Welcome back to all our families. Hopefully, you have had a wonderful Easter break with family and friends, full of fun and laughter and we look forward to hearing all about it.
Our topic this term is 'What happened to the....'. During this topic we will be exploring Farm to Fork, Mini Beasts, Dinosaurs and Space.
We will be exploring our topic through each of our areas of learning and we will be providing parents with a weekly newsletter on Class Dojo, showing our story of the month, text of the week, rhyme/song of the week, activities we will be doing and key vocabulary. This will give parents/carers the information they need to support their child further at home.
Class Dojo: At St Botolphs we have started using class Dojo as a positive behaviour system, rewarding children for their amazing work. You will be able to see the points they earn and children will be able to redeem their points for prizes. We will also use Class Dojo to keep parents updated with different events happening at school and any exciting things that are happening in class. Parents can also contact the class teachers directly with any questions they have.
Tapestry: We will still be using Tapestry to show parents/ carers what the children have been doing that week in more detail. Please check this on a regular basis and when your child does wonderful things at home, you can post photographs or short videos on Tapestry for the teachers to see and comment on.
Our core Christian values for the term will be Relationships in the first part of the term and then Reflection in the second half of summer. We will explore these themes in our class worships.
PE: Our PE day will continue to be a Monday but as always, please make sure your child's PE kit is brought in on a Monday and we will make sure it is sent home on a Friday. Please make sure that both indoor and outdoor PE kits are provided.
Areas of Learning
Personal, Social and Emotion Development: We will be exploring and sharing different emotions during our circle time sessions each week. We will be beginning to understand our relationships with each other and also beginning some transition work for KS1.
Communication and Language: We will be continuing to practice asking and answering different styles of questions such as, how, why, who, what and when. We will be working towards following instructions with several parts.
Physical Development: The first part of this area of learning is gross motor skills, these are all the big movements such as climbing, negotiating space and ball skills. The children will practise most of these movements outside. The second part of this area is fine motor skills. We will participate in a daily Dough Disco session to develop muscle control in the fingers we use for writing. Pencil control is one of our top priories at this time year, the children need to practice this constantly. Therefore, please make sure you practice the sounds and words that go home on a weekly basis in our sound books.
Literacy: This area involves everything from listening and enjoying stories to recognising letters to writing letters and words. We will have key stories throughout the term that we will be looking, as well as a different rhyme or song each week. At this age the performance is the key element. Children will be expected to be able to not only recite their song/rhyme but understand the words and sentences within each one. This will provide the a starting point for children to create their own verses. The children will be beginning to write sentences on their own, by sounding out each word they would like to write and recalling the word that comes next in their sentence.
Read, Write Inc: In our daily sessions, we learn new sounds and words, revisit old ones and practise our blending and segmenting skills. Read, Write Inc is based on practising what the children already know. It is a celebration, an opportunity for them to shine at home with their adult. We also practise writing letters and words daily. You can help by completing daily practise of new sounds and/or words at home. On Friday's in RWI we complete "Hold a Sentence", this is where the children repeat out loud a sentence they have learnt from the book, this is when sounded out and written together. The sentence then gets rubbed away from the board for the children to recall and write themselves.
Maths: In Reception, maths is taught through White Rose Maths. This scheme is all about supporting children and their understanding of numbers through using physical resources. Even though recognising numbers in an important aspect of maths, the key element in our new curriculum is learning about what makes a number and number, ie. three is three objects or one and two objects together. We will also give the children opportunities to learn about time, capacity and the comparison between different sizes. This term we will be focusing on the understanding and composition of number to 20 and beyond. We will be focusing on learning our number bonds to 10 and exploring 2D and 3D shapes.
Understanding the World: This area is very knowledge based. We will be learning about history, geography, science and Religious Education. This term we will be exploring the history of the dinosaurs and farm to fork and space in science and geography. Look out for different areas as we go through the term on our weekly newsletter so you can share your own knowledge with your child.
Expressive Arts and Design: This area explores music, songs, role play, construction, anything that involves creativity and imagination. We will be providing the children with lots of different opportunities to use their own ideas to create their own picture, structure or a whole new world.
How you can help at home...
Homework: On a weekly basis we will send home sound books. The expectation is that the sounds/words will be practised on a daily basis from Friday to Friday. On Friday when the sound book is returned, the children will recap sounds from that week with a member of the Reception Team. If they do not know these sounds, they will be placed in the book again the following week, to continue to be practised at home. Please read and write these sounds with your child to ensure they are secure with them. We will also be sending home a maths activity each week for your child to complete. This will be sent home on a Monday on Dojo. The children will also be sent home a RWI book but also a book for you to share, read and discuss together from our school library.
Our topics: Farm to Fork - To support your child in this topic you could visit different farms or farm animal. Discuss these with your child, where they live, what they eat and the different foods that they make.
Dinosaurs: To support your child with this topic you could discuss dinosaurs, what happened to them, the word extinct and what this means. We will also be learning songs about different dinosaurs and what they look like. These can be found on "Howdy Tunes" on YouTube.
Minibeasts: To support your child with this topic, you could go on a minibeast hunt around the local area, looking at the different minibeasts that are in our area. Discuss with your child how many legs they have, where they live, what jobs they have, where they can be found and the time of year they can be seen.
British Weather: Please remember that the British weather does not always stay the same. If the weather is sunny on a morning, it does not mean the weather will always stay this way. If the weather is sunny, please send your child in a sun hat and apply sun cream before school when applicable. Please name any clothes or accessories that are sent to school to avoid any confusion or loss.
Your support in sending your child to school on time and regularly is vital to ensure that they receive the best quality education they can.
You
We are looking forward to another fantastic term and would to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your support so far this year. If you have any questions about anything this term, either come in and see us or please use Class Dojo and we will get back to your as soon as we can.
We are wondering where our journey will take us this term. Exciting times ahead!
Miss Kaye, Miss James and the Reception Team