Notices

Reception 2021/2022

Please find below our welcome newsletter which provides you with information for the school year and dates for this term. 

Fairy Tale Ball - Friday 11th February, 2022

Reception will be holding their annual Fairy tale ball on the last day of half term. This day is planned for pupils to reflect on their learning during their current challenge 'Who are the famous characters in our books?' There are lots of activities planned for the children on the day including attending our classroom ball in the afternoon. Children are required to wear their school uniform to school on this day and are not required to come dressed as their favourite book character.  

Fresh fruit snack

As a healthy school we would like to remind parents that children should only be bringing in a fresh piece of fruit for their snack each day.  Children should not be bringing in alternatives including anything other than water in their water bottles. Children are welcome to bring in a packed lunch and this will be saved until they are in the lunch hall and replaces the school lunch option.  Class teachers stay with their classes in the dining hall each day and will continue to inform and work with parents if they have concerns with a child not eating enough.   Pupils are also offered a fruit snack from school in the afternoon session.  We thank you for your support with this matter.

Our Outside Classroom 

Dear Parents/Carers - please can you help us to promote to pupils that they should not use the reception equipment or provision in our outside classroom before or after school.  We have been teaching the children to tidy up the provision at the end of each session and how the resources are for learning time during the school day.  The outside classroom is used by after school club each day, so it would be greatly appreciated if parents/carers to exit the area after collection.  

Reading Books, Key Words, Home Learning and Book Bags

We have completed the phonics assessments with your child.

At Fielding we follow the Read Write Inc programme.

This assessment has provided us with your child’s reading level.

This week (w/c: 20/9/21) your child will receive a reading book.

The type of ‘book’ your child receives will depend on their phonic knowledge.

Some children will focus on learning the sounds of the alphabet.

Some children will receive a sound blending book to help develop their blending skills.

Some children will receive a book called ‘My Phonics Book’. A letter will be sent home with information of how this works.

Some children will receive a reading book.

In addition to this, your child will choose their own picture book.

Your child is not expected to read this book, this book is to be shared with an adult for enjoyment.

All books will be changed once a week.

Please make sure your child brings their book bag to school every day.

Inside their book bag please make sure that you always have:

• picture book
• reading book
• reading record

Please look through the reading record, there is lots of useful information inside.

Please sign the reading record every week and write a comment about how your child is progressing with their reading.

Key words

On page 13 there is the list of key words that the children need to learn to read over the year. Every two weeks we will check how your child is progressing with the reading of these words and let you know in their reading record. Please help your child to learn these words.

We will write what key word list your child is on in their reading record.

Home Learning

Every Friday, your child will receive some phonics home learning from their phonics teacher. This must be done at home and does not need to be returned to school.

If you have any further questions please talk to your class teacher.

Warm wishes,

The Reception Team

Remote Learning - Weekly timetable

If your child is at home and well enough to work, your child is expected to follow the weekly learning that is happening in school and complete some Phonics, Literacy and Maths tasks each week. 

Please scroll down to the weekly Maths and English learning section, here on the Reception noticeboard. This is the learning that takes places in the classroom.

It is really important, if your child is well enough, that they keep up with the learning as much as possible. It will make a real difference to their learning and progress once they are back at school.

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. 

• Play activities – pupils are encouraged to direct their own play following their interests. 
• Story time –  there are links below to much loved stories read by our staff .
• Reading – follow routines with books sent home in book bag.

Remember that each task for Phonics, Literacy and Maths is only a few minutes long, children at this age are developing their concentration skills. A little and often is key and really makes the difference.

The class teacher will also phone you during the week to find out how your child is.

Mathematics

Week commencing: 24.1.22

This week in maths we will be learning about 2D shapes and 3D shapes.

We will go over the names and properties of key 2D and 3D shapes.

The children have learnt about 2D and 3D shapes last term. To be able to achieve the Early Learning Goals in maths, the children must be confident with 2D and 3D shapes, name some shapes and be able to describe them using the correct vocabulary.

2D shapes are flat, we cannot pick them up.

• circle
• square
• triangle
• oblong (rectangle)

Extension: pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon

We will reinforce 2D shape vocabulary:

• sides
• corners
• flat
• round
• straight
• equal sides

3D shapes are solid, we can pick them up.

• cylinder
• cone
• sphere (Children will often say ‘Sofia’!)
• cube
• cuboid
• pyramid
• triangular prism (Children will often say ‘prison’!)

We will reinforce 3D shape vocabulary:

• faces
• vertices (vertex for one)
• edges
• solid
• curved
• can roll

Examples activities:

• playing with 2D and 3 D shapes
• building models
• making pictures
• sorting shapes
• describing shapes
• making shape posters – draw the shapes and label them
• play ‘Guess my shape’ - we will hide the shape in a feely bag and ask children to guess the shape by feeling the shape and not looking inside the bag

Supporting your child at home:

Go on a ‘shape hunt’ around your home.

What real life 2D shapes can you find?

What real life 3D shapes can you find?

Some shapes will be harder to find, do not worry.

The important skills for children to learn:

• there are different kinds of shapes
• they can name some 2D and 3D shapes
• they can identify shapes in their environment
• they can use the correct vocabulary to describe some 2D and 3D shapes

Relating this to real life objects, that they see and use every day will support this learning. The children may confuse the vocabulary between 2D shapes and 3D shapes. This is normal, at school we just correct them and say – ‘Remember, this is a 2D/3D shape. It is flat/solid.

Next week in maths:

We will continue learning about shapes.

English - Writing 

Week commencing: 24.1.22

This week we will continue reading - 'The Jolly Postman' by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

We will focus on the story of Cinderella and will be reading different versions of the story.

As we read the stories we will stop at certain points and ask the children to predict what will happen next. In the Early Learning Goal for Comprehension, one of the key skills is ‘to anticipate key events in a story’.

In lessons we will discuss the vocabulary in the texts and build a word bank with the children. It is really important that the children learn new vocabulary and use this new language in their discussions and everyday play with each other.

Here is an example of some of the words we will be looking at:

The children will have a go at writing some words connected to the story.

When sounding out we remind the children to use their phonics skills to help them by using their ‘Freddie Fingers’ to sound out.

Freddie is a frog we use in our phonics lessons to help the children to segment and blend.

The children will get to act out the story of Cinderella in small groups.  

This will help children to explore the characters in the fairy tale, sequence the story and re-tell the story in their own words.

Writing opportunities this week:

We will be looking at invitations and writing our own invitations.

Children will be provided with card and paper to make their own Cinderella books, as featured in the Jolly Postman book.

Another lesson will involve a class discussion about the different versions of Cinderella.

Who do you believe – Cinderella or the Stepmother?

The children will give their opinion and must be able to say why.

The children must structure their sentences as follows:

• I think Cinderella is …………because…………….   .
• I think the Stepmother is …………because…………….   .

At the end of the week will play a game called ‘Hot Seating’.

This is where the person seating on the hot seat becomes a character e.g. Cinderella.

Teachers will model this activity first and pretend to be one of the characters in the story e.g. Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother, The Prince, or an Ugly Sister and  talk about themselves as the character.

They will answer questions asked by the class.

Children really enjoy this activity and will have a turn being the witch this week or a different character in other lessons. ‘Hot Seating’ gives children the opportunity to develop their speaking and listening skills. We will be focusing on speaking in full sentences and asking a question. Children can find it hard to ask a question and will often make a statement instead.

Supporting your child at home:

Read a range of fairy tales with your child.

Discuss the characters and stories, referring to the plot and settings.

Ask your child to retell the story and say what they like/dislike about the story.

These discussions will help develop your child's comprehension skills, as well as their storytelling skills. 

Read the story of Cinderella (or another fairy tale) and ask your child to retell the story in their own words.

Choose a character that your child is interested in. Talk about the character:

• What do they look like?
• What kind of person are they?
• What do they like to do?

For example:

• Cinderella – kind, helpful, hardworking, pretty, brave, young, beautiful
• ugly sisters – unkind, mean, selfish, messy, untidy, greedy
• Prince – handsome, rich, wealthy, smart
• Fairy Godmother – magical, chatty, clever

Have a go at writing some sentences about the character.

Next week in English:

We will continue to read 'The Jolly Postman' and focus on the story of Red Riding Hood.

PSED

In our PSED lesson last week, we discussed the NSPCC’s PANTS rules.

These are designed to teach pupils how to stay safe from sexual abuse, without giving explicit information or telling scary stories or even using the term “sexual abuse”. We started the lesson by introducing the children to a character called Pantosaurus.

We will show them this clip:

NSPCC Pantosaurus (2 mins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SzbMEVYiyg&t=120s

This is a film featuring NSPCC’s  friendly mascot Pantosaurus.

His catchy song covers the main points of PANTS and  introduce the topic to the children.

In the lesson, children learnt about the ‘PANTS’ acrostic, which stands for:

• Privates are private.
• Always remember your body belongs to you.
• No means no
• Talk about secrets that upset you
• Speak up, someone can help.

The lesson was fully age-appropriate.

The Talk PANTS campaign helps teachers and parents of 4-11 year-olds keep their children safe from abuse. Like the Green Cross Code, it takes a potentially tricky subject and gives teachers and parents the tools to talk about it in an engaging and age-appropriate way.

More information about talking PANTS, including a short film and a parent guide can be found at nspcc.org.uk/pants

If you have any questions please speak to your class teacher.

The Reception Team

English - Phonics/Reading 

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 

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.  Below are documents which breakdown each area of learning. 

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.

RS - Tuesday am

RH - 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