Blackfell Primary School

Our 3D Challenge!

Welcome back everyone! Reception have started as they mean to go on... They were set a 3D challenge to make an arctic animal to link with our maths focus of exploring 3D shapes. They created some fantastic models and used lots of different materials. Every model is unique! The children enjoyed explaining how they made them to one another and they look amazing in our classroom. A big thank you to everyone who supported the children with this challenge!

Feeling Stones!

What makes you angry?

In our circle time this week we have been discussing what makes us feel angry. The children thought hard about what makes them angry. We talked about ways we could try to stop ourselves from becoming angry... like finding a compromise to solve problems. Well done Reception!

Amazing Arctic Animals!

We have been developing our creative skills and thinking hard about the uses of materials to make Arctic animals. We used our imaginations well and concentrated hard on persevering when things got a little difficult, we managed to solve problems and finished our work. It was great to see the children so involved in what they were doing. Our classroom is full of ‘Amazing Arctic Animal Antics’. Well done Reception! You have worked so hard.

Arctic Antics!

What a busy time we have had in our ‘Arctic’ themed classroom. We have been learning lots of amazing facts about the Arctic and we used this knowledge to help us create some fantastic work. We have used our role play and small world areas to extend our vocabulary about the Arctic and the animals that live there. We pretended we were ‘Inuits’ or an ‘Arctic’ animal and enjoyed making up stories with our friends to help us develop and share our ideas. We developed our literacy skills by labelling pictures or writing about an Arctic animal. We identified sounds in words and some of us wrote simple sentences or made a book. We developed our number skills in many ways and we are beginning to understand and use vocabulary linked to addition. We also had a great time outside too.

Chinese New Year!

A Taste of China!

We started our off celebrating Chinese New Year by making a stir fry! We talked about all of the different ingredients that we needed to make this traditional Chinese meal. Some of us had seen and tried them before but some of us hadn't. We then safely helped to chop it all up and added it to a bowl. While it was cooking we prepared noodles and rice. We tidied up and waited patiently for our food. We were given chopsticks to eat it with. We found it difficult at first but we enjoyed the challenge and thought it was fun eating with different utensils than our usual knife and fork. We discussed what we liked best and the things we were not so keen on. Well done to everyone for helping and trying new foods! We used this experience to help us write a list of ingredients and sentences about how we made the stir fry in our literacy task this week. Great work everyone!

Chinese Treats!

To mark the end of our Chinese New Year celebrations we joined Nursery to share some more Chinese snacks such as... prawn crackers, rice and spring rolls. What a super time we have had learning all about Chinese traditions in many different ways! Well done everyone!

Welcome to Dinosaur Devastation!

Welcome back to our new term hope everyone had a lovely half term break! To begin our topic of 'Dinosaur Devastation' the children were set the task of finding out about dinosaurs. We had a great response in many different ways. Some made posters, some chose to write fantastic facts about them and others created pictures using shapes and materials. This enabled the children to complete their literacy task and they really enjoyed writing about their favourite dinosaurs! Well done reception! Thank you everyone for your continued support. Take a look at our work!

Book Marks!

We created a dinosaur book mark by looking at pictures of dinosaurs and the environment that they lived in on the interactive whiteboard. We worked hard to think about the colours we needed to use to create our scene for sky, trees, rocks and stones! Great creative skills Reception! Two winners were chosen and their prize was a free game of bowling! Well done to Ellen and James! Happy bowling to you both!

We love books!

We had a great time visiting the travelling book bus today. We looked at the books and chatted to our friends about our favourite stories. Some of us revisited the bus with our parents and carers before and after school to purchase our favourite book. Well done everyone! We really love new books and stories!

D.I.S.C.O

Reception really love to dance and sing with their friends! They all looked fabulous as they arrived at the disco in their ‘party clothes’. They listened to the music and showed off their amazing dance moves as they joined their friends on the dance floor. Everyone chatted to each other and made some new friends too. They enjoyed going to the tuck shop to buy their ‘DISCO' treats and have a little rest from dancing. It was lovely to see everyone having fun, even the staff had a boogie! We can’t wait for the next ‘D.I.S.C.O’.

We just love dancing and enjoying ourselves with our friends!

Handle with care!

Look at us handling the cute little ducklings. We had a fantastic hands on learning experience to enable us to develop our  knowledge and understanding of the world around us! We learned so much about the life cycle of a duck and loved looking after them! 

Perfect Parade!

We created some amazing Easter bonnets at home with our families and invited them to our Easter parade so we could entertain them with our collection of Easter songs along with Nursery. We all looked amazing as we paraded around the hall and onto the stage. We sang songs and did the actions. The Easter bunny thought we were so talented that he left us all an Easter treat as a thank you to say well done! We were able to show off our Easter hats again when we performed once more for the whole school in our Easter celebration assembly. Thank you to everyone that helped create some of the most fantastic creations we have ever seen. We are so proud of you all!

Arctic Yoga!

We have been listening to a lovely story in our P.E. lesson. We had to do lots of different movements to represent 'Arctic’ animals and other objects that you would see in this environment like icebergs and boats. This was quite tricky and required us to concentrate hard on balancing on different parts of our bodies. We really enjoyed being animals and objects from the ‘Arctic’!

Feeling Stones!

What makes you feel scared?

In our circle time this week we have been discussing what makes us feel scared. We listened to a story first, then we talked about things we might be scared of. We found out we are all scared of different things. Some of us are scared of bugs, loud noises like thunder or rides at the fairground. We discovered that some of the things we were scared of at night was just because it is dark and we can’t see very well. We all laughed when we found out that the things we thought we were scared of at night weren't there in the first place.

Well done Reception! You are able to talk about many different feelings and you all pulled your best scary faces too!

Save the animals!

We have had another fun packed Arctic themed P.E lesson. We were so excited to find out we were using the parachute. We had to work hard as a team to keep the Arctic Animals safe. We managed to get the parachute into the air and if any of the animals fell off we had to quickly rescue them before the shark that was lurking in the Arctic waters got them. Well done Reception! You showed great team work!

Floating and Sinking!

We investigated the various materials in the water tray to determine if they would float or sink. We were able to make

predictions then test our ideas and give reasons as to why some float and others sink and then sort the items into the correct boxes showing we are beginning to develop an understanding of the properties of materials.

Chinese Traditions!

As part of our circle time this week we looked at some traditional objects that are part of Chinese culture. We looked at costumes and some of us got dressed up and we talked about how they looked different from the clothes we wear. We talked about the use of the parasol and hat and why we wear hats and use umbrellas for different reasons. We had a go at moving the dragon and tried to make him dance like he does at 'New Year' on the street as part of their celebrations. We also talked about lucky money bags and learned that Chinese children receive these as presents usually in red envelops and that the 'red' colour is said to bring 'good luck' and keep 'bad luck' away. We also looked at the bowls and small dishes they use and how they look different to our kitchen accessories. We know they use chopsticks and we use knives and forks to eat food. We have found out so much about this culture and how we all celebrate…’New Year' differently but with some similarities.

Well done reception for understanding all about 'Chinese' culture and traditions!

Feeling Stones!

What makes us feel loved?

In our circle time this week we have been discussing... What makes us feel loved? We listened to a story first about a little rabbit and all of the things that made him feel loved. We then thought about how we feel loved and shared our thoughts with each other. The children gave some really good answers and found out we all feel love in different ways. We all gave our friends a huge hug at the end of the discussion and it made each and every one of us feel all warm and happy inside. We didn't forget about ourselves either...We managed to put our arms around ourselves to remember to love yourself and celebrate just being you! Well one Reception! You are all so fantastic!

Going for goals!

In our circle time we have been discussing how to achieve goals and what it means. We found out that a 'goal' is something we find difficult to do or can't do right now. We used the monkey again to remind us how to take risks and become better at the things we find hard to do. We listened to the things others can't do but learned that everyone is good at different things and that's what makes us 'unique'. We thought of ways of learning how to get better at something or how trying something new would help us to aim for a new goal. The children really thought hard about their next steps in their independent learning time to associate it with their achievable goal over their time left in reception. Well done reception! You talked about some really good achievable goals! We will help you reach them!

Our class story box!

To end our world book day celebrations we decided to create a class story box linking to our theme of 'dinosaurs'. The children thought really hard about the items they would need to add to the box. They will take turns to use the box they have created over the next two weeks to develop their own stories relating to dinosaurs. Well done reception! The box is full of great things to help you to build on story book language. We can't wait to hear your stories!

Our dinosaur masks and models!

We have been really busy developing our creative skills to make dinosaur masks and models. We chose the dinosaur we wanted to create and thought hard about the materials we needed to use to add features. Take a look at our dynamic dinosaurs! They are Dino...Mite! Well done everyone! They will great on display in our classroom and cause Dinosaur Devastation!

Someone Special!

We created a lovely card for someone special. We used paint to make hand prints and lots of other materials to represent flowers in different ways. We had fun making our card for... ‘That special someone’.Well done everyone!

They all looked beautiful!

Happy Easter!

We worked hard to create some lovely Easter cards to take home for our families. We used lots of different materials including painting our hands to represent some features. Well done reception! Your creative skills are developing well!

Reflection Winners!

Congratulations to reception's reflection winners. The focus of this term was about being reflective and Archie and Ellen were this terms chosen winners. They collected their cuddly fox and their certificates in a whole school assembly and were so happy to be awarded their prize. They will join the rest of the 5r winners at the end of the year for another fantastic treat! WELL DONE!

Feeling Stones!

What makes us sad?

In our circle time this week we have been discussing what makes us feel sad. The children thought hard about what makes them sad and we talked about ways we could overcome our sadness.

A Chilly Challenge!

We have had so much fun learning about change. We came into class to find an ice berg in our investigation tray and discovered an 'Arctic' animal was trapped inside. Our job was to help rescue the animal as quick as we could before it froze. We had to think about ways we could melt the ice quicker and free the animal. The children gave some great answers and explanations to questions they were asked. They used some fantastic language to describe what they observed. They thought hard about what they could do to quicken up the process of the ice melting. What a great way to learn about change!

Well done Reception! You rescued the Arctic animals from the ice-bergs.

Feeling Stones!

Being kind to ourselves and others!

In our circle time this week we have been discussing ways in which we can show kindness to others. We listened to a story first, then we talked about things we could do to be kind to each other and to ourselves. We found out we all showed kindness in different ways. We learned how we could be kind to ourselves by doing good work and feeling proud of the things we are getting better at or eating healthy food and exercising to be kind to our bodies. We are learning lots of different things about so many different feelings that we have.

Well done Reception! You listen and respond to questions well!

We can move in different ways!

We used the apparatus to move across the Arctic like our chosen animal does. We experimented with different ways of moving and jumped of equipment safely. We traveled with some confidence and skill...around, under, over and through whilst keeping our balance on climbing equipment. Well done reception for continuing to develop your physical skills.

Blossoms in Bloom!

We did some observational art work of the... ‘Chinese Cherry Blossom Tree’. We looked at a range of different pictures to help us create our own interpretation. We thought carefully about the different materials and techniques we could use and the results were fabulous! What a bunch of budding artists we are in Reception! Take a look at our finished creations! They look blooming lovely on display in our classroom! Well done everyone!

What's on the menu!

The kitchen staff provided the children with a Chinese themed lunch to promote and celebrate Chinese New Year!  They tried a range of different dishes and were surprised to find they really liked it. Thank you to Wendy and her team for all your hard work! We love our lunchtimes!

Valentines Day!

The ladies in the kitchen made some lovely treats for the children to enjoy on this special day. The children were informed that there were three spot prizes to be won and if they found a heart shape under the table they would win a prize. They all checked under the table where they were sitting and the lucky winners were... Annabel, Jasmine and Ella! They received either a chocolate lolly or a chocolate rose to take home.The children were all provided with a cake and a heart shaped biscuit! What a lovely treat!

Thank you to all of our kitchen staff!

World Book Day!

To celebrate world book day the children made some fantastic story boxes or brought in their favourite book. They had costumes, posters, writing, photographs and other items associated with their favourite stories and characters. They shared them with each other and had a great time discussing their favourite books and characters! Well done everyone for all your hard work!

Dinosaurs!

We have been learning so much through our topic of dinosaurs. We have done so many jobs in our classroom environment to help us develop our number skills. We have been writing to further develop our phonic knowledge and developing our creative skills painting and drawing pictures of our favourite dinosaurs. We used our thoughts and ideas to build on stories and used natural materials to create dinosaurs and develop our creativity. We now know so many names and facts about dinosaurs and can talk about our ideas and thoughts in our independent learning time! Well done to reception for working so hard as always!

Dance like a Dinosaur!

We have been enjoying our P.E. sessions through our theme 'Dinosaur Devastation'. We have been learning how to move and dance like dinosaurs. We learned how to do the 'dinosaur dance' and the 'dinosaur stomp'! We had some great music to listen to and used actions to represent some of our most well known dinosaurs. We then cooled down as we could feel our hearts beating fast and needed to rest. What an energetic time you have all had moving like dinosaurs! Well done Reception!

Five Little Ducks!

We were so excited when the duck eggs arrived at school. We couldn't wait for them to hatch. We managed to catch the hatching process of one of them and it was amazing to see it happening in real life. We watched them hatch, feed and grow over two weeks and enjoyed helping to take care of them for two weeks. We kept them warm using a special lamp and checked on them every day to make sure they had plenty food and water. We helped to keep their home clean and made sure they got some exercise to make their legs strong. We even put them in their special bath and had great fun watching them run about and get in and out of the bath. We learned how to hold them carefully and laughed so much when they ran away. They were so soft, cute and fluffy… we loved them. We now know so much about the life cycle of a duck and what ducklings need to grow into healthy ducks and live happily together in their own environment. What a fantastic opportunity for all to experience... Even the adults enjoyed it!

Well done Reception!

Spelling Buzz!

Congratulations to the children who managed to achieve the 'Spelling Buzz' challenge over the last term. Well done!