Welcome to Reception

Miss Jones and Mrs Sutton are teaching Rome

Mrs Gratton is teaching Berlin

Our teaching assistants are Mrs Palin and Miss Bateman

Our Autumn Term is all about helping children to settle, belong, explore and grow in confidence. Through carefully chosen topics, stories, songs, play and practical experiences, children develop the knowledge and skills they need across all seven areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Our learning is carefully planned across:

We follow children’s interests and use exciting experiences and high-quality texts to inspire curiosity, conversation, creativity and learning.

Autumn 1 – All About Me

Our first topic, ‘All About Me’, helps children settle into their new school environment, build relationships and develop a sense of belonging.

We use Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes to support children as they become familiar with school routines and their new surroundings. Pete helps us to talk about coming to school, making friends, trying new things and feeling confident in our new environment.

Through stories, songs, discussion and play, children have opportunities to talk about themselves, their families, their likes and dislikes and what makes them unique.

Our Jigsaw focus is ‘Being Me in My World’. We explore what it means to be part of our class and school community. Children develop skills such as sharing, taking turns, listening to others, managing feelings and becoming increasingly independent.

We also explore Harvest, learning about where food comes from, seasonal changes and how we can show appreciation and care for others.

Throughout this topic, children will be developing their:

Communication and Language through conversations, stories, songs and learning new vocabulary.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development through settling into routines, building friendships, developing independence and talking about feelings.
Literacy through our key texts, early mark-making, drawing, writing and phonics.
Mathematics through counting, matching, sorting, comparing and exploring number, shape and pattern.
Physical Development through fine-motor activities, handwriting, movement and exploring our indoor and outdoor environments.
Understanding of the World through exploring ourselves, our families, our community, Harvest and the natural world.
Expressive Arts and Design through music, singing, painting, drawing, dance, role play and imaginative play.

Autumn 2 – Celebrations

In Autumn 2, our topic is ‘Celebrations’. We explore how and why people celebrate special events and learn about celebrations and traditions that are important to different people and communities.

Our learning includes Bonfire Night, Diwali, Remembrance and Christmas, as well as our very special spooky disco!

We use stories, music, artwork, role play and practical experiences to help children explore different celebrations and develop an understanding that families and communities may celebrate in different ways.

Our Jigsaw focus is ‘Celebrating Difference’. We encourage children to notice and celebrate what makes each person special and unique. We talk about families, friendships, similarities and differences, kindness, respect and how we can make everyone feel welcome.

When learning about Diwali, children explore some of the traditions associated with the festival of lights through stories, music, dance, colour and pattern. During Remembrance, children learn in an age-appropriate way about remembering and showing respect. Our Christmas learning gives children opportunities to explore traditions, stories, songs and celebrations.

Throughout this topic, children will continue to develop their:

Communication and Language through discussing celebrations, sharing experiences, listening to stories and developing new vocabulary.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development through exploring differences, kindness, respect, friendships and belonging.
Literacy through phonics, reading, storytelling, drawing, mark-making and early writing.
Mathematics through counting, number, pattern, shape and practical problem-solving.
Physical Development through dance, movement, fine-motor activities and handwriting.
Understanding of the World through learning about celebrations, traditions, families, communities and the world around us.
Expressive Arts and Design through music, singing, dancing, creative activities, pattern, colour and role play.

Writing

In Reception, we believe that becoming a writer begins with talking, listening, sharing stories and developing a love of language. Children are given lots of opportunities to explore ideas, learn new vocabulary and communicate their thoughts through drawing, mark-making and early writing.

As children move through school, we use the PALS approach to support and develop pupils’ writing skills:

P – Purpose
A – Audience
L – Language
S – Structure

In Reception, we begin to lay the foundations for these important writing skills. Through our carefully chosen, high-quality texts, children begin to understand that we write for different reasons, for different people and in different ways. They develop an awareness of what they want to communicate, who they are communicating with and how their words and pictures can help to share their ideas.

In Reception, we believe that becoming a writer begins with talking, listening, sharing stories and developing a love of language.

Each unit begins with an exciting hook to capture children’s interest. We immerse children in our key texts, returning to them regularly to develop vocabulary, comprehension, imagination and confidence.

Our Autumn Term key texts include:

Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes

The Gingerbread Man

The Three Little Pigs

We use Pete the Cat to help children settle into school and practise speaking in sentences:

“Come on, Pete. Come out to play!”
“Come on, Pete. What shall I say?”

We also have Freddie Fox’s Vocabulary Box:

“Freddie Fox, Freddie Fox, what words are in your box?”

Children collect and use new vocabulary from our stories and experiences, helping them to develop a rich bank of words for talking, playing and writing.

Inspired by Drawing Club, children begin to represent their ideas through drawings, symbols and their own ‘codes’ and messages. As their phonics knowledge develops, these marks gradually become recognisable letters, sounds, words and sentences.

Our phonics learning is closely linked to writing. As children learn new sounds through Rocket Phonics, they begin to use their knowledge to hear and record sounds in words.

Autumn Term writing skills

Children will develop their ability to:

Communicate ideas through talk, drawing, mark-making and writing.
Give meaning to their marks and drawings.
Develop pencil control and form recognisable letters.
Write their name and familiar words.
Hear and record sounds in words.
Use new vocabulary from our stories and topics.
Understand that writing has a purpose and communicates a message.

Mathematics

In Reception, we want children to develop a love of mathematics and become confident, curious and resilient mathematicians.

We use a combination of the White Rose Maths EYFS approach and mastery principles. Children explore mathematical ideas through play, practical experiences, stories, songs, games and everyday routines.

Our focus is on developing deep understanding, rather than simply learning procedures. Children are encouraged to notice, investigate, make connections and explain their mathematical thinking.

Autumn Term maths skills

Children will develop their understanding of:

Matching, sorting and comparing objects.
Counting accurately and understanding how many objects there are altogether.
Recognising and representing numbers and quantities.
Subitising small quantities.
Comparing numbers using language such as more, fewer and the same.
Exploring the composition of small numbers.
Beginning to explore one more and one less.
Recognising, continuing and creating repeating patterns.
Exploring common 2D and 3D shapes.
Using positional language such as under, beside, between, behind and in front of.
Comparing size, length, height, weight and capacity.

Mathematics is also woven throughout our continuous provision and everyday routines. Children count, compare, measure, build, sort and investigate as they play and explore.

We encourage mathematical thinking through questions such as:

“What do you notice?”
“How do you know?”
“Can you show me another way?”

Phonics

We follow the Rocket Phonics programme.

During the Autumn Term, children will learn new sounds and practise blending sounds to read words and segmenting words to write them.

As children develop their phonics knowledge, they will begin to apply the sounds they know when reading and writing independently.

Reading

We want every child to develop a love of reading and enjoy sharing books with others.

How to support your child at home

How to support your child with reading at home

Read with your child every day and practise the sounds they have learnt.
Keep reading enjoyable. Sometimes read the story to your child to develop their enjoyment and fluency.
Talk about the pictures, characters and events to develop comprehension and language.
Re-read favourite stories. Repetition helps children develop confidence and fluency.
Initially, your child may receive a lilac book with no words. These books develop storytelling, language and comprehension skills.
A coloured banded reading book will be sent home and books will be changed weekly.
Children will read with an adult in school at least once a week.
Children will move up through the colour bands when they are ready, following an assessment of word recognition, fluency and comprehension.
Please record reading at home and school in the Page Ticker.

What to Bring to School

Please make sure your child has:

School bag – available to purchase from the office. Please do not send rucksacks or backpacks as bags need to fit in the children’s trays.
Reading book and reading record – these should be brought to school every day once provided.
Wellies – if possible, please leave these at school.
Sun hat and sun cream on hot days.
Woolly hat and gloves on cold days.
PE kit – children can come to school dressed in their PE kit on Wednesdays.
Spare underwear and socks.
Packed lunch, if your child is having one.

Please note that all children in EYFS are entitled to a free school lunch. Further information about school lunches can be found on the school website.

Our Reception approach

Throughout the Autumn Term, our aim is to help children feel happy, safe, confident and excited to learn.

Through carefully chosen stories, purposeful play, practical experiences and engaging topics, children are encouraged to talk, explore, question, create, solve problems and develop independence.

We want children to know that their ideas matter, their voices are heard and they can do hard things. These first experiences provide the foundations for a successful and enjoyable year in Reception.

Reception