Welcome to Reception!

In Reception we have two classes - Bramley and Pippin Class:

PIPPIN CLASS

Class Teachers: Mrs V Ingram (EYFS Leader - Mon to Wed) and Miss C Locke (Thurs- Fri)

Teaching Assistant: Mrs E Lindley (all day)

BRAMLEY CLASS

Class Teacher: Mrs S Appleby (EYFS Leader - Wed - Thur) and Mrs G Maher (Mon- Tues)

Teaching Assistant: Mrs V Tomlin (all day)

 Mrs McLeish will also work in Pippin Class every other Wednesday.

Miss Locke will work across both classes on a Wednesday.

If you would like some information on how to help your child at home please see the links below.

Future events

Forest School Styled Learning every Wednesday 

EYFS Reading meeting

Wednesday 5th February 3:15 to 4pm in Bramley Classroom

Thank you to those parents that were able to make our Reading Meeting on Wednesday 5th February. For those of you who were unable please find a copy of the presentation below and some useful websites to support the teaching of reading at home.

Phonics Pop is a fun game where children have to pop the phoneme bubbles. We have covered all the sounds in this game so feel free to click on any set of letters.  https://www.ictgames.com/phonicsPop/index.html 

Phonics Play has a free section Parents can access to practise reading real and alien words. It encourages children to sound out and blend words. We have covered Phase 2 sounds and are working through Phase 3. Please see weekly WOW letter to know what sounds we have been learning each week.  https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ParentsMenu.htm

Phonics Bloom again has a variety of online games that help practise Phase 2 and 3 sounds and support blending of sounds to read words.  https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/list/phonics-games-phase-2

Oxford owl has a selection of ebooks your child can read online. Many come with some comprehension activities to support your child's understanding of the text. There is also section for Parents that shows how to pronounce sounds and provides some reading tips.  https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/

Ruth Miskin has her own website with information but you can find many resources on YouTube to support the teaching of the sounds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6OiU2h3sUI

CBeebies has games on their Alphablocks section that support reading and spelling.

Child Initiated Learning

Learning through play underpins our approach to teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage. We embrace the fact that young children learn best from activities and experiences that interest and inspire them to learn. In doing so we can provide children with stimulating, active play experiences in which they can explore and develop their learning and to help them make sense of the world. Children have opportunities through their play to think creatively and critically alongside other children as well as on their own. They are able to practise skills, build upon and revisit prior learning and experiences at their own level and pace. Play gives our children the opportunity to pursue their own interests, inspire those around them and consolidate their understanding and skills. The children learn to adapt, negotiate, communicate, discuss, investigate and ask questions. Our adults take an active role in child initiated play through observing, modelling, facilitating, teaching and extending play, skills and language.

Outside Learning

We promote the use of both the inside and outside as potential learning environments and encourage free flow between these areas daily. Children are taught (particularly outside) to explore and take risks and how to manage these safely. At Barming Primary School we are extremely fortunate to have our own Forest School styled learning site. This is a unique method of Outdoor Education that allows children to develop confidence, independence, self-esteem and awareness and knowledge of the natural environment. It is a child centred and child led programme that provides the opportunity for the children to use their personal learning style to complete their chosen tasks. We also have a Mud Kitchen that the children have regular access to.

Phonics

At Barming Primary School we implement a structured phonics session. It aims to build children's speaking and listening skills in their own right. When listening and responding to the children we aim to respond with open ended questions rather than a yes or no answer to encourage talk. As well as this, the programme prepares children for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills in a detailed and systematic manner. This is taught on a daily basis across both classes using an engaging and interactive approach.

Phonics is taught following the Letters and Sounds order of progression:-

Phase 2

Set 1: s, a, t, p

Set 2: i, n, m, d

Set 3: g, o, c, k

Set 4: ck, e, u, r

Set 5: h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss

Phase 3

Set 6: j, v, w, x

Set 7: y, z, zz, qu

consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng

vowel digraphs: ai (rain), ee (feet), igh (night), oa (goat)

vowel digraphs: oo (as in zoo), oo (as in look), ar (star), or (fork)

vowel digraphs/trigraphs: air (as in hair), ow (as in cow), oi (as in spoil), er (as in letter)

vowel digraphs/trigraphs: ur (as in fur), ear (as in hear), ure (as in sure) 

The children are also taught the following technical vocabulary:

digraph - 2 letters making one sound

trigraph - 3 letters making one sound

High frequency words

is, it, in, at, and

Tricky words

These words can not be sounded out blended so the children are taught that they are tricky words.

I, no, go, the, to, he, she, we, me, be, was, my, you, they, her, all, are

We enjoy practising the formation of the letters in a variety of ways such as gloop, glitter, sand, shaving foam and paint. 

The following clip shows how we pronounce the letter sounds at Barming Primary School

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/#lg=1&slide=2

The next clip shows how we teach handwriting at Barming Primary School.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NQ6uS8blwY

Maths

Maths is taught on a daily basis. As well as discreet teaching the children are provided with opportunities to experience and learn number through play. We recognise that Maths can take place in any environment and we promote the use of learning maths skills outside at every opportunity. At a very early stage the children are encouraged to work independently and to take responsibility for their learning during the session.

Term 1

The start of the new year has arrived and we would like to say a huge welcome to our new Reception children! They have all begun to settle into school life and have enjoyed exploring the classrooms and making new friends. This term our topic is called Marvellous Me! We will explore our families, who lives in our house, get to know each other and look at a variety of people who help us in the world. We will also begin to look at our numbers up to 10 and letter sounds. This term we will also focus on mark making in a variety of media such as gloop, sand, sequins, paint etc to develop our fine motor skills.

Forest school will start soon so please remember your child's wet weather 2-piece and welly boots!

Term 2

This term our topic is 'Festivals and Celebrations'. We are celebrating the diversity of the children in our classes this term by looking at some of the festivals they participate in as a family. We will be looking at Diwali and Eid, finishing with Christmas. This term will also see the children take part in a Nativity.

Through varied, practical Maths activities the children will continue to practise counting objects, recognising numbers, names and properties of 2D shapes, money and formation of number.

In our Phonics sessions the children will continue to learn new sounds, word build and read high frequency and tricky words.

The children will also have the opportunity to take part in Forest School Style activities in both the Mud Kitchen and bottom field area on a weekly basis.

Term 3

This week sees the start of our 'Frozen' topic.

During this term we will be looking at the Arctic, the landscape, the animals and people who live there and the transport they use.

In Maths we will be practising our counting skills to 20 of regular and irregular groups of objects. We will use non-standard units to measure the weight and length of various objects, using the related vocabulary such as heavy, light, tall, short etc.

Our Daily Phonics lessons will continue to introduce new sounds and practise word building using our word time boards.  We will also begin to focus on writing simple sentences with a capital letter and full stop. Each child will continue to be heard at least once throughout the week, please be aware your child’s reading group may change this term. It would be fantastic if you could hear your child read their reading book a little bit, every day.

Forest School styled learning will continue to take place every Wednesday starting 8th January, in either the Mud Kitchen or on the bottom field.

Term 4

We are very excited this term to be starting our 'Out of this world' topic. Throughout the term we will be finding out about the moon, star constellations and the planets. We will also be looking at astronauts, in particular Tim Peake. The children will be introduced to music from Gustav Holst and look at paintings by Vincent Van Gogh that focus on the night sky.

If you have the chance this term you may want to take your child outside, as it gets dark, to look at the night sky and talk about what you can see.

This term we will also have Book Week which is themed around Elmer the Elephant. Please remember to hear your child read every day.

Forest School continues on a Wednesday this term, please make sure your child has the right clothing to keep warm and dry. We go out whatever the weather!