1. Welcome to Reception!

2. Thank you! for encouraging your children to be independent by:  Letting them come into school on their own and put their things away.  Ensuring that they have lots of practice doing things for themselves at home (getting dressed, tidying up etc).  Naming all their clothes.  Putting reply slips and contact diaries in the class box.

3. Daily Routines  Children are encouraged to drink water whenever they need it during the day.  Children can ask the teacher whenever they need the toilet.  Children have one snack in the morning and one in the afternoon.  Children have a ‘rest-time’ after lunch.

4. What is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum? The EYFS curriculum runs from birth to five. It has seven aspects of learning: PRIME AREAS: 1. Personal, social and emotional development 2. Communication and language 3. Physical development SPECIFIC AREAS: 1. Literacy 2. Mathematics 3. Understanding the World 4. Expressive Arts and Design

5. Children have access to 3 areas which support their learning:  The classrooms (Red, Blue and Green Bays)  The central area (Yellow Bay)  The outside area The children ‘rotate’ around all of these areas ensuring they gain a balanced and stimulating learning experience. There is a mixture of adult led and child initiated activities throughout. The outside area is used in all weather for a wide variety of learning activities.

6. What does the day look like?  Fine Motor Skills as children arrive.  Phonics as a whole class.  Morning Rotation – 15 children in each Bay.  Maths as a whole class.  Lunch, playtime, rest.  ‘Everyone Reading In Class’ (ERIC)  Afternoon Rotation.  Snack, milk, storytime.  FRIDAY – ‘Special Writing’ and PE.

7. Reading  Children are given lots of opportunities to retell and act out stories and to listen to a range of texts. This forms an important foundation for reading.  Children will have daily phonics sessions in which they learn the sound that each letter makes and how to blend these sounds together to read a word. We use actions and songs to help children remember each sound.  Children will be given an individual reading book which will be changed at least twice a week. The teacher and teaching assistant will hear each child read every week along with parent helpers. Early reading skills include pointing to each word, discussing the pictures, tracking from front to back of book etc.  As well as teaching blending of familiar sounds, we also encourage the children to recognise a list of common words by sight. These will be given on bookmarks throughout the year.  Reminder: ‘How to help your child read’ – Tuesday 10 th November (reply slip on newsletter)

8. How can you support your child?  Look at the topics to be covered during the week which are displayed on the classroom door and on the school website.  Share the books sent home and write comments in their reading record.  TALK to your child, encourage them to organise and clarify their thinking and ideas.  Praise their independence and resilience!  Attend the reading, writing and maths talks throughout the year.

9. Parent Helpers !  We really value the extra support parent helpers offer us.  All parents working with children MUST have a DBS check and have attended a safeguarding course (see newsletter).  Jobs will include book changing, hearing readers and sticking and filing!

10. We are looking forward to a FANTASTIC year!