Reception

Welcome to Reception!

The class teachers are Mrs Cropper and Mrs Bickmore. Our class page will give you information about all the exciting things happening in our class and around school! We will be posting updates about what we are learning and photographs of some of the things we have been doing in class.

P.E Lessons:

We have P.E  on a Tuesday with Kick Start in Reception. This half term we are focusing on team games. We will let you when children will need a labelled P.E kit on their peg.  However,until then it is important that children can practice changing themselves independently, so please practice this at home when possible.

A few Reminders:

• The school day starts at 8:40 and doors close at 8.50.
• We would really appreciate you informing either the class teacher or the office if anyone other than a parent/carer is picking up your child, even if they are familiar to school.  It is our school policy not to let children go home with anyone without parental permission. This includes family members and childminders.
• Please ensure all your child’s uniform is clearly labelled.
• Please make sure your child comes to school with a coat each day, even when it is sunny!  Our temperamental weather in Manchester means it can be glorious sunshine in the morning and raining by the afternoon.  The children have access to the outdoor area throughout the day and in all weather, so please make sure they are prepared for any weather.  We recommend leaving a pair of wellies in school with them to avoid school shoes being ruined.
• Please make sure your child has a set of spare underwear/clothes on their peg, in case they need to be changed in school.

Themes:

We have been settling into our new routines this half term and our topic has been ‘All About Me’. The children have enjoyed sharing information about their families and themselves, thinking about what makes them special and unique. We have talked about how we are all different, our likes and dislikes. This led us to look at ourselves in mirrors and look at our friends; we then had lots of fun using paints to create our faces.  Each one very special, different and unique.  Come and see our display in class. We hope you like them and they make you smile!

Reading:

Please remind your child to bring their book bag into school everyday. The children will start bringing books home in Autumn 2. To begin with, books will be a library book to share and read at home with your child. They will not be expected to read this book themselves! This book will be chosen by them and will be to promote a love of reading.

It can be confusing to know how to help your child with their reading and it is so much more than just reading the sounds and words, so here are a few tips to help them at home:

• Try to read often with your child.  Reading their book a few times is really important to help them become fluent and quicker in their reading and to have a deeper understanding of what they have read.
• Encourage them to read using their ‘Fred in your head’ voice.   This means saying the sounds so only they can hear and then just saying the word aloud.  This really helps the children to read more fluently.
• Talk about the title, cover pages and the pictures in the book.  Pictures are really important to help the children have a deeper understanding of what they are reading, especially if there are words that the children are unfamiliar with.
• Compare events in stories or information books with things you’ve done together, so your child starts to make connections between these things and their own experiences.
• After the first time reading the story, ask your child lots of questions about their book.  It could be to ask them what happens next, explaining parts of the story, to talk about characters and how they feel or about why things happen and how things work in the story.

Handwriting

Below is a parent document to explain how handwriting is taught across EYFS & KS1.  This year we are making a change to how we teach handwriting in the Infants.  Children will now be taught how to join up their ‘Special Friend’ Sounds, as they learn them in Phonics.  This means children will begin joining some letters from the end of reception and in Y1, much earlier than in previous years.  We hope you will find this useful!

Parent sheet – handwriting joins

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to come and speak to us!

Mrs Cropper and Mrs Bickmore