Welcome to Reception Class!
We are excited to begin our new year and welcome all of our families to St Clements!
This half term we will be focusing on settling the children into school, learning our routines and building relationships with staff and peers.
We will be starting our phonics and reading journey with our scheme Ready Steady Phonics and will also begin to develop our maths skills through Mastery in Number.
Our topics for this half term will be 'All about me' and 'Autumn.' During our first topic the children will be focusing on the parts of the EYFS curriculum that link to Art and History, thinking about themselves and their families. During our Autumn topic we will be focusing on parts of the curriculum that link to Science and Computing, thinking about seasonal changes and making patterns.
Our RE topic will be 'God's World'. We will be learning about how God created our world and also created all of us, making us unique and special. We will also think about how to care for the world and people that God has created.
Please check your child's Seesaw account for updates on their individual learning and photos and videos of all the excting things they have been doing in school. All messages for parents and information about our class and curriculum will also be shared with you on Seesaw.
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If you have any concerns or questions then please speak to us at the beginning or end of the day, email the school office or telephone Mrs Marnell to make an appointment.
Mrs Totterdale
Changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
In 2021 some changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage, the curriculum we follow in the Reception year, became statutory. These changes affect what the children are taught and how we assess in Reception.
Below are some documents that you may find informative this year.
How we Learn
In Reception we learn through a mixture of adult led carpet sessions, adult initiated play based activities and child initiated independent learning. Sometimes children will be sat on the carpet, at other times they will complete a piece of work with an adult, but for most of the day we plan a range of activities for children to interact with and learn through their play.
The Way, The Truth, The Life
At St Clement's we follow 'The Way the Truth, The Life' scheme in RE. The children cover a different topic each half term as shown below.
Fantastic Phonics
In Reception class we teach phonics daily. We follow the 'Ready, Steady, Phonics' scheme. After an introduction to phonics through phase1, children will then move on to matching sounds to letters in phases 2 and 3 over the year. As we learn new sounds we will practice putting these together to read words, and sounding them out to write words. More information about phonics and reading will be given once the children have settled in but if you have any questions please come and see me. Below are some videos you may find helpful. 
Reading
Children will read twice a week to an adult in Reception class. We ask for reading books to be brought into school every day as children do not always have set reading days and may have extra opportunities to read during the week.
When reading the school reading book we will focus on using phonic skills to read words as well as comprehension skills to talk about the story and characters. Reading books will be linked to the children's developing phonic knowledge. We ask that if possible parents spend at least 5 to 10 minutes a night reading, either using the school reading book, sound mat or common exception word mat.
Later on in the year children will also take part in shared reading sessions, sharing and discussing a book as a group.
More information about how to support your child with reading will be sent home with their reading books.
Children also have the opportunity to choose from a selection of books from our school library each week. Children will choose a library book to take home to share with their family. This is to encourage 'reading for pleasure' together and is not linked to phonics like the school reading book.
As well as school reading books, any extra reading at home is beneficial. The website phonicsplay.co.uk has free phonics games linked to the differnt phases the children will cover. Oxford Owl have put together a wonderful electronic reading library, using phonically decodable books.
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/login?active-tab=students
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Mastery in Number
'Mastery in Number' happens throughout the week in Reception. This includes several short carpet sessions followed by group activities, as well as a recorded piece in our maths journals, to show what we have learnt. Children can practise and consolidate their skills through child-led continuous provision activities throughout the week.
You can help your child at home with their maths with simple practical activities throughout the day, that involve counting, recognising numbers or shapes and problem solving. This could include things such as counting steps, recognising numbers or shapes when at home or outside, setting the table with the correct number of items or sharing out toys or food fairly.
Homework
Children will recieve homework on a Thursday through the Seesaw app. Homework will be linked to either literacy, maths or a topic being covered. The task will always be accompanied by an explanation of how you can support your child with their homework. Homework will be due in by the following Thursday.
In addition to the set homework task we encourage children to read for 5 to 10 minutes each night and to practise common exception words and counting where possible through the week.
Useful Links:
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk - Electronic Reading books.
http://www.twinkl.co.uk - Free resources available.
http://classroomsecrets.co.uk/home-online-learning - Free maths resources.
http://www.youtube.com/user/cosmickidsyoga - Yoga videos designed for children.
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk - Offering free resources.
http://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/52060 - Work linked to CBeebies number blocks.