Reception

Welcome to Reception!

Our Class Saint

Saint Mary

Summer Term  - ‘How does your garden grow?’

Vehicle Outcome: To grow vegetables and flowers, improving our outdoor environment

In RE, we will be learning about:

Easter – the children will learn about the Resurrection of Jesus, and think about the feelings of Jesus’s friends. They will be introduced the word ‘Alleluia’ as a word of joy used in church and at school. They will learn about the Easter (paschal) candle and some of the symbols on it.

Pentecost - the children will hear and discuss the story of Pentecost and identify some of the changes that took place in the Apostles. They will also learn about some of the symbols the Church uses to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, and explore the symbols of wind and fire.

Prayer – children will learn that for Christians, prayer is an important form of communication with God. They will learn about some different styles of prayer. They will take part in prayer liturgies and write some simple prayers of praise and thanks.

People Who Help Us – the children will be learning about the role of the priest as a special person in God’s family who helps people. This unit also has a focus on the church building as an important place within the parish community.

Our Catholic Social Teaching (CST) focus for the first half term is Rights and Responsibilities, and for the second half term is Dignity of Work.

In RHE, we will be focussing on how we have been ‘Created to love others’ and ‘Created to live in a community’.

How does your garden grow?

The Vehicle that will be driving our curriculum this term is ‘How does your garden grow?’, through which we will be learning about the changes in season from Winter to Spring, then later in the term, Spring to Summer. We will be learning about Spring/Summer weather, thinking about clothes that are suitable/necessary for the different seasons, and how to be sun safe.

We will explore warm colours, in contrast to the cool colours we learned about in Winter, creating pictures using paint and collage techniques, and creating observational drawings of things we find when exploring the natural world. We will also be learning about community events and celebrations including Easter, the Coronation, and Pentecost, and about people who help us in our community. Our focus stories for the term will be: The Giant Jam Sandwich, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Extraordinary Gardener, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We will be learning about minibeasts and simple life cycles. We will be planting beans and sunflowers, and improving our outdoor area. We will re-visit the story Greta and the Giants and will continue working towards the CAFOD Live Simply Award, making positive changes in order to live more simply and sustainably.

The Coronation of King Charles III

We will also be learning about Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, and planning our Coronation celebrations. One of our focus stories will be ‘The Giant Jam Sandwich’, and we will make sandwiches and write instructions for making these. We would love to know how the children and their families celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, and photos can be shared via Class Dojo.

Maths

Through Power Maths, we will be learning about Number Bonds to 10, Subtraction within 10, Counting on and back within 10, Exploring patterns, Numerical Patterns – Doubling, Halving, Odd and Even numbers, and Numbers to 20.

Through the Mastering Number programme, we will continue to develop subitising skills within and beyond 5, identifying the same number in different patterns, 1 more, and doubles patterns. Continue to develop verbal counting to 20 and beyond. Explore the composition of 10. 

In order to build the children's mathematical fluency, we sent out 'mini maths' homework daily, which is three questions a day in Reception.

Water Bottles: Following healthy schools’ guidance, water bottles should only contain water, and will preferably be transparent.

Name labelling: We cannot stress enough the importance of every piece of uniform, PE kit, coats, water bottles, bags and anything else brought into school, being clearly marked with your child’s name.

Bags: Please send in a school book bag every day, containing the Reading diary, reading book/s and mini maths book.

Uniform & PE kits: Please see below for a reminder of the correct uniform and PE kit.

PE with an ASM coach (Mr Morgan) is on Monday afternoons this term.

Reading Diaries: Please comment daily in your child’s Reading Diary.

There are some suggestions and examples of the type of comments that would be useful, into each Reading Diary. There are suggestions and examples which apply whether your child is reading individual letter sounds, learning to orally blend with Fred Talk, learning to blend printed letters, reading ditty sheets, reading books, and also some example comments for comprehension of stories read to them.

Homework is usually sent home in the yellow books. They will be added to as children learn new letter sounds, and complete ditty sheets in their phonics group, as well as a piece of Maths/RE usually sent on Wednesdays.

Phonics homework is usually sent via Class Dojo, as links to the Read Write Inc. videos appropriate for each phonics group.

Maths homework will continue daily this term, in mini maths books.

Class Dojo is used for communication between parents and teachers. The relevant Read Write Inc. videos for each phonics group will continue to be shared via Class Dojo, for practising at home.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. If you have any concerns, or little niggles, please come and have a chat with a member of staff, so that we can resolve these quickly. We are all very approachable and more than happy to help.

Many thanks, as always, for your support,

Kind Regards,

Miss Knobbs & Mrs Philip