Reception 2023 - 2024

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

A big, warm welcome to all of our children and families as we head into the summer term. We hope that you find this page useful. Over the next few weeks we will continue supporting your child in developing their personal, social and emotional development along with well being and behaviour and learning expectations, in order to ensure maximum progress can be made across all areas of learning. We really look forward to working with yourselves and your children as we begin this learning journey together. 

From September 2021 a new framework has been introduced into Early Years. To find out more about this framework and how we use it to create our curriculum and assess how the children make progress, please see the files below named 'New EYFS framwork- Guide for families' and 'EYFS Areas of Learning.' 

Here at Highfield we have an over arching theme, each term, which runs through the whole of the school. This term it is ‘Migration: Incredible Journeys’. In Reception, we explore each theme through a 'Narrative Immersion Curriculum'. Each term the story box gifts us a new text. As we enter story world we learn how the plot of the story unfolds and we get to know each character well, often helping the different characters to overcome problems along the way! This term we will be reading 'The Snail and the Whale' by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Through this story we will explore the themes 'travel broadens the mind,' 'living in harmony' and 'where there's a will, there's a way'.  

'The Snail and the Whale' is a delightful tale of adventure and friendship. One little snail longs to see the world and hitches a lift on the tail of an enormous whale. Together, with the snail and the whale, we will go on an amaxing journey, past icebergs and volcanoes, sharks and penguins, as the little snail feels so small in the vastness of the world. But when disaster strikes and the whale is beached in a bay, will we be able to work with the tiny snail to save the day?!

A copy of the story can be listened to on the following link- The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson. Children's read-aloud story with illustrations. (youtube.com)

The planning for this narrative can be found below in the 'files to download' section. 

Reading and fostering a love of books is an integral part of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Your child will bring home two books a week. One book will be a library book which is to be shared between yourself and your child. The other book will be from our reading scheme 'Big Cat Collins.' It is expected that your child reads this book to you. As your child's phonics skills and knowledge progress, they will be able to 'wow' you with their early reading skills. Books will be sent home on a Friday and should be returned to school the following Friday. 

Here at Highfield, we use an online learning journal called 'Tapestry' to record your child's learning. This will allow you to see any observations, pictures and videos that we have made of your child in the learning environment. It is used as a communication tool between school and home and so we very much encourage you to add your own observations to your child's learning journal as much as you can. We absolutely love to see what your child has been learning at home. We have added a guide to the files below named 'How-to guide for creating observations' which tells you step-by-step what to include in your observations. 

Things to note:  

PE is on a Tuesday. On this day, please send your child dressed in their PE kit to school. 

School book bags should be in school each day.

Reading books are handed out on a Friday and changed the following Friday.

Some useful websites:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=37

https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/numberblocks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cosmic+yoga

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-songs-index/zhwdgwx 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/help-your-child-with-maths