Understanding the World
This week in Reception we have been learning lots about our amazing world!
Holi
On Friday Mrs Varia, a parent in Year 1, led a whole school assembly on the festival of Holi. Reception listened very well and learnt:
- it is traditionally a Hindu festival (but also celebrated by many non-Hindus)
- It is known as ‘The Festival of Colour’
- It marks the end of winter and the start of springtime
- People ‘colour each other’ in powder called ‘gual’.
Mrs Varia kindly gave us some coloured powder to create patterns on white paper outside- it made our hands bright pink, orange and yellow! Some children asked for colour on their faces, like they had seen on the videos in assembly – Miss Will created dot patterns and the children were excited to see photos of themselves. What a factual and fun-filled afternoon!
Children in Reception will ‘Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways’. (Development Matters, Sept 2021)
British Science Week
Monday saw the start of Science week and Miss Honour helped us to understand more about what ‘Science’ is. We found out it is all about observing the world and and being curious about it. It involves watching, listening and recording. Anyone can think like a scientist which got us excited!
Tuesday began with a whole school assembly…
We learnt that all things are made of atoms and that depending on how close these atoms are, determines whether something is a solid, liquid or a gas. We also learnt that sometimes these can change from one to another. The example we were shown was dry ice or carbon dioxide, a solid that freezes at -80 degrees! When the scientist blew on it and warmed it up it came out as a gas and tumbled over the sides of the container in clouds! It was amazing to watch!!
This was followed by a workshop all about dinosaurs, where we learnt to become trainee palaeontologists; matching bones to dinosaurs, identifying which bones belonged to which body part and making impressions of dinosaur teeth in sand! What an amazing experience.
Growing
Carrying on with our Science theme, we are also learning what is needed for a seed to grow. The children really enjoyed planting their own sunflower seed by following simple steps. We discussed together that they need compost, which contains lots of goodness, the sun for warmth and light and lastly water. The children can’t wait to see what will happen next…we will be observing them closely and recording what we see!
Children in Reception will ‘Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them’. (Development Matters, Sept 2021).
How you can help at home:
On Friday we will be sending home the next group of HRSW (Harder to read and spell words):
Please continue to practise these with your child.
Have a super weekend,
The Reception Team.