Ashurst Primary School

Reception class  

'Excellence Everyday'

'Learn, Live, Laugh and Love Ashurst'

Learn to be inspiring and make a difference to this world, we know how amazing you are,

Live with understanding and compassion for others, knowing we are all different and special in a community where equality stands tall,

Laugh and listen to the enjoyment of learning and excitement of everyone celebrating their achievements,

Love Ashurst, our special school and the hub of supportive staff, parents and children who aim high to be the best they can be.

Reception - Important Information

About the class

Class Teacher - Mrs M. Bannister (Mon- Thurs)  &  Mrs A. Bibby (Friday)

Learning Assistants - Mrs K. Renshall  and Mrs L. Goldsack(pm)

Reception class is a happy, safe and stimulating environment where children are cared for, nurtured and encouraged to learn, have fun and reach their full potential. We work in partnership with parents to enable our children to learn in a fun and exciting way through their play. Throughout reception the children will make lots of new friends. With support from our nurturing team children work hard on their aspirations to live their best life.  We have a passion for reading and explore wonderful themes linked with inspirational texts.   We are excited for you to be a part of the Ashurst Family and can't wait to make so many memories with all of our friends.  

General Information

Rules and Routines

As children start in Reception they are taught the expected behaviour in line with our Positive Behaviour Policy. They are taught our core Ashurst values which support them in building the firm foundations to succeed and thrive in their learning. Conversation and discussion are encouraged in Reception through play and independent learning in the EYFS provision. 

Routine

• Doors open 8:45am
• Registration for Reception takes place at 8:55 am and the school day ends at 3:15pm 

PE Lessons

Our PE lessons will take place on a Monday during the afternoon session. Please send you child into school on a Monday, wearing their school PE Uniform

The uniform is:

• Black jogging bottoms with the logo or black sports leggings 
• White PE tops 
• Black hoody tops 

Summer PE kit
Children will wear the usual red shorts and the white PE top 

 What do we learn?

There are 7 areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage, outlined within the EYFS  Framework. We deliver the curriculum through planned, purposeful play that is based upon the individual interests and learning needs of each individual child. Every child in our class is at a different stage and we respect each child an an individual.  We treat each child as an individual according to their needs. We understand that every child learns differently and we will always adapt our teaching to help everyone learn. We encourage learning with friends and sharing our learning ideas to help each other learn even more on our way to be independent learners. We take pride in all we do and are proud of each other too. 

 Communication and Language

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, we give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, storytelling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

 Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children are supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children achieve at school and in later life.

 Physical Development

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, we support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practise of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

Literacy

It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

Mathematics

Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and ten-frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. The curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Understanding the World

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society, such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will supports reading comprehension.

Expressive Arts and Design

The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. Children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.

Reception Baseline Assessment

The Reception Baseline assessment is a compulsory assessment that children complete during their first 6 weeks in Reception.  Further information regarding the assessment can be found in the information leaflet below.

Reception Long Term Plan 2024-2025

Reception Topic Webs

Learning 2024-2025

Autumn Term

Making Friends

In reception we have been settling into our new classroom, making new friends, learning through play and developing routines. 

Bread Making

Our mighty writer story this half term has been ‘The Little Red Hen’. Children have been using visuals, actions and words to: recall the story, use new language, understand story structure, learn about characters/ settings and will be using it to adapt and create their own story.

Yesterday we found a note in our outside area. It was covered in flour and had a message inside from the Little Red Hen. She had left ingredients and baking tools in our classroom and asked if we could help her bake some bread.

The children  took it in turns to add and mix the ingredients. Then they each got their own roll and had to activate and combine the ingredients by squashing, squeezing, kneading and rolling the mixture.

In the afternoon once baked the children enjoyed their own bread roll with ‘oodles’ of butter.

Online Learning Opportunities for your children.

NUMBERBLOCKS

Click here to sing along and learn all about numbers with the Numberblocks.

TOPMARKS 

Click here to play Topmarks educational games and activities

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS - READ WRITE INC.

Read Write Inc - Information for parents.  Below you'll find a series of information and tutorial videos explaining the basics of Read Write Inc. Phonics.

http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/

TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ: FREE PHONICS AND READING GAME

Help children learn to read with this useful free reading and phonics game.

http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com

PHONICS PLAY - PHONICS GAMES, PLANNING AND ASSESSMENTS

A site packed with interactive phonics games and many resources to help children develop their phonics skills.

https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/