Reception

Welcome to Reception Class!                                                                                                                             

Hello and a warm welcome to Reception’s class page. I am Mrs Barrow-who has the pleasure of teaching Reception class this year alongside Ms Bruen, our Early Years Teaching Assistant. We are both enthusiastic, kind, caring and most of all, passionate early years practitioners who firmly believe that we have the best job in the whole school!

In Reception, we learn through a balance of child initiated and adult led activities. When children are operating in our areas of provision they are learning through play, within enabling environments, with the support and guidance of knowledgeable adults; providing secure relationships in which all children can flourish and reach their full potential. Our environment is a safe, secure and stimulating space which has been carefully planned to meet the needs and interests of all our children. We love the great outdoors and always take advantage of what nature has to offer.

 Maths

In Reception we use the White Rose maths scheme. This scheme of work shows all young children that everyone CAN do maths! Maths is taught on a daily basis, which is made up of a teacher led session on the carpet, short practical sessions with a partner as well as a recorded piece of work completed with an adult. Children also practise and consolidate their skills through child led continuous provision activities throughout the week. During Autumn term, we will be focusing upon:

Fantastic Phonics

In Reception class we teach phonics daily. We follow the Read, Write Inc phonics scheme.  As we learn new sounds we will practice putting these together to read words and sounding them out to write words. More information about phonics and reading will be given once the children have settled in. We hold regular workshops throughout the year as your child progresses through the RWI scheme. If you have any questions, please speak to a member of the teaching team. Please find below some videos you may find useful.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbWIujM1WGM What is RWI phonics?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q  How to say the sounds

Reading

 As well as reading during our daily phonics session, children will read on a weekly basis to the class teacher/ teaching assistant. Your child’s reading book will be changed every Tuesday and Friday. We ask for reading books to be brought into school every day as children may have extra opportunities to read throughout the week.

 When reading the school reading book we will focus on using phonic skills to read words as well as comprehension skills to talk about the story and characters. Reading books will be closely linked to the children’s growing phonic knowledge. We ask all parents/carers to spend at least 10-15 minutes a night reading, either using the school reading book, word time mat or common exception (red word list).

 Children will also have the opportunity to choose from a selection of books from our class library every Friday. Children choose a library book to take home to share with their family. This is to encourage reading for pleasure together and is not linked to phonics unlike the school reading book.

Please see below our recommended reads for Autumn Term 1.

Our Enquiry Curriculum

In Reception class, we love to learn through investigations, research and problem solving as part of our Enquiry Curriculum. Every Monday the children are presented with a BIG QUESTION.

Please find below our Big Questions for Autumn 1.

Home Learning

• Reading/ phonics home learning is to be completed every evening.
• Home learning challenges linked to our maths work/enquiry curriculum will be sent out every other Friday.

 PE Days

 Our PE days are every Thursday (indoor) and Friday (outdoor). Your child should come to school dressed in their PE kits on these days.

 Indoor pumps

Please provide your child with a pair of indoor pumps for classroom use. Your child will change into their pumps when moving from the outdoor to the indoor area.

 All weather clothing

In Reception we love to take our learning outside- whatever the weather! With this in mind we, we would be grateful if you could provide your child with a pair of named wellies and a puddle suit. These will be stored in school so that the children can access them as and when needed.

 Birthday treats/invitations

 As you are aware, we are a nut free school. Furthermore, we have a number of children in our cohort who have food allergies. Therefore, we would politely ask that if your child would like to bring sweet treats in for their friends when it is their birthday, please can you accommodate this yourself at the end of the school day to avoid disappointing members of our classes who cannot eat what their friends are receiving.

 We are unable to give out party invitations in a bid to ensure that no child feels left out or disappointed.

 Thank you for your support and understanding. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to come and speak to a member of the team at the end of the day.

 Please have a look below at our Early Years environment:

We have an amazing art studio in class!

Our Gallery

Forest School