Reception
Reception 2024 - 2025
Welcome to Reception!
Miss Deeley, Mrs Weston, Miss Shaw & Miss Norman
Through the secret garden
During this half term, we will be learning about Spring, growing, farms, animals, outdoor jobs and how food gets from a farm to our plate. So far the children have loved learning about the animals on the farm and what their young are called. We have enjoyed themed books such as 'The Tiny Seed', 'Is it Spring yet?' and 'Farmer Duck'. The children were very engaged when we have been talking about their favourite foods and meals and whether they started at the farm. The role play area has been well used, and the children have loved working in our pop up farm shop, garden centre and vets. In addition, we have increased our outdoor learning, as the weather is improving, and have utilised the woodland area to carry out natural maths and english tasks, as well as creative activities such as our twig stars and shapes.
World Book Day
Thank you to everyone who came dressed up for World Book Day, this year was a huge success and there were some incredible outfits! We had such a fun day in Reception and especially enjoyed our reading time with some of our older children.
Class achievements
Well done to our recent stars of the week, including Rowan, Elsie and Anastasia. Also a very big well done to Mrs Shaw (our reception TA), who was also awarded her crusader award!
Everyday Super heroes
Our new theme is everyday super heroes and the children have loved every minute of it. They have had the chance to learn about the people that help us in every day life and have even had class visits from a nurse, a postman, and the police, (unfortunately, the firefighters got called to an emergency so they are going to rearrange)! The peg jobs have been linked to our theme and the class have enjoyed making police cars, playing in the roleplay pop up emergency services areas, and the many other themed activities that have been available to them.
Christmas
Reception are on the count down to Christmas and are enjoying engaging in all the different Christmas crafts and activities. The class elf is causing havoc through the classroom each morning - much to the delight of the children, and everyone is very excited to be the chosen group to find the treat in the advent calendar!
We have had a week of looking at the traditional nativity story and this worked well alongside our school play. Over the remaining 2 weeks, we are looking at how every family celebrates in different ways, with different traditions and cultures.
The children have especially enjoyed using our role play area this week, which has be made into a Christmas grotto, but have loved wrapping presents and playing with Christmas, sparkly playdough too.
Christmas Nativity
The Christmas nativity was a huge success and I am sure that you will agree that each and every one of the children on the stage, did such a fantastic job and sang beautifully!! We are so proud of them, it is always a changeable time of the year for them and they have coped so well with the additional practices.
Christmas panto!
The class really enjoyed the panto, and got very involved with the Beauty and the Beast performance! They loved the afternoon of singing, shouting and enjoying their treats.
Christmas jumper week
Don't forget that the children can wear their Christmas jumpers all week. Also a reminder that it is the class Christmas party on Friday - please remember to bring a small donation of a food item to add to the table.
Awe and Wonder
Our new theme for this half term is Awe and Wonder, we will be celebrating Bonfire night and Diwali, and looking at the traditions and celebratory styles linked to these events. We will also be enjoying national nursery rhyme week, where we will take the opportunity to look at both modern and traditional nursery rhymes. Obviously towards the end of the term we will focus largely on CHRISTMAS!!!!
Halloween Stay and Play
Thank you to everyone that came to our stay and play - the children had lots of fun enjoying the Halloween themed activities with their grown ups and it was the perfect way to break up for the half term holiday's. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Class achievements
A huge well done to Amelia for being the first in our class to become a mini-crusader! This is a huge achievement and means that Amelia consistently follows the school crusader code and deserves the benefits that come with earning this award.
Also a big well done to Gideon, Amaris and Evalyn for being our most recent stars of the week!
Reminders
Just a reminder that it is our stay and read on the morning of Tuesday 12th November - it would be lovely to see you in the classroom, enjoying a book with your child for a short period of time.
Two weeks in our class...
The children had loads of fun in our role play area, that has been set up as a space station, linking to our story of the week, which was 'The Smeds and the Smoo's'. Again, the story works well within our wider half-term theme of magical me, and allows for the children to look at why it is important to think for yourself and be kind to others. Following on from this, we changed the role play into an autumn campsite, which was a huge hit with the class. They have spent the week, crunching in the leaves and exploring the different autumn items. They finished their week on an autumn walk through our wooded area, searching for their own items to turn into their own repeated patterns, to link in their math's learning.
Stay and read
Thank you to everyone that came to our stay and read session, it was lovely to see you all and read with the children. It is so important that they have a love for reading and they were so excited for their grown-ups to come and see them in their new classroom!
Settling in...
The children are all settling into their daily routines and are coping well as we introduce more elements to their learning and task times. For the past two weeks, we have be learning about families and how people are different, including their family units. We have also been reading a lovely book about the classroom family, to encourage the children to use their peers and classroom adults for support, help, care and encouragement. It has also been helpful to revisit the classroom rules and talk about showing kindness and respect for others in their environments. In addition to this, we have continued to look at the children's envelopes from home and it has been so lovely to see each of the children proudly show their photo's, learning and items that are special to them.
Fish!
The class were very excited to add their ideas for fish names to our draw - each child entered a name and 3 names were randomly selected. The names of our class fish are ....... Water, Allan and Hide and Seek 
Handwriting
This week we have introduced our handwriting afternoon task, which we will be using along side our dough disco, to support fine motor skills and letter formation. Initially, the class are practicing their names in their books, with specific focus on letter placement and formation.
Class achievements
Congratulations to Amelia and Lyon for being our stars of the week. They have both worked hard on their jobs, been helpful in class and shown respect for their friends.
As ever, a big well done to all the children that completed their stick jobs and those that have reached the pot of gold. Also, a special welcome to Rex, who joined our class this week!
Look at us!
Welcome to your new class!
Welcome to Reception and well done for being so brave in the first two weeks of school! The children have settled in really well and are all making friends and starting to build relationships with us and each other.
We understand that this is a scary time for both the children and their grown-up's, therefore we are spending a lot of time building trust and helping the children to feel secure in their new class, however, if you have any questions or concerns, please come and speak to a member of the reception team.
During the past two weeks, we have been helping your children to become familiar with our daily routine and begin to understand and manage the class rules and tasks, as well as feel secure in areas of the school in which they may feel anxious, such as the dining hall and assembly hall. The children have enjoyed completing some of their stick jobs and have even started to learn some of their sounds in phonics sessions. We have loved reading 'The Colour Monster' and thinking of times where we have all felt happy, scared, excited etc. The children then had lots of fun creating their own colour monsters and have all completed their first adult-led activity, by filling their 'happy jar' with the things in their life that help to make them happy. In addition, they have been using the mirrors to create self-portraits, which has provided us with some lovely conversations about peoples similarities and differences.
As most children at this age find it difficult to recall the activities that they have been involved with during the week, I have outlined some of the routines that the children will engage with throughout the term to help you to be able to chat to your child at home about their school experiences.
Stick Jobs
In addition to the continuous provision, each week the children will be completing more focused activities called stick jobs. These will be linked to our theme and Miss Deeley's learning objectives for your children. At the start of the week, we will introduce each stick job to the class, which they can then complete independently throughout the week. The children mark completion of the job on their board in class, when they have completed all of their stick jobs, they can add their name to the prize pot to have a chance of winning one of the prizes at the end of the week. They currently have two stick jobs, which some of the children completed, however, Miss Deeley intends to increase this over the following weeks, as the children settle into their routine, to reach a total of five stick jobs each week. Please ask your children to tell you about their sticks jobs at home to support recall and understanding of their routines.
Adult Supported Tasks
Our adult-supported tasks focus on the theme and learning objectives for your children and are completed in small groups, with the support of an adult. Currently, these link to literacy and numeracy, within our theme of 'Magical Me'. Your children have been discussing and recording information about themselves and the people that are important to them, along with their likes, dislikes and things that make them unique and special. They have started to look at numbers up to 10 through number songs and counting actions. They especially enjoyed their hunt through school for the colour monster colours, and making a tally chart of the colours that they found.
Book of the week
Your children have access to a large and varied range of books and reading resources, which they can access independently. We also read with them regularly as part of the daily routine and love to spend time in our cosy reading corner, sharing a book. However, in addition Miss Deeley will choose a book of the week to explore. This week our book of the week has been 'The Colour Monster'. Please chat to your children about the book off the week and any activities or new information that they have learnt from reading this.
Phonics sounds
Your child will soon be sent home with the set one sounds, these are the sounds that your child will be learning in their phonics sessions. Please support your child to practise these at home and record this in their diary. As their phonetic understanding develops, you can cut the sound sheet and use the sounds individually to blend short words. I have attached a link to give further information on how to help your child with phonics below:
Home Learning Packs
In addition to the phonics support, we will also be sending your child home with the 2D and 3D shapes that the children will learn throughout the year, as well as their number bonds to 5. Again, please record when they have practiced these at home in their diary, so that we can recognise the engagement in home challenges, in class.
Dough Disco
Building gross and fine motor skills and strength, is an essential tool within early writing, therefore a fantastic, fun way to encourage this is through dough disco activities. At the end of each day, we have a class session of dough disco, where the children follow instruction s on the interactive white board to complete movement to music, using their dough. These sessions are readily available on the internet so you could enjoy this as a fun activity at home too.
Sensory and quiet learning area
Our kitchen area is essential to the children's daily activities and is used for different purposes; along with it's practical space for cooking activities, it is most often used for a calming environment for quiet learning, intervention time and sensory experiences. It is an area that can be utilised when children need some calm, quiet time, need a quiet area to concentrate on challenging tasks or when children are feeling overwhelmed in a busy, and sometimes noisy, bustling classroom. We feel lucky to have this space and I have no doubt that it will continue to be beneficial to the whole class.
We are always on the lookout to continue to develop this area, so if you ever have any lights, sensory resources or ideas for the room, we are forever grateful for donations and support!
Lunchtime
Lunchtime is always an anxious time for some children and also for parents. We have two brilliant midday supervisors who will help your child with all their needs, even if this is just for emotional support. In addition, one of their class teaching assistants is with them throughout the lunch break, both in the dining hall and during their outdoor play. To make this time easier for your child, if your child is bringing a packed lunch, please make sure that all their bags/drinks bottles etc are labelled with their name and they are familiar with what their belongings look like. If your child is having school dinners, you can pre-book these using the schools payment app, and we strongly encourage this, as you know your child's preferences better than us, however, if you forget, please do not worry as we will complete this after registration every day. Please do not feel the need to send a packed lunch AND order a dinner, as having their lunch box both confuses the children and encourages them not to try their lunch in school. We will take note of any children that are not eating much at lunch and we will inform you of this during feedback at the end of the day, or in their diaries.
PE
Our PE session will be on a Monday afternoon, every week. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit in school, we will send these home at the end of each half term to be washed. If your child wears earrings, please remove these before they arrive at school on this day. If your child does not have their PE kit or is wearing earrings and cannot remove them independently, then unfortunately they will not be able to participate in the session.
Achievements
Well done to Amelia for being awarded with this weeks 'Star of the Week' for always being polite, fantastic at helping in class, working hard and showing courage when attending the after school club. Also, a big well done to Bonnie for her lunchtime star award.
In addition, well done to all the children that managed to reach the pot of gold over the last two weeks, of which there were many! However, lastly, a huge well done to the whole class, as we were awarded Mrs Johnson's 'class of the week' award, recognising how well the children have settled into their new routines and how sensible and engaged they have been throughout the first full week of learning
Keep it up Reception 
Look at us!
