Reception

Welcome to Reception's Learning Page

MEET THE TEAM

Mrs Littlewood

Miss Hunter

Mrs Coney-Hellawell

Nursery

Miss Thomas

PPA Cover

Miss Harrison

Mrs Imran

Miss Farrell

Our main driver project this half term is:

This project supports children to develop a love of stories and reading. It encourages children to learn, retell and act out familiar and traditional tales including Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Hansel and Gretel... the list is endless.

Support your child at home by:

1. Communication and Language

Read a traditional fairy tale together.
Retell a story using toys or puppets.
Describe a favourite character.
Predict what might happen next.
Learn and use new words from a story.
Talk about the beginning, middle and end of a story.

2. Physical Development

Create a fairy-tale obstacle course.
Move like different fairy-tale characters.
Practise cutting out paper crowns and characters.
Build a castle using blocks.
Thread beads to make magic necklaces.
Practise drawing and mark-making to create story maps.

3. Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Talk about how fairy-tale characters might feel.
Discuss how characters can help one another.
Role-play taking turns as different characters.
Talk about right and wrong choices in stories.
Create emotion faces for different characters.
Discuss how characters overcome challenges.

4. Literacy

Create a story beginning with “Once upon a time”.
Draw and write about a favourite fairy-tale character.
Make a storybook together.
Practise recognising letters and sounds using character names.
Match pictures to characters from traditional tales.
Create a story map showing the main events.
Write invitations to a royal ball.

5. Mathematics

Count the Three Little Pigs.
Sort objects into big, medium and small.
Count the bears' bowls, chairs and spoons in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Create repeating patterns using coloured jewels.
Build towers and compare their heights.
Count steps along a beanstalk.
Explore shapes when building a castle.
Solve simple addition and subtraction problems using fairy-tale characters.

6. Understanding the World

Plant a bean like Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk.
Explore materials to build a house like the Three Little Pigs.
Compare old-fashioned and modern castles.
Discuss different settings in fairy tales.
Explore how plants grow and what they need to survive.
Make a map of an enchanted forest.
Talk about different animals found in traditional stories.

7. Expressive Arts and Design

Make a fairy-tale castle from recycled materials.
Design and decorate a paper crown.
Create masks of favourite characters.
Make puppets to retell a story.
Paint a picture of an enchanted forest.
Create a collage of a magical beanstalk.
Act out a traditional tale.
Sing songs and dance like fairy-tale characters

Children can access home learning activities by logging onto Seesaw. These are updated on a regular basis and support learning that is taking place in the classroom.

Our companion project is:

This project teaches children about the celebrations that take place during the autumn and winter seasons, and focus on the significance and symbolism of light at this time of year.

Support your child at home by:

1. Communication and Language

Talk about how your family celebrates special occasions in winter.
Share a story about Christmas, Diwali, Hanukkah or another celebration.
Describe the colours, lights and decorations you see during winter.
Learn new words such as sparkle, shimmer, celebrate, festival and tradition.
Talk about a favourite celebration and what makes it special.
Play a guessing game using objects linked to winter celebrations.

2. Physical Development

Dance to festive music and move like sparkling stars.
Practise using child-safe scissors to cut out paper snowflakes.
Thread beads to make festive decorations.
Use playdough to create winter shapes, stars and decorations.
Practise putting on hats, scarves and gloves for cold weather.
Create an indoor winter obstacle course.

3. Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Talk about different ways families celebrate special occasions.
Discuss how we can show kindness and give to others.
Make a card for a family member or friend.
Talk about feelings associated with celebrations, such as excitement and happiness.
Share toys and take turns playing winter celebration games.
Discuss how we can make everyone feel welcome during celebrations.

4. Literacy

Read winter-themed stories together.
Make a winter celebration book with drawings and captions.
Practise writing cards, invitations or gift tags.
Recognise letters and sounds in words such as star, snow, light and gift.
Create a story about a magical sparkling star.
Write a list of things needed for a winter celebration.
Retell a favourite winter story using toys or puppets.

5. Mathematics

Count Christmas lights, stars or winter decorations.
Sort decorations by colour, shape or size.
Create repeating patterns using beads or coloured paper.
Count down the days to a special celebration.
Compare the lengths of ribbons used for wrapping presents.
Count candles, lanterns or stars in pictures of festivals.
Explore 2D shapes by making snowflakes and festive decorations.
Measure and compare the height of snowmen made from construction materials.

6. Understanding the World

Explore how different families celebrate festivals in winter.
Investigate how ice melts in a warm room.
Go on a winter walk and observe changes in the weather and environment.
Explore different sources of light, such as torches and battery-operated fairy lights.
Look at photographs of winter celebrations around the world.
Discuss winter clothing and why we need to keep warm.
Explore different celebration foods and family traditions.
Observe evergreen plants, pine cones and winter trees.

7. Expressive Arts and Design

Make sparkling winter pictures using glitter alternatives, foil and collage materials.
Create paper lanterns or star decorations.
Design and decorate a winter celebration card.
Make festive decorations using recycled materials.
Sing winter songs and festive nursery rhymes.
Dance to music from different winter celebrations.
Create a winter scene using paint, cotton wool and recycled materials.
Build a pretend winter celebration party using role-play resources.
Make musical instruments from household items and create a celebration band.

Again, don't forget to look out for the fun, weekly activities on Seesaw and also look what we have been up to in class on class dojo.

Maths

Here is our overview for this term:

Key books that we'd recommend that will support your child(ren's) understanding in this terms maths:

• Zero is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco • None the Number by Oliver Jeffers • Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno • I Spy Numbers by Jean Marzollo • The Ugly Five by Julia Donaldson • Five Small Stars by Elizabeth Matterson and Madge Bugden • Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson • Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen • Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh • A Beach for Albert by Eleanor May • Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne • Sidney the Silly Who Only Eats 6 by M.W. Penn • Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore • 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle • Kipper’s Toybox by Mick Inkpen • Quack and Count by Keith Baker • Simon Sock by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet

Literacy

This half term we will be focusing on:

Giving meanings to marks as they draw.
Recognising and writing own name.
Writing recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
Forming lower-case and capital letters correctly.
Reading simple phrases and sentences made up of words with known letter–sound correspondences and, where necessary, a few exception words.
Reading individual letters by saying the sounds for them.
Using one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips in paper with scissors.
Using a comfortable grip with good control when holding pens and pencils.
Drawing story maps.
Using phonic knowledge to write captions and sentences.
Using stories to create opportunities for writing across the areas of provision.
Re-reading what they have written to check that it makes sense.
Writing short sentences with words with known sound-letter correspondences using a capital letter and full stop.

Reading and Phonics

We are will continue with our ELS phonics journey. Your child has learnt the phase 2 sounds.

We will be segmenting words with sounds we have learnt, then blending the sounds together.

We will continue to practice to read the harder to read and spell words daily.

Books are changed every Friday and we ask that children practice reading at home at least four times a week.

Check out the following links to help at home:

How to pronounce pure sounds

How to blend words to read

This grapheme sheet and harder to read and spell words will be sent home but click the button below to see it online.

Key Days:

Both Reception classes will be doing PE on a Friday this half term.

Reading books will need to be returned to school every Thursday in order to send out a new book on a Friday. When reading with your child at home please sign, tick, initial, use a sticker or comment to acknowledge they have read at home.

Please ensure you bring your child's reading book to school every day to support reading in school.

Grapheme Sheet for Parents

Grapheme Sheet for Parents

Harder to Read and Spell Words

Here is our Reception Class Charter challenge sheet. You can also download a copy by clicking on the image.

Download all the Charters as a PDF file