Welcome to Year R!

We are delighted to welcome all the children to Reception! Our curriculum is designed to be fun, engaging, and full of opportunities to learn through play. Throughout the school year, the children will build friendships, develop many new skills, explore ideas and grow in confidence each day! Below, you will find an outline of what we will be learning and discovering together this year:

 

Term 1: Me, Myself and I. This topic is where children begin their school journey and learn all about themselves and others. We learn about our senses, emotions, the human body and what makes us unique! This term also focuses on settling into routines, making friends, and developing confidence in the classroom.
Term 2: Bear Necessities. This topic focuses on our adventure into the world of bears, their habitats, and where they live in the world. We also learn about light and dark, night and day, and enjoy seasonal celebrations such as Christmas and the Nativity.
Term 3: Terrific Tales. Traditional stories and fairy tales take centre stage this term. Through favourites like The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, we develop our storytelling skills, while also experimenting with materials, building, and science investigations.
Term 4: Amazing Authors. This topic is centred around well-loved authors such as Julia Donaldson and Sue Hendra. We explore rhyme, rhythm, and creative writing, as well as retelling and inventing our own stories. This topic encourages a love for reading and imagination through drama, puppetry, and story-making.
Term 5: Come Outside! With a focus on nature and the outdoors, we learn all about plants, flowers, weather and life-cycles. We take part in planting, observing changes in the natural world and exploring different ways to care for the environment.
Term 6: Around the world in 35 days. In our final term of Reception, we set off on a journey around the globe. We explore the seven continents, different cultures, climates and landmarks, while learning about animals from around the world. This topic broadens horizons and sparks curiosity about the wider world!

Reading:

In Reception, we have a very big focus on Phonics lessons. Children will have a daily phonics lesson that follows the ELS scheme of learning. Additionally, the children read 1:1 with an adult to address any misconceptions and build their confidence and love for reading. The children also enjoy daily stories where the teacher reads to the class.

 

Writing:

In Reception, children develop early writing skills by learning to form letters correctly, write simple words and sentences, and express their ideas through drawing, labelling, shared writing and storytelling. We use books to grab the interest of the children in what we are learning. For example, ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’ and ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’.

 

Maths:

We follow the NCETM maths scheme in our daily maths lessons. We explore numbers, shapes, and patterns through hands-on activities and our whole-class maths lessons. They develop counting skills, learn to compare and sort objects, subitise and begin to understand addition and subtraction. We ensure that pupils have access to a range of different resources and materials during our lessons and continuous provision to enhance their learning.

 

PE:

On our PE days, we ask children to come to school in their PE kits ready for their lesson. These are the days for our PE lessons:

Pippin-Tuesdays

Sunrise-Wednesdays

 

Home learning:

In Reception, we support home learning by sending home one book each week for children to read and enjoy with their families. Additionally, we provide access to a range of digital books on Oxford Owl to further support reading at home.

 

Tapestry:

We use Tapestry to share and celebrate your child’s learning journey. Regular updates are uploaded weekly, showing their progress and recent work. We also share any relevant information on Tapestry, helping keep you informed and involved in your child’s development at school.

 

 Below, you can find a number of useful links to help support your child's learning:

Topic Web

Our Termly Topic Web outlines how the topic of the term will play into each subject. It acts to outline what will be studied across the curriculum in the term. Children's interests and the needs of the children will also be taken into consideration when we set up our classroom and plan our activities. Please see below our topic web for Term 1.