bootcamp where they had to work really hard to convince him to make them part of his crew! The children had to set up cannons, cross a smelly swamp, learn semiphore and improve their accuracy at aiming.

    Back in class, the children have been putting their writing skills to the test and using what they know about pirates to write recounts and diary entries. Parents will be able to see all the pirate work when they visit on Open Evening.

  • Jun 112025

    Aldenham Country Park

    On Wednesday 11th June we visited Aldenham Country Park. We started our trip at the farm and enjoyed looking at and watching the different farm animals. We took around a clipboard and pencil to write down the animals we could see. This was very enjoyable practising our segmenting skills outside of the classroom. We stood and watched the piglets for a while as they were very playful and funny. We did not know how fast piglets could run, they were very quick. Some of the animals we saw at the farm included goats, sheep, lambs, ducks, rabbits, alpacas, chickens, and pigs.

    After some lunch we began our ‘100 Aker Wood’ trail. This linked with our literacy focus text ‘Winnie the Pooh’. We were focusing on the different characters from the story and choosing our favourite characters and exploring and researching where they lived. This trail therefore helped the children see their favourite character’s house leading on to a design and technology project we are beginning in school. The children are designing their favourite character’s house and choosing what resources and methods to use to build and construct the house. For example, woodwork, cardboard boxes, and paper mâché. The children completed a tick list when walking around the 100 Aker Woods and showed a lot of happiness and eagerness to complete this. We had a super day!

  • May 202025

    Decorating Cookies

    On Tuesday 20th May Reception had a design and technology parent activity that involved decorating the previously baked chocolate chip cookies. The children worked hard and took their time to plan and design their cookies – linking with World Bee Day. The children used colours in their design that they knew we had as food colouring, to make it easier to copy when decorating their cookies.

    We used fine motor skills to carefully measure out the water that would be added to icing sugar to make sure it did not go too runny. We then added food colouring to the icing and applied it to our cookies carefully, trying to shape and draw on our designs with the icing.

    The children and their grown-ups then bagged up their cookies to take home and enjoy. We had so much fun baking, decorating, and sharing our bee facts.

  • May 192025

    Preparing and Baking Cookies

    On Monday 19th May Reception carried out a design and technology activity by preparing and baking some chocolate chip cookies. In literacy, our focus text is ‘Bee: Nature’s Tiny Miracle’ and we have been learning all about bees linking to World Bee Day on the 20th May. On Tuesday 20th May we had a parent activity with our grown-ups to decorate our cookies! (Please see additional activity description for 20.05.2025 for the decorating).

    We used fine motor skills to carefully measure out the ingredients using spoons and cups. We decoded the instructions together before taking it in turns to measure out the ingredients. We had to remember and count how many cups we had put into the mixing bowl and to not lose count!

    We continued using fine motor skills when moulding the cookie dough into balls. We had to move the cookie dough ball from hand to hand very quickly to form the ball and avoid it sticking to our hands!

  • Mar 182025

    PE Parent Activity

    On Tuesday 18th March we completed a PE parent activity. Miss Burrough worked alongside Coach Jack from Mini Athletics to complete different physical activities with the children and their grown-ups. They had so much fun being active, using their gross motor skills alongside their listening skills when following instructions.

    They played a variety of games, including an aeroplane game, running down a runway and collecting coloured cones. Jumps were added to the runway for the children to run, slow down with control and jump over the cones before regaining their running speed again. They also worked as a team to run and jump over hurdles to build a bridge from one cone to another to ensure they could walk across it safely and not get eaten by any hungry sharks!

    The children and parents enjoyed a variety of races to conclude the session, including a running race, a jumping race, and a walking backwards race. They all had so much fun completing a PE lesson with their grown-ups.

  • Mar 182025

    Safari Stu’s Animal Party

    On Tuesday 18th March we had Safari Stu’s Animal Party come and visit us! In school, the children had been learning all about worms, caterpillars, and many other mini beasts and animals. Stu bought in many of his wonderful animals to show them. They were able to listen to some factual information about the animals he had as well as hold or stroke them!

    They each got to hold and stroke a Madagascan Hissing Cockroach, a Lesser Tenrec, a Tortoise, a Royal Python, a Kenyan Sand Boa, a Stick Insect, a Chuckwalla Lizard, a Chameleon, and an Albino Skunk! They learnt that the Lesser Tenrec had 7000 spikes and if one falls out, another grows in its place! They now know that the Stick Insects have wings but use them to make sound to attract other stick insects rather than fly with them. The Chuckwalla Lizard likes to use its tail to whip other animals away when it feels threatened. The Chameleon changes colour based on its mood, and it was colourful and bright when we held it, meaning it was happy. Lastly, the Albino Skunk called Arnold was a runt of its pack, which meant Stu needed to look after him from the age of 4 days old. Arnold is now 3 years old! Stu told us that Arnold has never sprayed before, but if he was to spray, our school hall would smell fowl for 6 whole weeks!

    They are going to be animal experts in Reception!

  • Mar 112025

    Church Visit

    On Tuesday 11th March we visited St Etheldreda’s Church. We walked to and from the church and during the walk we looked at the different buildings and how they looked different due to being built many years ago. We used good communication and language skills when explaining the similarities and differences from past houses to newly built houses today.

    When we arrived at the church, Reverend Indira spoke to us about some of the different features you find in a church. For example, we sat on the pews when we were listening, we saw many crosses around the church, we found the font that is located at the front of the church by the doors, and also the church organ. We enjoyed having a good look around the church and the church grounds, exploring the different grave stones and looking at the years on them. Before leaving and heading back to school, we got into groups of three and took it in turns to work together to pull the rope to make the church bell chime. We needed to use our gross motor strength when pulling down hard on the rope.

  • Feb 132025

    Forest School Parent Activity

    On Thursday 13th February 2025 Reception had another fun forest school parent activity. The children were very excited to show their grown-ups around the Dell area which is located next to the school grounds. They carried out a check list, spotting different trees and signs of spring before using some litter pickers to collect any rubbish we found on the floor.

    Everyone had a great time exploring the large woodland area, using gross motor skills to climb up the slopes and walk down them carefully.

  • Feb 112025

    Visit by PSCO Thomas Martin

    On Tuesday 11th February Reception had a special visit from Hatfield’s new PCSO called Thomas Martin. Thomas come to introduce himself to the children to make them aware of who he was and that they might see him around Hatfield outside of school. The children were very enthusiastic with their questioning and were eager to learn lots about his job role.

    As part of his job role as a PCSO he helps people who may need it when he is out walking and patrolling our local area. He has a notebook and pen he carries around in his vest pocket, he uses this to make any notes he may need. We thanked Thomas for coming to introduce himself to us and we will look out for him if we are out and about in Hatfield with our grown-ups!