Welcome to Reception 

Welcome to the Reception Class page!

Our names are Mr Gray and Miss Collins and we are the reception class teachers. This year we are very lucky to have Mrs Murray and Mrs Darling who will also be supporting with teaching in reception too! We are all very excited to work with the children in Reception and share their experiences in these early days of their time in school.

The planning and learning in Reception is based around the Early Years curriculum which helps children to develop their social, emotional and communication skills alongside their understanding of maths, English, creativity and the world around them. 

During the day, the children will take part in a range of activities which are carefully planned around their individual development, needs and next steps in learning. This is extremely important in giving your child the skills they need to become an independent learner. We will carry out daily English and numeracy activities as well as completing PE once a week on a Monday and developing children's understanding of the world around them through a range of activities throughout the year. 

The time in class is divided between 2 rooms. In the Creative Room children can explore paint, water, play dough and sand as well as experiment with junk modelling and develop their cutting and sticking skills. Our main classroom provides opportunities for role play, construction, reading, writing and maths as well as resources to develop their fine motor skills. We are very lucky to also have an enclosed outdoor area which we will be accessing for some time every day.

The Reception staff will greet the children in the bottom yard each morning and dismiss them each afternoon. Due to social distancing, things are a little different at the start and end of the school day. We have a soft start to the day and your child will be collected between 8:35 and 8:50. School finishes at 3:05.

My Special World

Your child will be provided with their 'My Special World' book. They will take these home every week - we will send them home with children on a Friday and they should be returned to school on a Wednesday.  We would love it if you and your child could work together to add to the book to share things that you've done at home. This can be in the form of writing, comments or pictures.

Homework

Your child will also be given a maths or phonics homework task as we head further into the year but reading is fundamental and is crucial in early years development. 

Reading

Children will be given a reading book to bring home - these books are linked to the letters and sounds they will be learning at school through our Read Write Inc program. We ask that parents/carers listen to their children read 3 times each week. In addition to their reading book, children will also be given a packet of High Frequency Words to learn - learning these words will help to develop children's reading fluency. Also when we start accessing the school library and Gateshead library we will let children bring those books home as additional reading (usually for bed time or to take place with an adult for enjoyment).

Library

Each week your child will visit the school library to choose a book to share with you at home. This book must be returned the following week for your child to select a new one. Later on in the year we will also access Gateshead Central library. 

PE

Your child will take part in PE lessons every Friday morning. We would like children to come to school wearing their PE kit - children should wear leggings/tracksuit bottoms, a school t-shirt (that we have provided) and jumper/hoody. 

Stay and Play

Throughout the year we will be opening up school in a morning for stay and plays where parents, carers, family members can come into school with their child and enjoy the EYFS environment with them, playing and exploring. We will keep you up to date with these as we work throughout the year. 

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