Welcome back, old and new students. What a pleasure it has been to see our school filled with smiles and laughter once again after a long summer away. It has been a fun-filled few days in Reception. Students spent time getting to know their new classroom, their new teachers, and their new friends. To help us settle in, we came back with a staggered start- children had a fabulous morning, then left at 11:45. We thank all adults who supported their children with this new transition; we look forward to working together in the upcoming year. 

Children continue to explore their new classroom, and with it, their new resources. We are learning to take care of our classroom and what's inside of it by tidying as we go, learning that everything has a place, and understanding that when we work together, we can achieve more! We have spent lots of time this week learning our new routines: carpet time, tidy up time, group time, phonics time, and more! Children are taking this in their stride and we are so impressed with their independence, confidence and curiosity. 

This week has been all about 'firsts'. We have had our first phonics session, our first gymnastics session, our first music session, our first full day and we have started our first topic of the year. Our topic is called, 'All About Me'. Over the half term, we will be learning about what makes me, me. We will learn about our families, our favourite things, our bodies and our homes. To help with this, please send in a family picture (names on the back) so that your child may engage with our learning. We have our parents' meeting this Wednesday 20th, please come along so that you may hear what else we have coming up, and what you can do to support your child. 

Reception visited the school library for the first time! It was wonderful to see the children soak up this magical space, filled with books, cosy cushions and fairy lights. At WDPS, we encourage children to read, however that may look. For our early readers in Reception, this may look like: studying the pictures, discussing what they see, sharing what it reminds them of, explaining what made them choose their book, it may be a suggestion for their friend to read their book alongside them, or perhaps spotting sounds they have been learning. We will send home books in the coming weeks (please make sure they stay in green book bags and come to school everyday)- have a go at 'reading' with your child, to your child, and listening to your child talk about their book. Decoding words will come later, for now, let's all enjoy books in this fun and inviting way!

2.10.23

As phonics continues, you may have started to notice revision sheets in your child's book bags. They will be different letters, though we do not call them by the letter name, instead we call it by the sound it makes. For example: for 'm' we say makes the sound 'mmm' ; 'a' we say makes the sound 'ah' and so on. At home, you can support your child by encouraging them to say the sound (not the letter name); making a point of things that start with the target sound around the house and out and about (e.g. 'Would you like an ah ah apple?); or repeating the sound's matching rhyme with your child (e.g. for 'a' we write it by saying 'around the apple and down the leaf'). Children have also started to write these sounds too: this is a tricky area that many children will find difficult at first, this is normal and we want to ensure your child feels positive about this new writing experience, not overwhelmed or unsuccessful. You can help your child by first developing their fine motor skills (which are needed to support your child's hand strength, co-ordination and flexibility) as this will lead to more confident, well-adjusted writers. Here you will see pictures of children working on their fine motor skills. 

Continuing with our 'All About Me' theme, this week we have been learning about growing up. We have been looking at what happens when we grow and get older. Children have been using vocabulary like: baby, toddler, child, adult, elderly. We have been talking about our own families and identifying the babies, the adults and the nanis! Alongside this, we have been busy making creations, building masterpieces and having fun!

We have made it to the end of our first term, and what a first term it has been. The children have done a fantastic job; they are settled, they are established in new routines, and they have done so much learning! To celebrate, we made our very own bread, just like the character from our story, 'The Little Red Hen'. We had rich conversations describing the hedgehog's body parts, mixing in a little bit of maths too: 2 eyes, 1 nose, 5 spikes on his back. The children practised their cutting skills when making the spikes, building on their budding fine motor skills. Children showed patience, used turn taking, and celebrated one another's achievements. 

30.10.23

Welcome back, everyone. We hope you all enjoyed a restful break. It's been wonderful to see all of the children back in class and working hard. 

This term, each week, I will be showcasing an element of the seven different Early Learning Goals on our class site. This is the 'curriculum' that we follow in Reception. The seven areas are: Personal, Social & Emotional Development; Communication & Language; Literacy; Maths; Understanding the World; Physical Development and Expressive Arts & Design.

This week, we will take a look at Personal, Social & Emotional Development (PSE for short). This area is made up of the following strands: 'Self Regulation', 'Building Relationships' and 'Managing Self'. 

As part of 'Managing Self' we support children to manage their own basic personal and hygiene needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding the importance of healthy food choices. 

It is important that you are encouraging your child to do this at home too. Putting on their own coat, independently accessing the toilet and peeling their own orange are just a few examples of how you can support your child at home.

To the left, you will see a child attempting to put on an apron. The child recognises that in order to access a messy play activity, he needs to have the right clothing on; he understands that putting on the apron is tricky but he perseveres, he asks for help but I encourage him to keep trying, I do not put it on for him. When he does get it on, he feels success, he feels independent and he feels accomplished.

27.11.23

This week we are going to talk about Numeracy in Early Years. Early Maths is all around us- we just need to know how to spot it. 

In Reception, we have been working on 3 main areas: 

1. Subitising: This means to develop fast recognition of objects without having to count each object individually. We aim for children to be able to subitisise around 5/6 objects, without the need to count. At home, where you see a small group of objects (toys on the floor, peas left on the plate etc), ask your child, "How many are there? Can we see the number quickly or do we need to count the number slowly?" We aim that your child can see that as it is a small group, they can 'see' the total without needing to count. 

2. Cardinality: This means to know that the last number reached when counting, tells you how many there are in total. At home, ask them to count a small number of objects or sounds, when they have finished counting, ask, "What number did you stop at? What does that mean?"

3. Ordinality: This is when children understand where numbers come in the number system and their realationship to each other. For example, knowing that 4 comes before 5 and after 3. At home, asking your children to count anything and everything, in order, (how many people are in the house, number of items in the trolley, how many squares of chocolate they have just eaten etc.) will support them in this principle. 

A final word- at school, we are currently only focused on numbers up to 5. While this may not seem particularly difficult, indeed many children can count from 1-5 to with no issues, it is worth remembering that we want children to understand what the numbers mean, what they represent and how they link to other numbers in the number system. If we spend time now ensuring these fundamental principles are understood, then learning the rest of the numbers will come easier to your child in the future. 

4.12.23

We will be taking a look at Expressive Arts & Design this week. This goal is made of 2 areas: 'Creating with Materials' and 'Being Imaginative and Expressive'. Today we will focus on 'Creating with Materials'. 

Creating with Materials

At home, do you have resources for your children to use  like paint, crayons, paper, glue, sellotape, scissors? It is worthwhile collecting some resources for your children so that they have opportunities at home to be creative. Anything can be considered a paintbrush or a pen- an egg carton cut up, a potato split in half, a leaf from the park- the opportunities are endless. Be creative with your resources, you'll be surprised at what your child can do with each resource!

When children create a piece, it is important that we allow them time to share their creations with us, and to give them space to explain how they made it and the processes they used. We want to encourage children to be creative and open, we try not to draw for them, instead saying things like, "You want me to draw a princess? Well, I wonder how would you draw one, can you show me what you think it would look like? Is there only one way to draw a princess- I think there are many different ways a princess might look...".  

Being creative allows children the opportunity to try things out, get things wrong, we are not aiming for perfect replicas of something they have seen, only what they interpret, what they see, what they value. Talk to them about what they have made- it is a wonderful insight into what is going on in their mind and we are lucky to be given the opportunity to share this with them!