Notices

Reception Assessments 

 

It has been lovely having the children come back together in their classes in school.  They have loved reuniting with their friends and exploring our new challenge together ‘What will you see in the deep, blue sea?’  

 

Since the children have been back we have focused on pupil well-being, providing lots of opportunities for the children to explore how they are feeling and talk about the changes that have happened this year.  

 

Being back in school has allowed teachers to spend time with the children and assess how they are getting on with their learning.  Reception pupils are assessed against the 17 areas of learning, these will have been discussed with parents back in the Autumn term.  Teachers have updated their assessments and look forward to talking these through with parents during the parent consultation meetings after the Easter break.   

 

Data will show parents if their child is sitting at, below or above for each of the seventeen areas of learning with an additional outcome for phonics.  Some areas of learning will have a high number of pupils sitting below expectation for this time in the year.  Teachers need time to gather evidence now that we are back in school and have planned to provide opportunities for the children to meet and achieve each skill.   

 

As a school we set milestones with our phonics programme, it is possible that some children may not have reached our current milestone.  This would be expected with the disruptions that the children have had during the last year in Nursery and Reception and they may need just a little longer.  Daily Phonic lessons will continue in the summer term to build upon the achievements the children have made.    

 

Teachers will have already spoken to any parents and put plans and support in place for any children who are finding any area of learning very tricky.  

 

Remote Learning - Weekly timetable

Your child is expected to follow the weekly learning that is happening in school and complete a daily Phonics lesson and Literacy and Maths task each week.  It is important that your day reflects the nature of our Early Years and work is balanced with lots of opportunities to play and hear stories being read. 

 

Below is a timetable you can follow if your child is self-isolating then your can use this as guidance for home learning whilst your child is not in school. 

 

• Phonic activities - You will receive invitations to live phonics lessons on Microsoft Teams. If you can not access them at the time, see links at bottom of notice board and instagram for Lists of sounds to practise (class teachers will communicate what RWI set sounds to focus on.)

Mathematics

Week commencing: 19/4/21 and 26/4/21

In maths we will be learning to subtract, focusing on numbers within 5.

The Early Learning Goal states, that by the end of the year, children must be able to automatically recall some subtraction facts up to 5.

 

We will begin by subtracting practically and use the language of subtraction.

In lessons we will explain that when we subtract the total will get smaller because we are taking some away. This needs to be made explicit to the children and reinforced, children often find it harder to subtract than to add.

We will explain that subtraction is the opposite of addition, some children may begin to see the links between the two e.g. 2 + 1 = 3 / 3 – 1 = 2.

 

The children will be taught a range of strategies:

• subtracting using objects and fingers
• subtracting by crossing out
• subtracting by counting back on a number line
• subtracting mentally by using knowledge of other number facts

e.g. if 5 + 5 = 10  then  I know 10 – 5 = 5

 

Children will be encouraged to use the strategy they feel more confident with, this may change as they develop their subtraction skills.

 

The mathematical vocabulary for subtraction is:

• subtract
• take away
• minus
• less/ less than

We will use all of these words with the children and encourage them to develop their mathematical vocabulary.

 

We will be modelling how to write a number sentence, children will get confused between addition and subtraction. This is normal. Some children will be ready to understand that when we write a subtraction number sentence, the first number must be bigger unlike in addition where the numbers can be written in any order.

For example:

 

Addition can be done in any order.

3 + 2 = 5

2 + 3 = 5

 

When we subtract, we must start with the larger number.

5 – 3= 2

5 – 2 = 3

We cannot write:

3 - 5 =  or   2 – 5 =

 

Once the children are confident with subtracting we will work on developing their knowledge of subtraction facts and help them to recall some facts independently.

 

Example of subtraction facts:

 

5 – 0 = 5              4 – 0 = 4          3 – 0 = 3           2 – 0 = 2         1 – 0 = 1

5 – 1 = 4              4 – 1 = 3          3 – 1 = 2           2 – 1 = 1         1 – 1 = 0

5 – 2 = 3              4 – 2 = 2          3 – 2 = 1           2 – 2 = 0

5 – 3 = 2              4 – 3 = 1          3 – 3 = 0

5 – 4 = 1              4 – 4 = 0

5 – 5 = 0

 

Supporting your child at home:

 

Practice subtracting with your child at home.

What strategy are they using?

Do they have a preference?

Can your child record their subtracting in some way or write a subtraction number sentence? This is not essential in Reception however, some children will build on their knowledge of addition number sentences.

Can your child recall some subtraction facts?

 

Next week in maths:

We will continue subtracting and developing the children’s knowledge and confidence with recalling subtraction facts.

 

PE, Music & French Lessons 

If your child is accessing learning from home then check out the timetable in your child's class notebook on Teams.  If you click on the subject links on Thursday afternoon it will take you to the lessons that our specialist teachers have filmed for the Reception children. 

 

 

Virtual Support for Families 

 

In previous years we have invited parents into school to attend our drop in sessions. During these sessions we work with parents and demonstrate strategies and activities that they can replicate at home to support their child.  With the current climate we are unable to invite families into school so have put together a number of videos that can be used as a support resource.  During this term we will focus on Phonics - please see the videos below, your child's class teacher may direct you to the videos that will support your child. 

 

Guidance on reading books that come home: 

 

Inside your child's book bag 

Sound Blending Book

My Phonics Book

 

Phonics: 

Set 1 Sounds - Video 1

Set 1 Sounds - Video 2 

Set 1 Sounds - Video 3 

Set 1 Sounds - Video 4 (digraphs) 

 

Set 2 Sounds - Video 1 

 

Set 3 Sounds - Video 2 

Coats, hats, scarves and gloves

As the weather gets colder, please ensure your child comes to school wearing a warm coat. We want all the children to enjoy playing outside in the winter.

Any additional items of clothing such as hats, scarves and gloves must be named, as children can find keeping track of these items a challenge.

 

Reception hearing tests

Letters were sent out on Friday 27th November, regarding a hearing test which will take place in school. 

 

The nurse will need your child`s NHS number which can be found in your red book.

Letters can be given back to class teacher, with information needed.

 

More information on school website when the date is confirmed.

 

Understanding the new Early Years Framework 

This September our Early Years became early adopters of the new Early Years Framework that will become statutory in school in September 2021.  Each week we will post a document to help you better understand each aspect of learning. This week our focus is Mathematics - Numerical Patterns. 

Capturing 'Wow moments' at home

Early Years compromises of seventeen aspects of learning with skills that pupils need to achieve before the end of their year in Reception.  We value contributions from parents/carers of moments of achievement that have happened outside of school.  Click on the link below to access our wow moments cards.  If you observe your child achieving something new or wonderful then cut out the card, record the moment and pass it onto your child’s class teacher.  The wow moments are stuck in your child’s learning journey and support assessments throughout the year.  Feel free to send in as many as you would like, parents/carers usually complete a page of wow moments each half term. 

 

Reading and Reading Records

Please write a comment in your child’s reading record. Let us know how they are reading and progressing. 

If you have any questions please make a note in the reading record, the class teacher will get back to you with a response. It is really important that you read with your child regularly, support from home makes a huge impact on your child’s learning.

 

If your child is still in the early stages of reading, they will be focusing on learning the sounds of the alphabet. In the reading record you can write the sounds you have been working on and how your child has  responded to the activity.

 

If your children is reading the Sound Blending books (lilac books), the focus is on learning to blend cvc words. CVC means 'consonant, vowel, consonant', words like – cat, dog, mum, dad, pot, man, sit etc. This skill can take a while to acquire, patience and persistence is needed. Often a child will sound out the word but cannot blend, when the adult sounds it out for them they will often hear the word and then say it. 

Remaining positive and encouraging your child to try again at this point helps, so they can try again until they have learnt to blend.

 

If your child is reading the paper book called ‘My Phonics Book’, the teacher will focus on one page at a time, each week. 

This stage of reading helps to prepare the children for reading sentences before they move onto the next level of books.

The guided reading session uses each page to focus on:

• a set of sounds
• some key words
• reading simple sentences
• a comprehension question
• ‘holding a sentence’ e.g. to practise saying a sentence, rehearsing it and being able to repeat it back (memorising the sentence)

 

If your child has a reading book e.g. red, green, purple etc. The books contain lots of useful pages with sounds to practice, key words to read and some comprehension questions, as well as the stories. 

 

Book bags 

Every week your child will have a book bag with a picture book and one or two reading books.

Your child has chosen the picture book, they are not expected to read this independently.

This book is purely for enjoyment and an opportunity for you to share a book with your child. 

The reading book your child receives will link to the phonics baseline assessments that the teachers completed with each child.

Your child will have an opportunity to read through their book with their class teacher during their guided reading lessons. Guided reading lessons happen everyday, where the teacher will read with a different group.

Some children that are in the earlier stages and are beginning to learn their sounds will receive a sheet with the sounds to focus on. The sheet also contains ideas of how to support your child at home.

The class teacher will write the title of the books in the reading record.

Your child must bring their book bag  to school everyday with their picture book, reading book and reading record. Each day the teacher will focus on a different group and change their books once a week. We look forward to reading your comments in the reading records.

Home Learning

Every Friday your child will receive some home learning linked to their phonics lessons that week. This will allow you to see what sounds your child has been focusing on in the lesson.

The home learning can be kept in your child's bookbag so you can revisit the activities at home if needed. 

Please support your child with learning the sounds. Thank you in advance.

Forest School

Please note the day change for your child's class.

Please send in wellies for your child. These can be kept at school on the coat trolleys.

The first lesson will introduce the children to Fielding Forest e.g  rules and boundaries for keeping safe and respecting our environment.

RH - Tuesday am

RS - Tuesday pm

RP - Friday am

RF - Friday pm

Occasionally we do change our days depending on the weather and school events.

Reception Assessment

The Early Years framework compromises of seven areas of learning. 

 

The areas are divided into seventeen aspects of learning. These provide pupils with an Early Learning Goal for each aspect that they work towards during their time in Early Years. In the summer term of their Reception year, assessments will determine whether they have achieved a good level of development. 

 

Click on the links below if you are interested in exploring each area of learning and finding out what skills your child needs to achieve within each area of learning. 

 

 

Calendar

Letters

Specialist subjects