This half-term our topic is Celebrations. We are going to be finding out all about different celebrations around the world and each week we will learn about a different celebration. We will also be taking part in the Nativity performance in December.

Literacy and Maths

In English, we will be focusing on the engaging and entertaining stories Wow said the Owl and Owl babies, and we will be finding out more about nocturnal animals and colours.  Then we will be learning about Dear Father Christmas and The Grinch, and we will have a go at writing our own letters to Father Christmas! 

In Maths, we will be learning more about 2D shapes and numbers 1-5 where we will focus on subitising and the composition of the numbers 1-5. 

Communication and language: This half-term we will be focusing on sharing our ideas and talking about ways to solve a problem. We will be exploring how important it is to listen carefully to each other. We will be looking at what a good listener does (gives full attention, eye contact etc) and how listening to others can help us in our learning both inside and outside the classroom.

Phonics: The children have completed their phase 2 phonics sounds and will be moving into phase 3, which focusses on digraphs (two letters that make one sound). The children will be using their knowledge of digraphs in their reading and writing.

Understanding the world: Throughout this topic we will look at, discuss and celebrate the similarities and differences between celebrations in different cultures and religions. We will look at the history and stories of all the different celebrations in our topic. We will continue to look at the different seasons by exploring Autumn in our Forest School activities. We will talk a lot about animals who hibernate and how we can help.

Expressive Arts and Design: Our main challenge in our creative work this half term is learning how to mould and manipulate different materials to create something new. We will be using clay to design and create our own Diwali lamps. We are going to be learning lots of songs and dances for our Christmas Nativity too!

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: We will be looking at how to become effective learners by breaking down each characteristic of learning in the EYFS development matters. Can we ask lots of questions like Mr Nosey? Can we challenge ourselves in our learning like Mr Brave?

PE days – Monday. Please can children come to school wearing their outdoor PE kits on this day.

Nature school – Our forest school session will be every Wednesday. Children should come to school wearing weather appropriate clothing including a pair of wellies that can stay at school. Please ensure your children are dressed warmly for this with a dry change of clothes as we will continue to visit the forest even in the snow and it can get very cold!

Class bear – We will continue to send Ray home with a different child each Friday. Please return Ray the bear the following Tuesday ready to share our adventures with the class. 

Homework will be sent home and collected every Friday. We will also be collecting reading records on a Friday for children to change their books. Please aim to read with your child 3 times a week and record this in their reading record. We will also be visiting the library every Friday for children to change their library book which they take home. 

If you have any queries throughout the year, please come and see us.

Best wishes,

The Reception team.

Mrs Probert, Mrs Langley, Mrs Bradley and Ms Gabbitas

Welcome to Red Class

Hello everyone, we hope you have all had a fantastic summer and are looking forward to starting your school journey in reception. This school year is going to be filled with lots of exciting learning and fun.

Our topic this half-term is ‘All about Me’. Throughout this topic we will be learning our new class routines and rules, as well as exploring our new classroom and outdoor environment. We will be learning all about ourselves and our bodies, senses and changes. We will be encouraging children to discuss their families, houses, religion and heritage.

Literacy and Maths

Once the children have settled in we will begin our more structured whole class lessons.

In literacy, we will be starting off by looking at nursery rhymes and our focus text is a story called ‘Hickory Dickory Dog’ focusing on Poetry and linked to starting school.  We will then move on to the comical and engaging ‘Dear Mother Goose’ focusing on writing to entertain. We will be focusing on Phase 2 sounds in our phonics lessons. We will be doing lots of work on hearing initial sounds in words and beginning to blend sounds together in simple words. We will also be learning how to retell different stories to others.

In maths, we are going to be exploring numbers to 3, sorting, ordering and comparing. We will talk about measure and patterns.

The wider curriculum

Understanding the world: We will discuss and celebrate the similarities and differences between all the different pupils in our class. We will be looking at, smelling, feeling and tasting lots of different fruits and vegetables during our Harvest festival.

Expressive Arts and Design: Our main focus in our creative work this half-term is learning how to draw simple representations of people. Our focus artist is Vincent van Gogh. We will be talking about and drawing our families as well as looking closely at ourselves to paint self-portraits. We will be encouraging children to choose appropriate colours when colouring and painting people. It would be great if you could encourage this at home too! Our role-play area this half-term is a home corner.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Our main priority this half-term is ensuring that all pupils settle happily into school life. We will be playing lots of ‘getting to know you’ games to help children develop the confidence to speak about themselves and to develop new friendships. We will be introducing children to our important school rules and ensuring that they become familiar with our school routines.

Physical development: Children will have an indoor PE session which will focus on their gross motor development including the use of the large PE apparatus in the hall, developing their shoulder and core strength.

Additional information

PE day – Monday. Please can children come to school wearing their PE kit on this day.

Nature school – Our nature school session will be every Wednesday. Children should come to school wearing weather appropriate clothing, including a pair of wellies that can stay at school. Please ensure they have full length trousers and long sleeves to protect their arms and legs!

Class bear – We will be sending our Red class bear home from week 3. We choose a name as a class and the bear will spend the weekend at someone’s home alongside a book to write and include photos of the fun activities the children had. We look forward to looking at the bear’s adventures as a class.

Reading – children will bring their home reading books home starting from week 3. Please ensure book bags are in school daily with reading records updated with a comment to let us know when they have read at home. Our library day will be on Fridays. Children can exchange their book for a new one each week if they have returned their previous library book.

If you have any queries throughout the year, please come and see us.

Best wishes,

Mrs Probert, Mrs Langley and Mrs Bradley.