Welcome to Reception

Welcome to Inkpen Class!

Reception is an extremely exciting year. It is the very first year of your child's learning journey at Braunston school. During this year, your child will learn the routines of our class, expectations and boundaries as well as learning our school values. They will learn how to become independent and will complete a balance of adult directed tasks as well as child initiated activities through their play. Through these independent tasks, your child will have plenty of opportunities to learn new skills, as well as practise and develop their existing physical skills. Throughout this academic year, they will develop stamina for concentrating for longer periods of time in preparation for Key Stage 1.

Staff

Reception is taught by Miss Longthorn on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and Mr Pryce on a Thursday. Our class is supported by Mrs Edge. We feel very happy to be teaching your child the foundations of their educational learning journey and look forward to building a fantastic home-school relationship with you. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Curriculum

We use the non-statutory curriculum guidance document, 'Development Matters' to support our implementation of the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. We have chosen topics based on the children's interests and have implemented the expectations of learning from these documents. As a starting point for each topic, we build on your child's existing knowledge. Our amazing topics include: Pirates, Dinosaurs and China. Keep a look out for the suggested activities to try with your child at home (based on the term’s topic). These will be displayed on the windows where you collect your child. A full list of our topics and yearly plan can be found in the folders on the left of this page.

Phonics

Phonics is a method for teaching how to read and write by demonstrating the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language and letters or groups of letters of the written language. We regularly assess the children and group them based on what they currently know. Children are taught daily and the sounds and rotten red words are constantly re-visited.

Reading

Although we will read in class, it is really important to practise reading on a daily basis at home as well. Just before bedtime is also a great time to have a cuddle and share a book with your child. They can really benefit from listening to the intonation of your voice and discussing what’s happening in the story. We will send out  daily sound sheets for your child to practise writing, saying and finding things that start with the sounds they have been learning in class. There will also be a word pack which will contain VC, CVC, CVCC and rotten red words in. Please practise reading these words alongside reading. Once your child is able to read these words, they will be changed for new words.

Spellings

From autumn term 2, your child will receive five rotten red words to learn at home each week. 'Rotten Red' words are the words that do not stick to the phonic rules and are therefore harder to remember how to spell. During our daily phonic sessions we will be practising reading and writing these words, as well as recapping on all sounds and previously learnt rotten red words. We are striving for all of our children to be confident spellers, who can independently apply their phonic knowledge into their writing. 

Mathematics 

We follow the White Rose scheme of learning throughout Reception and make our learning as practical as possible, in our indoor and outdoor learning environments.

Learning Logs

Your child will have their own learning log which will be sent out towards the end of every half a term. In this will be a list of activities for you and your child to attempt together at home. All of the activities on offer will practise learnt skills at school. Please do encourage and support your child to complete some of the activities in their learning log – it is a fantastic opportunity to constantly re-visit and apply previously learnt skills and build confidence as well as boosting their self-esteem.

Physical Education

We have two weekly PE slots which will be on a Tuesday and a Thursday. Please ensure your child has their school PE kit in school for these days. Please send your child into school with a named water bottle (please fill only with water). These will be sent home daily for washing.

Trips, Visitors and Residential

We really value the importance of learning opportunities outside the classroom and the valuable skills that parents can offer. Throughout the year, we welcome visits from parents, who tell us about their jobs and cultures. We actively encourage parents to come and get involved with our 'WOW' days. Get the scissors and tape ready to build some pirate ships and igloos!

In Inkpen class we enjoy a visit to Ryton Pools, which ties in really nicely with our pirate topic. The children can experience working together to build their own pirate dens. We also have many local visits to our wonderful village and pocket park to observe features of our own environment, as well as trips to All Saints Church for services of worship and RE projects.

We are really looking forward to working with you and your children!