Reception

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Welcome to Reception

Spring Term

Spring Term is well underway and we have been very busy learning, firstly through our topic ‘Animal Explorers’ where we learned about animals from different habitats around the world and currently through our topic ‘Heroes and Villains’. We had a super Pirate Day where children and staff came dressed as pirates and took part in a range of pirate themed activities. We are reading stories such as ‘Superkid’, ‘Superworm’ and ‘Supertato’, where the heroes are fictional but we are also finding out about real life superheroes. We welcomed PC Dave from Staffordshire Police into class this week and we are looking forward to meeting other heroes in the coming weeks. We are also busy preparing our Superheroes assembly to present to parents and carers on Wednesday 13th March during which we will share with you our learning from this topic and also throughout the year.

We have been working towards our end of Spring expectations in all areas of learning (these can be found in the ‘Skills and knowledge grid’ below). We are continuing to make rapid progress in our phonics learning, with many of us now reading and writing words, phrases and short sentences with growing independence. We are becoming more confident when using a range of language and equipment to talk about numbers and we are applying this to different contexts, not just in our Maths lessons. In Spring 1, we became scientists, replacing our weekly Outdoor Learning sessions with science themed sessions. Children were able to do some excellent ‘hands on’ learning, asking questions and investigating to find the answers. Children have also had the opportunity to visit Kingswood, taking part in activities as part of their ‘A day in the woods’ session. After Easter, we will be taking our learning beyond the classroom once more, visiting Haye Farm in Bewdley as part of our ‘Growing and Changing’ topic (letter to follow).

As always, your input is vital, please continue to support your child with weekly home learning tasks, daily reading, including their reading book and library book from school, and encourage them to tell you all about what they are learning in school. If you have not already done so, please ensure that you have access to the Marvellous Me app which is used to keep you up to date with upcoming events and also to send you regular photos of your child in school. Family Learning sessions take place every Wednesday afternoon at the Adventure Playground. If you are interested in attending any of these sessions, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

Autumn 2

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s hard to believe that we’ve completed a whole term in Reception already! We have continued our learning during Autumn 2, with a lot of our work centred around traditional tales through our topic ‘Let’s Pretend’. We are established now in Reception and we feel happy and confident in school, following the rules and expectations of our teachers. We have made excellent progress in our phonics, learning to read and write new sounds and blend them together to read lots of words. We have also been working hard to deepen our understanding of number, exploring and using a range of different equipment as concrete representations of numbers to 10. We have been developing the skills of drawing with greater detail, painting and colour mixing and using different materials to express ourselves, using our own ideas. We have been asking and answering questions about the world around us, not only through our weekly Outdoor Learning sessions but also through our topic work.

We’ve also managed to squeeze in our Christmas craft session and a visit to see Santa at the West Midland Safari Park! We are ready for the Christmas break now but we are excited about what 2024 has in store for us in Reception!

Please continue to support your child with weekly home learning tasks, daily reading, including their reading book from school, and encourage them to tell you all about what they are learning in school. If you have not already done so, please ensure that you have access to the Marvellous Me app which is used to keep you up to date with upcoming events and also to send you regular photos of your child in school.

Family Learning sessions will continue from January every Wednesday afternoon at the Adventure Playground. If you are interested in attending any of these sessions, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

As always, your input is vital and we value any information that you may have about your child’s development to support us with our assessments. If your child ‘wows’ you at home, please ask for a ‘wow slip’ so that you can share the details of the achievement with us.

Many thanks for your support this year. May we wish you a very merry Christmas and a healthy and happy new year. We look forward to welcoming all children back on Monday 8th January.

Autumn 1

What a busy first half term we’ve had in Reception! The children have settled well, adapting to new routines and expectations. We have had lots of fun learning all about ourselves through our topic ‘Marvellous Me.’ We have read lots of books, learned new sounds and used lots of different apparatus to support our learning about number and shape. We have been creative and inquisitive, expressing what we have learned through paint, drawing, malleable materials, modelling and role play. We have especially enjoyed our weekly Outdoor Learning sessions where we get to explore the environment around us, finding out all about the changes that happen in Autumn.

We are looking forward to another exciting half term in the lead up to Christmas where we will develop in all areas of learning through our topic ‘Let’s Pretend’ (details of this can be found on the topic map below). We will be working towards our ‘End of Autumn’ expectations, learning to blend and segment sounds to read and write words. There will be an opportunity for parents to come into school to speak to the Reception staff and have a look at some of the work we have been doing as part of the Autumn term parents evening and we will be holding our annual Christmas craft session where you will be invited to come into school to be creative with your child, creating masterpieces to display in your homes over the Christmas period! Letters for both of these to follow shortly.

Teamwork is so important when supporting children in Early Years and we really do appreciate the work that you have been doing with your children at home, sharing their reading book with them and accessing the RWI phonics links. Remember, if your child ‘wows’ you at home with something that they do independently, please ask your child’s teacher for a sheet to record and share this with us so that it can form part of their learning journey. We have begun sending out photos of children in school via the Marvellous Me app and we aim to do this more regularly after half term. Please make sure that you are registered on the app using the code sent home so that you don’t miss out on these updates. The app is also used as a school messaging system.

For those who are able, Family Learning sessions run weekly, every Wednesday afternoon. Please ask for more information if this is something that you would be interested in.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child or if you need any support, please come and speak to us, the door is always open and if we can’t address it immediately, we will arrange a separate meeting with the appropriate people.

Many thanks for your support.