Welcome to Class 1, Autumn 2.

Please do not hesitate to come and see me after school, or give me an email if you have any questions. My email address is r.elliston@consortiumtrust.org.uk 

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Important information: 

-It is starting to get cold. It is important that your child comes to school with a warm coat, Wellies (should be kept at school) and scarf and gloves if needed. Just to remind you that children may also wish to bring a healthy snack (fruit or veg/crackers etc) for morning break which they can eat at the beginning of play time. They will also have the option to have a school-provided snack (fruit or veg) and milk in the afternoon. They will need to sign up for this. Ask Henley Office if you need help with doing this. Please label every part of your child's uniform so that if they misplace it, we will know it's theirs. They need a bookbag for their books if possible to keep them safely away from water and snacks.

- If you haven't already, please feel free to join the Class 1 parents WhatsApp group if you want to- ask other parents to add you in. This can  help to find missing bits of uniform at the end of the day if the wrong children take them home! 

- I will send you a class 'what we have been learning' update, on Tapestry, every week with any reminders and information you need as well as updates on the children's learning that week. I will only send pictures of your child(ren) if they have got consent for this via Arbor. 

Homework:

-You will receive photos of the phonics flashcards, on Tapestry, in the Autumn term and these need to be practised everyday please. Once your child has learnt them they will be given new ones to practice at home. The government guidance states that Early Years and Key Stage One children should read a book 10 minutes everyday at home to maintain a good level of progress. This can be done at bedtime or at any point in the morning or evening, a routine really does help to get into the rhythm of fitting this in. We ask that you sign their reading diary each time to say what book they read, the page number they are on and any comments. We will listen to them read during small group guided reading time as well as during lessons like Literacy and others as well as doing their flashcards daily at school.  

Our exciting learning this term...

Our Timetable: Please note that changes may occur under certain circumstances and continuous provision is mapped out alongside these lessons to ensure all areas of the Early Years curriculum are being met.

 

Our Early Learning Goals for the end of Reception year:

 

Morning activities/ Calm time: Reception will be practising our fine motor skills such as pencil grip, cutting, painting, writing skills through a number of activities like squeezing, rolling, poking using play dough, tweezers, weaving string, using sand to mark-make in preparation for writing.

  

Phonics:  

This term, Reception children are learning Phase 1 Phonics; how to listen carefully through fun games such as 'Teddy in the jungle' where one child hides a teddy in the classroom or outside and plays a drum noise for the rest of the class if anyone gets close to the teddy. We will wear our big listening ear headbands and go outside to see what sounds we can hear e.g. birds, cars, tractors, rain on the gutters. We will then move on to learning how each letter sounds and how it has a corresponding grapheme (how you see it written on paper). 

We will also be learning Phase 2 phonics using our scheme 'Little Wandle'.  

See the early learning goal for Reception and our rhymes that we use to teach the children each sound and the saying we use when we are forming each letter.

 

Literacy:  

Reception children will be looking at the stories 'Jonty Gento', 'The magic paint brush' and 'Mr Grumpy's motor car'. We will be talking about how these books and write about travel, maps, facts, animals and more!

We will also enjoy reading lots of fiction books, enjoying story telling, practising actions and roleplay to go with them and eventually having a go at drawing our own story maps with pictures and symbols to represent parts of the story. 

We will also be learning rhymes and poems to expand our vocabulary and consolidate our communication and language skills. Towards the end of the year, the children will look at how to create simple sentences that include capital letters, full stops and interesting words like adjectives. 

 

Maths: 

Reception children will be looking at number to find. Finding, making and writing the numbers. We will also be looking at shapes.

Science/Understanding the World (UTW): 

Our literacy books will be exploring the world and the wonders within it. Such as ice and snow. Weather in different countries and how different people celebrate different cultures. We will be looking at transport and how we get around our amazing world.

Music (EAD): We will be learning lots of nursery rhymes, enjoying listening to different genres of music, begginning to identify the beat and discuss if we like the music.

PSED: We will be looking at our mental health and wellbeing, continuing to use our emotions chart throughout the day to explain how we are feeling and why. We will be learning how to use strategies for when we are feeling sad, cross, angry and what we an do when we are feeling happy. We will be developing our skills on how to share and take turns when playing, go to the toilet and get dressed independently.