Reception – Pearl

Welcome to Reception’s class page for Cycle 3

We had a fun and very busy Cycle 2 where we noticed lots of progress in learning, since then we have welcomed a new Teaching Assistant – Miss Robinson – who has already developed a lovely relationship with the children. This cycle we continue to learn primarily through play, exploring our areas which include: creative, investigation, role play, small world, maths, writing, reading, outdoors and our new ‘funky fingers’ area which aims to improve our fine motor skills which are very important for improving children’s writing skills.

We will also continue our focussed learning in short lessons:

• Phonics – where we work in small groups following the Read, Write, Inc. programme to develop our reading skills, learning sounds and building words using FRED talk. This is when children breakdown the sounds they see in a word and then blendthem together to read the whole word so c-a-t becomes cat, th-i-nk becomes think.
• English – we will focus on two books this cycle; ‘Yucky Worms’ by Vivian French where we will be going on a worm hunt and making a wormery, and ‘A Great Big Cuddle’ by Michael Rosen. In these sessions Reception are expected to use their phonics knowledge to build on their writing skills. We have been working on writing in sentenes, where the chldren are maing lots of progress!

• Maths – we continue to work in groups using a variety of resources such as number lines, ten frames during fun, practical activities to establish a secure understanding of number recognition, maths problems such as addition and subtraction, and ordering and comparing We will also be revisiting the shape, space and measure aspect of our maths curriculum.

Reception children are also continuing to enjoy time with the sport coaches every Thursday morning where they can choose to be involved in team games.

Reminders:

• Our reading day is Wednesday – please ensure your child’s reading book is in school ready to be changed and for your child to have one-to-one reading time with the teacher.
• Please also try to read at home as much as possible with your children, even a couple of pages a day is very valuable in enhancing their reading skills, please record this in their reading record to make us aware.
• Snack money continues to be a voluntary contribution of 50p per week.
• Parent afternoons have been a success so far and are a lovely way of spending time with your children in their school setting, as well as getting to know what we get up to here in Pearl class – our next afternoon session is Thursday 27^th February.
• Spare clothes are required at school for each child if possible to ensure a dry set for any accidents – we wear waterproofs outside during wet weather but spares are often still needed.
• Wellies are required for each child to ensure the can still access the outdoor play area during wet weather,
• We ask that all children wear full school uniform – please ensure your children’s items are labelledwith their names to avoid misplacing of items.
• We are still using Dojos as a reward system, children are expected to earn 20 Dojos per week in order to be involved in a special Dojo treat on Friday afternoons.
• We continue to have three focus children per week. This gives us the chance to record information on paper to be kept in the child’s file in the classroom to evidence their learning. Parents can add to this by sharing photos to the Early Years email address. Examples of photos might be: a trip to the park, visiting family, swimming lessons. You will receive a letter when your child is selected as the focus child. During this week, your child is welcome to bring in something special from home that they would like to share with the rest of the class.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Harrison, Mrs Bagnall, Mrs Wroe and Miss Robinson.

Welcome to Reception’s class page for Cycle 2

We had lots of fun in cycle 1 and established our school day routine, now in cycle 2 we will continue to develop our attitude to learning; exploring different books, resources and activities to develop our imaginations and vocabularies in order to extend our capabilities and learning.

Continuous Provision

Learning through play is still the main focus for Reception. Activities that are available for the children to choose during provision time will be based around the book we are learning, the topic we are covering in maths and also the children’s interests. These activities will be practical and will aim to extend the learning that has taken place in lessons. Continuous Provision activities will be updated and changed on a regular basis to ensure the children remain engaged and keen to learn.

Phonics

Phonics lessons continue to be delivered in small groups. This cycle, we will further explore the blending of sounds to create words with the aim to apply this phonics knowledge in English lessons and writing activities during continuous provision.

English

English lesson this cycle will be based around two books; ‘Biscuit Bear’ by Mini Grey and ‘I Will Not Ever Eat a Tomato’ by Lauren Child. We will also carry out lots of Christmas based activities as the holiday draws near.

Maths

Maths lessons are taught in groups and this cycle we will be exploring lots of 2D and 3D shapes and exploring more measuring concepts. We will keep focusing on numbers, particularly counting and will introduce addition and counting on to find 1 more than a given number.

Christmas Performance

Our Christmas Nativity performance – ‘The Sleepy Shepherd’ will take place on Wednesday 18^th December and we will be working hard to prepare for this; learning our songs, getting in role and rehearsing our routine.

Reminders

Books will be changed and as many children as possible will have reading time with the teacher on Wednesdays. Please ensure your children’s book are in school on Wednesdays and we encourage parents to listen to children read their school books at home to further develop their reading skills.

We remind you that now our children are becoming more independent, we ask that you kindly leave them at the reception door in the morning and allow them to hang their own coat up. Miss Harrison will be available at the door for any messages or questions, but if a longer conversation is needed, an appointment can be made to facilitate this.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Harrison, Mrs Bagnall and Mrs Wroe

Welcome to the class page for Reception!

We look forward to welcoming our returning pupils as well as some new faces to our classroom and to our school.

Continuous Provision

This term in Reception we will be mostly learning through play. Our continuous provision allows pupils the chance to apply their learning through practical activities and exciting resources both in and outside the classroom. These resources will regularly change according to the children’s interests and our topics. We now have sports coaches in school who will drop in during continuous provision on Thursdays to play games and team activities outside.

Phonics

Phonics lessons will take place in small groups every morning. This is where children learn the letter sounds and begin to write letters and short words as well as learning how to tune in to the sounds in words and blending sounds together to make words, which in turn, enables them to begin to read. Parents are encouraged to break down the sounds in words when reading at home with children.

English

We will have English lessons that focus on the books ‘Owl Babies’ by Martin Waddel and ‘No Dinner’ by Jessica Souhami. During these sessions your children will get the chance to explore the books through group discussions; gathering ideas about predictions, opinions, character role play and will also start to write and draw their ideas.

Maths

Maths lessons will be focusing on numbers this term. We will be counting to 20 forwards and backwards, identifying and writing numbers, ordering numbers and finding 1 more and 1 less. These sessions will be practical and fun; giving children the chance to explore numbers through games, songs and problem solving activities.

Reminders

• All pupils are expected to be in full school uniform, however, we also ask that all children have a set of spare clothes at school in case of any accidents during the day.
• We have football training sessions with coaches from Manchester United, boys will take place on Tuesday afternoon and girls on Wednesday mornings. We ask that children have a pair of trainers or pumps to change into for these sessions.
• Any medical supplies including inhalers, creams or medicine that may need to be administered during school time must be kept at school and a medical form completed to give permission for this.
• Reading books will be changed every Wednesday, please ensure your child’s book in is their tray ready for this.
• School lunches can be selected at home by parents/carers in advance of up to 3 weeks. Instructions for this will be sent home on a leaflet, alternatively, you can access the link to this through school’s website.
• During continuous provision, children have the play outdoors come rain or shine – we have waterproof over clothes for this but please ensure your child has a pair of wellies at school ready for all weathers.

We have an open door policy in the morning to give parents the chance to express any concerns or ask any questions, appointments can also be made if a longer chat is needed. We are so looking forward to working with your children and allowing them the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Miss Harrison, Mrs Bagnall and Mrs Wroe.