In Autumn 1 we are learning...
In Reading and Writing we will be making story maps and creating actions to help us to retell “The Very Noisy House”. We also begin our SFA phonics teaching, where children will be identifying initial phonemes (sounds)in words and will be taught letter names and sounds for letters s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck (digraph). Children will practise forming each letter correctly and will begin to write initial graphemes (phonemes in written form). Children will also begin to read CVC words containing the taught GPCs (grapheme-phoneme correspondence: how a sound is written and read).
In our daily Rhyme Time we will be singing the following nursery rhymes: Five little ducks, Wind the bobbin up, Five currant buns and Jack and Jill.
In Maths we will be introducing our “All about Today” calendar, matching, sorting, grouping and comparing objects and sets of objects, as well as comparing size, mass and capacity and recognising and creating simple patterns.
In Topic lessons we will be learning about what makes us all special and unique, similiarities between ourselves, our families and others and how we, our parents and grandparents have grown and changed since being babies.
In RE we will be learning why children are special and what happens when Christians and muslims welcome new babies into their religion.
In PSHE we will focus upon getting to know each other and on new beginnings.
In our PE lessons we will be practising simple movement sequences in a dance unit called “Ourselves.” We will also focus upon developing our balance and core strength through activities and resources within our indoor and outdoor areas of provision.
In Art lessons we will experiment with mark making and as our skills develop, we will create a self portrait. During our play, adults will also support us to become more expressive and help us to develop storylines in our imaginary play.
In French we begin to say hello to our family.
In Music we are singing along to nursery rhymes using our voices and instruments to link with our topic.
Our Oracy focus is the children’s holiday box.
Knowledge Organisers should be used to support your child throughout the topic being covered. They provide end points which is the knowledge that children will gain from this unit of work. They also show the learning that has taken place before and how this will link to future learning. Children will use these both in school and at home to supplement their learning, allowing us to work collaboratively together.
Knowledge Organisers are designed to help provide additional support and direction for families to support learning at home. They can be used as a point of reference for year group knowledge and expectations within the given topic area.
A busy first half-term
It’s been a wonderfully busy first half term in Reception! Our new starters have settled in brilliantly — exploring their new environment, making lots of new friends, and getting to grips with school life and routines. They’ve already been learning so much and having great fun along the way. Well done, Reception class — what an amazing start to your school journey!
‘Once There Were Giants’ – A Visit From Our Grow-ups
In our Topic lessons, the children have been learning about how we grow and change as we get older. We have been enjoying the story ‘Once They Were Giants’ by Martin Waddell, which shows how the main character grows from a baby into an adult with her own baby, and the important milestones she experiences along the way.
In today’s session, some of our lovely grown-ups joined us in the classroom to share photographs from their own childhoods. The children were fascinated to see how our visitors had changed and loved spotting similarities and differences between the pictures and how the grown-ups look today. Everyone enjoyed hearing stories about what life was like when our grown-ups were little and exploring some of the old toys they used to play with.
The children showed curiosity, asked thoughtful questions, and made wonderful connections between their own lives and the experiences shared. They were able to talk about how people change as they grow and reflected on what they might look forward to as they get older.
Visit to Holy Trinity Church – A Christian Infant Baptism
In their Religion and World Views lessons, the children have been learning that children are very special in the Christian faith and that God’s love for children is shown through the act of baptism.
Today, the children visited Holy Trinity Church to meet Reverend John. John explained that infant baptisms are a way of welcoming children into the Christian family at the start of their lives. He showed the children the font, where water is used during a baptism ceremony, and talked about its special meaning.
The children listened carefully, asked thoughtful questions, and shared what they already knew about churches. They then had the opportunity to explore the inside of the church, noticing features such as the stained-glass windows, pews, and the altar. This helped the children to become more familiar with their local place of worship and understand how it is used by the community.