2023-2024

Welcome Information

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Please find class names and teachers below, as well as, relevant documents like the daily timetable and induction information. We will be adding weekly blogs to this page for you to see what the children get up to every Friday. 

Reception Classes 

Portugal Class - Miss Kyriacou
Greece Class -  Miss Roof

Austria Class - Mrs Rooney

Netherlands Class - Mrs Pirvu 

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Children will have the option to play outside in all weather. Your child should have a pair of wellington boots and a rain jacket that can be left at school on their peg. Please make sure these are labelled. 

Reception Curriculum Overview 2023-2024

Half Termly Topic Webs

Weekly Blog

This week has been exciting as each Reception class now have their own pet caterpillars! We are watching them grow and noticing how they change over time. In maths, we have consolidated our learning around 3D shapes and repeating patterns. Can you spot any 3D shapes at home?

Nursery have been looking after some ducklings and some Reception children have paid them a visit. They were even brave enough to stroke and hold them! 

Welcome back! We hope you had a lovely Easter holiday and spent lots of time with your children. 

We are glad to have them back and have launched into our new topic: Shoots, Leaves and Forests! The children have enjoyed lots of gardening and even planted some seeds as a class. We have been monitoring these seeds throughout the week and have started to see them grow!

Reception children also had a special visit from Harold the Giraffe and learnt why it is important to be resilient! 

As we have been learning all about animals that live in the Safari, we had a special visit from some animals that live in a completely different habitat. We compared how these animals live and discussed how they are similar and different. The children were so brave and some children stroked and held the animals! 

Here is a list of the animals we saw: 

Ziggy the leopard gecko, african snails, cockroaches (which we named Strawberry and Rainbow), an albino snake, a scorpion that glows in the dark, and a frog. 

We had a very exciting 'hook' to our new Talk 4 Writing book this week. The children investigated the smell, touch, look and taste of a range of fruits! We then read and began to explore the story Handa's Surprise, where a girl takes a basket of fruits to her friend. But something strange happens along the way... 

The children have been enjoying our Safari topic so much! We have now started our second focus text for this half term - Handa's Surprise. The children have sorted different foods into fruits and vegetables, and also spoken about what food is good for our bodies. 

We would like to thank all of the parents/carers who spend Family Friday with us and joined us at our Tiger Tea Party. The children were so excited for you to eat the sandwiches and biscuits that they made and decorated. 

All of Reception had a fantastic time watching The Tiger Who Came to Tea at The Beck Theatre. The show was really engaging and completely brought the story to life. We even had a dance with the tiger! 

We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the parents/carers and staff members who supported us on the trip!

Reception children thoroughly enjoyed celebrating World Book Day by Sharing a Story with their families, getting immersed in a story workshop, and completing other reading activities throughout the day. 

The children celebrated Fairtrade Day by learning about where cocoa beans come from and how chocolate is made. We spotted the Fairtrade logo on different food items and played a trolley shop game where we selected the Fairtrade items to go into our trolley. The children then watched the process of chocolate melting into a liquid form and decorated their own cupcakes. 

This week, we had an assembly by Mrs Rehmanji all about the Chinese New Year! We discussed how it is tradionally celebrated and compared these rituals/activities with our own celebrations. The children even learned the traditional fan dance.

Reception children began the week with some Pedestrian Training. We learned what we can do to keep safe on the roads and practised a song to help us remember. It goes like this...

"Stop, Look, Listen, Hold hands, before you cross the road,

Stop, Look, Listen, Hold hands, before you cross the road,

Use your eyes and your ears to help you cross the road,

Stop, Look, Listen, Hold hands, before you cross the road!"

Welcome back!

This half term, we are learning all about our new topic - Safari! We introduced the topic with a new Talk 4 Writing story called The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The children have enjoyed drawing a text map for the story and acting out each part. We even did a Tea Tasting session!

In mathematics, we began a new unit called Grouping and Sharing. The children have been sharing amounts into different groups and comparing groups that are equal and unequal. We have also been practising our counting in 5s and 10s! 

The final week of our Dinosaur topic has been so much fun! The children have explored making dinosaur footprints and fossils in salt dough, and had a dinosaur workshop! 

We have also consolidated our learning on addition and subtraction within 10 and were using tens frames and number tracks to help us. 

The Reception Team would like to say a big well done to all of the children for their hard work this half-term. We would also like to thank the parents/carers who have supported their child by reading and doing other learning related activities at home. A big thank you to any parents/carers who have engaged in workshops or Family Friday this half-term - it has a huge impact when we can work together to support your child. 

Have a restful half-term break and enjoy the homework project that your child will receive from school!

This week, Reception children took part in a Yoga Workshop. The children used breathing techniques to relax their bodies and begin their yoga session calmly. They also learnt different poses that stretch their muscles and develop their balancing skills. 

In Literacy, we have finished our focus text of Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp and the children have been retelling the story using actions. Some of the key words that we looked at from this story are: gliding, flicking, pouncing and charging. 

In Mathematics, we consolidated our learning about changing numbers within ten - for example, one more than 7 is 8. We have now moved onto calendar and time. Can you name the days of the week in order? 

We have continued our learning about Dinosaurs and have delved into the story Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp in more depth. We drew a text map and learned names of some dinosaurs. Can you remember any? 

In Mathematics, we consolidated our learning on numbers to 10, and used number tracks to show one more and one less. 

Finally, some children got to meet the author Banji! We hope you enjoy his book if you bought a copy. 

Outdoor Learning

As you can see from the pictures, the children LOVE being outside (even in the cold!). Please make sure your child has a winter coat, hat, scarf and gloves so that they can keep warm outside. These must be labelled with their name in case any go missing. 

All children should have a spare set of clothes in a carrier bag on their peg in case they need to change whilst at school. 

Reception staff always do their best to ensure your child is changed if they are wet. 

A mysterious object appeared in the Reception classrooms this week! Some of the children think it might be a dinosaur egg as we have now started our topic about Dinosaurs and have started reading Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp! 

In maths, we are learning how to represent numbers to 10 on a tens frame and using other resources. 

Next Wednesday 17th January, we have a visit from an author called Banji. If you would like to buy his book, please return the permission slip and money to your child's class teacher. You can also get the book signed by Banji after school! 

Reception children had lots of fun this week, including the Winter Fair, Santa's Grotto, Christmas activities, a visit from Santa and party games. We wish you all a restful break and a Merry Christmas from all the staff in Reception! 

The Gingerbread Man! 

We read the story and then followed a recipe to make our own gingerbread men. Luckily, ours didn't run away and get eaten by a wolf!

This week, all year groups enjoyed watching the Pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk". We couldn't believe that the giant was trying to take over the village. He even gave Jill a cursed potion that made her evil! Luckily, Jack and his mother rescued Jill and cut down the beanstalk. We joined in with their dancing at the end of the show.

Reception children enjoyed a visit to Botwell Green Library and listened to an exciting monster story whilst we were there. Amy, the librarian, sang songs with us and told us all the different things we could do at the library. For example, go on computers, read stories, play on the games table and borrow footballs.

In mathematics, we have explored "part, part, whole" diagrams. Children have learned that two parts make a whole. We also know that the whole number is the biggest number. For example, 2+3=5. 

RE Day! 

We loved learning about the celebration of Diwali. Mrs Rehmanji brought in traditional items for us to try on and explore. We enjoyed getting messy and making diva lamps!

World Children's Day!

We celebrated by discussing what we "want" compared to what we "need" in life. Children enjoyed the shoe shops role-play that was set up to support our Shoe Share donations. 

This week was the last week of reading the Three Billy Goats Gruff. We have become really familiar with the story and are able to recall the main parts of the story. The children used shoeboxes to create the setting from the story. 

Reception children had a very exciting visit from Hayes Fire Department. The firefighters talked about their uniform and how it keeps them safe, they showed us some tools they use when rescuing people and they answered some of our questions. 

This week, we have started our new topic Once Upon A Time and have focused on the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". We build a bridge to walk over, just like the billy goats!

In maths, we began our unit on shapes and focused on 3D shapes. We recognised 3D shapes within the environment and used these to build towers. 

People Who Help Us... Doctors and Nurses!

We had a special visit from our school nurse, Mrs Parker! She explained how she looks after children at our school and told us her responsibilities as a nurse. Mrs Parker also showed us some medical equipment and supplies, such as a thermometer, bandages, ice packs and eyewash. 

People Who Help Us... Builders! 

Children have enjoyed looking at different equipment and tools that builders use. Lots of children have been designing their buildings before making them in the construction area. 

In Geography, we used objects to make a messy map of our classroom. The children worked in teams or independently to decide where each thing in their classroom goes. 

Meet Jigsaw Jenie! The children hold Jenie when it is their turn to speak in PSHE. This half-term, we have been learning about feelings, being at school, gentle hands, our rights and our responsibilities. 

Our Mathematics learning has progressed onto comparing group within 5 by saying who has "more" or "fewer". 

People Who Help Us... Teachers! 

To celebrate World Teacher's Day, we focused on how teachers and school staff help us. The children came up with lots of ways that teachers help us and we thought we would share a few of them with you:

• They help us learn
• They put plasters on us
• They take us to lunch
• They play games with us
• They teach us phonics

Reception children have also been learning how to count and represent numbers 1-5. It is important that we show numbers in different ways, such as, on a five frame, using our fingers, using counters and using numicon. 

This week, we have continued our topic all about People Who Help Us and focused on Fire Fighters! 

The children loved looking at fire engines and the equipment used to put out fires. We discussed the role of a fire fighter, including the different jobs they do to help keep people safe. We practiced our school routine of what to do if we hear the fire alarm and discussed what they should do if there is a fire outside of school. 

We have been impressed with how quickly the children have settled into their new classes. Each week, they are getting better at using resources sensibly and tidying them away correctly. Most children have brought a bookbag into school, meaning that they are now able to take home books from the school library. 

Our current topic is People Who Help Us and we have enjoyed learning about police officers and fire fighters so far. 

2022-2023

Reception Curriculum Overview 2022-2023

Half Termly Topic Webs

Weekly Blog 

Summer 2

Summer 1

Spring 2

Spring 1

Autumn 2

Autumn 1