Great and Little Shelford CE (A) Primary School Welcome to Reception! KC

Staff 2019 - 2020 Class Teachers: Mrs Clarke: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Mrs Unwin: Thursday, Friday Higher Level Teaching Assistant: Mrs Kennedy Tues pm, (TA Wed am), Thurs pm Teaching Assistants: Mrs Warne, Mrs Murray, Mrs Kingman, Mrs Rose, Mrs Haigh KC Please do speak to any of the team if you have a concern. If you can’t catch one of us then please leave a message at the office. Photos of staff members are on the door by the entrance to the classroom.

Settling in – Well done! What comes next? Our Timetable The ‘Day in the Life of Reception’ video demonstrates what we are building up to over the year First steps include: Lunch Morning Carousel Activities (children will be assigned colour groups in the next fortnight) Followed by: Gradual introduction to increasing range of activities, routines and time in school Art Skills Handwriting Fine Motor Skills Gross Motor Skills and Sound Work Reading Partners Monday Green Grp Blue Group Purple Group Yellow Group Red Group Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday JU

Supporting your child further: Developing Independence We strongly promote developing children’s independence over the year – It helps to increase self esteem and a positive self image. You could support this development at home by: Encouraging them to carry their own things to the classroom in the morning - No water bottles in bags please! They sometimes leak onto the books. Selecting clothes for your child which are easy for them to put on and take off. N.B. Named clothing helps your child to recognise their name and belongings. Practise putting coats / jumpers on and off (encouraging self-regulation as to when they are hot / cold) Letting your child have a go on their own first!

Have fun!! Continuing the Learning Journey: How else can you support your child at home? One of the best ways you can support your child's learning in Reception Class is to have fun and encourage positive conversation about school. You know your child best, and at this young age, make activities short and fun, based on your child's interests. Please remember that your child is at school for a large part of the day and after a day at school, they will be tired and need time to play without structure. JU Have fun!!

Phonics: How will my child be supported in learning to read and write? Phase 1 Phonics (started in nursery) continues. ‘I spy’ games Rhyming Bingo etc. Phonics packs will be introduced in a couple of weeks. Children will be sent home with a phonics pack each day. Help them learn the letter sounds. Practise the Jolly Phonics actions On a Monday we will add additional letters and send home a list of sounds we will be focussing on. Please make sure that these letters remain in the pack at all times. We will also send a list of words, which you can make using the magnetic letters. Check the ‘help sheet’. Check the weekly letter. http://jollylearning.co.uk/2010/11/03/jolly-phonics-actions/ KC

Say the word to your child Segment; one sound - one finger Pat p-a-t Segmenting to write Say the word to your child Segment; one sound - one finger Pat p-a-t KC

Blending to read Focus carefully on the word you are reading Point to the letters and say the sounds Join or blend the sounds to repeat and ‘read’ the word p-a-t pat KC

How else can I support my child’s reading development? Sharing Stories Our initial aim is to encourage the children to have a passion for reading Discuss their stories Talk about authors Predict what will happen next Re-tell a story Make up a story Be a role model – read and talk about your own books!! Rhymes Read rhymes and make up rhymes. Research is showing that learning how to manipulate words through rhyming and rhyming word games is an important, if not crucial, reading skill. KC Encourage your child to read anything they see!

Reading books Initially we will send a ‘story book’ to share together at home. Once your child can blend consonant, vowel, consonant (CVC) words (e.g. pat) and recognise the first set of sight words, we will send home a ‘reading book’ for them to attempt more independently. Reading records are also sent home to support you Please try to read a little every day and sign their record to say you have done so. We will do the same on a weekly basis for each child. Reading band prompts will help you to understand what level your child is at / which skills we need them to focus on whilst reading. Please ask your child questions about what they are reading / make comments – Comprehension is key!! KC

Sight words: Make it fun! Some words are high frequency words. It is important that your child gradually learns to read these ‘at sight’. The high frequency words will be listed in your child’s reading record and phonics log. N.B. This includes ‘decodable’ words and ‘tricky’ words. KC www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/the-alphablocks-guide-to-phonics

How can I support my child’s writing development How can I support my child’s writing development? Letter formation http://www.letterjoin.co.uk User name: great Password: little A pre-cursive script is introduced in Reception Support and further activities can be found on the website. KC

How can you help? Fine motor skills Developing strength in hands and fingers. Roll, squeeze, twist and build with playdough. Threading beads onto pipe cleaners. KC

Core Strength Core strength supports Walk like a crab. fine motor movement. Row, row, row your boat. Do the plank. How many bricks can you pile underneath? KC

Using a pencil Children are taught to use a pincer grip when mark making / drawing and writing. KC

How can you support the development of mathematical skills and understanding? Encourage a love of maths and problem solving. Count everything! How many lamp posts on the way to school? How many steps to get into bed? Play maths games which involving counting on and back. JU By the end of the year, we are aiming for the children to be able to count up to and back from 20, order and recognise numerals to 20, add, take away, double and halve.

What else will they be learning? Our topic this half term is ‘Marvellous Me’. Visitors, e.g. doctors / dentists are always very welcome. Details are available on the school website Other planned topics include ‘Tell me a story’, ‘It’s Freezing’, ‘Growing and Changing’ and ‘Magnificent Machines’. Other topics may arise as we follow the children’s interests! We will have a day trip (costing roughly £15) in the Spring or Summer Term which will be related to our ‘Growing and Changing’ topic. In addition we may have visitors into school in relation to a topic. These might incur a small cost. JU

How will we know how they are getting on? We operate an ‘open door’ policy in Reception. Please come and speak to us if you have a question or concern (the end of the day is often easier) We will observe a child in their play and spot a teachable moment. We will then engage in quality interactions with the child. The child will make progress as a result. We will keep efficient online records. (Details of how to access your child’s online learning journal to follow next week) We will not continuously photograph children in their play as this will distract from our interactions with the children, but key learning will be recorded Once a term your child will be a focus child. At this point we will carry out longer observations. ‘Wow’ moments might also be recorded in learning journeys. We will feedback to you in detail once a term via a parental consultation or written report. JU

Wow moments from home Learning doesn’t stop at 3:15pm! ‘Wow Leaves’ are used for you to share how they learn and play at home. Leaves recording ‘Wow Moments’ are shared and celebrated at school  and then displayed in their learning journals at the end of the week. What are ‘WOW’ moments? Wow moments can refer to anything that you or your child feel particularly proud of, but ideally we would like them to show how he/she displays the ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’ in their play (a copy of the CoEL are available to take home tonight and more details available on our school website). Once you have completed a leaf, please encourage your child to have a go at cutting it our independently and then bring it back to school to attach to our ‘Wow!’ tree. Please feel free to attach photos and write on the reverse if you do not have enough space and come and find us if you would like any more. JU

Bits and pieces P.E. will be on Wednesdays. Kit won’t be needed until after half term. Houses have now been allocated – please check the list in the classroom so the correct T-shirt can be ordered. Please could P.E. kits or spare clothes be kept in a drawstring bag (no rucksacks) so they will fit on their peg. Please make sure your child has welly boots in school at all times. Parent Helpers: Thank you! Please do consider helping in the classroom. It does make a big difference to the provision we can offer your children. Speak to Parent Reps / Class Teacher Future Parent briefing / class presentation dates TBC Further details about school life throughout the year are available on our school website: https://shelfordschool.eschools.co.uk KC

Thank you for coming! We look forward to working with your children this year!