Reception
Welcome to Reception
ReceptionTeacher:
Miss M Kane
EYFS Teaching Assistants:
Ms J Hession
Miss C Walsham
Welcome to all our friends in Reception 
When you come to school, please remember to bring:
- your smile
- a named bottle of water that can be taken home to be cleaned and refilled every day
- your coat (on colder days)
- a packed lunch if you choose to have one
PE - Every class will have allocated PE time in the hall.
Reception will have PE every Wednesday.
EYFS children should now be wearing their PE kits as their everyday EYFS uniform so will not need to get changed for PE at school.
Please be prompt at the start of the day at 8.35 - 8.45am (soft start) when your teachers will greet you at the door. Please hang up your things, tell the teacher your lunch choices and then come and join us in the class for your daily carpet challenge.
If you're running late, please press the buzzer on the gate and office staff will inform us that you have arrived.
Throughout the year, we explore different themes using information and resources to enable us to deliver information that is engaging and exciting. Children learn about the world around us and in the Early Years, cover themes such as Friendships, Changing Seasons, Fairytales, A World of Animals and Journeys (transport, different climates, etc.)
We use key, classic children’s stories that link to these topics to enrich language experience and also to create a context for the theme based learning that we offer.
Role play areas are fun but focussed, offering opportunities for imaginative role play and for purposeful writing, counting and exploring.
EYFS themes 2023-24
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
Main Focus (Theme) |
Friendships all about me, friendships, family, people who help us
noticing seasonal changes as we enter Autumn |
Light and Dark (Autumn to Winter) changes in natural world, hibernation, seasons, etc. + sources of light, shiny things, festivals of light, Christmas |
| Growing Growing food – farm to fork, where does our food come from? How does it grow? (focus on fruit, vegetables, etc.)
healthy eating & living | A World of Animals all about the farm, farm animals, other animals from different climates around the world
| Carnival exploring colour, light, reflections and texture through the expressive arts |
Maths - We will develop our thinking about numbers and shapes as we explore activities and experiences linked to counting, matching, recognising numbers, sorting, early addition, pattern, and language linked to size, weight and measuring.
Reception: Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term | |
Reception | Numbers to 10 – recognition, developing 1:1 correspondence, Subitising (dice, numicon, fingers on hands, various objects) Exploring patterns and arrangements of shapes 2D & 3D shape - recognising and sorting, making block shapes using flat shapes (size, corners, flat, edge, round) Size language and revisit positional language – comparing and sorting | Number bonds to 10 – addition using fingers, numicon, ten frames and various objects Matching objects to numerals that represent how many Exploring shapes through building/rotating/manipulating Money – looking at coins, thinking about values Pattern – continue, copy and create repeating patterns
| Looking at some numbers above 10 and exploring the 100 square Counting on one more, one less number tracks indoors and outdoors, jumping/using counters to move up and down Thinking about time – looking at a clock face, numbers, ‘slices’ of a circle shape, half past, quarter past etc.
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Maths is included in various forms in all our role play areas and also as children explore other resources such as construction toys.
Phonics -
Children in the EYFS are introduced to the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make using the 'Little Wandle' phonics programme, as we look at the shapes of letters and begin developing awareness of how to recognise and then write them. We also use some simple 'cued articulation' signs to support their multisensory learning of new speech sounds.
These inputs are taught directly and then supported with many activities in and around the learning spaces. In Nursery, we develop our listening and speaking skills and the ability to differentiate between, describe and identify sounds. In Reception, we focus on specific letters, oral blending and segmentation and then on to blending and segmenting with letters. Those who are ready to move on will be introduced to reading two syllable words and simple captions.
Reading -
We link all our learning to key stories which help to develop ideas linked to the themes we are exploring.
Early reading skills focus on how children can listen attentively, showing they understand the meaning of the text and how they recall and retell parts of the story in their own words.
Once children have settled into their daily routines in Reception, we will start to send home simple books to share and retell together - some of these books will be without words as we encourage your child to use the vocabulary they already have to describe what they can see in the pictures, other books may have a few simple, repeated words that children can begin to decode using their developing phonic knowledge.
Children who regularly share reading books at home will be supported as they develop and embed their reading skills and confidence.
We also use puppets and story props (such as costumes, character blocks and objects from the story) to support your child's imaginative play as they recall and extend the language they have heard.
For some other ideas, please look up Phonics Play and Little Wandle videos on YouTube for your children to play and watch whilst learning.
