Welcome to Reception
Welcome to Reception Class
My name is Mrs Austin- I’m the class teacher. Mrs Porter is the class learning support assistant. We are looking forward to getting to know your children and supporting their learning.
The Reception year will be carefully planned to give the children the opportunities to experience a wide variety of stimulating activities through structured play situations so that learning will be fun. Play is very important to children. It can be very messy as your child will be learning both inside the classroom with sand, water, paint, but also in the outdoors with mud, leaves etc. so you can expect some mucky clothes at the end of the day!
We keep a two way communicate with home via DOJO online and a home school book. Teachers are also available at the end of the school day for queries.
Place any money including dinner or fruit money in an envelope with your child’s name, the amount and a note in the book. Bags will be checked daily for notes.
Fruit is given at break time, children can bring their own or buy from school at £1.50 per week to be paid at the beginning of the week.
Mile a day happens every morning weather permitting, keeping pupils healthy in mind and body.
PE is on a Wednesday for Reception – please ensure that your child wears the appropriate kit into school.
Please call in to speak to me with any questions.
Kind Regards
Mrs. Maria Austin
Water and milk are available during the day and everyone is encouraged to drink often.
Why do leaves go crispy?
Crunch, scrunch and rustle. Why do leaves go crispy? What’s inside a conker? Let’s find out all about autumn in this exciting seasonal project. This half term, we’ll visit a woodland to hunt for autumnal treasures. Back in the classroom, we’ll watch what happens when frozen objects melt. Getting creative, we’ll press leaves into clay to make beautiful impressions, and we’ll trace the patterns on leaves. Things could get messy in our mud kitchen when we use different tools to dig, mix and pour. We’ll also enjoy making marks in the mud. Our maths skills will help us to count conkers, and we’ll use them to make different numbers. Using sticks, we’ll explore lengths and use the language of size. It will be lovely to curl up in the reading corner to enjoy autumnal stories and poetry. After looking closely at seasonal fruits, adults will help us to prepare them. Working together, we’ll collect fallen leaves and have lots of fun playing with them! Using our senses, we’ll explore conkers and acorns, thinking about why they fall in autumn. At the end of the project, we’ll make a colourful and tasty harvest soup or fruity dessert, and read a book about autumn that will encourage us to reflect on our learning.
Help your child prepare for their project Autumn is awesome! Why not go for an autumn walk to play in the leaves? You could also collect natural objects to make a colourful autumnal collage. Alternatively, use recycled materials to make a woodland creature.
What happens when I fall asleep?
Twinkle, twinkle, little star. Why are there stars in the sky at night? Does everyone go to bed at the same time? It’s time to find out more about night time. This half term, we’ll be entering the celestial world of a mobile planetarium. We’ll listen carefully to a presentation about the patterns of the stars, and ask an expert questions about the universe. Snuggling up with comfy cushions and blankets, we’ll listen to bedtime stories and nursery rhymes. Zzz… Wide awake once more, we’ll learn about people and services that work at night, the Hubble Telescope and nocturnal animals. We’ll also find out more about how good bedtime routines can have a positive impact on our health, and take part in a series of bedtime challenges. Ready, steady, brush your teeth! In our mathematics lessons, we’ll play with the shape and size of star patterns, and create moons of different sizes out of sparkly play dough. Getting creative, we’ll make constellations out of battery-operated tea lights, and star mobiles out of silver sequins and glittery pompoms. At the end of the project, we’ll share and reflect on what we have learnt, and we’ll use our knowledge and creativity to write a bedtime story to take home to read. We’ll also hold a lullaby sing-along for new babies and their parents.
Do Dragons exist?
Beyond this place, there be dragons! Do dragons exist? What’s it like to live in a castle? It’s time to explore the fantastical world of dragons and castles. This half term, we’ll visit and explore a castle and its grounds. Will we find a medieval sword or a dragon’s footprint? Back in the classroom, we’ll identify the different parts of a castle and learn about the people and animals who lived there. We’ll move like dragons and unearth dragon eggs from the sand. What will we find inside? We’ll dress up in royal finery and as knights, sticking to the knight’s code by working together and being kind. In our literacy lessons, we’ll create and label castle picture cards and identify rhyming words in dragon poetry. In our maths lessons, we’ll count gold coins into numbered dragon jars and move brave miniature knights from 1–20. Can we stick to the correct order? Getting creative, we’ll draw dragons, try out some hoop weaving and make a friendly dragon to protect our classroom. Roar! At the end of the project, we’ll come to school in castle-themed fancy dress and carry out our duties: making bread, sweeping hay in the stables and polishing silver in the great hall!
Are eggs alive?
Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken. Lay a little egg for me! Are eggs alive? What are buds? It’s time to find out more about the things that happen in the world around us during spring. This half term, we’ll head outside for a spring walk to see and explore a range of plants and animals. We’ll collect some frogspawn to take back to school for observation. Do frogs really develop out of this strange jelly? Looking at eggs more closely, we’ll learn about incubation and hatching. Back outside, we’ll set up a weather station to measure rain, temperature, and wind speed and direction. We’ll plant, care for and observe a range of seeds. What do they need to grow? Before we draw and paint them, we’ll smell and gently touch spring flowers, using hand lenses to identify petals, stems and leaves. In our literacy lessons, we’ll listen to and find out about the Easter story, and we’ll sing and play along to spring-themed nursery rhymes. Using our maths skills, we’ll count ducks. What happens to the total number when a duck goes missing? Not forgetting Easter eggs, we’ll pour melted chocolate into moulds to make chocolate bunnies and eggs. Then, we’ll go on an Easter egg hunt!
Who lives in a rockpool?
There’s an exciting world just below the surface of the rock pool. Which creatures live near the sea? Why do crabs have shells? We’ll find out the answers to these questions and more in this project about the seashore. This half term, we’ll travel to the coast to visit the fascinating world of the British seashore. We’ll explore rock pools and collect ‘treasures’. Back at school, we’ll use our senses to investigate man-made and natural seashore objects, including litter. We’ll also write postcards about our visit to the seashore. Using our art skills, we’ll draw seabirds, create beach art and decorate shells. It might get messy when we explore the texture of sand and create a fantastic sand art display! We’ll listen carefully to stories and poems about the seashore. By reading non-fiction books, we’ll find out lots of interesting facts, discovering which animals live in a rock pool and what they eat. In our ‘seashore shop’, we’ll take on different roles and think about how we speak to each other. Using our mathematical skills, we’ll count jellyfish, solve problems and order shells. We’ll also measure handprints and footprints in the sand. At the end of the project, we’ll create a learning journal and invite you to see the things we’ve made
Are we there yet?
Are you ready for an adventure? Where in the world could we go? How could we travel there? It’s time to discover transport, travel and places near and far! This half term, we’ll go on a fantastic journey and see how many forms of transport we can use, taking photographs as we go. Back in the classroom, we’ll put our photographs in chronological order and add captions. Thinking about the transport we’ve taken to go on holiday, we’ll use maps to consider where we’d like to visit next. What should we pack? We’ll draw and write about imaginary journeys and make predictions about how many vehicles we will find around school. As part of our music work, we’ll accompany stories and songs about transport with music and movement. How far can inflated balloons travel? We’ll play with them to find out. In our science lessons, we’ll learn about floating and sinking by building miniature boats, and find out about friction by rolling cars down ramps. We’ll also talk with a crossing supervisor about road safety, learn about high-visibility clothing and design an incredible imaginary vehicle using a computer program.
Cycle 2
PLEASE FIND BELOW INFORMATION ON OUR UPCOMING THEMES.
