Reception
Key information for parents:
- Reception children enter school through the door up from the main yard.
- Doors open at 8:40am and collection time is 3:15 pm
- Reading books in Reception will be changed on Thursday and new books sent home on Fridays.
- PE kits are to be worn on a Friday
Mrs Adcock and Mrs Stirland look forward to seeing you in Reception.
Our classrooms
Key Reception Information 2024
Please pause to read key information and about how your child will learn in Reception. Thank you for taking the time :)
Autumn 1 - Week 8 - Diwali 🪔 Day 🕯🎆
Today we have taken part in a day to celebrate Diwali - the Hindu festival of light.
The children have taken part in a number of activities across the day including:
- Diwali dance workshop
- Rangoli pattern finger painting
- Dira making with salt dough
- Light door decorations
- Diwali colouring activities
- Fine motor rangoli decorating
Autumn 1 - Week 7
These last couple of weeks we have read the book ‘Pumpkin Soup’ and following on from our learning yesterday about how pumpkins grow we made pumpkin soup and taste tested it. We were very excited and it smelt delicious. Some of us were really brave and weren’t too keen but some of us LOVED it! Well done Reception🧡 👏💪
Autumn 1- Week 6 - HELLO YELLOW - WORLD 🌎 MENTAL HEALTH DAY 💛
Today we talked about what it means to have a healthy mind and body. We talked about our different emotions and how these can affect our choices. We talked about who can help us when we need to talk and what makes us happy.
We also did some mindfulness breathing exercises during our snack time!
Autumn 1 - Week 5
On Friday We were pirates. We used pirate music to get us in the theme! We played what time is it Mr Pirate🏴☠️ and listened carefully to the different instructions such as Move the decking, climb the real game, walk the plank! We had lots of fun!
Autumn 1 - Week 4
We explored the natural world around us, discussing what things were alive and not alive. We talked about why things were alive- they need water, food and they grow, even though they do not talk (plants/trees). We had lots of fun talking about our different objects.
Later, we watched a beantime-lapse in our classroom ‘cinema’! 🎥
Autumn 1 - Week 3 ✍️🙌🏻🤩
Welcome to Drawing club!
We began our Drawing Club journey in Reception this week and we are so excited for what it will hold. Drawing club is a fantastic opportunity for our children to begin their writing experience at school. Based around a chosen book, children are invited to come to drawing club, (they all want to join in, even the reluctant ones!), and draw, mark make and eventually write their own sentences. We explore the vocabulary used and we learnt what gobble, chomp, destroy and ignore mean from the book. We even came up with our own actions to remember their meaning.
Our first book is Not now Bernard! All the children drew their own monster on Wednesday and on Thursday we draw what Bernard’s house may look like. We had some amazing creations! Take a look…
Drawing club = magic 🪄✨
Autumn 1- Week 2 🥳
This week Reception have completed their first FULL week in Reception and what a week it has been! From paper plate self portraits and drawing who we live with to discussing our emotions and feelings through our book - The colour monster. We have been really trying to listen carefully on the carpet to our adults and are getting used to taking turns and sharing with our new friends
Our first week in Reception…✅
WOW 🤩! What a fantastic first week in Reception. The children have settling really well and have got into the full swing of Reception. Don’t forget to check us out on Tapestry for more regular updates on our play and learning 😁💓🤩
Us in action 📸- week 1
To contact Reception, please use the form below.
Alternatively, you can email us directly at reception@hugomeynell.staffs.sch.uk
Friday 5th July. This week we have celebrated all our PE skills in our sports day event. What a fabulous time we had running, balancing, jumping and manoeuvring around obstacles. Our butterflies have also begun to emerge from yap their chrysalides which caused great excitement this morning.
Friday 21st June This week we had a great time learning new skills in our Balance Bike workshop. Our caterpillars are growing rapidly and we are wondering when they will begin to change. We also had a request to help rescue some frozen peas from some very solid ice blocks.
Friday 14th June This week we have had an exciting delivery of caterpillars.... we are patiently waiting to see if they are moths or butterflies. Already they have increased in length and size and are very active in their little pots.
Friday 7th June This week we had a busy week and also talked about the D-Day celebrations. We remembered how we made poppies for remembrance day back in the autumn term and some of the children recalled their great grandparents medals too. In Reception we are always recalling what we learnt in a previous term using our calendar wall and memory suitcase.
Friday 10th May This week we had a visit from Shonelle the tortoise (Shelby’s sister) we drew pictures of her using charcoal and tried to find out what she liked to eat the best , however she wasn’t very hungry. We have planned our own stories ready to write them next week. Outside we have been practising our ‘teamwork’ by building dens and waterfalls, trying to work together, overcome challenges and communicate effectively with each other.
Friday 3rd May This week we had a fabulous morning with the Market Drayton Art Club as we painted pictures for the month of April. We painted rainbows, rabbits, Easter eggs, crosses, baby lambs, butterflies and spring flowers.
Friday 26th April A visit from Shelby the tortoise resulted in making pets and a home for Shelby. We also found out that he has sharp claws to help him dig and he is a herbivore. We have also made our own first, then and now maths stories, shared the Y6 film set designs and enjoyed the sunshine in our garden.
Summer term Friday 12th April Science Week Exploring Time, Inventions and GLOOP changing from a solid to a liquid.
Friday 15th March Comic Relief we raised money by wearing our own clothes and making funny noses.
Happy St David’s day . We had great fun finding Wales on the map, drawing dragons and daffodils.
Finding all about Lunar New Year and facts about China. We even tried saying hello in Chinese and writing .
Gymnastics. We are loving gymnastics. This week we did pencil rolls and teddy bear rolls. It was quite tricky to keep our hands and feet together during the pencil rol and the teddy bear roll we had to hold our legs to swing around the may, but we all persevered and were really proud when we finished.
26th January This week we have been preparing for the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. As well as making bird feeders to entice the birds into our garden we have also enjoyed drawing them and using watercolours to paint them.
19th January We received a mysterious present. We wondered what was inside. It was a double decker bus from London. Our story is about a red London bus and we have found out about some of the landmarks in London and enjoyed building the,.
Happy New Year 🥳 This week we have been running laps of the playground every morning and thinking how to be healthy. We have also looked back at last term in our suitcase to remember what we have learned so far.
Merry Christmas
Friday 17th November Whata busy week with Odd Socks Day, Anti-Bullying week , Diwali and Children in Need. The children in a reception have been non-stop very day. Have a look at our photos to see what we have been up to.
Friday 20th October Pumpkin Soup, finding pumpkins, pumpkin poems & pumpkin art.
Friday 13th October This week we thought about how we stay healthy and happy for World Mental Health day. We also joined the whole school to celebrate Harvest Festival and were brave enough to say our poem to the whole school.
Friday 6th October this week has been all about patterns . Can you find a pattern? Can you copy a pattern? Can you create a pattern? We used our ten frames to vote for our story. Which story would you vote for? In PE we were squeezing our bean bag to make sure it stayed in our hand to catch it.
Friday 29th September This week had great excitement in Reception as we baked gingerbread men and one escaped from the oven. Lots of pondering about where he might have gone and how we could find him.
15th September 2023 Welcome to Reception. We have been very busy settling in to our new classroom and learning new routines. We shared a story called Oh No George and helped him to make good choices.
Friday 3rd February. Today was the NSPCC number day so we had lots of fun with number games and making numbers.
Friday 27th January The pirates are in China and have discovered Chinese New Year celebrations . We found out the lunar new year is celebrated in lots of countries. We thought about celebrations we have like birthdays and Christmas and sharing those with our families. Some of the children wanted to make their own Chinese dragons and dances.
Friday 20th January Fun in the snow.... The pirates have got lost and can see polar bears from their ship where are they? As if by magic snow arrived on our playing field as well. We found out where polar bears live and where penguins live. We looked at the globe to see where we live. We tried to make the tallest snow tower and the heaviest snowball.
Friday 13th January Ahoy there me hearties.... Pirate ships and pirate treasure ..
Friday 16th December Have a safe and peaceful Christmas
Friday 9th December Christmas is well on its way in Reception. We have retold the Christmas story using the small world characters and dressing up. On Wednesday we sang our Christmas songs with our nursery friends to our special grown ups,
Friday 2nd December This week Christmas arrived with the arrival of a tree and decorations, an advent calendar and our Christingle circle time. The children worked out how to put up the tree, decorated it and were very thoughtful whilst following the instructions to make their Christingle. We finished our week with a special treat watching a magic show with our friends from Nursery.
Friday 24th November This week we have been reading a story called ‘I’m going to eat this ant’. We found out that anteater’s claws are 10cm and their tongue save 60cm long. We also had great fun trying to draw an anteater
Friday 18th November Wow, what a busy week we have had!. Odd socks day , Road Safety week, anti-bullying week and Children in Need. The children as always have been amazing and I am sure have had lots to tell you at home. Here are just a few photos of the week.
11th November This week we have been remembering. We thought about who was special to us and made them thank you cards or a medal because we thought they were brave or did something very well. Mr Griffin came to our classroom to tell us about his grandfather and showed us some old photographs. Today it was Remembrance Day and the children were very respectful during our 2 minute silence and had remembered lots about why we remember those who were brave during the war. We also learnt some new vocabulary such as wreath and veteran.
Friday 7th October The gingerbread man found his way back to the classroom this week so we have had lots of fun telling his story and making it our own. What would happen if it was a crocodile or shark in the river or what if Mrs Baker made another character like the stinky cheese man....? We have also been busy making patterns, practising our writing, making and reading words as well as practicing throwing and catching with Bee Active.
Friday 30th September What a busy week we have had. The Gingerbread man escaped from the oven so we have written letters, made posters and drawn maps. We also made traps to catch him and a house for him to live in. Keep a look out in case you see his little footprints.
Friday 19th September We went on an adventure around school to find people who help us in school. Who do you know?
Friday 16th September This week we tasted honey sandwiches as some of us had not tasted honey before. The queen kept bees in her garden. We told the story of Goldilocks and the three bears and drew maps for the bears to find Goldilocks House. We also had Bee Active to play games outside. We had to pretend to be lots of animals. We have been using our self registration to find out who is in school using our ten frames. We know everyone is here when the frame are full. .
Friday 9th September What a very busy week we have had in Reception. We have got to know some new friends and have been learning new routines such as going to the hall for our dinner. We have played games to learn new names, had great fun singing counting songs as well as drawing a fierce wolf in Drawing Club. I think everyone has earned a rest over the weekend and can’t wait to see what we learn next week.
17th June Another exciting week in Reception. Emma from Exotiv Zoo came to visit with some friends. We learnt lots of facts about all the animals and got to hold them too. Can you guess what the animals are?
10th June This week we celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee. We read books by Steve Antony about The Queen’s Handbag and The Queen’s Hat. The whole school had a jubilee picnic and we had a picture hunt in our garden.
Thursday 26th May After reading 'Silly Doggy' by Adam Stower we wrote to our teddy bears to invite them for a picnic. We made our own sandwiches and brought our bears outside for an adventure on the playground. We found out about all sorts of bears and which one was out favourite bear as well as the famous bears such as Paddington and Winnie the Pooh. We imagined what animal we might like to find in our garden just like Lily and her bear. I wonder what animal you would choose?
We found some snails hiding in our outdoor area so created a mini beast hunt as well as painting using the watercolours.
Another busy week in Reception with British Science week as we found out about growing seeds, how plants grow and thinking about how we have grown. It was also National Poetry week and we learnt a new poem every day. We finished the week with Red Nose Day, helping others and finding the Giant’s lost glasses.
We started this term by celebrating Shrove Tuesday with pancakes and traditional toppings of lemon and sugar. All the children tasted them and we almost had 100% thumbs up. On Thursday it was world book day and we celebrated words, reading and favourite stories. What a busy first week!
Mental Health week ; Reception began the week by reading The Colour Monster and talking about feelings. We thought about how to keep our hearts and heads healthy. We had lots of fun using art and music to help us relax and to express our emotions. .
Reception began their week with a visit from the Tooth Fairy who left us a story and some purple disclosure tablets to help us brush our teeth thoroughly. We had really sparkly white teeth afterwards. We also celebrated NSPCC Number Day with lots of fun maths activities and counting. Everyone joined in with dressing up too. What a great week!.
This week we had a visit from the air ambulance and got an opportunity to look at the helipad. Every time we see the red helicopter we will know they are helping somebody.
In Reception this week we have been hula hooping. We had lots of fun spinning and rolling hoops. In maths we have been doing lots of measuring and weighing using the balance scales.
Off to Antarctica and a lost penguin. Reception have found a penguin in their garden and have been exploring ice, drawing penguins and finding out penguin facts this week.
Reception thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas dinner o Tuesday. In class we have been dressing up as characters from the nativity story and completing challenges from our Christmas elf.
Christmas is coming. We received two parcels and had to unlock them by writing the password ‘Santa’. Inside we found a tree and decorations. We have been preparing our classroom for the Christmas festivities as we found out about the first ever Christmas.
It was all about shapes this week a we looked at how the shapes were made, how they grew and the numbers we noticed as we created the shape.
Children in Need 2021
Odd sock day & Anti Bullying week. This week we have been thinking about how we are all unique. We designed our own socks, thought about kind hands and words and how to be a good friend.
The children in Reception began the week recalling stories about fireworks and bonfires they had been to over the weekend as they recreated their memories by drawing firework pictures, thinking of words to describe the sounds they heard and using the their experiences in a firework dance in PE. During the week the children noticed poppies being worn and we talked of memories and people who help to keep us safe. On Thursday we joined in with the whole school community in a 2 minute silence. The children showed their respect and thoughtfulness by remaining silent throughout.
5th November The children have settled really well back into the second half of our autumn term. This week has all been about shape. We have made pictures, played shape games, found shapes around our school. I wonder what shapes you can find this weekend? We found out about the Hindu festival Diwali and the shapes used in Rangoli patterns. We have talked about how to stay safe on bonfire night this weekend and how to keep ourselves and our pets safe.
National Poetry Day 2021 Performance
Earlier in the term, the children celebrated National Poetry Day. This year’s theme was ‘Choice’. Each year group read a range of poems and chose their favourite to learn and perform to other year groups. Please listen to our performances of 'All about me' and 'The Big, Green Crocodile!' - we hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed learning and performing it.
Reception Poem Performance - All about me
Reception Poem Performance - The Big, Green Crocodile
We had a harvest celebration this week. We talked about how the crops were harvested and some of the children shared how the combine harvester cuts the wheat and how the tractor collects the grain in it's trailer. We also got a letter from a Troll who lives under our slide. We have been writing to him and had lots of fun in drawing club as we have drawn new adventures for the troll and the Billy Goats Gruff.
4th October - Everyone knows we love to play in boxes. Our boxes were trains, planes, boats, and much more. We also created patterns in maths and our message centre is always a hive of activity. Mrs Gleave asked us to complete a survey of how we travelled to school, so we made a huge chart to show her.
1st October - This week we have been sharing photographs of our families and drawing self portraits. We also shared the story Goldilocks and the three bears so there was lots of story telling and cooking in the home corner.
24th September. We have had a busy week in reception. Mr Bowen brought his violin and trumpet in so that we could listen to the sounds they made. We sang along to the music. We have also been learning letter sounds, sorting socks and buttons and doing a lot of building.
What a fantastic start to Reception!
