This term, our St Peters Campus Receptions have embarked on a fascinating Unit of Inquiry into how the world works, exploring how we observe and wonder about the natural world.

We began with a thought-provoking provocation, inviting students to investigate a series of engaging stations: testing different sounds, exploring plants, examining a small-world habitat, feeling materials with varying properties, smelling herbs and studying objects under magnifying glasses. Their challenge? To work out how these experiences were connected. The children quickly discovered that by using their senses and curiosity, they could uncover details and patterns in the world around them.

Since then, our budding scientists have been sharpening their observation skills. We have gone on a sound hunt and listened carefully to identify and describe different noises in our environment. We explored our sense of taste with a delicious (and sometimes surprising!) tasting session, describing foods as salty, bitter, sweet or sour—including some less familiar flavours like blood orange and horseradish! We created sensory boards, combining materials of different textures and completed observational drawings, focusing on fine details we might normally overlook. This week, we have played 'What’s That Smell?', using our noses to guess mystery scents.

Through these experiences, students are learning that careful observation, using all our senses, helps us to understand and appreciate the world in new and exciting ways.

Laura Benger
Reception Teacher