Reception

EYFS

We are excited to welcome our new Nursery and Reception intake into our EYFS class this term. Our aim at Welshampton is to inspire and excite children at the beginning of their learning adventure and provide every member of our EYFS with a sense of awe, wonder and pride in their everyday learning and achievements. We are excited to start this Autumn with you.

In Literacy this term, our reception children are diving in to ‘The Something’. We will be using this book to inspire and ignite our imaginations as we begin to wonder what the ‘something’ is, that lurks in the deep, dark hole…

To continue to transpire our love for reading, we will be sharing lots of story books and poems throughout the day as well as in our shared reading sessions.

At Welshampton, we use Ready Steady Phonics to teach children phonics and letter formation. We will be holding an information evening about how these sessions work in school, as well as how you can help at home. More information on this will be sent out to parents.

We will begin our maths journey this term, with our reception cohort, using Power Maths to develop our numeracy skills. We will particularly focus on numbers to 5, whilst having some time to look at shapes and groups also.

In other areas of our curriculum, we will explore themes of families and friendships, delving into the children’s own lives and history, teaching friendship skills, looking at animal families in our science topics, how to express our feelings to friends in PSHE, where we belong and how special we are (linking with our Geography and RE topics).

Home-learning:

Children in Reception will be sent a decodable reading book home each week, this book will have been taught and practiced in school during the week previous. We suggest reading with your child every day for around 5 minutes. This will help solidify their phonics knowledge, help with their reading fluency and holistically aid children in all aspects of our curriculum.

Spellings will also be sent home to practice, as well as sound mats to help with any home learning.

We also send home challenges for children to try, such as creative activities, fine motor skills and phonics tasks. These will be connected to our school learning so that children can easily access them with grown-ups at home. You will be able to find these in their homework books.

PE:
PE lessons will take place on Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning. Children are required to come to school wearing their full PE kit. Please note that swimming lessons will be scheduled later in the school year, with further details provided closer to the time.

Forest School:
Forest School will be held on Thursdays. Please ensure that your child brings their muddy kit (wellies, over trousers and a coat) to wear over their uniform for outdoor sessions.

Key Information for Autumn Term:

• Children should wear full uniform and black school shoes each day.
• Our PE sessions will be on a Wednesday and Friday. Children are required attend school in their school PE kits.
• Children should bring a water bottle every day.
• Children do not need to bring pencil cases or other personal items to school.
• Please label all clothing and personal items to avoid the loss of property.

Spare clothes:

As children can be super busy in school, we know that accidents occasionally occur. We advise that you send a spare set of trousers/skirts/socks/pants to be kept in your child’s locker, should this happen.

We would like to thank you for your continued support. If you have questions or queries, please see us at the start or end of the school day or email [email protected]

We are really looking forward to starting another amazing school year with you all and don’t forget to follow what goes on in our school on our Class Dojo page!

The Early Years Foundation Stage 

Children in Reception follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS). 

What Is the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework? 

This is a statutory framework that sets standards for the learning, development and care of your child from birth to 5 years old. The standards ensure your child will learn and develop well and that they are kept healthy and safe.  

What Will My Child Be Learning? 

 The EYFS framework outlines seven areas of learning and development and educational programmes.  

 There are three prime areas of learning. These are particularly important for your child’s development and future learning:   

• Communication and Language  
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development  
• Physical Development 

There are four specific areas of learning through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied: 

• Maths  
• Literacy 
• Understanding the World 
• Expressive Arts and Design 

We will consider your child’s needs and interests in order to plan challenging and enjoyable activities and experiences.  

How Will My Child Be Learning?  

The EYFS framework identifies the essential role of play in your child’s development. It is through both child-led play and play guided by an adult that your child will develop confidence and relationships with others. Through play, our Early Years’ Team will help your child to extend their vocabulary and develop their communication skills. The EYFS framework identifies three characteristics of effective teaching and learning: 

• Playing and Exploring  
• Active Learning Creating 
• Thinking Critically 

A greater focus on teaching specific skills will occur as your child progresses through their Reception year, which will help them to prepare for Year One. 

How Will I Know How My Child Is Doing?  

Our Early Years Team will use their professional knowledge to understand your child’s level of development. If we have any concerns about your child's progress, we will discuss these with you. During your child’s time in Reception we will carry out the following formal assessments:  

• Reception Baseline Assessment (at the start of the Reception year)  
• Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (at the end of the EYFS)  

Discussions at Parents Evenings will advise you on how your child is progressing. At the end of the academic year, a report will be given to you to inform you of their progress and whether they have met, or are continuing to work towards, their early learning goals (ELGs). There are 17 ELGs your child is expected to achieve by the end of the EYFS. 

• Please keep a fully named Forest School kit of waterfproofs and wellies in school ready for your child to use as required.  This should include an additional long-sleeved top, a spare pair of socks and waterproof gloves to help keep them cosy when outdoors. 

Finally, if you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of the Willow Class team at the start or end of the school day.  Alternatively, you can direct any enquiries to us on: [email protected]

To find out more about who will be teaching the class click on our 'Meet The Teaching Team' page.

Regards, 

Miss Hannaby, Ms Evans, Miss Edge