This term the children will be learning about different transport and their purposes. We will be exploring a range of non-fiction texts and recognising how these books share information and facts with the reader. Reception will also be looking at how they can protect the environment and think about the small changes they could make, for example walking to school rather than travelling by car or recycling rubbish. This term the children will also have the opportunity to visit St Thomas' church and learn about the Easter story. More information will be sent out closer to the time. 

This week the children have been very busy using the junk modelling to create their own vehicles. They used a range of materials to create the body of their transport and some children even using paper straws and wheels to create axles to help their cars move. The children were able to articulate what they had made and the purpose for each part. Some children thought about how they could transport people safely by choosing a box with a lid. 

For PE this term, the children in Reception are developing their ball skills. This week they worked with a partner to explore the different ways they could move a ball using good control. They focused on rolling the ball to a partner ensuring they aimed the ball in the correct direction and explored different power to move the ball further along the floor. 

The children in Reception have been very excited about taking part in their Bike Ability using balance bikes. They learnt the different parts of a bike, the importance of wearing a helmet, how to look after our bikes and travelling safely avoiding cones and obstacles. They even played games such as `Scaring the Gruffalo` `Crossing the river` using the gliding technique. 

World Book Day 

The children in Reception enjoyed dressing up as their favourite book character for World Book Day and sharing with their friends their favourite book. Everyone looked fantastic and the staff enjoyed dressed up as one of the stories that we have studied in the Autumn term. Can you guess which Julia Donaldson book the characters are from? 

In the afternoon, the children were able to host their own reading afternoon which their parents attended. During this session, there were opportunities for the children to practise their phonics, read green words and red words and visit our new library. Below you can see some pictures from our reading event. 

In Maths this week, we have been continuing to explore 3D shapes during our independent learning time. The children have been describing the features whilst trying to use the correct vocabulary to describe them. They enjoyed using the sticks and sweets to create different 3D shapes. In our adult led learning, the children have revisited addition and explored recording number sentences in our books. They then solved the questions by using counters or number lines. 

Throughout this week we have continued to read the story `The Trouble with Dragons`. Today the children discussed the importance of preserving our beautiful world and making links between the story and our own experiences. They took part in different experiments this week which has linked to our learning on freezing and melting. The first experiment involved the children looking at what happens to the ice caps when they melt and how this can impact the polar bears. After the children looked at how melting can impact people who live in the Arctic and those that live near glaciers or land ice. They saw that over time, the land ice melted, causing the sea level to rise and flood the people's houses. This made the children think about what they could do to help protect our world. The children decided that like the dragons in the story, they too could walk to school especially if they lived nearby. They also mentioned how they must pick up litter to protect our animals and turn off lights if we are not using them. 

This week the children had the opportunity to visit St Thomas' Church and listen to the Easter story in preparation for the next celebration in the church calendar. They all then had the opportunity to explore the different parts and features of the church. Mr Bailey showed the children the different altars, the statue of St Thomas and the font where babies and people can be baptised. We are all very proud of the children as they showed respect and listened carefully to all the adults. They were also able to follow our road safety rules and know the importance of keeping safe.