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Welcome to the Reception Class Page.

Learning in Reception

In Reception, we have an AMAZING time engaging in lots of different activities and play, both inside and outside!  Each half-term we have overarching themes to engage the children in a range of experiences, covering the breadth of the curriculum so they can develop and learn in a range of areas.  Alongside these themes, we offer plenty of opportunities for children to engage in open-ended play, where they can have rich learning experiences linked to their interests.

On this page you can find out more information about just some of the activities we will be doing each half-term by looking at our overviews!  There's also information about phonics, maths and suggestions about how to support learning at home!  And... you can find out about how our learning is linked to our school values and our '5 For Life' Bible verses! 

Look out for photos of our learning being added throughout the year too, so you can see what we have been doing!

Autumn Term

In the first half-term our topic is 'All About Me' - this gives us a chance to get to know each other. We find out all about each other's favourite colours, foods, toys and people.  With the season starting to change, we also focus on autumn too!  

After half-term, our topic is 'Light and Dark,' we learn all about nocturnal animals and have lots of fun finding out about space! We continue thinking about autumn and start to think about winter, as it gets colder!  We also explore the real meaning of Christmas and perform our Nativity play.

Spring Term

In the first half-term, our main theme is 'Toys and Bears' - we learn about different kinds of toys and have great fun bringing our bears to school for a picnic!  We also continue to think about the changing seasons, as we look for signs of spring!

In 'Down on the Farm', we learn about the animals and find out how our food is grown. Each year we get the chance to watch chicks hatch from their eggs and then care for them for a couple of weeks before they go back to the farm.  We continue learning about spring and learn all about Easter too!

Summer Term

During the first half-term our theme is 'My Amazing Machine'. We learn all about our bodies. We take part in some exciting challenges that help us to understand our senses, and we explore how to keep ourselves healthy!  We also continue learning about the seasons as we start to think about summer!

In the final half-term of the year, our theme is 'Minibeasts'. Each year we have caterpillars in class and watch as they turn into butterflies. We also go on a minibeast hunt, thinking about the different types of minibeasts we find and where we find them!  And we continue thinking about summer as the weather gets warmer, comparing it to the other seasons!

Phonics

Alongside the above learning experiences, we also do Phonics each day.  We follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds, as it has a clear progression of knowledge and skills as children move through school.  Below is an example of just some of the sounds children are taught in Reception, where you will see there's a big focus on how to move our mouths to make sure we make the correct sound.  There are also helpful letter formation phrases to help us form letters correctly.

Phonics is taught daily each morning and there are opportunities to recap the learning throughout the day too!  Here is the link to the Little Wandle website where you can find more information for parents... https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/  

There are also some PDFs attached at the bottom of the page, further outlining some of our learning throughout the year!

Maths

We also engage in daily maths sessions!  We follow the Mastering Number programme, which enables us to develop a range of foundational skills which are built upon as we move through school!  Maths is also incorporated into our daily routines, and we have ample opportunities to explore and develop our maths skills in our play too!

Below is a brief overview of just some of the things we do in maths - you can find more information on specific skills in a PDF attached at the bottom of the page!

School Values and '5 For Life.'

All our learning is also underpinned by our school values:

• Honesty
• Respect
• Self-control
• Perseverance 
• Kindness

In Reception, an understanding of these words is developed through reading and discussing a range of Bible stories and other stories.  We also engage in activities such as circle time, games and role-play, which give clear examples of these words in action and a deeper understanding!

Staff model these values, setting the example and encouraging children to use them throughout the school day as we believe they have a positive impact on learning, relationships and the whole school experience.

We also have five key Bible verses - '5 For Life' - which we start learning and reflecting on in Reception and continue to do so throughout the school.   Our '5 For Life' are in line with our values and help us to reflect, grow and achieve the best experience of school that we can.

For more information, please look at our 'Values' page: https://www.ststephensce.co.uk/page/?title=Values&pid=14

We hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the wonderful things we do in Reception!

The attachments below outline further information about Reception class and how you can support your child at home.

Thank you for visiting our class page!