Welcome to Reception

The Reception year is a very exciting time for both parents and children. At Woodham Ley Primary School, children are offered the very best start to their education by being provided with rich opportunities and experiences.  Our curriculum is based on the framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and we deliver this through a play-based approach.  The curriculum is organised in a way which meets each child's individual needs, interests and fascinations, resulting in us planning 'in the moment' rather than through a 'one size fits all' topic.

Throughout the year, the children will have fun, make friends, learn and develop at a pace matched to each child's stage of development. We work hard to foster positive relationships with parents and value just how important these partnerships are.  Right from the start, we endeavour to ensure that caring, nurturing and warm relationships are developed between all members of staff and the children in our care.  We promote calm, positive interactions with all children in order to enable them to quickly grow in confidence and independence.

We encourage children to take risks, be curious and explore.  We want them to become resilient individuals who are able to problem solve and persevere with tasks even when they find them a challenge.  By doing this, we can rest assured that each child will be equipped with the skills to be a life-long, independent and effective learner.

Planning in the Moment

 For further information on our rationale behind 'planning in the moment', please read the document below:

For more information on the Early Years Foundation Stage:

Click here for a parents' guide to the EYFS

Click here for the Phonics Play website

Click here for further information on Phonics teaching at Woodham Ley

Baseline Assessment

During the first six weeks of the children starting in Reception, we will be completing the Statutory Baseline Assessment. Please be reassured that the children will consider these assessments to be just a small practical task that we are asking them to complete which will feel like they're playing. Below is a link to the government website for more information regarding the assessment process.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1004560/2021_Information_for_parents_reception_baseline_assessment.pdf

If you have any questions about this, please speak to a member of the EYFS team.

Drawing Club

 Drawing Club brings children's attention to detail. It's not about being 'good' at drawing. Instead it's about the development of fine motor skills to add the detail, the extension of vocabulary whilst doing it and the joy in the success of messaging, all the time experiencing life at the cusp of confidence.

Each session begins with sharing wonderful words that are linked to the story. These words are explained so the children understand their meaning and actions are put to the words. These words are repeated throughout the sessions and the children are encouraged to participate using the actions. The story is then shared with the children (this is: a story book, fairy tale or animated story). As the story is read, the wonderful words are incorporated to make the links in context to the story itself. The adult then models the drawing linked to the book and uses two secret codes that unlock something magical to happen to the idea created. The first code is related to phonics, letters and sentences and the second code is linked to number recognition and maths skills. The children are then invited to Drawing Club so that they can complete their own version of the modelled example.

At Woodham Ley, we have two sessions of Drawing Club a week. The first session focuses on the character or is linked to the setting of the story and the second session is based on an adventure the character may go on.

Snack

The children will have the opportunity to receive free fruit and vegetables through the Government's Free Fruit and Vegetables Scheme (SFVS) which aims to help children achieve their 5 A Day, and there may be occasions when we can provide and encourage children to try fruits they may not have come across before.  We will also have a variety of other snacks made available each morning for the children to try, such as croissants, crackers, cucumber etc. In addition to this, children under 5 are entitled to free milk under the Nursery Milk Scheme.  We also provide fresh drinking water so the children can re-fill their water bottles during the day, if required.

Please make sure that you speak to a member of the EYFS team to make sure we are aware of any allergies your child may have.

One of the opportunities the children have, when they are a focus child, is to participate in a cooking activity. We try to vary the experiences they have each time and encourage them to try both sweet and savoury items. This opportunity is a very important life skill and also provides an avenue for lots of additional learning linked to: Maths, Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Usually the children would share what they had made at our weekly Reading Cafe, but as we are not able to go ahead with that at the moment, the children will be given what they make to take home instead.

In order for us to continue this provision, we are asking for contributions towards these cooking experiences. £10 a term, per child, would cover the cost of the ingredients and food bags for sending the items home. These contributions can be made on parent pay. Please speak to the office if you need help with this.

Thank you!

Focus Children

'Focus child' meetings will start from the week of the 23rd September. I will be in contact with you when it is your child's week. If there are any worries or concerns, please feel free to come and speak to me before your child's focus week. Please take pictures of things you have done with your child over the weekend after you receive your letter, and send them in to us (via the Evidence Me app) to share with the rest of the class. I look forward to hearing all your news!

Focus children are provided with home bags on the Friday before they are a focus child. The bag is linked to communication and language with activities to do at home. At the end of the week that they are a focus child, they are sent home with a story pack for them to learn and re-tell. Both of these activities are there to support the child's development in speech and language and to encourage a love of books and stories. Please ensure that these packs are returned by the following Monday each week so that they can be prepared and are ready to be shared with another child.

Reading books

Once all the children are settled and into a routine, every child will receive a few books to bring home -these are reading for pleasure books (we are not expecting your child to be able to read them).  Please share these and talk about them with your child at home on a regular basis. After October half term, once we have assessed the work on Phase 2, the children will also have a reading book to bring home (from the publisher Big Cat Collins). They will be given a phase book as well as their reading for pleasure book (these will be changed every Friday morning). As the children progress at their own rate, the level of book the children are given to learn at home may change, so please monitor this at home.

Please read with them regularly at home and discuss the book's characters and themes. Ask them questions about what has been read, give summaries of the book and see if they can make predictions about what could happen next as you read. Extra guidance on how to support your child at home can be found on the 'Reading' section of the website, under curriculum, and tips are provided inside the covers of the Big Cat Collins books.

Recycling wanted!

We would like you to dig deep into your recycling bags for yogurt pots, tubs, fruit containers, egg boxes, kitchen tubes, bottles etc as we use them in the creative area. All containers, pots and bottles will need to be washed out before being brought into school. Thank you in advance!

This week...

The children have begun sharing their special videos from parents explaining why they are important (any remaining videos will be shared next week). These videos have really helped to fill the children's buckets and have been a lovely discussion point for how we are all unique and we all have special qualities. The children will continue to work on this topic by explaining why their friends are special to them.

On Thursday, we celebrated VE day by having a 2 minute silence and a picnic lunch on the playground, including a special VE day cupcake made from our wonderful catering team. It was lovely to see all the children in red, white and blue as well. 

In phonics, we have started to think about consonant clusters and how sometimes we are not always able to hear the separate sounds when we say them together. They have also learnt the tricky words: were, here, little, says.

In maths, we have continued our work on numbers 11 up to 20. We have sung songs and solved problems using large pieces of numicon. The children are now very aware that numbers above 10 but below 20 are made from a ten and another number and that there is a pattern they can follow. We have started to match the numeral to the numicon piece that reflects the number.

Week before half term... 

The children have continued with their second PE session this week where they are helping Mook the alien to get back home. They are thoroughly enjoying the sessions and adapted well to a different way of learning. The class have also started joining the rest of the school for break time sessions as this will help them with their transition for Year 1.

In phonics, we have continued to work on phase 4 and have introduced the tricky words: some, come, love, do, 

In maths, we have started to focus on the numbers from 11-13. We have recognised these numerals as numicon, tens frames and have counted forwards and backwards using these numbers. We have discussed how the numbers are created using tens and ones and identified the patterns once we have sequenced them in numerical order.

Woodwork bench

The children have the opportunity to use the woodwork bench during free flow each day. Every child has been assessed to check they understand the safety requirements for using this facility during. Please see our link to some photos of the children using this resource below.

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/2vdymG2oFoA6ih79?ref=Link&loc=play

Book Week Gallery

                                  Our Eden Oasis visit

Please see the link to our photos from our trip

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/hTCwILI68FCpaqrv?ref=Link

Colchester Zoo trip

Pumpkin Gallery

                       We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Click on the link below to see photos of our adventure

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/JAL3T9I1oUcLXi5O?ref=Link

                                  Our first full week in Reception

Take a look at everything we have done in our first week in Reception. We have been very busy!

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/Texfi2RRKvrAggXE?ref=Link

The Invisible String

 Hello, Reception!

I have prepared a video for you to listen to. It is about a wonderful story called 'The Invisible String'. Please watch it and discuss any questions you may have with someone who can help you at home. There is a task to do at the end which may help you to feel more at ease on your first day with us.

Enjoy the rest of your time at home, and we will see you very soon.

Have fun!

Mrs Hambleton

Stories to be shared

These stories are all about trying new things. They are lovely stories that could be shared with your child in order to prepare them for their first day.

'The Koala that could'

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ytTglyWmgFQ6oHNGRgBX4WZZzBGfGXSb/view?usp=sharing

'Be brave little Penguin'

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yNogwV5KjyMlWs9TqlrSbZTK9gSyrYD1/view?usp=sharing