Welcome to Reception!

Our class teacher is Mrs Angela Mitchell. Our teaching assistant is Miss Chloe Firby.

Golden Promises

The children will be introduced to St. Anne’s ‘Golden Promises’. These are the 5 rules which we expect all children to follow. There is a ‘Golden Promises’ display in the classroom on which all children’s photos are on our ‘Rainbow Flower’. All children will remain on the rainbow unless they break a Golden Promise, in which case their photos will move off the rainbow. Children then need to show that they are able to follow the Golden Promises to move their photo back.

Autumn Term

The first term is exciting and the children will be introduced to lots of new people, activities and routines. Our first topic is ‘Marvellous Me’ and our aim is to get to know your children really well.

We will be exploring different feelings and emotions, based around the story ‘Colour Monster’. We will be talking about the people who are important to your child, learning about how your child is growing, the new things they can do and the challenges they may face when learning new things. We will be reading lots of stories based around these themes, including ‘Once there were Giants’ and ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’.

Over the first few weeks, the children will be assessed using the statutory Reception Baseline Assessment, this is an activity-based assessment of pupils’ starting points in language, communication and literacy and mathematics.

We will begin daily phonics and maths lessons in week 2. In phonics, we follow the Little Wandle phonics scheme, and in maths we use ‘White Rose Maths’ to support the children. Each week we will send home video clips and photos of our learning in class, so that you can support your child at home. These will be sent through ‘Tapestry’, our online learning journal, so please ensure you are logging in every week.

Children will take part in whole school assemblies in the hall. We will also begin weekly SPLAY (Sport through Play/PE) sessions which are run by a Sports Development Lead. These are on a Thursday afternoon; children do not need a PE kit yet. Mrs Emmot, a specialist music teacher, will also visit on a Thursday afternoon to involve the children in singing, dancing and creative activities. The children will also take part in Forest School Activities on a Friday afternoon, we will visit the school field and take part in a range of activities which promote good social and communication skills.

Outdoor learning is a huge part of the Early Years curriculum and the children will have plenty of opportunities to work in our outdoor area. Children will need to have a pair of wellies in school and wear a good, waterproof coat.

After the first half term (in Autumn 2), our topic is ‘Fantastic Fairytales’, we will be reading a range of traditional tales, retelling stories and acting them out. We will then, of course, be getting ready for Christmas! We will be performing a Christmas show and having a class Christmas party, more details will follow on Tapestry.

Spring Term

Our first topic is ‘People Who Help Us’. We will be learning all about the occupations of people in our community and when we may need their help. We are hoping for lots of visits from firefighters, nurses, mountain rescue teams, road safety and dentists. We will be visiting the local library, becoming members and meeting the librarians.
In Spring 2 our topic is ‘Growing Great’. We will be reading lots of stories, fiction and non-fiction, about plants. We will be attempting to grow our own plants and conducting experiments to find out what plants need to grow. We will be exploring different fruits and vegetables, finding out where they grow and tasting new foods. We will also be visiting our local garden centre to look at the plants and flowers growing there.

Summer Term

Our daily phonics and maths lessons will continue, with updates and hints for helping at home uploaded weekly onto Tapestry.

Our first topic is ‘Around Our World’. We will be looking at maps and globes of our world and finding out about other places. Our main stories will be ‘Handa’s Surprise’, which is set in Kenya, in Africa and ‘Big Yellow Digger’ which is about some children visiting Australia. We will be comparing Australia and Kenya to England, looking at the weather, animals, houses and foods from these countries. At the end of this topic, we will be visiting Blackpool Zoo to see some of the African and Australian animals which are there.

In Summer 2 our topic is ‘Out of this World’. We will be reading the books ‘Whatever Next!’ and ‘The Way Back Home’, which are fictional stories about travelling into space. The children will be learning about the planets in our Solar System and about explorers who have travelled into space. We will be making our own rockets and paper mache planets and thinking of ways to communicate with aliens!