Welcome to Mrs Smith’s Reception Class!
Hello, I am Mrs Smith and I teach Reception.
Our classroom is a wonderful place to be! We aim to always be kind, friendly and respectful. We have a positive atmosphere, where everyone tries their best and we support each other. Most importantly, we always have lots of fun.
In Reception we love to learn through play.
We are very lucky to be able to offer the children a range of opportunities to learn and explore through play within our continually changing provision areas (indoors and outdoors), and through providing new experiences. We believe our classroom and outdoor area is an important place to be therefore, it is regularly adapted to meet your children’s needs. In Reception, your children will learn through a balance of adult led and child-initiated learning, both are equally important for their development. We will follow half termly themes, but these can always change as we follow the children’s interests – this is where it gets exciting! We love to explore and get messy.
Our Curriculum
It is important that all children in the EYFS are provided with high quality learning and experiences, giving them the best start to their education.
The EYFS curriculum consists of 3 prime areas and 4 specific areas. The document below explains these areas and will help you to understand how and what your child will learn this year. This overview is subject to change, as we love to follow the children’s interests.
Please find our curriculum letters and overviews here:
Year-Reception-Autumn -Curriculum-Letter
Overviews
Physical Development
We are fortunate to have Carlisle United Football Club to come and teach us PE every week. Our PE sessions will take place every Thursday. Children should bring their PE kits to school every Monday and will return it home on Thursdays. This should include tracksuit bottoms and hoodies to ensure they are prepared for any weather changes. Earrings must be removed before your child comes to school.
Phonics
Phonics is essential for children to become successful readers and writers. At Boltons CE Primary School, we follow Twinkl Phonics. Twinkl Phonics sessions take place every morning and usually last around 20 minutes. Within these sessions, your child will learn to recognise how sounds are represented. Your child will receive a sound book and this will go home daily to practise. Each week new sounds will be added.
Information about our phonics scheme will be sent to you within the first few weeks of your child starting school. To find out more about Twinkl Phonics and how you can support your child with their reading, please have a look at the following:
Introduction to Twinkl Phonics
Level 2 Overview
Level 2 Sound Mat and Tricky Words
Level 3 Overview
Level 3 Sound Mat
t-l-526871-level-2-and-3-letter-formation-desk-mat-english_ver_5
Phonics Parent Leaflet – First Steps
Phonics Tricky and Decodable Words
Useful websites for phonics:
- Phonics Play – Free games
- Teach Your Monsters to Read – Free games
Tapestry
In Reception we use ‘Tapestry’ as a way of communicating with parents. It allows us to show you what your child has been doing in school, celebrate any achievements, as well as allowing us to send personal memos to individual parents. We are able to upload documents and videos and will be using Tapestry as a means of home learning, if needs be. We also actively encourage you as parents to upload photos and notes about what your child has been doing at home. Please see below for some guidance on how to use Tapestry.
Using Tapestry in Reception- a parents guide
Adding Observations-a parents guide
Things to do at home
- Reinforce sounds and keywords covered during our phonics sessions by completing the sound book sent home.
- Practise name writing. Please make sure your child uses lower case letters except for their initial letter.
- Share reading books, discussing plots, characters and their feelings.
- Draw their attention to numbers in the environment e.g. telephones, door numbers, car number plates etc. Count things around the home e.g. how many doors do we have?
- Encourage your child to dress themselves for school and take off their uniform at the end of the day to promote independence.
New Starters – Useful Information
To find out more about the curriculum and how you can help to prepare your child for starting school, have a look at:
EYFS_framework_from_September_2023
2023_Information_for_parents_reception_baseline_assessment_WEBHO
4Children Parents Guide
School Readiness Poster
Starting School Skills Parent and Carer Information Sheet
EYFS Reception Starters All About Me Transition Booklet