Reception

Welcome to our Reception Class at St James’

Welcome to Reception Class, my name is Miss Guthrie and I am the Class Teacher along with Ms Capot (Class Teacher) who works in Reception one day per week. Mrs Watson is our Nursery Nurse and we are supported by Teaching Assistants Mrs Gibbons and Ms Walton at different times during the week.

Reception Noticeboard

All children have a home school reading book which is kept in their book bags. We ask that book bags are brought to school every day. We will hear your child read once a week. Reading books are changed weekly.
PE in Reception is on Thursday. Make sure you have your full St James PE kit.
We use Tapestry as a means of sharing our learning, celebrations and activities.
Please bring fresh water daily.
We pray every day in school. Please help your child to become familiar with our prayers here Little Book of Prayers EYFS and KS1

Autumn in Reception Class

To begin our learning journey in reception class we are learning about ourselves. We are getting to know one another and we are discovering some of the similarities and differences between us.

We have created some wonderful self-portraits as part of our learning journey and we have read Elmer to support our understanding of embracing differences and valuing uniqueness.

We are learning about our school and are familiarising ourselves with the rules and routines. We read the Colour Monster Starts School to support our understanding of the different feelings and emotions that we may go through during the school day, including feelings of nervousness, happiness and calmness. We are gaining in confidence as the term goes on and we are having lots of fun exploring our provision. We are making lots of new friends and we are ready to learn.

In phonics we follow the Sounds Write programme and are learning the initial code. We will work through units 1 – 7 by the end of the autumn term, learning to read and write CVC words with the sounds; a, I, m, s, t, n, o, p, b, c, g, h, d, e, f, v, k, l, r, u, j, w, z, x, y, ff, ll, ss, zz. We are also learning to read and write our name.

In maths the children have been learning to match, sort and compare. They have been exploring measures and patterns and soon will be exploring numbers to 5. They will also look at shapes, including shapes with 4 sides, circles and triangles.

In our exploration of the natural world the children have been learning about our local environment and seasonal changes. We visited our local park and searched for signs of autumn. We found lots of beautiful leaves, seeds and spotted some mushrooms growing in the soil. As the term progresses the children will learn about hibernation and explore different animals that hibernate with a focus on hedgehogs. We will find out about farmers and their crops and we will learn why harvesting is important and why it happens at certain times throughout the year. We will learn about harvest festivals and why/how people celebrate harvest time.

In R.E. we have been learning about our names and that we are all part of the St James family. We have been learning our daily prayers and we have learnt some new hymns. We particularly like the hymn, If I Were a Butterfly therefore sang this at our first stay and pray session with parents.

Tips on how to help your child’s learning during the Autumn Term:

Look at family photos together, drawing attention to the people and the places in the photos.
Talk about things that you have done or are going to do together as a family.
Develop and reinforce good hygiene practices such as washing hands and brushing teeth.
Develop good bedtime routines.
Draw children’s attention to seasonal changes you notice when outside. Talk about the leaves changing colour and falling to the ground, search for autumnal items together.
Read a story daily with your child, talking lots about the illustrations and characters. Can you predict what might happen next in the story? – Access the free Sounds Write Training for parents available at – https://sounds-write.co.uk/support-for-parents-and-carers/ to help your child learn to read and write.
Help your child to complete their phonics homework each week.
When reading books are issued later this term, read with your child at least 3x per week, to support them with their reading journey.
Return reading books to school each day so that they are available for your child to read in school with a member of staff.
Help your child to learn to write their name by practicing this with them.
Play with playdough to help develop fine motor skills. This will help with their pencil grip when writing.
Sing number rhymes together.
Talk about shapes and patterns you notice in the world around you.
Bake together, reading recipes and measuring out ingredients.

Its the end of our Autumn Term

What a busy time we have had in Reception Class following the October half term!

We took part in an art competition called Get Creative for Justice by CAFORD. The theme for this was about saving our planet from pollution and the children worked together to create a wonderful piece of art titled, We’ve Got the World in Our Hands. We learnt lots about how we can help to save the planet from pollution, such as turning out the lights when we are not using them, switching to cloth bags for our shopping and recycling our rubbish. We also focused our class stay and pray session on this topic and we shared the story of creation with parents.

In maths we have learnt about circles, triangles and shapes with four sides. We have explored numbers to 5 in detail and we have used number rhymes such as Five Currant Buns and One Elephant Went Out to Play to help us to find one more and one less than a given number to 5.

In phonics the children worked towards unit 7 of the Sounds Write Framework and received their first reading books to take home to share with parents.

Our special friends introduced us to our school library and help us to choose a new book each week to read for pleasure at home with parents.

We have learnt lots about different festivals and celebrations around the world such as bonfire night, Diwali, Remembrance Day and of course Christmas. We learnt about the story of Christmas and Advent in RE and performed a wonderful Nativity show for parents, in which we were absolutely amazing. Our acting skills and singing were simply the best and everyone agreed it was a lovely show.

Our Christmas crafts have been a big hit with the children, who have enjoyed creating their own Christmas designs, cards and decorations. We entered Kate Osbourne’s Christmas card competition and a very proud to say that one of our children won this year and was presented with a gift and certificate from Kate herself!

We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and enjoy lots of special family time together!

Reception Class News

Our Reception and Year 1 children took part in a balance bike fun day in school. Thank you to Pro-Ride Coaching who deliver a program which incorporates a range of fun activities that will challenge each child to develop their balance and coordination, resilience, and confidence by taking part in skill games, obstacle challenges and mini-races.

Here are some reasons why cycling is beneficial for children:

Physical health: Cycling strengthens muscles and bones, and it’s a low-impact exercise that is safe for growing children.
Mental well-being: Cycling reduces stress, improves mood, and fosters independence and confidence.
Motor skills development: Riding a bike helps develop coordination and balance