Reception 2019 - 2020

Welcome to Reception

With Miss Vaughan, Mrs Bristow, Mrs Williams and Mrs Barber.

A very warm welcome to all of our families. It is an exciting term ahead as we approach that very festive time of year! We really look forward to working with you and your children and continuing our journey together. 

We open the classroom door at 8:45am each morning and we do encourage parents to help children hang their belongings and come in to the classroom, each morning, to complete a morning activity. Should you need to talk to a member of staff during this time, then please feel free to do so. Alternatively, you can speak to a member of staff at the end of the day should you need to. 

Our learning in Reception is based very much around a creative curriculum that excites, stimulates, motivates and gives children a real sense of ‘purpose’ to learning. Our learning for this half term is based on the story 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark' by Jill Tomlinson. As a class we will be going into 'story world'. We will be using our magic story dust and our imaginations to bring the story to life. We will follow the story of a baby barn owl called 'Plop' who unlike any barn owl is afraid of the dark! Plop thinks that 'Dark is nasty' and refuses to go hunting with his parents until one day Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to find out about the dark. Along the way he meets various charcaters including a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin, an old lady, a scout out camping, a girl who tells him about Father Christmas, a man with a telescope and a black cat who takes him exploring. He soon realises that through these encounters that dark is super after all.  The main themes that underpin this text, that we will be following and exploring are 'aspirations and dreams,' 'feelings' and 'celebrations.' There will be a strong focus on developing communication and language skills through the use of this text. 

This term, in 'Phonics' we will be starting our Phonics programme. Each day your child will be introduced to a new letter sound. Don't forget to ask your child, each day, what sound they have learnt and how it looks written down! Homework will also be coming home this term. It will be given out on a Friday with the expectation that it is completed and handed back in on the following Wednesday. 

We work very hard in developing our children's competence in Reading and love of books. We ask that you read with your child five times a week and record in your child's reading diary each time your child completes a read. You will receive three books from school, a week, one of which will be a school library book. The expectation is that your child reads their two school reading books to you and their school library book can be shared between yourself and your child. Should your child wish to read a book from home, this is absolutely encouraged and if they do please also record this as a read in their reading diary. 

PE is on a Tuesday afternoon. Children’s PE kits will remain in school each week. We will send them home in the Christmas holidays for a wash!

We will be keeping you up to date with our learning through your child's electronic learning journey on Tapestry. Any 'wow' moments that your child has out of school or learning that takes place, please, please upload it to your child's learning journal. We love to see what your child has been doing at home and it really helps us to build a holistic picture of your child's progress. 

Useful Websites

http://http//www.familylearning.org.uk/
http://http//www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
http://http//www.mathszone.co.uk/
http://http//www.foundationyears.org.uk/
http://http//www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/
http://http//nrich.maths.org/frontpage
http://http//www.jollyphonics.co.uk/