Rabbits

The World Around Us: Summer 2 Highlights

Butterflies Take Flight

We started Summer 2 with the wonderful discovery that our butterflies had emerged from their cocoons over half term. We chose to release them into their new home in 'Mrs Hammond's Garden', as there are lots of flowers for the butterflies to feed from and we can watch them at playtime.

The World Around Us

Our learning for Summer 2 was all about 'The World Around Us'. We began by exploring our local environment, identifying familiar landmarks in Fetcham village. We made our own maps of our journeys to school, inspired by the storybook Martha Maps It Out by Leigh Hodgkinson. We also embraced the innovative picturebook Naughty Bus by Jan and Jerry Oke, writing captions for photos of the bus on its travels around Fetcham and imagining where it might go next!

Exploring Africa

We learned about life in an African village and how this is the same as, or different from, life in Fetcham village. We shared the storybooks Catch That Chicken! by Nigerian storyteller Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank, and Handa's Noisy Night by Eileen Browne. We also discovered the wonderful non-fiction text Africa, Amazing Africa by Atinuke and Mouni Feddag, which shows the diversity of African life, including high-rise buildings in modern cities and astonishing wildlife. We especially enjoyed learning more about the wild animals who live in Africa. This was enriched by our Zoolab workshop, where we had the opportunity to stroke, observe and ask questions about animals, including Shelby the giant African snail, a scorpion, a hissing cockroach, a lively frog and a corn snake.

Forest School

We continued to build our knowledge and understanding of the natural world through our weekly Forest School sessions. Our focus activities included a Summer Scavenger Hunt, making maps with natural materials, role playing a 'safari' and using the palm drill and saw to create insect models. Alongside these, we continued to explore our favourite spaces in the woods, including the swing, slack-line, Sit Spot and mud kitchen!

Phonics and Writing

The children have made very impressive progress with phonics and reading this term. It is exciting to see how this has boosted their confidence to write independently, especially during our twice-weekly Drawing Club sessions. Their drawing skills and imaginations continue to grow - what fantastic storytellers they are becoming!

Maths

In Maths, we revisited key concepts and skills. We recapped 2D shapes, exploring how shapes can be rotated and combined to make pictures, and built our recall of number patterns and relationships, including doubles facts and number bonds to 10. The children can now use this knowledge to help solve simple addition and subtraction problems, and are beginning to record their mathematical thinking.

RE

In RE, we investigated the question: What makes our world wonder-ful? We reflected on what is special about the world around us and how we can look after it. We learned that people have different ideas about how the world was made, and to respect all of these ideas.

Art

The children continued to develop their artistic talents and techniques, inspired by the work of artists. They created their own sunflower paintings, inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, and used a 'colour wash' technique to create sunset backgrounds for African animal silhouette pictures. They sculpted and painted clay models of the first letter of their name, and learned about the South African artist Esther Mahlangu, using printing and 2D shapes to create their own artwork in her bold style.

Music

In Music, we continued to develop how we use our voices for singing, starting and stopping together; this included performing 'Waka Waka' for Sports Day. The children listened and responded thoughtfully to music from Africa, and showed they can now play instruments with care and control.

Sports Day

Sports Day is always a highlight of the summer term, and this year was no exception! The children showed fantastic independence and skill at the activity stations, drawing on all we've learned and practised. They developed their technique for the running races, using the tracks and waiting for 'go!'. We were especially proud of the kindness they showed to each other - cheering everyone on and cooperating in the team events.

Getting Ready for Year 1

Our topic for PSHE was 'Changing Me', reflecting on what the children have enjoyed in Reception and looking ahead to new experiences in Year 1. This helped prepare the children well for their Transition Day on 1st July, spent in their new Year 1 classes. We were so proud of the confidence, independence and resilience they showed.

A Fond Farewell

Our Reception team has loved getting to know each child and seeing them shine in their own way. We will be ready and waiting to welcome the children back to school in September as Year 1 pupils! Well done, Rabbits and Squirrels!