Reception 2022 - 2023
Miss Graystone
EYFS
Pre-School & Reception
Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) at Offley Primary Academy.
MEET THE TEAM
Pre-School
Mrs Till (Owls Class Teacher Mon, Tues, Wed am)
Mrs Rea (EYFS Lead & Owls Class Teacher Wed pm, Thurs, Fri)
Mrs Sinclair (Frogs Practitioner)
Mrs Roberts (Hedgehogs Practitioner)
Reception
Miss Graystone (Class Teacher) - Red Team
Mrs Scrase (Teaching Assistant) - Yellow Team
Mrs Maddox (Class Cover)
Mrs Jones (Class Cover)
Miss May (Class Teacher) - Green Team
Mrs Naylor (Teaching Assistant) - Blue Team
Mrs Clarkson (Class Cover)
Mrs Crutchley (Teaching Assistant)
Mrs Taylor (Teaching Assistant)
Miss Bellini (Teaching Assistant)
The Curriculum
The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is based on seven areas of learning consisting of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Communication and Language, Literacy, Mathematics, Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the World.
All children learn across the seven areas of learning and they learn through their play with a combination of child initiated and teacher led learning opportunities both indoors and in our fantastic outdoor areas. Children are observed during play in order to assess their stage of development and in order to plan for their next steps and their future learning.
CURRICULUM INTENT
Here at Offley Primary Academy we aim to deliver the content of the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework, giving children a secure foundation. We intend to provide the best quality learning environment for our children to be active participants in society, responsible contributors to it and capable of achieving independence. We aim to develop the knowledge and skills that our children will need to live in tomorrow’s world. ‘Joy in learning – a fun, challenging journey to be the best we can be!”.
CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION
Learning takes place through a balance of child initiated play and adult led learning. This includes the direct teaching of reading, writing and maths and daily opportunities for children to practice and consolidate their growing knowledge through high quality provision that promotes child- initiated learning.
CURRICULUM IMPACT
Here at Offley Primary Academy we aim for our pupils to become unique individuals who form positive relationships with both adults and peers. We strive for our children to become independent, curious learners who explore, take risks and ask meaningful questions. We aim to ensure that our children are confident learners who are ready for the next stage in their learning journey.
Learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Development Matters - non-statutory curriculum guidance for EYFS (publishing.service.gov.uk)
https://foundationyears.org.uk/
DURING OUR SUMMER TERM WE WILL BE LEARNING ABOUT...
New Beginnings:
Our topic this term is ‘New Beginnings.’ This will include life cycles, role in our community, dreams for our future and our transision into Year 1! We are excited to see where this topic will lead us as we follow the children’s interests. The children have already shared so many FANTASTIC ideas during our topic discussions and we cannot wait to carry them out very soon.
Polite Reminder:
Please ensure all uniform and belongings are named and if labels have faded, please do replace. Jumpers, cardigans, gloves, hats and even the children’s book bags can become easily lost or confused with their peers if these are not clearly labelled. Many thanks for your continued support.
Can you help?
We are beginning to run low on underwear - size 4-5 and 5-6 years. We are also beginning to run low on socks too. If you have any items that you are able to donate, we would be very grateful. Many thanks in advance.
WEEKLY UPDATE: W/B 22/05/23
We have had another wonderful week in Reception Class with lots of fun, learning and laughter. Here are our highlights from this week:
Word of the Week/Makaton Sign
This week, we started to learn our ‘Days of the Week’ in Makaton. The children picked them up very quickly and even used them to sing our daily days of the week song! If you would like to practice and teach your family members at home you could watch this video:
Makaton Topic - DAYS OF THE WEEK - Singing Hands - YouTube
You can find all previous signs of the week towards the bottom of this page 😊
Phonics:
This week, we have revisited some adjacent consonants within cvcc, ccvc and two syllable words. The children now know that there are 5 vowels in the alphabet 'a, e, i, o, u' and that the rest are consonants. This week we have revisited the following:
Ld, lf, ft, mp, lt, nt, dr, cl, bl, lk, lp, xt
Example Words:
ld: held, cold, folding
lf: shelf, bookshelf, himself, herself
ft: shift, uplift, softer
mp: stamp, stump, shrimp
lt: quilt, spoilt, wilt
nt: faint, point, painting
dr: drip, drop, drummer
cl: clip, clap, club, clam
bl: black, blur
lk: silk, milk
lp: help, helping
xt: next
We have also revisited all of our Phase 2, Phase 3 and Phase 4 Common Exception Words which can be found in the downloadable section. You could practise reading, spelling and writing these at home too.
We have also still referred to our previous phonemes and have continued to practise saying them 'short and snappy.'
Phonemes are the smallest unit of sounds in the English language. They come together to form words, and breaking words down into phonemes helps children understand how they are sounded out. There are 44 different phonemes, and they are represented using letters or groups of letters called graphemes (simply the written symbols).
Maths
In maths this week, we have practiced verbally counting beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system. We have also revisited our comparison language, recognising when a number is greater than, less than or an equal number. We have also revisited our evens and odds, double facts and repeating patterns. Well done everyone!
During our choosing time we have continued to investigate capacity with water and different measuring jugs and beakers. We have also played some track games, racing our peers to get to the number 10. Here the children used their number bonds to identify how many more points they needed to reach the number 10. You are all MARVELLOUS at maths!
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After half term we will revise our practical addition and subtraction strategies as well as our counting on and counting back from a given number.
English
In English this week we have completed our story of ‘Silly Doggy!” The children discussed their favourite parts of the story and recorded these in their English books. We also thought of some alternative endings. We were blown away with the children’s imagination! We cannot wait to see what our new text will be after the half term.
P.E
This week, we had a fantastic P.E session in the beautiful sunshine. We practiced our bat and ball skills, target throwing skills and played ring games such as duck, duck, goose. We finished our session with the parachute. Here the children enjoyed games such as cat and mouse and fruit salad. Well done everyone!
Mystery Reader
We will now be offering Mystery Reader on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays! This will still be once a week.
If you are interested in being a mystery reader, please speak to a member of the Reception Team.
A HUGE thank you to our recent visitors.
The children thought your stories were FANTASTIC!
Well done for another fabulous week Reception Class! Have a wonderful half term break and enjoy making memories with your wonderful families and friends. Stay safe and we will see you once again very soon!
Reception Team :-)
Previous Makaton Signs:
Here are some of the previous Makaton Signs that Reception Class have learnt. We are very proud of the children and how quickly they have picked up our signs of the week. You are all AMAZING!
Makaton for 'Chick' 🐣 - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3TxcNKOhcA
Makaton Topic - PETS - Singing Hands
Learn Counting and Numbers for Children | Mr Tumble and Friends - YouTube
Makaton Sign of the Week - 'Rabbit' 🐰
Makaton Topic - TRANSPORT - Singing Hands - YouTube
Makaton - THE WHEELS ON THE BUS - Singing Hands - YouTube
Environment - Makaton sign language - DanceMatters - YouTube
Makaton for 'same and different' - YouTube
Makaton for 'To Remember' - YouTube
Flutterbies Makaton Sign of the Week: Poppy - YouTube
Makaton Sign of the Week - 'Celebrate' 🎉 - YouTube
Makaton for 'Autumn' 🍁 - YouTube
Makaton - Autumn Colours - yellow / red / green / brown 💛♥️💚🧡
Makaton for 'please and thankyou' - YouTube
Singing Hands: #MakatonMonday 2016 #35 - GOOD MORNING / GOOD AFTERNOON - in Makaton - YouTube
Makaton for 'yes and no' - YouTube
Makaton Topic - FEELINGS / EMOTIONS - Singing Hands (ft Dave Benson-Phillips)
Makaton Topic - COLOURS - Singing Hands - YouTube
Makaton for 'World Book Day' 📚 - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0THktRb25Hk
MESSAGES
- We request that no jewellery should be worn due to the active nature of our learning. It is also a good idea to have long hair tied back at all times. Reception Class is always on the move! Only stud earrings are permitted although these must be removed before P.E lessons by a parent/guardian.
- Your child should come to school in their P.E kit every Friday.
- Please ensure all uniform and belongings are named. Jumpers, cardigans, gloves, hats and so forth easily get lost and are tricky to find if not labelled. We encourage independence from day one. Children are responsible for their own belongings.
- It may be the Autumn Term but the weather is always unpredictable! If we are lucky enough to have some more sunshine, please ensure that you apply sun cream before your child comes to school and bring a labelled sun hat!
- Please leave toys and teddies at home to avoid them becoming lost or stolen. Everything we will need is here at school.
- Our book change takes place every Friday. Please ensure that all books are returned on a Friday ready for the book change.
Reading
- The implementation of our new phonics scheme is now underway. Your child will have a daily phonics lesson and a 1:1 reading session once a week. Your child's reading session will be noted on GoRead for you to see. Please do check regularly, to access the teacher comments.
- We ask that the children only change their books once a week to give them the opportunity to reread the texts. This will allow the children to focus on decoding in the first read, develop fluency in the second read and in further reads really understand the text (comprehension). The sharing books can just be listened to, talked about and enjoyed.
- Our book change day in Reception Class is currently on a Friday. Please ensure your child’s reading book and sharing book is in their Reading Book Bag to allow this to be changed. Reading Book Bags should continue to be brought into school daily.
- Please log all reading sessions that you complete at home onto GoRead/BoomReader. Reading Eggs can also be logged as a reading session on GoRead/BoomReader. If you experience any difficulties, please talk to a member of the team who will be happy to help.
Celebration Board
As well as our school celebrations, we would love to display what you have been celebrating at home! If your child takes part in any sports or clubs, and would like to bring in any photographs or certificates that they have achieved, we would love to display them for everyone to see! (We can photocopy or take a photograph of their certificates so that your original copy can stay at home).
Show and Tell
- Our 'Show and Tell' session takes place every Thursday here in Reception Class. Please upload your optional homework, or any home adventures for us to celebrate and share. The children really do enjoy this session, and it is wonderful to witness their confidence grow the more they share. If you have any difficulties accessing Learning Book, please speak to a member of the team and they will be happy to help.
Here are some photographs of our wonderful Reception Classroom and Outdoor Area for the class of 2022-2023! We hope you enjoy looking through them. We wanted you to see where your child will be playing, learning, exploring, investigating, making memories and having great FUN!
Useful Websites
Preparation for starting school | PACEY
Children’s Speech and Language Therapy :: East Cheshire NHS Trust
Phonics: How to pronounce pure sounds | Oxford Owl - YouTube
PhonicsPlay - Phase 2 Resources
(There are many free games on this website in the phase one, two and three section. Enjoy)!
Alphablocks - CBeebies - BBC
Numberblocks - CBeebies - BBC
Counting songs - BBC Teach
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/50-things-to-do