Bees and Butterflies (Reception)
Autumn 24 - Term 1
Reception Superstars!
Wow! What a super first-half term we have had. We were all given a superstar crown to decorate because our teachers are all so proud of us and how we have settled so well into life at St. Peter's.
Happy Diwali!
Here in Reception, we have been celebrating the festival of lights in style by dressing in our brightest colours and taking part in lots of sparkly, messy and fun Diwali activities! We experimented with colourful rice to create Rangoli patterns, painted shimmering Diva lamps, and created fireworks in our sparkly water tray! We also took part in a delicious curry taste test where we sampled some new flavours! We hope you enjoy our Diwali Day pictures as much as we enjoyed celebrating!
Rosary Beads
After learning all about the Rosary and the prayer which we say whilst using our Rosary beads, we made some of our own using pipe cleaners and beads. We then practised using our new Rosary beads to help us pray and displayed them on our prayer table.
Alma Thomas
During the month of October we have been taking part in Black History Month. We have been learning about the artist 'Alma Thomas', she was a teacher and didn't become an artist until she was 68 years old! We have worked together to create some big art in the style of her colourful work.
Phonics Workshop
Thank you to all our wonderful grown-ups who were able to make our Phonic workshop. The children all had a wonderful time showing you what letter sounds they have learnt and how we practise in such interactive and fun ways.
St. Peter's Church Visit
The Bees and Butterflies had a wonderful time visiting our church, St. Peter's. They listened carefully to the story of St. Peter being a fisherman and were fascinated by the ceiling, which is shaped like a boat. We talked about how St. Peter was Jesus' "rock" and how the church is built on Rock Hill. The children carefully observed the St. Peter stained glass window and statue at the back of the church. They noticed that St. Peter was holding keys, and we compared them to the keys on our school badges. The children were very respectful and asked thoughtful questions throughout the visit.
Glitter Germs!
Our Bees and Butterflies turned into young scientists as they took part in a handwashing experiment! They used water, glitter and a splash of fairy liquid. They loved dipping their finger into the water which covered it in glitter germs. We talked about the importance of having clean hands and why handwashing was so important. This time they dipped their finger into fairy liquid first then they dipped their finger into the glitter germs. They were amazed at how the soap repelled the germs so quickly.
Twinkle, Twinkle We Are Stars!
We have enjoyed our nursery rhyme topic and discovered a fantastic book called 'Dear Mother Goose'. All the nursery rhyme characters wrote a letter to her with a problem and she had to solve it. We loved listening to her ideas and came up with a few of our own. We told Humpty Dumpty to make sure he puts a blanket under the wall so he doesn't fall and break. We also told Jack and Jill to use a bucket with a lid so they don't lose all their water when they fall down the hill.
Humpty Dumpty - We have tried to put Humpty back together using sellotape, glue, staples even plasters! We have practised our fine motor skills by making concertina arms and legs for our Humpty danglies. We have also enjoyed taking turns when playing the Humpty Dumpty brick balance game.
Incy Wincy Spider - We have loved changing the words to the famous nursery rhyme Incy Wincy Spider. We have used our super strength to crush and squish newspaper so we can push it into a pair of tights to make legs for Incy Wincy. We also got creative with PVA glue and glitter to make webs for our playdough spiders.
Scholastic Book Fair
The children were very intrigued by the big silver trolleys in the hall. They all closed their eyes and when they opened them the trolleys had transformed into our book fair! They were amazed to see so many books and thoroughly enjoyed having a look. They even spotted a book by our author of the term 'Julia Donaldson', so of course we all sat down together and shared the story 'The Oak Tree'.
Marvellous Me!
As part of our 'Marvellous me' topic the children have used paper plates to create self-portraits of themselves. They looked carefully at their own reflection in the mirror and spoke to their friends about what facial features they could see. We also explored how each one of us looks different and unique.
Only One You
The children have been discovering how truly special they are by reading the story 'Only One You' by Linda Kranz. They met adorable fish characters who helped them explore the themes of kindness, confidence and how they can make the world a better place just by being themsleves. They also created some wonderful artwork by painting and deceorating fish for the display.
Number Rhyme Sing-a-long!
The Bees and Butterflies have had lots of fun using props to help them learn and sing a variety of number rhymes at our number rhyme station.
Bees and Butterflies on tour!
We took the Bees and Butterflies for a walk around their new school. They enjoyed having a nosey in all the classrooms, meeting the teachers and of course seeing some familiar faces along the way.
Mmmmmmm Lunchtime!
The Bees and Butterflies were very excited about having their first lunch at school with their friends. Mrs Lugo and Mrs Robinson are our lunchtime supervisors and they were ready with big smiles to welcome the children into the hall.
Curriculum Information
Please see the information below regarding our Autumn 1 curriculum
Autumn Curriculum Letter Page 1
Autumn Curriculum Letter Page 2
Moving in!
The Bees and Butterflies spent their first day moving in. They enjoyed unpacking the boxes and discovering the treasures inside so they could set up our role-play area as a home corner.
We are so happy to welcome you all to St. Peter’s and cannot wait to begin our exciting journey in Reception!
Here’s to a wonderful year of learning together!
Meet the Bees and Butterflies of 2024!
Bees 2024 
Autumn 24 - Term 2
Party Time!
We managed to squeeze in lots of wonderful activities during our party day. We started the day with a Christmas sing-a-long with the whole school, played party games, ate a delicious lunch, pulled party crackers and even managed to save enough room for party cake before the end of the day.
Christmas Lunch
What an amazing lunchtime treat! The hall was decorated in tinsel and fairy lights, the tree was twinkling and the Christmas music was playing. We had a wonderful time sharing our festive meal with our friends.
Away in a Manger
Wow! We were so excited to perform our Nativity to our families. We shared the Christmas Story of how a mule called Maurice was getting very angry with having to share his stable with the animals. He was amazed when Mary and Joseph arrrived and a special baby was born. Maurice welcomed the Shepherds and the Wise Men into his stable to see Jesus.
The children delivered their lines with confidence, sang beautifully like angels, and danced as if they were on Strictly Come Dancing! Well done everyone!
Christmas P.E
We had great fun making Christmas pictures using the P.E equipment whilst dancing to Christmas music.
Christmas Workshop
Thank you to all the parents who attended our Reception Christmas workshop! The room was full of smiles, laughter, festive spirit and lots of glitter! The children enjoyed making reindeer hats, snowmen biscuits, and glittering angels. The parents were also treated to a sneak preview of a song from our Christmas Nativity!
Butterflies - Advent Prayer & Liturgy
The Butterflies thoroughly enjoyed having their parents join them for their first Prayer and Liturgy. Together, we created a beautiful prayer table in Peter's Pod and shared the significance of our artefacts with our parents. We then listened to a Gospel story, where Jesus' message encouraged us to stay awake and be ready. We treated them to our Advent hymn "Awake, Awake", which reminds us of the importance of being prepared for Jesus' arrival. We spoke about how we need to make room in our hearts for Jesus by making good choices. The children wrote an Advent promise on their heart which they placed alongside our Advent wreath.
Cool Concentric Circles!
We have been learning about circles and triangles and comparing their properties! We have been on a hunt around school to see what shapes we could find. We have looked at the work of Wassily Kandinsky and made our own paintings and colourful collages using concentric circles.
I'm Stick Man! That's me!
Here in Reception, we have been exploring books written by Julia Donaldson. Our book focus this week has been Stick Man! We have been busy completing lots of fun activities relating to our story including sequencing games, fine motor activities to develop our pencil control, making our own stick men using clay, using our phonics knowledge to write mystery words, and also writing postcards to Stick Man's family!
Children in Need 2024
The Bees and Butterflies have been busy raising money for Children in Need! We had lots of fun taking part in Pudsey activities and the children brought in lots of coins to decorate Pudsey's face for a very good cause. Well done everyone!
Forest School
The Bees were on a mission to explore the wonders of Autumn during their first visit to Forest School. The children marveled at how the forest was changing, learning that nature has its own rhythm and that Autumn, with all its colors and mysteries, was now in full swing. Well done Bees, what an excellent start to our Forest School adventure.
Owl Babies
The Bees and Butterflies have loved our story of the week 'Owl Babies'. They have learnt about how owls are nocturnal and have great eye sight especially at night. They even had the chance to become owls themselves by using their 'owl eyes' (special finger torches) to read words in the dark.
Odd Sock Day
The Bees and Butterflies had a blast celebrating Odd Sock Day. With their colourful, mismatched socks on full display, they learnt about the importance of celebrating differences and showing respect for everyone. Odd Sock Day wasn't just about wacky footwear - it was about big hearts and embracing what makes us all special.
Why do we wear a Poppy?
The Reception children have been learning about Why we wear a poppy? We have made some beautiful poppies to remember the fallen soldiers on Rememberance Day. Well done Bees and Butterflies.
The wind blew Leaf Man to...
Our current book focus here in Reception is ‘Leaf Man’ a story about a man made from leaves and the adventure the wind takes him on. We have been incorporating our book focus into all areas of our learning including the use of autumn objects to create repeating patterns, to practice our counting in maths, creating vibrant Autumn leaf art, and writing our own version of the leaf man story with a prediction of where he will blow next!
We hope you enjoy looking at some of our fantastic Leaf Men as much as we enjoyed making them!
Autumn Treasures
The Bees and Butterflies have truly enjoyed sharing the treasures they discovered on their autumn walks over half term. They have explored the world around them and gathered leaves, acorns, conkers and even berries. The children described them beautifully, using wonderful words like "spiky," "hard like a rock," "colourful," and "crunchy."
Fireworks!
We have been looking at the artist Jackson Pollock and have created our own artwork inspired by him. We have had great fun splatting and dripping paint to look like fireworks in the night sky. We have created our own fireworks by using a variety of craft materials and loose parts. The kitchen even made us a special bonfire lunch of hot dogs and waffles for dessert!
Curriculum Information
Please see the information below regarding our Autumn 2 curriculum and Home Learning for this half term.
Autumn 2 - Curriculum Letter Page 2
Autumn 2 - Curriculum Letter Page 1
Autumn 2 - Home Learning - Let's Celebrate!
Welcome back to Autumn Term 2.
This term we are focusing on all things Autumn! We will be exploring this vibrant season and observing the changes happening in the natural world. We will be making use of our senses to participate in exciting Autumn walks, using natural objects as tools to develop our maths skills, creating some beautiful artwork and even incorporating the season of Autumn into our Literacy work!
We will also be learning about the importance of Christmas and why it is a special time of year, as well as taking part in many festive activities, putting on a spectacular production of 'Away in a Manger’, and much more!
Spring 25 - Term 3
Double Trouble
We have had double trouble in reception this week. We have learnt an action rhyme to help us with our double facts.
Double 1 is 2 - tap on your shoe Double 2 is 4 - knock on the door Double 3 is 6 - do some finger clicks Double 4 is 8 - put your arms up straight Double 5 is 10 - do it all again
Happy Chinese New Year!
Reception have loved learning about and celebrating Chinese New Year this term. They have been busy discovering the history of this Spring Festival and taking part in lots of fun activities to celebrate. We rounded off our Chinese New Year learning with a celebration day! We dressed up in lucky Chinese colours, performed a traditional dragon dance to music and used percussion instrumentsents to keep a beat. We made lots of wonderful artwork including lanterns, concertina dragons, decorated willow pattern plates and even tasted some delicious spring rolls.
The Big Bird Watch
Reception could not wait to get start when we told them we would be taking part in Big Garden Bird Watch. We even turned our role-play into a bird watching station. At Forest School we made bird feeders using cheerios to encourage more birds onto the school grounds.
Piet Mondrian
We have been learning about the artist Piet Mondrain. He has helped us learn the term "primary colours" and we know that they are red, yellow and blue. We have looked closely at his style and have been inspired to create our own versions of his artwork.
Frosty Winter Mornings
We have been inspired by the frost outside to create winter pictures. We used a white wax crayon to make patterns on our woolly hat design, then we used watercolours to paint over them and we watched the magic patterns appear before our eyes!
Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter
We listened carefully to the story 'Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter'. We spent time looking for signs of Winter at Forest School. We finished the session by writing our names in the frost on our playground.
Baptism
The Bees and Butterflies were excited to find out that they were invited to take part in a Baptism at St. Peter's Catholic Church. Each child played a special role, including Parents, Godparents, Father Thomas, or family and friends. Through our role-play, they learned about the importance of the font, Holy Water, and the Baptismal candle. It was such a memorable experience as we celebrated this beautiful sacrament together.
Measuring with the Giant!
The Bees and Butterflies received a letter from the giant who wanted to learn about measure. He sent us different sized ribbons to help us explore new mathematical vocabulary relating to length. We had great fun completing all the length challenges he set for us.
Welcome Back!
Welcome back, we hope you are well-rested as we have a jam-packed Spring term for you. We are starting off with watching a super pantomime of 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. Jack is then going to be helping us in the classroom with writing sentences and the giant is going to help us learn about measure. We are going to celebrate the Spring festival of 'Chinese New Year' by making lanterns, tasting noodles and learning about 'The Great Race'.