Welcome to Reception!

Teachers: Miss Richardson, Miss Cribbes

HLTA: Mrs Ridge

Teaching Assistants: Miss Briggs, Mrs Gray, Miss Gregson, Miss Khan, Mrs Dlugosz, Mrs Hawkridge

Welcome Intro:

On this web page we will be putting lots of information about all the exciting things we will be doing this year.

We are very lucky and have lots of adults who will be working in Reception this school year.

The early years curriculum is based on learning through exploration and play. There are a number of ways you can help your child to learn and make progress:

• Always be on time.
• Good attendance
• Home reading
• Point out numbers and letters in the environment. 
• count at every opportunity
• Talk to your child about the world around them.
• Ask your child what he / she has been doing in school.

Parental Involvement

We believe that parents and / or carers play a vital role in their child’s education. We will support your efforts at home and provide opportunities for you to engage in your child’s education in school.

Classroom Layout:

Our Reception classroom is carefully laid out to allow children to access the seven areas of learning through self directed play, allowing adults to support and extend their learning alongside them. Each classroom has the following areas, with challenges that link to children's current learning and interests. 

• A maths area, with resources linked to number, shape, space and measure
• A literacy area, with phonics resources and mark making materials to support children in their independent reading and writing
• A reading corner, with books related to our current focus, as well as a wide range of information, fiction and poetry books to choose from
• A role play area linked to our current topic, allowing children to develop storytelling and personal and social skills
• A workshop/creation station for children to access a range of tools such as scissors, glue, hole punches and sellotape, for creating their own models and designs. There is also a malleable area where children can use a range of tools with play dough and other materials to develop their fine motor skills. 
• A construction area, including wooden blocks and construction toys
• An investigation area for children to test out ideas and make observations about the world around them
• A creative art area with a range of tools and materials for painting and other art work. 

Outdoor classroom

Children in Reception have daily access to the outdoor area, which includes the following areas;

• A sand area, including sieves, trowels, spades, pots and pans
• An active and adventure area for climbing and balancing
• A water area with various resources such as pipes, funnels and containers
• A digging and minibeast area, with magnifying glasses, bug pots and digging equipment
• A construction area, for children to make large scale models, using crates, tyres and blocks

PE

Elderberry Class– Friday

Holly Class – Thursday

We suggest that you send a named PE kit into school at the beginning of each term. We will send it back home at the end of each half term for washing.

Homework

Homework books will be sent home every Friday and we ask you to return the books by Wednesday of the following week.

Please support your child with the reading the instructions, however try to encourage your child to do the work themselves.

Reading

Reading books will be changed weekly. Please remember to sign your child's reading record every time your child reads. 

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 Top Tips for reading at home:

1. Read 10 minutes every night with your child.
2. Discuss the illustrations. What do they think is going on? Why?
3. Predict what may happen? What would be good/bad etc.
4. Make up alternative endings.
5. Discuss what your child’s likes/dislikes are about the text.
6. What did we learn from the story? Was there a moral, did it give them any information? Was it factual or a fiction story?
7. Can you change your voice for all the characters?
8. Be guided by your child’s interests- Read your own stories as well as school books.
9. Become an explorer- Read fact, fiction, rhymes, poems, picture books.
10. Ask questions about the story.
11. Discuss the sequence of events. Can you recall the events?
12. Most important keep it short, enjoyable and fun. 

Music

We are lucky to have Mr Muncaster in school every Tuesday to teach your child songs and to provide fun musical activities.

Weekly trips

Every Wednesday morning we go out in small groups in the local area for a walk. The mini bus takes us usually to Middleton Woods but throughout the year we do go to different places based on the interests of the children and linked to our learning topics. For example, we have also visited the farm and got to see lots of animals. You will be asked to sign a consent form for this trip when your child starts in Reception.

Please visit our Gallery to see some of the activities we get up to in Reception and Nursery!