Welcome to Reception
Staff
Kirstyn Moss
Starfish Teacher
Jenna Baker
Teaching Assistant
Becky Shawyer
Teaching Assistant
Welcome to the fun, exciting and busy Summer term at Nelson School!
This short letter is designed to give you as much information as we can about the rest of the Reception year.
We hope to continue working in partnership with you to ensure your child’s final term in Reception is happy and memorable, while also ensuring your child’s readiness and confidence for their transition to Year 1.
CURRICULUM
• This term our topic is “Where are we going and how will we get there?” with specific focus on “Adventures - Real and Imaginary!” in which we will be working on a range of exciting adventure themes.
• Below are the Early Learning Goals. This is what your child will be assessed on at the end of the school year.
• As always, we encourage children to contribute to our topics in school and during the term children may be invited to bring in topic-related items of interest.
• As well as this, in keeping with Reception good practice and ethos, we will continue to respond to children’s interests and ideas and incorporate them, where possible, into our curriculum and learning.
• This term our topic is “Where are we going and how will we get there?” with specific focus on “Adventures - Real and Imaginary!” in which we will be working on a range of exciting adventure themes.
• Below are the Early Learning Goals. This is what your child will be assessed on at the end of the school year.
• As always, we encourage children to contribute to our topics in school and during the term children may be invited to bring in topic-related items of interest.
• As well as this, in keeping with Reception good practice and ethos, we will continue to respond to children’s interests and ideas and incorporate them, where possible, into our curriculum and learning.
LEARNING JOURNEYS
Your child will continue to focus on their own individual Learning Journey. You are, as always, invited to contribute to this by sharing your child’s “WOW” moments with us. (PLEASE SEE THE CLASS TEACHER IF YOU NEED MORE OF THESE)
READING
With all the phonics skills that the children have gained in Reception, this term is a good opportunity for children to use that knowledge to experience a variety of texts. Please ensure that you are reading frequently with your child at home. Children will continue to follow the structure of Little Wandle Letters and Sounds.
NAMED PROPERTY
May we remind you - please remember to label ALL children’s clothing, snack pots and water bottles, etc with your child’s name.
Your child will continue to focus on their own individual Learning Journey. You are, as always, invited to contribute to this by sharing your child’s “WOW” moments with us. (PLEASE SEE THE CLASS TEACHER IF YOU NEED MORE OF THESE)
READING
With all the phonics skills that the children have gained in Reception, this term is a good opportunity for children to use that knowledge to experience a variety of texts. Please ensure that you are reading frequently with your child at home. Children will continue to follow the structure of Little Wandle Letters and Sounds.
NAMED PROPERTY
May we remind you - please remember to label ALL children’s clothing, snack pots and water bottles, etc with your child’s name.
SPORTS DAY
Sports day – Thursday 27th June
More information will be given about this nearer the time.
Sports day – Thursday 27th June
More information will be given about this nearer the time.
TRANSITION to YEAR 1
The Reception team work hard to ensure each child experiences a smooth and successful transition to their new year group in September. This involves lots of appropriate discussion with the children and opportunities for them to become familiar with their new classrooms and teaching staff, where possible.
The children have already transitioned into the big lunch hall and have now begun to join the big playground at lunchtime with the rest of the school. During Summer 2, the children will join in with afternoon playtimes.
KEY DATES
Cake sale – Friday 5th July
Bocketts farm trip – Friday 24th May
Class assembly – Friday 21st June
Sports day – Thursday 27th June
We hope you have found this information helpful. We aim to keep parents as involved and informed as possible. Please do not hesitate to ask your child’s teacher or other members of the Reception team if you have a question or just wish to have a chat about any of the above.
Early Learning Goals
The EYFS is guided by a framework called ‘Development Matters’ that sets out the learning, development and assessment requirements for all children until the end of their Reception year. Below are the Early Learning Goals which your child is working towards gaining by the end of the Reception Year.
Communication and Language
ELG: Listening, Attention and Understanding
• Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions
• Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding;
• Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers.
ELG: Speaking
• Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary;
• Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate;
• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
ELG: Self-Regulation
• Show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others, and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly;
• Set and work towards simple goals, being able to wait for what they want and control their immediate impulses when appropriate;
• Give focused attention to what the teacher says, responding appropriately even when engaged in activity, and show an ability to follow instructions involving several ideas or actions.
ELG: Managing Self
• Be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge;
• Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly;
• Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding the importance of healthy food choices.
ELG: Building Relationships
• Work and play cooperatively and take turns with others;
• Form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers;
• Show sensitivity to their own and to others’ needs.
Physical Development
ELG: Gross Motor Skills
• Negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others;
• Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;
• Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.
ELG: Fine Motor Skills
• Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases;
• Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;
• Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.
Literacy
• Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;
• Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.
Literacy
ELG: Comprehension
• Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary;
• Anticipate (where appropriate) key events in stories;
• Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role play.
ELG: Word Reading
• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs;
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending;
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.
• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs;
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending;
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.
ELG: Writing
• Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed;
• Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters;
• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.
Mathematics
ELG: Number
• Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number;
• Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5;
• Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.
ELG: Numerical Patterns
• Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system;
• Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity;
• Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.
Understanding the World
• Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity;
• Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.
Understanding the World
ELG: Past and Present
• Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society;
• Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
• Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling
ELG: People, Culture and Communities
• Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps;
• Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
• Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps.
ELG: The Natural World
• Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants;
• Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
• Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.
Expressive Arts and Design
ELG: Creating with Materials
• Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function;
• Share their creations, explaining the process they have used;
• Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.
ELG: Being Imaginative and Expressive
• Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher;
• Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs;
• Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music.