Reception

Welcome to Reception - Acorn and Willow Class

Acorn Class

Miss Dower is the class teacher and we have a wonderful teaching assistant Mrs Parry

Willow Class

Mrs Laycock is the class teacher and we have a wonderful teaching assistant Mrs Parry

On this web page you will find lots of information about our weekly routines and details about the exciting learning that will be taking place both indoors and outdoors this term.

What will we be learning this term in Reception?

This term we will immerse ourselves in a ‘all about me’ topic. Starting school can be a daunting and anxious time for children but we hope that all of our friendly staff can help ease any worries or concerns. Initially we will be spending lots of time getting to know each other, making new friends and learning our new class routines. We will continue to work on creating personalised learning opportunities within Reception, developing the unique individual interests of the children.

We are proud to promote British Values within Reception. Each day the children vote for the story they would like to hear at Story time. We strongly encourage our children to share their ideas and value others opinions and views. We are hoping the children will suggest ideas and vote for the focus of our outdoor role play. 

In maths we will be been looking at one more and one less. We will begin to estimate the amounts of objects we see and check by counting. We will develop our use of number and begin to explore simple addition and subtraction in practical ways. We are also on the lookout for lots of 2D and 3D shapes that are all around us in our environment.

In Literacy we continue to work on our phonics, reading and writing. We will begin to explore the features of books and read a wide range of texts. The children will develop their writing recalling their own experiences and rewriting stories in their words. We are working hard to hear the sounds in words and write these down. We will also begin to explore importance of finger spaces, capital letters and full stops and try to use them when we write ourselves. 

Useful information:

Our school day begins at 8.55am each morning. The lower school playground doors are open from 8.45am until 8.55am. When the door is open children can walk into school, hang up their own belongings and enter their classroom.

Our day finishes at 3.30pm and the Reception children will leave from their classroom door and into the foundation stage garden.

We do P.E. on a Tuesday and Friday afternoon and we ask that the children have a labelled P.E. kit that is left in school. Our P.E. kit consists of a pair of maroon shorts, a white t-shirt with the school logo and black pumps. Please ensure that this is in a named draw string bag

Timetable:

• PE is on a Tuesday and Friday

• Computing is on Tuesday

• Daily Phonics lessons

Homework:

• Reading is expected every night. Please record a comment in your child's reading record.
• At times there may be additional tasks set which will help your child to consolidate their learning. 

What will the children need in school?

• Everyday each child should bring to school their book bag containing their reading record, reading books and phonic book.
• Each child should have a named water bottle to be kept in school which will be sent home to be washed.
• Each child is expected to have a PE kit in line with the school uniform policy

Phonics

Each day the children complete a phonics session where they learn sounds and how to use them in their reading and in their writing. Each week the children will bring home a phonic book. Phonic books will contain letters and sounds that the children have focused learning that week. Children will use their phonic books to practice these letters and sounds with you at home. Please work through these sounds with your child to help consolidate their learning.

Parents as Partners

From birth, children are continually learning. They develop and learn in a variety of ways and you as parents are their first and most enduring educators. Close working between teachers and parents is therefore vital for the identification of a child’s learning needs. So that we can plan the most effective and meaningful activities for your child, it would be most helpful if you could share your child’s experiences out of school with us. This could be anything from a special trip out or dancing in a show, to baking a cake or going to swimming lessons! We highly value your opinions and input and it would help us greatly if you could write down any experiences your child has enjoyed away from school. We are sure this will have a positive impact on the experiences we provide within the school setting. You can record these experiences in your child’s Special Moments book - please feel free to write about any learning experiences or special activities undertaken at home. We look forward to hearing all about the hobbies, interests, experiences and achievements that you share outside school.

We hope you find this information useful. If you have any queries, please come and see us.

Warm regards,

Miss Dower and the Reception team