The Carey Federation

Reception Class

Welcome to Class 1

Spring Term 2024 Reception

It is so lovely to have the children back with us after the Christmas break.  We have been told many happy stories of time with family and friends and lots of fun.  Given this fun, and the relatively early start to the term, we have been delighted by the really good attitude to learning displayed by all the group – they have been raring to go!

The children were very motivated to create a ‘Winter Wonderland’ in the classroom and they have especially been enjoying time in their ‘Igloo’.  We have begun our focus on the passing of time; days, weeks, months and, particularly, the seasons and the different changes we can observe.  Mother Nature has been very supportive this last week so that alongside the planned investigations and play such as looking at ice and melting, the children have been leading their own investigations at their ‘ice stations’ they have created and they have delighted at spotting patterns and ‘twinkles’ in the frosts too.  It has also allowed Mrs Midwinter – who leads ‘Wild for Learning’ with us this half term – to include lovely wintery activities such as making beautiful ice art windows in the session.

Alongside this focus on the seasons, we continue to look at ‘Amazing Animals’; where they live, what they eat and their special characteristics and adaptions.  Last term we looked at nocturnal animals and owls in particular.  We have begun this term with an in depth look at penguins and their habitat.  The children have been especially taken with the fact that some of the bigger penguin species are about the size of them and are taking this play in all directions!  As well as animals living in extreme weather conditions, we are also going to spend a few weeks within our ‘Amazing Animals’ topic looking at some extinct animals – dinosaurs!  As with our nocturnal and polar animals, we have many lovely fiction and information books to share with the children about dinosaurs too.

After the February half term, the children’s motivation and imagination will hopefully reach new heights as we head into Space!

It was really good to see you all at the parent clinic meeting last term.  These meetings will take place again in the second half of the term, but, as ever, if at any time you want to let us know anything, or if you have any questions or concerns, do please ask us at school drop off or pick up or arrange a meeting (telephone or face-to-face).  Alternatively, you can message us on Class Dojo or contact the admin team in the office who can forward emails to us or arrange meetings.  Similarly, you can pop a message in your child’s Reading Record.  It is so important that we keep communicating about the needs of your child so we can work together to support them.

 

English/Literacy:

It is always such a privilege to work with children as they learn to read.  In our phonics lessons we continue to revise the letter sounds and formation daily, now including several of the ‘special friend’ pairs such as ‘sh’, ‘th’, ‘ng’.  We blending these sounds into words for reading and also work each day to break words down using our ‘Fred Fingers’ for writing.  For extra challenge, the children are now learning several ‘red’ (tricky non-decodable) words too.  All this work has lead us to reading ‘ditties’ short groups of sentences that, with a few pictures too, tell a little story or describe a small event.  The children work in pairs for a lot of this work and this in itself is a skill which we are currently focusing on.

A reminder that when supporting your child to blend sounds together for reading or breaking down words into sounds for writing, it is important that we use ‘pure sounds’ as explained here:

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/BRpAu5g6/nxLPWR9a

We will continue to upload reading support videos as appropriate on Dojo.

As last term, additional to the formal phonics programme, we provide many opportunities to develop early literacy skills through games and the indoor and outdoor environment. The children will build up to reading increasingly challenging decodable texts working not just on decoding (sounding out and blending) but also prosody (reading with expression and intonation) and building comprehension skills.  The book that we work on will be sent home to practise with the aim of building fluency, confidence and enjoyment.

Mathematics

The continued focus on numbers 1-10 is really important in the Early Years curriculum and so consolidation of this will occur daily with the aim of developing a really deep understanding of these numbers.  Alongside this, higher numbers will be looked at and shapes, space and measures and also problem solving challenges will feature a great deal.  We are using the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathemathics (NCETM), using Numberblock materials, as well as Whiterose materials.  Alongside daily whole-class teaching sessions, there will be a range of child-led opportunities to develop mathematical skills through meaningful play during indoor and outdoor continuous provision.

Foundation topics (Understanding the World/Expressive Arts and Design)

During the first half of the term our cross-curricular topic is ‘Amazing Animals’ -polar regions and dinosaurs as focus areas – and also festivals such as the Luna New Year and ‘Shrove Tuesday’ / Lent.  In the second half term our main topic will be ‘Space’ alongside ‘Easter’ and many of the other spring festivals such as ‘Holi’, St. David’s & St. Patrick’s Day.

In our Charanga music lessons, the children will listen to and describe different songs by a range of musicians through the unit ‘Me!’. They will explore and engage in music making and dance using a range of musical instruments, and will sing songs across the curriculum.

 

 

PE/Physical Development

In addition to engaging in a range of activities linked to improving physical development through indoor and outdoor continuous provision.  There will also be a weekly PE session on a Tuesday with Mr Hayler who will be focusing on developing functional skills. This term the children will also have weekly dance sessions with Mrs Bailey too.

 

 

PSHE/Personal, Social and Emotional Development

This is such a crucial part of your child’s education and underpins everything that we do.  Through all our activities, every child will have the opportunity to develop their personal, social and emotional skills; leaning how to get on with each other and to have mutual respect and responsibility.  We will introduce and explore our school values: building Relationships by being Resilient, Resourceful, Reflective and Respectful as well as our school motto; ‘Aim High, Be Resilient & Take Care of Each Other’.  Often, we will have a focus on specific elements of PSED in activities such as circle time and with a programme called SCARF (Coram) using specialised resources and stories.  The SCARF theme this term is ‘Relationships’ exploring families and friendships, safe relationships and respecting ourselves and others.

 

 

Home learning

In Reception we ask you to support your child’s learning by helping them practise their letter sounds and by hearing them read 5 x each week.  In the early stages of our Reading programme, these ‘reads’ will involve our picture books which require ‘reading’ the pictures and sharing ideas and looking at details together, perhaps using different voices for characters and using lots of descriptive words.  A ‘read’ might also be you sharing a story with your child and each of you seeking some of the letters we have covered in class. For example, “who is first to find ‘s’” (making the sound for s).  Or writing the sounds and seeing if they can say the sound that the letter is making.  Who can win the most letters?  Little and often is fine!  We want to promote  a love of sharing books together and reading together at home.

It is also beneficial to help your child practise correct letter and number formation and to practise counting and recognising numbers to 5 and then 10.  Later in the term, we will be introducing the children to ‘Mathseeds’ which is an online programme to support Maths in the Classroom and at home.

We will also have a ‘Home Learning’ Project this term which we will share more with you on Class Dojo in following weeks.

We always love to see the children’s home learning.  Each week via Class Dojo we will share what have been doing in Class.  We will also use Class Dojo to share additional class messages.  Please see below for more information about the EYFS curriculum.

Do look at the weekly newsletter where there are school updates and useful dates.

Again, if you have any worries or questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Many thanks for your support with your child’s learning,

 

Mrs Cawsey (Class teacher), Mrs Beer (Class teacher),  Ms Steward (Teaching Assistant)

 

 

 

 

 

Overview of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

 

What Is the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the stage of education for children from birth to the end of the Reception year. It sets standards for the learning, development and care of your child from birth to 5 years old with the aim that your child will learn and develop well and be kept safe.  It is based on the recognition that children learn best through play and active learning and is the same curriculum as in pre-reception settings.

 

 

What Will My Child Be Learning?

The EYFS framework outlines seven areas of learning and development and educational programmes. There are three prime areas of learning, which are particularly important for your child’s development and future learning:

*Communication and language

*Personal, social and emotional development

*Physical development

There are four specific areas of learning, through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied:

*Literacy

*Mathematics

*Understanding the world

*Expressive arts and design

We will consider your child’s needs and interests to plan challenging and enjoyable activities and experiences.  You can help us to do this by sharing your observations of your child’s interests at home.

 

There are also three characteristics of effective teaching and learning:

*Playing and exploring

*Active learning

*Creating and thinking critically

These tell us about how each child learns not what they are learning

Play is essential for children’s development; building their confidence as they learn to explore, relate to others, set their own goals and solve problems. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.

 

 

Assessment in the reception year – Baseline

The reception baseline assessment, or RBA is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your child’s early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin in school. It will be undertaken with your child’s class teacher and will measure your child’s progress from reception to year 6. The data from the baseline will not be shared with you and will only be accessed by the DFE. The teacher will be able to spend quality 1-1 time with your child, getting to know them and identifying if they need any further support in certain areas. When your child reaches year 6, you will be able to see the progress your child has made throughout their school journey. If you wish to read further on the reception baseline, then you can find a useful parent booklet here;

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reception-baseline-assessment-information-for-parents

 

 

Assessment in the reception year – EYFS Profile

Your child will work towards the final assessment at the end of the Reception year, using the ELGs (Early Learning Goals). These goals are short statements that teachers assess your child against at the end of the year.  Please see below our Class long-term curriculum plan.

 

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to speak to us.

Thank you for your continued support.

Numberblocks
In class we use Numberblocks’ related activities and games to support you with number concepts and deepen your understanding of number.