Welcome to Reception Class! Croeso i Dosbarth Derbyn!

Situated in the band new, shiny, sparkly, SPECTACULAR Millbank site we work with the adults in our class and sometimes with the children and adults of the Nursery Class. We have big-school experiences, understand that we are in school to learn and to have fun.   We have fun, get messy, and, learn lots through first hand experiences, discussion and by doing things for ourselves!

Summer Term Curriculum Overview

Dear Parents/Carers:

Firstly, welcome back to a new school term! Below is an outline of the things your children will be learning throughout this term. Please read and keep this information for future reference. In Foundation Phase (Nursery to Year Two) we have a ‘hands on’ approach and like to have a go, get our hands dirty and generally have a lovely time learning through play. We operate an ‘open door’ policy here, so please do not hesitate to come in and talk to us if you have any concerns (however big or small). Our paramount objective is to ensure your child feels happy and safe at school.

Literacy:

In Literacy we will continue to focus on letter sounds using Read Write Inc. and discover words that begin with those sounds. You can help at home by reinforcing these sounds with your children, discussing words which have these sounds as well as finding things together that begin with them. This will help the children to secure their knowledge of the letter sounds in preparation for their later reading and writing.  We will be reinforcing sounds already learnt and assessments will be completed.

We will be looking at sentences and how they are constructed – using a capital letter and full stop.  We will also be attempting to write our own stories, postcards, letters, lists and questions. We will be reading a traditional tale, ordering the story and re-writing it.

Pupils will continue to practise their name and general letter formation. Any extra help at home would be greatly appreciated.

Reading books need to be brought in daily as we read with them at various times throughout the day/week.

Numeracy:

We are continuing with the Little Big Maths Scheme and pupils are really enjoying it. They are counting to 10, 20 50 and 100 in 1’s, 2’s and 10’s.  They are learning doubles and facts of 5 and 10.

Our Shape, Space and Measure work will be targeted through our enhanced and continuous provision within the classroom environment and pupils will enjoy learning to identify and name 2D shapes, to identify and name coins and make comparisons between objects relating to height, length and weight. We will be collecting data and producing pictographs and block graphs with the information.

‘The Sand Between My Toes’

Our topic (context for learning) this term in Foundation Phase is ‘The Sand Between My Toes’ and will not only be fun and interesting for the children but will cover many key areas of learning. This context will involve learning about; the seaside, sea creatures, history of the seaside – then and now, comparing beaches here and abroad. Continued support will be given to the children in their personal skills of turn-taking and being kind to others.

General News:

As part of the Foundation Phase curriculum children will now have the option of using the outdoor area as part of their everyday play. As the weather is hopefully getting warmer please can you send in a sun hat, sun cream (which they can apply themselves or you apply at the start of the day) and a bottle of water.

If your child requires tuck they can purchase a piece of fruit for 25p in the school tuck shop.  They can also purchase water which is 30p.

PE will take place EVERY TUESDAY outside so appropriate kit and trainers must be sent in.

Welsh:

Your child will be hearing spoken Welsh on a daily basis at school and will be encouraged to repeat and learn some simple words and phrases in Welsh. You will see Welsh words and phrases on the walls of our classroom within the different areas to help support this also. We will be talking about the weather and asking and answering questions.

Finally:

Positive praise and reinforcement is absolutely paramount in learning and so, during the day, children will receive stickers and words of praise and encouragement by way of a ‘well done’. Our ‘Good to be Green’ behaviour chart is also in place and the children are aware of it. They will also be encouraged to begin to appreciate and identify themselves when they have done something to be proud of.

Please talk to your child and ask questions about their school day, as any talk or discussion about what they have been doing will support their learning and help your child to develop further.

Again, please know that we have an ‘open door’ policy so as to ensure that you and your child are comfortable, feel safe, and are happy to come into school every day. If you do wish to talk to a member of staff, popping by after school means we are able to give you more time to help you with any questions or concerns you may have.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Morgan, Mrs Sclanders-Bell, Mrs Jones and Mr Thomas

Colour day

In honour of our topic 'The Wonderful World of Colour' and the very exciting upcoming eclipse (there won't be another THIS good until 2090 when you guys will be rather older!) we are having a colourful science day on Friday 20th. Please come in in clothes which are your favourite colour. We will be doing experiments all day (parents please be aware we will be using pens and food colouring so it may be a good idea for you not to wear your best clothes). A letter will, of course, be going out detailling this. Mrs Sclanders-Bell will be wearing all blue (her personal favourite!) and is already super excited about the eclipse as last time (11th August 1999 - a Wednesday!) she was too busy playing basketball with her friend to notice.

Parents Evening

Please be aware that parents evening is on Monday 16th (for those of you with sisters or brothers in the school) and Wednesday 18th. You will have been given a parents evening slip during the week last week but this is just a reminder. We have the most AMAZING books to show you and are so super proud of our lovely work; we can't wait to show you!

Notes and messages:

Can you bring your book bags in every day please? We will aim to read with your child once a week but if their books are in everyday we can read with them more often in the little spaces we sometimes have between different parts of the day. Thank you :)

Week beginning 27th April 2015

This week we are reinforcing all the sounds that we have learnt so far! 

Also --> see if you can remember the spellings for these words: the, is, he, she, and

Can you form these sounds and say some words with them in? Some sounds have one letter and some sounds have two letters!

→ Remember your pinchy grip, guys!

Spring Term

2015 has just started and the staff in Reception Class have been very busy setting up a fantastic learning environment in the brand new and completely gorgeous Millbank. We can't wait to get some pictures up of everyone having fun everywhere and showing the big kids how absolutely fabulous we all are!

Literacy:

In Reception, children learn that spoken words can be recorded by writing them down and in order to do this they will learn to hear the letter sounds and what they look like when written. Each week we will focus on letter sounds using Read Write Inc. and discover words that begin with those sounds. You can help at home by reinforcing these sounds with your children, discussing words which have these sounds as well as finding things together that begin with them. This will help the children to secure their knowledge of the letter sounds in preparation for their later reading and writing.

Children will develop their understanding of literacy as a means to communicate through words that are spoken and written. They will learn the importance of saying words clearly and correctly, to clearly convey what they mean and extend their vocabulary through stories and language at work and play. They will be given opportunities to develop confidence when speaking to small groups, individuals and the whole class. They will also be encouraged to listen to other people and respect their opinions and points of view.

We are now competent in writing and reading many letters and will soon be getting reading books to further support our literacy skills. Some of us have already been given character cards and we will be soon given discussion books to talk about at home.

Numeracy:

We are really excited this term to be continuing with the highly successful and fun Little Big Maths Scheme. The scheme will see us being a part of a lively maths number introduction every day that will help us in our recall of key number facts. This term we will be working on our counting skills, number recognition, number formation and will be introducing the concept of ‘Learn its’ which are number facts that pupils will learn to recall by rote. These will also be listed in the newsletter each week to enable you to offer support at home.

Our Shape, Space and Measure work will be targeted through our enhanced and continuous provision within the classroom environment and pupils will enjoy learning to identify and name 2D shapes, to identify and name coins and make comparisons between objects relating to height, length and weight.

‘The Wonderful World of Colour’:

Our topic (context for learning) this term in Foundation Phase is ‘The Wonderful World of Colour’ and will not only be fun and interesting for the children but will cover many key areas of learning. This context will be mainly centred around the Knowledge and Understanding of the Wold area of learning; more specifically to the science theme within this. We will be talking about colours within the natural environment (trees, plants, fish, animals, reptiles etc., camouflage, light and dark, colours in our world etc.) as well as looking at the ways in which colours make us feel, how we can use colours in our art work and a variety of fun and interesting lessons. We have already started making our colourful friendship tree, have used our observational skills in the outdoors area and have used our growing Welsh vocabulary to name colours in Welsh. Continued support will be given to the children in their personal skills of turn-taking and being kind to others. If you have anything fun, interesting and colourful at home you want to share with your friends please bring it in!

General News:

As part of the Foundation Phase curriculum children will now have the option of using the outdoor area as part of their everyday play. To ensure that children can use this area effectively we require each child to bring a pair of wellies clearly labelled, to keep in school. On wetter days can you please ensure your children have an appropriate coat to wear.  Equally as the weather is so unpredictable, on very hot days please can children bring a named sun hat to school and arrive wearing sun cream. Please also make sure all school items are labelled including coats, jumpers, cardies and hoodies.

It is also very helpful for children to bring a labelled water bottle to school which will be kept in a central area. These will be refilled each day. Please note that only water should be drunk within the classroom; bottles will be sent home on a Friday to be cleaned over the weekend and should be returned to school on a Monday.  Fruit juices and squash are only to be drunk during lunchtime as part of packed lunch. Fruit snack is available on a daily basis and there will be a charge of £1.00 per child per week. If your child would like to buy fruit please provide money in an envelope with your child’s name on it. If you should wish to pay for the fruit for the whole term, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

Welsh:

Your child will be hearing spoken Welsh on a daily basis at school and will be encouraged to repeat and learn some simple words and phrases in Welsh. You will see Welsh words and phrases on the walls of our classroom within the different areas to help support this also.

PE:

Please bring a named, complete PE kit in a bag into school for your child. This should include t-shirt and shorts, jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt, plimsolls/trainers. We will be undertaking PE sessions on Tuesdays as well as having constant access to the outdoors area during the day. PE kit will be brought home after every session. Additionally; there is going to be a super-cool after-school club starting with Mrs Sclanders-Bell  called ‘Circuits Club’ in which children will be given the opportunity to have a go at circuit training based at their level of physical ability. This is open to children in all Foundation classes so it is also a fantastic chance to make new friends, get fit and healthy and have fun after hours. More details to be posted soon!

Ask me about...

We always have busy and exciting weeks now that we are all at big school! We are hard workers at Millbank sites and love all the opportunities we are given to learn, explore and experiment in different ways.

Go on! Ask me about...

Our reading books and reading cards!

Animals, colours, and, feathers

All the sounds we now know (m a s d t n p i g o c k u b e f l and h)!

We are Millbank Smarty Pants!

First Nativity.

Well done to all the children in both Reception and Nursery who did an absolutely marvellous job in their performances yesterday! We had a busy day where we changed, performed, changed back, went to play, ate lunch, changed, performed and phew...went home! You all did marvellously and we are so proud of you!

'Our first nativity play is over, give a cheer!'

'Merry Christmas and a happy new year'

from all the children in YR!  

Dedication!

Whilst waiting to be picked up after our very busy day performing the children practised their sounds (without being asked). 

Fun things and lots of learning in our lovely church hall this week! 

See our pictures for our beautiful work.

Practising our numbers! 

We sang 'five little speckled frogs' and pretended to be frogs whilst jumping from one lily pad to another. Thankfully Friday was a beautiful morning so we could do our work outside.

Welcome to the Reception Class Page!

In Foundation Phase (Nursery to Year Two) we have a ‘hands on’ approach and like to have a go, get our hands dirty and generally have a lovely time learning through play. We operate an ‘open door’ policy here at the Millbank church (‘Mini Millbank’) site so please do not hesitate to come in and talk to us if you have any concerns (however big or small). Our paramount objective is to ensure your child feels happy and safe at school.

Literacy:

Children will develop their understanding of literacy as a means to communicate through words that are spoken and written. They will learn the importance of saying words clearly and correctly, to clearly convey what they mean and extend their vocabulary through stories and language at work and play. They will be given opportunities to develop confidence when speaking to small groups, individuals and the whole class. They will also be encouraged to listen to other people and respect their opinions and points of view.

In Reception, children learn that spoken words can be recorded by writing them down and in order to do this they will learn to hear the letter sounds and what they look like when written. Each week we will focus on letter sounds using Read Write Inc. and discover words that begin with those sounds. You can help at home by reinforcing these sounds with your children, discussing words which have these sounds as well as finding things together that begin with them. This will help the children to secure their knowledge of the letter sounds in preparation for their later reading and writing.

Numeracy:

We are really excited this year to be continuing with the Little Big Maths Scheme. The scheme will see us being a part of a lively maths number introduction every day that will help us in our recall of key number facts. This term we will be working on our counting skills, number recognition, number formation and will be introducing the concept of ‘Learn its’ which are number facts that pupils will learn to recall by rote. These will also be listed in the newsletter each week to enable you to offer support at home.

Our Shape, Space and Measure work will be targeted through our enhanced and continuous provision within the classroom environment and pupils will enjoy learning to identify and name 2D shapes, to identify and name coins and make comparisons between objects relating to height, length and weight.

‘Marvellous Me’:

Our topic (context for learning) this term in Foundation Phase is ‘Marvellous Me’ and will not only be fun and interesting for the children but will cover many key areas of learning. This context will involve learning about ourselves, our senses, our families and where we live. We will learn the parts of the body and what we were like as babies, discussing how and why we are different and understanding that we are all special.  Continued support will be given to the children in their personal skills of turn-taking and being kind to others.

General News:

As part of the Foundation Phase curriculum children will now have the option of using the outdoor area as part of their everyday play. To ensure that children can use this area effectively we require each child to bring a pair of wellies clearly labelled, to keep in school. On wetter days can you please ensure your children have an appropriate coat to wear.  Equally as the weather is so unpredictable, on very hot days please can children bring a named sun hat to school and arrive wearing sun cream.

It is also very helpful for children to bring a labelled water bottle to school which will be kept in a central area. These will be refilled each day. Please note that only water should be drunk within the classroom; bottles will be sent home on a Friday to be cleaned over the weekend and should be returned to school on a Monday.  Fruit juices and squash are only to be drunk during lunchtime as part of packed lunch. Fruit snack is available on a daily basis and there will be a charge of £1.00 per child per week. If your child would like to buy fruit please provide money in an envelope with your child’s name on it. If you should wish to pay for the fruit for the whole term, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

Welsh:

Your child will be hearing spoken Welsh on a daily basis at school and will be encouraged to repeat and learn some simple words and phrases in Welsh. You will see Welsh words and phrases on the walls of our classroom within the different areas to help support this also.

PE:

Please bring a named, complete PE kit in a bag into school for your child. This should include t-shirt and shorts, jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt, plimsolls/trainers. We will be undertaking PE sessions twice a week. Please leave the kit in school until October half term when it should be taken home to be washed. We will be working in the church hall as well as outdoors undertaking PE/sports, dance and general physical activity sessions.