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Reception Routines and Procedures 2026 - 2027

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Reception Curriculum Map - Autumn 1 2026

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Reception

Reception's News

• Tuesday 30 June 2026 Reception visit Acton Farm Reception had a brilliant visit to Acton Farm near Blanchland. They enjoyed meeting Ginger the Pig, herding the sheep, uderstanding the importance of soil diversity, creating bug hotels, putting minibeasts under digital microscopes, learning about the horsepower of a tractor and so much more.
• Friday 5 June 2026 Reception Week 1 The Gingerbread Man Our theme this half term is Maps, Maps, Maps - with a focus on journeys in traditional tales. This week we started with The Gingerbread Man. Children focussed on orally retelling the story before writing it in simple sentences, e.g. He met a cow, He met a horse.This half term, children are applying their drawing skills in different mediums. This week they designed an animal character that could be made out of clay and then sculpted and painted it. In Maths, children used part-part-whole models to add two Numicon numbers together to make a whole. They also practised using First, Then, Now sentences and visuals to tell an addition story, e.g. “First there were 3 frogs, Then 2 more jumped on, Now there are 5”.
• Thursday 14 May 2026 Week 4 Reception - Chicks and Caterpillars
• Friday 8 May 2026 Week 3 Reception Ladybirds Using What the Ladybird Heard as our stimulus,
• Friday 1 May 2026 Week 2 Reception- Bees This week in Reception, we have looked at bees! In our books we have written different the facts we have learnt about bees. On the creative table, we have drawn a range of different plants using step by step instructions focussing on different techniques. We have also created our very own moving bee puppets with bright colourful backgrounds.
• Friday 24 April 2026 Week 1- Chicks and Dance What a first week back in Reception! Miss Natasha came back into school on Wednesday for more dance lessons. With it being Earth Day, we looked at different movements and ways to move our body. We travelled around the room using ribbons and moved our arms in different motions to replicate a bird flying. We then used our imagination and moved our body to make different shapes as we pretended to be flowers, some were tall, some were small.
• Thursday 5 March 2026 Dinosaurs in Reception and World Book Day Week 2 of Dinosaurs in Reception involved classifying dinosaurs according to what they ate, noticing the characteristics of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. Children used their knowledge and creativity to identify and explain why a dinosaur was the ‘Odd One Out'. Reasons included, it runs on 4 legs, it eats meat and it is a reptile.
• Friday 27 February 2026 Dinosaurs in Reception Our topic this half term is Fantastic Beasts! This week, we started with dinosaurs. Children created their own dinosaur riddles, thinking carefully about how to describe a dinosaur without revealing its name. They also explored dinosaur silhouettes, identifying key features from outlines.
• Friday 13 February 2026 Reception Rescued Supertato! What a finish to our STEM in Reception! Model building was in full swing, utilising the skills children learnt last week. With a range of DT joins and 3D shapes, children made jet skis, hot air balloons, underwater bikes, aeroplanes, rockets and much more. There were so many creative additions to help rescue Supertato, from special buttons and handlebars, to ladders, nets, slides and secret gates! Thank you to Zoolab and Professor Brainstorm too for bringing Science to life!
• Friday 6 February 2026 STEM in Reception On Monday, Supertato was captured by Evil Pea and taken to a desert island! Reception are tasked with designing and building a vehicle capable of rescuing Supertato and bringing him home.
• Thursday 29 January 2026 Firefighters and Wellbeing Wednesday in Reception
• Friday 16 January 2026 Reception's People Who Help Us
• Friday 5 December 2025 The Christmas Story in Reception In amongst their second and last week of Nativity rehearsals, Reception learnt about the traditional Christmas story celebrated by Christians.
• Friday 21 November 2025 Snail and the Whale in Reception
• Friday 14 November 2025 Room on the Broom Reception loved sharing their classroom for Stay and Play this week! They
• Friday 7 November 2025 Hibernation and Guy Fawkes in Reception
• Friday 17 October 2025 Gingerbread Houses in Reception The Reception bakers were busy making gingerbread houses this week! Prompted by the houses on the Venetian waterside in the painting, children wrote lists of ingredients, mixed, squeezed, rolled, baked and of course ate, delicious gingerbread.
• Friday 10 October 2025 Starting to write in Reception! As we come to the end of our single letter sounds in phonics, Reception are starting to use their knowledge to write words! They labelled objects they could see in the Regatta on the Grand Canal, e.g. 'g' for gondola, 'bt' for boat. We are so impressed with everyone's skills!
• Friday 3 October 2025 Celebrations and Birthdays in Reception Inspired by the flags and bunting in our Take One Picture, Reception's topic this week was celebrations and birthdays.
• Friday 26 September 2025 Mr Grumpy's Outing in Reception Inspired by the gondolas in our Take One Picture (A Regatta on the Grand Canal), Reception read Mr Grumpy's Outing. They used small world characters to walk through and retell the story.
• Friday 19 September 2025 The Three Little Pigs in Reception This week Reception looked at houses and homes as part of their All About Me topic. They categorised different houses around the world, retold the Three Little Pigs by walking through the story and enjoyed exploring creative areas in the classroom.
• Thursday 20 February 2025 Reception STEM Week 2 Wow! Reception have had an action-packed week filled with exciting experiences. From meeting amazing creatures with Zoolab to witnessing mind-blowing science with Professor Brainstorm, curiosity and excitement were everywhere!
• Thursday 13 February 2025 Reception STEM Week 1 What an exciting week in Reception! After Evil Pea announced he had captured Supertato and taken him to a desert island, Reception swiftly set about designing and building boats to rescue Supertato. They have conducted floating and sinking experiments, measured amounts and lengths, written numerous wanted posters for the ever elusive Evil Pea and used DT joins to make cardboard traps.
• Thursday 6 February 2025 Engineers in Reception To lead into STEM, Reception read 'Rosie Revere Engineer' this week and learnt about the importance of making a plan before building. Children drew designs of their inventions before making them using junk modelling materials. They talked about how they would follow their plan.
• Friday 31 January 2025 Big Bird Watch in Reception This week Reception took part in the RSPB's Big Bird Watch. They began the week by learning key facts about common garden birds and identifying different bird song.
• Thursday 16 January 2025 Penguins in Reception Continuing their adventure into frozen worlds, Reception’s text this week was Jonty Gentoo, the penguin who escapes the zoo to head to Antarctica (via an accidental detour to the North Pole!)
• Friday 15 November 2024 Reception's Week Reception have done lots of writing this week! From how they would fill their bucket of kindness for Kindness Day, to odd sock designs and orders for the cafe, children have been using their phonics to spell simple words and emotions, e.g. happy, hug.
• Thursday 3 October 2024 Reception's Take One Picture This week Reception began their study of A Courtyard of a House in Delft. Drawing on the arches and bricks in the painting, they have been printing with Duplo. Having enjoyed tracing last week, children traced a variety of arches and chose to add their own colours. They also drew what was behind their own imaginary door, with ideas ranging from fairies to Roman soldiers!
• Thursday 26 September 2024 Shapes in Reception This week, Reception found 2D and 3D shapes in The Courtyard of a House in Delft, our Take One Picture. Inspired by this, they made shape monsters, categorised shapes and printing with 3D shapes.
• Thursday 19 September 2024 All About Us in Reception Children have had a busy week! To support settling in, we read The Colour Monster and talked about different feelings. The different colour monsters visited the classroom and we wrote messages on post-it notes to make them feel better. Children drew self-portraits using mirrors.

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