St Cecilia's Catholic Primary School - Curriculum Information for our Families
Reception Learning Lab
Welcome to Reception
Meet the team....
Mrs Dean
Mr Caulfield
Mrs Kane
Mrs Greene
Miss Holly
Mrs Lavelle
Mrs Walsh
St Bernadette's Class
Mrs Dean - Monday to Thursday
Mrs Kane- Friday
Teaching Assistant - Mrs Greene
St Francis' Class
Mr Caulfield
Teaching Assistants -
Miss Holly - Monday and Tuesday
Mrs Lavelle Tuesday to Friday
Learning Support Assistant - Mrs Walsh
A Typical Day in Reception
In Reception our day is made up of both directed teaching time and 'freeflow'. During freeflow children are encouraged to problem solve, and apply their knowledge and skills through carefully selected activities in stimulating indoor and outdoor learning environments. Freeflow allows child-initiated learning, where teachers become facilitators, and by using thoughtful questioning and interactions, children's thinking is challenged and their theories and skills are deepened.
We place huge importance on learning through play and we encourage each child in our care to become a confident, independent learner who follows their own ideas and interests to test out their ever increasing skill set.
We also enjoy daily collective worship. Our prayer sessions are central to our day and provide a reflective space where we can all thank God for the gifts he gives us each day.
Reception Weekly Routines
As well as our daily routines, each week we have special events we enjoy together.
Wellness Wednesday - Each Wednesday we take time out with the children, enjoying yoga, meditation and mindful art to highlight the importance of mental health and wellbeing.
Stars of the Week - Each Friday we celebrate the children's talents in our Celebration assembly. In line with our school's behaviour policy, we also chose a 'Learner of the Week', 'Believer of the Week', and 'Friend of the Week'. These are awarded to children who have been showing the attributes of our school mission statement.
Home Learning
Phonics and home reading - Once confident with their initial sounds, children will begin to take home relevant reading material. As we begin teaching initial sounds, children will bring home simple handwriting sheets, as well as a short activity about that sound to help them consolidate their learning. For example, circling all of the pictures which start with the 'm' sound.
Soon after, children will progress into blending sounds together to read words. At this point, children will bring home 'green words' to practise their reading. Green words are words that can be read by blending known sounds together. This will then progress into reading and bringing home practise sheets of short sentences and stories to read (we often call these 'ditties'), and finally to storybooks.
The children will bring home new reading material on Thursdays in their own folder. All reading that goes home will reflect the work that we have been doing in class.
Once children begin being able to read short stories, Oxford Owls website has a range of wonderful e-books for you and your child to read together at home. To access these, please create an account (it is free!) and you can log in and choose a book to enjoy.
Class Dojo
We use Class Dojo as one of our main forms of communicating with parents. We keep you up to date with our learning, classroom news and important notices or upcoming events.
Each child has their own portfolio where you can upload photos of their home learning and special events or adventures. The children take huge pride in sharing their photos in class and explaining their adventures and learning with their peers.
Theme Days Throughout the Year...
Superhero Day
***Calling all Superheroes!***
To celebrate the end of our Spring topic, we will have a Superhero theme day full of fun and adventure! This will happen in the Spring term and we will contact you with more information at a closer date.
Book Week
A special week in school where we delve deeper into our favourite books, enjoy visits from children's authors and illustrators and share our favourite stories together. The week culminates in a dress up day!
Christmas Jumper Day
We are always thrilled to join with the school Christmas jumper day, which takes place towards the end of Autumn term.
