Reception class is taught by Mrs O’Donoghue and Miss Jewell is the teaching assistant.
We would all like to welcome you as your child starts their learning journey with us at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School. We know they will do some fantastic learning during their first year and have great fun along the way.
Please see the ‘Topic Webs’ for the Spring term
Please see below a ‘Topic Web’ for the Autumn Term for Reception. It contains the key knowledge that you child will be learning this term.
Looking at this will enable you to support your child’s learning and it can also be used together with your child to discuss their learning.
Here is a film about our school for you to watch. There is also this powerpoint which explains more about your child’s time in reception.
Finding Out About Starting School
Getting to know each other
During the first few weeks we will get to know each other and learn the school and class routines. We will create our class charter and all sign it with our hand print promise ! When we create the charter we talk about two important words ‘rights’ and ‘responsibilities’. The class charter will help us to remember how we need to behave to make sure we all are happy, safe and do some brilliant learning.
We learn through topics, which include:
Autumn term Magic Me and The Jolly Postman and his Friends!
Spring term The Elves and the Shoemaker and Materials and Jungle Boogie!
Summer Term At the Bottom of the Garden and We Do Like to be Beside the Seaside!
Phonics
We use the ‘Letters and Sounds‘ scheme of work to teach phonics. The children will have a daily phonics lesson and will apply new knowledge and skills during their play at other times in the day. You can use your sound books to help reinforce what is being taught in school.
How we learn
Play underpins learning for our Reception children. During ‘Busy Bee’ Time (our planned child initiated play sessions) adults are close by, to support and lead children in their next stage of development and understanding. We are very fortunate to have a lovely covered outdoor classroom so that the children can access an outdoor curriculum throughout the year as well. Children may work in whole class situations, small groups, in pairs and on an individual basis with an adult. Learning will take place through adult led activities as well as child initiated opportunities.
The Early Years curriculum includes 3 core areas and 4 specific areas. The core areas are: Physical Development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Communication and Language. The specific areas include: Mathematics, Literacy, Understanding the world and Expressive arts and design. You can find more details about how children progress through each of these areas by reading the Early Learning Goals section of this document.
Tapestry online learning journals
We feel that sharing children’s achievements is a very important part in building their self esteem, confidence and future learning. We are also aware that children are learning and achieving new skills at home. We like to celebrate these achievements during our circle time in school. Details of how to login to your child’s online journey will follow shortly. We look forward to hearing all about your child’s achievements and hope you enjoy hearing about their school adventures too!
Planning our next steps in learning
We encourage each child to build on their achievements by thinking about and sharing what their next steps in learning might be. The children enjoy completing weekly challenges during Busy Bee time. We also support them in thinking about how they are learning. In the classroom the children have access to dinosaur badges which they can wear to display how they think they have been learning. The children will then talk to the class about what they have been doing within their learning and discuss what their next steps might be.
The Characteristics of Learning
| Playing and Exploring | Active Learning | Creative and Critical Thinking |
Exploraptor |
Stickasauraus |
Thinkodocus |
| I am curious
Join in with open ended activities Take part in make believe and pretend Engage in role play Initiate activities Learn by trial and error |
Maintain focus and not get
distracted easily Keep trying when challenges occur Show satisfaction in meeting goals Being proud of how I accomplished something Enjoy meeting challenges |
Think of ideas
Find ways to solve problems Find new ways to do things Make predictions Developing grouping sequences, cause and effect Check how well my activities are going Planning and making decisions about how to approach a task, solve problem, reach a go Use language of thinking and learning: think, know remember, idea, plan, learn, make sense, trying to do, or figure things out. |
Please help support with the following:
- Ensure children are in class between 8.40 and 8.50am each morning
- PE kits should stay in school until each half term.
- Please name all items of uniform.
- Children should always have a coat with them. Wellies can be left at school and stored on our wellie rack !
- Book bags, reading books and home link books should be brought to school every day.
- Please send your child with a fruit or vegetable snack for their morning playtime each day.
- Children self register each morning by moving their named superhero onto their named star
St Mary's Catholic Primary School 