Welcome to reception!

Welcome to the Summer Term! We trust you had a delightful Easter break and are eager to hear all about the exciting adventures the children had during their time off. 

Get ready for a term filled with engaging experiences and valuable learning opportunities. Our term kicks off with a trip to Apple Tree Town, allowing our young learners to build on their understanding of people who help us —a topic we explored in our previous term. Towards the end of the term, we plan to venture to Peak Wildlife Park, where children will deepen their knowledge about growth and change in the natural world.

Further into the term children will have the opportunity to take part in our annual sports day which promises fun and friendly competition, fostering teamwork and sportsmanship among the children. Additionally, as the term progresses, we have planned several transition activities to prepare children for their journey to Year One, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable transition for everyone.

We are excited to witness the curiosity, creativity, and growth of each child this term, and we can't wait to embark on this wonderful journey together!

There will be lots of exploration and discovery in the Summer Term and learning will be explored under our theme, "Isn't it amazing?". Children will embark on a scientific learning journey as they delve into the wonders of nature, starting with the enchanting world of plants and flowers. They will witness firsthand the magic of growth and change, exploring life cycles of frogs and caterpillars—a fascinating adventure in metamorphosis! Our commitment to holistic education extends to promoting health and wellness this term with children learning valuable lessons about keeping fit and healthy, cultivating lifelong habits for well-being. Explorations continue with learning about holidays, travel adventures, and immersive journeys into underwater environments. In our lessons we will aim to spark curiosity, promote learning through play, and foster a love for exploration. Children will again take part in a seasonal walk around our school grounds to observe the changing seasons from vibrant Spring blooms to the warmth of Summer.

These themes will be explored through a series of key texts shared with the children in class. Some of key texts for this term are:

Jack and the Beanstalk

Supertato

Oliver's vegetables

Handa's surpise

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Anna's Hibiscus Song

George Saves the World by Lunchtime

Monkey Puzzle

The Fish who could Wish

Throughout the term there will be more emphasis on children strengthening their development of skills in the specific areas of learning. Children will continue to follow and embed rules and routines within the classroom by following our good to be green behaviour system and develop skills in self-regulation such as learning to listen for sustained periods and engage effectively in back and forth converstation with adults and peers. There will also be a strong emphasis on sentence writing, correct spelling of tricky words and applying phonetic knowledge in writing as we head towards the end of the year.

In Literacy, children will be continuing to learn to read supported by our Read Write Inc Phonics programme. Children will start new phonic groups and will be assesed every 6 weeks to ensure they continue to progress steadily throughout the term. In these sessions children will revise known sounds, learn new sounds, consolidate blending knowledge to read words fluently and  form the letters correctly, ensuring the use of the correct pencil grip. Children will use their sound knowledge and Fred Fingers in order to sound out and write down CVC words, captions and sentences.

In maths the children will continue to learn about cardinality and counting, comparison, pattern and shape and space across the term. We will be using mastery materials from NCETM including resources relating to the cbeebies numerblocks programme and also activities from the maths no problem scheme of work. Learning will be embedded in play and practical carefully planned maths games and activites that have a deep maths mastery focus.

Week beginning 15.04.2024

Literacy

In literacy this week children will be retelling their Easter news and writing simple sentences using their phonic knowledge, finger spaces and tricky words.

Maths

In maths this week children will be learning how to count on as a strategy for addition.

Understanding of the world

Children will learn about what plants need to know and plant their own bean seed.

Expressive art and design

Children will make a diagram of their bean seed and begin their bean diaries.

RE

Children will be thinking about what they can learn from stories this term starting with the boy who cried wolf.

PE

Children will be doing ball skills and games this term.

Music

Children will be learning to sing along to action rhymes, listening and responding to different styles of music.Our theme this term is The Big Bear Funk.

PSHE

SCARF - activites this term will be centered around the theme of 'being my best self'.

Helpful information:

Green Book Bags 

Book bags should be brought to school every day. These are for any letters, reading books, sounds and reading records. Until children can read simple words they will be bringing home a quality picture book. This is for you to read to your child at home encouraging listening and responding and building up that important routine of a quiet 10 minutes reading time daily.

Mornings 
The wooden gate to the reception area will be open each morning at 8.45am ready for lessons to begin at 8.50am. Please ensure your child is brought to school promtly and line up around the wall of the building. This is so teachers can meet and greet each child and deal with any parent enquiries. School finshes at 3.10pm and children will need to be collected by an adult known to staff. If you need to make a change to who is collecting your children please contact school prior to collection to let us know.

Water bottles

Children are provided with a water bottle which is cleaned and refilled daily and they do not need to bring one from home. They are encouraged to access these independently throughout the day and are also sat down at set times to ensure they stay hydrated. Children are also offered milk and fruit throughout the morning and therefore no other snacks are needed to be brought in from home.

 
Seesaw/Class Webpage 
Please check the class webpage regularly. Information will be added as we progress through the year and I will provide more details of our class learning. Please accept the invitation sent to you to connect to seesaw. During the day we may send you photos of your child at school so you can see what they have been learning. There is also a message feature where you can message myself and through which, I will be sending videos and tips on how to support your child's learning in class.
 

Spare clothes
If your child  has regular accidents please send spare clothes in their book bag. 
 
Coats and Hats 
Please ensure your child has their coat in school every day. Depending on the weather, the children may also need sun hats or woolly hats. Please remember to label everything (even shoes!). If your do not want school shoes coming home muddy (we have a mud kitchen, sand and water play) please provide a pair of names wellies that can be kept in school for them to change into.

PE

PE days for this term will be Mondays and Wednesdays. On these days children will need to come to school dressed in their outdoor PE kits and wearing trainers.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Mrs Millichap