This week in Reception we have been very busy learning all about Autumn. At forest school this week, the children were collecting different leaves and then sorted them according to their size. The children have loved joining in with lots of Autumn activities, including washing pumpkins, painting pumpkins and using their fine motor skills to hammer golf tees into a pumpkin. We have also used our artist skills this week to explore autumn colours, and the children have painted a picture of an autumn tree which looked amazing on display this week. Well done everyone for another fantastic week!  At Roebuck, we are artists and explorers!  

In Reception, the children have been learning all about our senses as part of the topic 'Marvellous Me.'  We learnt all about the 5 different senses: sight, touch, taste, hearing and sight. The children were then given a challenge to identify 5 different foods or drink by their smell. These included vinegar, hot chocolate and coffee. The children made a prediction before finding out if they had identified the smell correctly. The children have also been busy observing as our caterpillars have continued to grow. We have been talking all about the different stages of the lifecycle. We are now watching carefully to see when our caterpillars spin their cocoons. At Roebuck, we are scientists!

This week, the children in Reception have helped their teachers build a bug hotel for our outdoor garden. The children have spent a long time collecting various natural materials like leaves and sticks to create a home for minibeasts. We have also planted wildflowers to encourage lots of visitors to our bug hotel. The children are now very busy looking after the seedlings and of course hunting for minibeasts. At Roebuck we are minibeast hunters!

It has been extremely busy in our Reception Classes with so much going on. A few highlights from the last two weeks have included learning about bubbles as part of science week. We wanted to find out if bubbles are always round. We had so much fun experimenting with water, washing up liquid, glycerine and different types of bubble wands. We even made our own wands out of pipe cleaners! We have also been learning about Easter and in our classes discussed how we celebrate Easter with our families. At Forest School we went on an exciting Easter egg hunt! Our teachers had hidden lots of different coloured easter eggs around the forest for us to find. We had so much fun finding them. We ended our Easter themed week by looking after real-life chicks! We found out how to look after them and the life cycle of a hen.

Well, done to all our children for another great term. We hope you all have a wonderful Easter. In Reception we are superstars!

This week in Reception, we have been very excited to learn about the Lunar New Year and welcomed in The Year of the Dragon. On Monday, we had an experience day where we took part in lots of different activities based on the Lunar New Year. The children learned dance moves using features of the Lunar New Year such as fans, fireworks and lanterns. The children were very creative and made their own lanterns which they decorated and put up in our classrooms. We also learned about the different types of food eaten in China and throughout the week the children made their very own noodle stir fry. At Roebuck we are Chefs!

This week the children have been very excited about our new topic 'Let's Explore'. We began our new topic by exploring our local area and created a mind map of what makes Stevenage special. We identified lots of places including, the football stadium, the cinema, the shops, the theatre, Marks and Spencer's, Fairlands Park and many more! We then looked at photographs that had been taken in and around Stevenage and tried our hardest to recognise where they were taken. We also used Google Earth to zoom into the school and different places around Stevenage. The children all enjoyed contributing to a class display of our local area and made different types of homes, shops and buildings. During our Child Initiated Learning time, some children have been busy writing independently about what they see in our local area. What a fun week it has been! At Roebuck we are geographers!