Welcome to our Reception page 

Every day is a new adventure in Reception and here we will share some of those adventures with you!

September

Colour Week

We enjoyed taking part in many different activities during art week.  We made bubble prints and rainbows using different media and collage materials.  We even drew our own sunflower pictures just like Vincent Van Gogh! 

Colour Run

We had lots of fun taking part in the colour run organised by Durham School Sports Partnership.

Monster Phonics Day

It was the launch of our Monster Phonics programme so everyone dressed up as a Monster Phonics monster!   Look at our costumes in the phonics section of our website.

Finchale Family Jiggly Jog time!!

What a fun day!

European Day of Languages

Hola! Reception found out more about Spain during our European Day of Languages celebration.  We also made flags, we tried traditional Spanish foods, we made pictures in the style of Gaudi (a famous Spanish sculptor), we sang and danced to Spanish songs and tried out a few Spanish words.

October

Little Kickers

Reception were treated to a demo session today from Little Kickers Football.  Everyone had a fantastic time whilst also developing their football skills.

Making Bread

After listening to one of our favourite stories - The Little Red Hen, we decided to have a go at making our own bread.

Halloween Fun

Happy Halloween from Reception.

November

Remembrance Day

Reception joined KS1 for a special remembrance service in our Finchale Memorial garden.  We wore our special poppies that we had made.

Diwali Celebrations

Reception have been learning about Diwali.  We worked together to make some rangoli patterns and we each made our own diva lamp and firework pictures.  We were also very lucky because Harry from year 3 came and talked to us about his own Diwali traditions and celebrations at home.

Children in Need

Everyone at Finchale Primary, especially Reception, enjoyed dressing up for Children in Need day.

Visit from Jet and Ben

Reception had a wonderful time meeting Jet and Ben, as part of our People Who Help Us topic.  Police officer Claire told us about her job and was kind enough to even let us try on some police uniform!  We had a look at the van she uses for her job and we saw the lights and sirens in action.  The highlight of her visit, however, was definitely meeting her police dogs Jet and Ben.  They were very well behaved and everyone enjoyed stroking them and having their picture taken with them.

Marvellous Maths Day

We love Maths in Reception, so it was great fun to dress up in number related clothes and take part in fun number activities in our classroom.

December

Christmas Crafts

Christmas is a fun time to be in Reception.  We practised our printing skills using our hands and feet and then turned our prints into snowmen and reindeers.  We also developed our weaving skills when making our calendars and we created Christmas trees using strips of paper.

Festive Fun Run

What a fun morning we had, getting dressed in our Christmas accessories and taking part in a Christmas themed fun run organised by the Durham School Sports Partnership.  We wish it could be Christmas every day!!!

January

Captain Chemistry visits Reception

Reception thoroughly enjoyed their visit from Captain Chemistry.  They took part in a variety of experiments linked to their Winter topic.  The children worked in groups, exploring different materials to find out which would be the best at keeping in heat.  They also enjoyed investigating the most effective ways to melt ice quickly.  It was very cold but lots of fun!

New Sports

We have enjoyed experiencing some new sports in P.E.  Caitlin from the Durham School Sports Partnership introduced us to New Age Kurling.  It was lots of fun!  Then Beth, also from the SSP, introduced us to Yoga and we played some games and practised some yoga poses.

February

Finchale Maths Day

We had another day to celebrate Maths at Finchale - this time we had to dress up in costumes linked to the robots in Numbots.  We looked amazing and we enjoyed exploring the different Numbot activities on the iPads.

Dress To Express Yourself

As part of Children's Mental Health Week, we had a Dress To Express Yourself day.  We looked at the importance of using our voices to express ourselves too and we thought about all the different people in our lives that we can talk to.

Safer Internet Day

Buddy the dog helped us to learn all about keeping safe online.  First of all we talked about the importance of not being on our screens too much, and what to do if we saw something on our screens that upset or worried us.  Then Buddy taught us how to keep safe when using the internet and he showed us a great song to help us remember.  Finally we listened to a story about Buddy and his friend Ben, who had just been given a new tablet from his Grandma and we helped him throughout the story to make good decisions and stay safe.

Chinese New Year

Reception enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year. We listened to the story of how the Chinese calendar began and found out about traditions celebrated during Chinese New Year.  Our classroom was turned into a Chinese restaurant and we tasted some delicious Chinese food.  We learnt new songs, made our own Chinese lanterns, dancing dragons and lucky money envelopes and even made up our own dragon dances.  Then we got a chance to share what we had learnt with our friends and families, during our class assembly.

March

Our Chicks

How exciting! Reception had so much fun taking part in the Living Eggs Project.  We successfully hatched 10 healthy chicks (7 boys and 3 girls) and we enjoyed playing with them and caring for them.  Have a look at the presentation below to see what we got up to....

Going on a Bear Hunt

We're going on a bear Hunt, we're going to catch a big one, what a beautiful day, we're not scared!! Reception had a great time going on a bear hunt at Maiden Castle, organised by the Durham Schools Sports Partnership.  We went through the swishy swashy grass, through the river and even through a swirling whirling snowstorm!!  And yes we did find the bear!

World Book Day

Reception enjoyed celebrating World Book Day by dressing up as their favourite book characters.

Our Trip to All Saints

As part of our RE curriculum and our current topic 'Spring and New Life,'  Reception went on a visit to All Saint's Church and took part in a role play baptism.  They really enjoyed it and learnt a lot.  The children showed such an interest that we even turned our role play corner in the classroom into a church, so they could continue to baptise their babies in class. 

Visit from the Fire Service

Reception had a visit from the Fire service linked to one of our previous topics about People Who Help Us.  We met a group of firefighters who told us all about their job and the different uniforms and the equipment they have to use to keep themselves safe.  We then went outside to see some of the vehicles they drive, including the fire engine.  They even let us have a turn of the hose which was great fun.

April

Our Visit to Hall Hill Farm

Reception had a great time visiting Hall Hill Farm.  We got the chance to cuddle and feed some baby animals and we fed some of the bigger animals too.  We enjoyed a tractor ride to see some animals out in the fields and we learnt lots of new information from our guide Michelle.  Our Jessie even got to have her photograph taken with Jessie the pony!