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.
What We Are Learning About - Autumn 2
RELIGION
Branch 2-Prophecy and Promise
"Luke 2:11 – "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord."
During November, we will take time to remember those who have died, especially on Remembrance Day, when we will pray for all who have lost their lives in conflict and learn about the symbol of the poppy.
As we move into Advent, we will joyfully prepare for the birth of Jesus. The children will learn to retell the Christmas story and identify all the important people within it. We will look forward to celebrating together as a school community during our Nativity performance, sharing the true meaning of Christmas with our families and friends.
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 topic is Fairytales. The children will be exploring a range of traditional fairytales, including The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood.
Through sharing and enjoying these familiar stories, the children will be introduced to the special language often found in fairytales, such as “Once upon a time…” and “They all lived happily ever after.”
Our role-play area will be transformed into a magical Storytelling Castle, where the children will have lots of opportunities to use props, costumes and dressing-up items to bring their favourite fairytales to life. They will be encouraged to retell familiar stories, use repeated phrases and refrains, and even create and act out their very own imaginative tales.
We look forward to seeing the children's creativity and imaginations flourish as they become storytellers, exploring the magic of fairytales together!
Maths
In Maths, we will be learning to compare amounts using the language ‘more’ and ‘fewer’. The children will also explore positional language, learning to describe where objects are using words such as behind, on top, next to, above and underneath.
Later in the half term, we will be exploring 3D shapes. The children will learn to recognise and name a cone, sphere, cube, cylinder and cuboid. We will have lots of fun spotting these shapes in everyday objects and discovering where we can find them in the world around us!
Useful Maths Websites:
Communication, Language and Literacy
This half term, our learning will be inspired by traditional tales and fairytales, including The Three Little Pigs, alongside other exciting stories linked to our topic.
In Literacy, we will continue to develop our early writing skills by practising correct letter formation and developing a comfortable, effective pencil grip. We will also be learning to read and write CVC (consonant–vowel–consonant) words. Using Fred Talk and Fred Fingers, we will practise hearing, identifying and segmenting sounds in words before blending them together to read and write simple words with growing confidence.
Handy hints for helping your child with early reading at home.
Useful Literacy and Communication Websites:
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!
WE ARE TAKING PART IN MANCHESTER'S BUDDY PRACTICE PROGRAMME.
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: 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.
EYFS UPDATES SEPTEMBER 2026
Screen Guidance:
Culcheth Lane, Manchester, Lancashire M40 1LU
0161 681 2779
For telephone enquiries please ask for Mrs Potter.
contact@christtheking.manchester.sch.uk
At point of contact, enquires and queries will be dealt with by Mrs. Potter.
For a paper copy of any information on this website, please contact the school office.
SEN enquiries will be passed on to the school SENDCo Mrs Holroyd.