Willow Class (Reception) - Mrs Hamilton and Mrs Busler

Autumn 2 2020

Welcome to the second half of the Autumn term.  It has been lovely getting to know your children over the last half term.  They have all settled so well and adapted to our routines brilliantly.  They are a lovely group of children and, already, we have seen a huge change in them.  They are becoming much more independent and resilient and they are really starting to take charge of their learning.  Almost all of the children can now put their coats and wellies on by themselves and many of them are now able to zip coats up.  Thank you for practicing this with them at home.  We will be starting to get changed for PE this half term.  We have already had a go at taking sweatshirts off and putting them back on and many of the children can do this independently.  Please continue to practice this with them at home and give them lots of opportunities to dress and undress themselves independently (showing them how rather than doing it for them).    

Now that the children have all settled and learned our rules and routines we will be starting to do some more focused activities with them.  Our timetable has changed slightly (you will find a copy below).  Each day starts with name writing practice and fine motor activities, followed by some finger gym.  We are currently using 'Crocodile Snap' as our finger gym activity.  This is an activity to encourage the correct tripod grip when holding pencils/pens.  Your children may have come home singing the song to you.  If you would like to have a listen you can find the song on YouTube: https://youtu.be/N6kPcQSSsEY.

We then move on to phonics.  The children are really enjoying using Bug Phonics.  Thank you to all of you for logging in and reading books with your children.  I know a few of you have had some technical difficulties but almost all of the children are now reading books with you all every day which is fantastic.  If any of you are still having difficulties with Bug Phonics please come and speak to us.  

After phonics the children are put into two groups - penguins and polar bears.  One group works on 'sound of the day' where they practice the sound that we have learned that day and have a go at writing.  The other group works on a creative or understanding of the world activity.  There are opportunities for child initiated learning whilst not working with an adult.  On Fridays the two groups are split again for ICT and fine motor/name writing activities.  After playtime the children then swap so they have done both a sound of the day and a creative/understanding of the world activity.  

After lunch we do our number of the week work (apart from Wednesdays where we have a physical development focus for the whole afternoon).  After an introduction from the teacher we allow the children to move around different areas for more child initiated learning.  The adults each work on a different activity to practice the maths skills being taught that week. 

Finally it is time for a story and home time.  

Please find below a general overview of some of the things that we will be learning in school over the next half term.

Autumn 2 2020 – Reception Overview

In Reception our planning is very much led by the children and is, therefore, subject to change at short notice.  There are also lots of opportunities for child initiated learning which covers all aspects of our curriculum. 

Autumn 2020

Welcome to the first term at Tylers Green First School.  Starting school is an exciting time for children and their parents but it can also be a worrying time, particularly in the current climate.  We spend much of this term getting to know each other before thinking about our ‘next steps’.  We have a slightly longer induction period this year to ease the children into school more gradually after missing part of last year at nursery.  This enables us to get to know the children on a more individual basis and allows us to get to know you, their parents, which is really important to us as we will be working closely with you over the coming year.    

Children typically make lots of progress during the Reception year – we will learn to read and write as well as count, add and subtract and learn lots about the world around us.  We plan our curriculum based on the childrens interests so it changes every year.  Already we know that we have lots of dinosaur and car enthusiasts but Paw Patrol continues to be popular.  I’m sure we will hear about lots more interests over the coming weeks.  The Reception year is a busy year but, hopefully, a really fun one for your child (and you). 

We do encourage the children to be as independent as possible and we will be practicing doing things for ourselves. Parents can support this by encouraging their child to practice how to put on wellies and shoes, zip up coats and turn sleeves the right way through and to use the toilet and wash their hands independently. We will also be practicing how to write our names using correct letter formation. 

This is our first term at 'Big School' and it is important that children feel happy and secure. Please do come and speak to your child's class teacher if you have any questions or queries.

Weekly newsletters

We will upload a new newsletter each Friday with a recap of the week and highlights of the week ahead.