Reception

Welcome to Reception!

Meet the Staff

Reception 1 Teacher: Mrs Deakin (Assistant Headteacher)
Reception 1 Teaching Assistants: Mrs Douglas and Miss Whyment
Reception 2 Teacher: Mrs Jones
Reception 2 Teaching Assistants: Miss Hallworth and Miss Bridge

Additional Support Teachers: Mrs Flemming and Mrs Fahy

What You Need to Know

In the mornings, classroom doors will open at 8.30am for children to arrive, and then close at 8.45am.

In the afternoons, doors will open at 3.15pm for home time.

Please send your child to school in their PE kit on Tuesday for PE lessons. PE kit is a plain white t-shirt with blue or black shorts. 

NFER Baseline Assessments

During the first few weeks of Reception, we will carry out NFER Baseline Assessments. These involve fun, practical activities led by an adult, which will give an overview of your child’s early skills in Maths, Literacy, Communication and Language. These assessments will help us plan for your child’s next steps in learning.

Please click here for more information.

Reception Curriculum Overview

What We Are Learning About - Summer 2

RELIGION

This half term in Religious Education, our topic is Branch 1: Creation and Covenant.

The children will begin to explore the Christian belief that everything comes from God and develop their understanding of who God is.

We will listen to and explore the Creation story from the Book of Genesis in the Bible, thinking about the wonderful world God created. The children will learn about God’s love for everyone and everything and will have opportunities to talk about and appreciate the beauty of creation.

Through a range of stories, discussions, creative activities and play, the children will celebrate the wonderful things that God has created and begin to develop a sense of wonder, gratitude and love for God's creation.

Our Prayer Garden

In our outdoor area, we have set up a prayer garden where the children will be encouraged to engage in prayer and worship. We will hold special celebration here, such as Harvest, Remembrance Day and the Crowning of Our Lady. 

This half term, our Reception class topic is ‘All About Me!’ We will be spending lots of time getting to know ourselves and each other as we settle into our new classroom and begin our Reception journey together.

Throughout the topic, the children will be learning about the different parts of our bodies and talking about how we are all unique and special. We will explore the things that make us different, as well as the things we have in common. The children will have opportunities to talk about their likes, dislikes, interests and favourite things, helping them to develop their confidence when sharing ideas and talking about themselves.

We will also be learning all about our families and homes. The children will talk about the people who are important to them, who they live with and what makes their home special. We will celebrate the different families and experiences within our class and encourage the children to appreciate and respect what makes each of us unique.

Through stories, songs, discussions, creative activities and play, the children will develop their communication, vocabulary, personal and social skills while learning more about themselves and the wonderful people around them.

We are looking forward to a fantastic half term of getting to know ourselves, celebrating our differences and discovering what makes each of us special!

 Maths

This half term, we will be strengthening our number knowledge to 10. The children will learn to recognise and name numerals to 10, practise matching numerals to quantities, and develop their understanding of one-to-one correspondence when counting objects.

We will also begin exploring 2D shapes, learning to recognise and name simple shapes and talking about their different properties. The children will have lots of opportunities to use shapes creatively to make pictures, developing both their mathematical understanding and problem-solving skills.

Useful Maths Websites:          

Topmarks

Whiterose Maths

Number Fun Portal

Cbeebies - Numberblocks

BBC Bitesize

ICT Games

Communication, Language and Literacy

This half term, we will begin our phonics journey using the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics programme. During our phonics sessions, the children will learn to recognise and say single letter sounds, practise forming letters correctly using the correct pencil grip, and begin to use their phonics knowledge to Fred Talk simple CVC words.

We will also enjoy reading a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, including stories by our class author, Julia Donaldson. We will explore a non-fiction text about our bodies, developing our vocabulary and encouraging the children to talk about what they have learned.

As the children develop their early reading and writing skills, we will begin to identify initial and final sounds in words and use our growing phonics knowledge to support us when reading and writing.

Useful Literacy and Communication Websites:         

Phonics Play

Vooks

Oxford Owls

Teach Handwriting

In Phonics, we are learning to read and write Set 1 sounds. When the children are confident with reading and writing these sounds on their own, they will move on to learning set 2/3 sounds. Children's Phonics knowledge is assessed every six weeks to ensure they are always in a Phonics group that is suitable for their ability.

We are encouraging children to use “pure sounds” as used in this video. Please share the video below with your child and encourage them to say these sounds out loud as often as possible.

Video: Parent video: How to say the sounds

It is really important that your child has the correct pencil grip for writing. Share this short video with your child to practise holding a pencil correctly. Encourage them to use their pinchy parrot fingers!

Healthy Teeth

At Christ the King, we want to promote the importance of good oral hygiene. We would appreciate it if you could share these videos with your child and talk about the importance of brushing your teeth in the morning and at night. You can also discuss how different foods and drinks can be good or bad for your teeth. With this in mind, please ensure your child only brings water and healthy snacks to school.

Video: The Boy Who Hated Toothbrushes 

Video: Top Toothbrushing Tips

Our visit from the Dental Nurse

The Dental Nurse is coming to visit our class this half term. She will teach us about how to keep our teeth healthy with our diet and cleaning routines.

 
Staying Safe

To promote safety around laundry and cleaning products, we are using the resource Staying Safe with Sam. In addition to reading different stories on this theme, we have been learning a chant to help the children remember what to do.

Children will receive a resource pack to take home for parents. This contains a mini storybook, an activity sheet, a poster copy, a fact sheet, and an 'I stayed safe with Sam' sticker.

Download the Staying Safe with Sam poster.