Reception
Find out what your child will be learning this term in Reception.
Reception
Find out what your child will be learning this term in Reception.
Curriculum overview
Welcome back everyone. We hope you had a restful half term break and are ready for the exciting weeks ahead.
RE
The Aim of Religious Education at St Peter-in-Chains is to produce religiously literate children who have the knowledge, understanding and skills to think spiritually, ethically, theologically and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.
Our objectives as religious educators are:
- To develop children’s knowledge and understanding of God, Jesus his son and the Holy Spirit
- To develop an appreciation and awareness of this faith and how to live it
- To foster children’s spiritual and moral development
- To celebrate together as a community, through prayer, worship and liturgy
- To support the teaching of British values by fostering appropriate attitudes: respect for truth, respect for others, and to prepare the children for living in a multicultural, multi-faith society.
To begin this half term, we will continue our ‘Welcoming’ topic, where the children will learn about the religious signs and symbols used in baptism. We will baptise our baby dolly and will act out this celebration, in order to provide the children with a deeper understanding of this rite. Children will learn to recognise the importance of feeling welcomed, of feeling comfortable with new situations and belonging to new groups. They will understand that Baptism is being welcomed in to God’s family.
We will then start our topic on ‘Birthdays’. In this topic the children will talk about how they feel as they wait for a birthday and their experience of celebrating a birthday. They will learn about and understand what a birthday is. They will learn about Advent being a special time of looking forward to and getting ready for Jesus’s birthday at Christmas time. We will learn about the Advent Wreath and The Nativity story as we approach Christmas.
Our last topic of the year will be ‘Celebrating’. Children will explore what a celebration is and will then learn about how the parish family celebrates. We will talk about different celebrations and learn about each of them.
English
Comprehension, Word Reading and Writing
Comprehension
Children will learn to:
- demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary;
- anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories;
- use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during role-play and in discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems.
Word Reading
Children will learn to:
- say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs;
- read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending;
- read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.
Writing
Children will learn to:
- write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed;
- spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters;
- write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.
In English, we will be doing shared reading and fun activities around our big books ‘The Jigaree’, ‘The Monster’s Party’ and ‘Smarty Pants’. Children will be given a word pack with some focus words from our big books to learn. They will be encouraged to make sentences from the story, as well as sentences of their own. We will also continue individual and guided reading sessions with the children. Please read with your child at home every day.
We have just started sound work on Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Phase 2. In Phase 2, a set of letters is taught each week and in Chestnut class, we like to focus on a sound a day. During our phonics sessions, children will learn how to say the sounds, recognise and read the sounds within words, and write the sounds. We will also practise oral segmenting and blending with the sounds we learn each week.
Communication and Language
Speaking, Listening, Attention and Understanding
Speaking
Children will learn to:
- participate in small-group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary;
- offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate;
- express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.
Listening, Attention and Understanding
Children will learn to:
- listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole-class discussions and small-group interactions;
- make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding;
- hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers.
We encourage the children to develop their speaking skills through a wide range of activities across the curriculum, including storytelling, singing and role play. We support them in modelling language and using new vocabulary as they play. They will be encouraged to speak in full sentences and to share their thoughts and ideas with their classmates. Our talk topics for this half term are: ‘All saints’, ‘Remembrance day’, ‘Solving problems’, ‘Anti-bullying, Advent’ and ‘The meaning of Christmas’.
Mathematics
Number and Numerical Patterns
Number
Children will learn to:
- have a deep understanding of numbers to 10, including the composition of each number;
- subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5;
- automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including doubling facts.
Numerical Patterns
Children will learn to:
- verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system;
- compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity;
- explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.
Every day we will be doing practical problem solving, reasoning and numeracy activities. This will include encouraging the children to: recognise, say and use numbers to 10 and beyond in the correct order, copy and make their own repeating patterns, make sets of different objects and discuss the methods that they have used. We will also explore and talk about 2D shapes and their properties. Please take any opportunity to practise practical number recognition and counting with your child at home.
Understanding of the World
Past and Present, People, Culture and Communities, The Natural World
Past and Present
Children will learn to:
- talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society;
- know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
- understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
People, Culture and Communities
Children will learn to:
- describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps;
- know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
- explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps.
The Natural World
Children will learn to:
- explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants;
- know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
- understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.
We will continue our work on Autumn and have encouraged the children to bring in Autumn leaves, conkers and acorns. Children will have the opportunity to create Autumn themed artwork such at leaf printing and crayon rubbings at the creative table. As Winter sets in, we will discuss the change in seasons and the weather during Winter.
We love celebrating diversity and learning about different cultures, festivals and traditions. We have lots of exciting events happening this half term such as Bonfire Night, Children in Need, Remembrance Sunday and Hanukah. Children are warmly welcomed to share their personal experiences and familial traditions.
The children have lots of opportunities to use computing to support their literacy and numeracy skills, as well as creative work. Children will learn through the use of fun educational websites such as topmarks, BusyThings, phonicsplay and cbbc.
Expressive Arts and Design
Creating with Materials and Being Imaginative and Expressive
Creating with Materials
Children will learn to:
- safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function;
- share their creations, explaining the process they have used;
- make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.
Being Imaginative and Expressive
Children will learn to:
- invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher;
- sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs;
- perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music.
Our topic for this half term is ‘Colour’, and we will be doing lots of fun and creative activities around colour and colour mixing. We will use different techniques to explore colour such as bubble painting and painting colour wheels. We will also explore colour though the use of prisms, kaleidoscopes and colour mixing paddles, and will experiment with colour through water play and experiments with skittles!
The children have music every Wednesday with Mrs Hoskins, where they learn how to use their voices creatively and expressively by singing a variety of topic related songs and have the opportunity to play percussion instruments musically.
Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills and Fine Motor Skills
Gross Motor Skills
Children will learn to:
- negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others;
- demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;
- move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.
Fine Motor Skills
Children will learn to:
- hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases;
- use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;
- begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.
Our PE days are Mondays and Thursdays. Please provide your child with PE shoes in a PE bag to be left their peg. Please remember to clearly label all your child’s uniform (especially jumpers and cardigans) and PE shoes with their name. Please also support your child in learning to put their jumpers, cardigans and coats on, especially now as winter nears.
We will continue to support children to develop their gross motor skills outdoors, through activities such as riding bikes and scooters, skipping and ball games. We will also continue to provide learning opportunities for developing fine motor skills, such as threading, using scissors, playdough activities and much more.
The children will be given lots of opportunities to write and draw, and we shall be encouraging them to form all the letters correctly. If you would like to help your child with letter formation please refer to the pre-school booklet you were given. Those children who are not quite ready for writing will practise fine motor control and mark making in a variety of media.
Personal, Social and Emotional
Self-Regulation, Managing Self and Building Relationships
Self-Regulation
Children will learn to:
- show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others, and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly;
- set and work towards simple goals, being able to wait for what they want and control their immediate impulses when appropriate;
- give focused attention to what the teacher says, responding appropriately even when engaged in activity, and show an ability to follow instructions involving several ideas or actions.
Managing Self
Children will learn to:
- be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge;
- explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly;
- manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding the importance of healthy food choices.
Building Relationships
Children will learn to:
- work and play cooperatively and take turns with others;
- form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers;
- show sensitivity to their own needs and those of others.
We are very pleased with how well the children settled in to school. They have familiarised with the rules and routines of the classroom and have made lots of new friendships. We will continue to support the children in developing good relationships with their peers as well as staff. We will encourage the children to talk about how they feel and we will teach them strategies that they can use to deal with various feelings.
Other Information
Children are provided with fresh fruit as a mid-morning snack and have access to water throughout the day. Please refill your child’s water bottle daily and make sure they remember to bring it to school.
We use the online learning journal Tapestry to record your child’s learning journey and development in Reception. Remember that you access this from home at any time to look at photographs, videos and notes following your child’s time at school.
Please ensure that all uniform is clearly labelled with your child’s name.
If you have any questions or queries, please feel free talk to us after school or arrange an appointment at your convenience.