Welcome to the Reception Class Page
Miss N Rushton – Class Teacher
Mrs J Bradley - Class TA
Mrs K Juszczak
Mrs F Hussain
Mrs T Akhtar
Spring Term 2024
Happy New Year!
Welcome back to our children and families. We hope this New Year brings happiness to all.
"Play underpins the Early Years Foundation Stage. It also underpins learning and all aspects of children’s development. Through play, children develop language skills, their emotions and creativity, social and intellectual skills. For most children their play is natural and spontaneous although some children may need extra help from adults. Play takes place indoors and outdoors and it is in these different environments that children explore and discover their immediate world. It is here they practise new ideas and skills, they take risks, show imagination and solve problems on their own or with others. The role that adults have is crucial. Adults provide time and space and appropriate resources. These might include clothes, boxes, buckets, old blankets that will inspire play and fire children’s imaginations. They observe play and join in when invited, watching and listening before intervening. They value play and provide safe but challenging environments that support and extend learning and development"
Religion
Our focus for RE this term is 'Celebrating’. Through this scheme of work and our collective worship sessions we will explore what a celebration is, think about the different celebrations and look at photographs from school and from home to share experiences of being part of special celebrations. We will look closely at the local church community and learn about what the parish family celebrate.
Some questions to ask your child at home;
What is a celebration?
How do people celebrate?
Can you celebrate on your own?
Perhaps you can gather around a display or focus at home. Have a quiet moment together to reflect on and appreciate the joy of celebrating together. Talk about different celebrations and ask your child which celebration they would most like to attend and why. Sing the celebration song together.
Reading for Pleasure
In Reception class we love to read! The children and staff enjoy reading for pleasure each day. Stories are found in each area of provision so that children can share a book here, there and everywhere!
We will continue to use and introduce high quality texts to develop our love of reading in Reception Class. We carefully plan our books according to the children’s interests and use them to fire children’s imagination and curiosity. If you have any favourites or have recently enjoyed a book at home, please do let us know - we love story recommendations!
The first story we will read together is 'We're going on a bear hunt'. You can share this at home with your child. Follow the link to watch Micheal Rosen act out the story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gyI6ykDwds
Home reading books
Please share the home reading book with your child each evening to develop story telling, comprehension and key phonetic skills. It is important to sign the reading diary to pass on any comments or questions to the staff at school.
Phonics
At Holy Family, we use the Read Write Inc Phonics scheme to learn to read and write initial letter sounds. Children will begin by learning phonemes and graphemes, followed by learning to segment and blend words. They will be assessed regularly and placed into a group that suits their ability.
Then they will learn to read 'green words' and 'red words' (common exception words), continuing to develop reading fluency and accuracy.
Parents, click the link below to watch a short video to help with blending the sounds together to read words (Fred talking).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNyFikwNQTg
Here you will find fun learning ideas for 5 year old children to support their reading development. There are rhyming games, phonic games, memory games, listening games and much more.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/kids-activities/learning-activities-age-5/
The following site has many free phonics games;
Family morning
Family Mornings take place each Thursday morning for Reception. Parents and their children are invited in to class each Thursday from 8.30am until 8.50am (school start time). You can browse around the classroom and play with your children in our areas of the classroom. The children may choose to showcase their learning and will enjoy having the chance to interact with you in their classroom environment. Please do use this opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Your contributions are very important to us so if there is anything you want to tell us about your child's learning and development, please do share with the staff.
Maths
Our Maths curriculum embeds mathematical thinking and talk. The open ended provision in class will help the children to practise what they have learned during whole class sessions as well as becoming independent in creating their own challenges through many play opportunities during the school day.
To support and direct our teaching and learning, we follow the NCETM Mastering Number programme.
The children will build on n previous experiences of number from their home and nursery environments, and further develop their subitising and counting skills.
The children will practise and develop new skills each day through provision in class. They will be supported and challenged as they learn through play.
This term we will be learning to;
- representing the number in a given set using different objects – e.g. showing the same number on their fingers
- naming quantities with number words, (e.g. “I can see 3.”)
- matching sets to numerals
- making their own arrangements that can be subitised.
'Early Number Sense' is a really useful video to watch at home with your child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ow8vEmh8lA
Our children love to watch Numberblocks - we use the videos and visuals to support and develop our mathematical understanding.
Follow this link and enjoy the videos and activities at home with your child.
Parent notices
Please send your child in to school each day with a waterproof coat.
Please practise self-help skills at home such as fastening their coats independently.
Ensure all clothing is name labelled.
Water bottles to be brought to school each day and refilled at home.
Children to come to school every Wednesday dressed in their PE kit (white t-shirt, navy/black shorts or jogging bottoms with school jumper on).
Book bags to be brought in once a week on your child’s reading day.
Please bring a pair of wellies into school so that we can use them when we play outside in wet and muddy weather conditions.