Reception M & W 2024 - 2025
Miss Millington
Reception Teacher
Miss Woodcock
Reception Newsletter January 2025
RW - Miss Woodcock, Miss Ward, Mrs Begum
RM – Miss Millington, Mrs Landell, Mrs Bibi
We also have Miss Dunlop and Miss Calvert who help us out covering staff planning and preparation and assessment time.
Welcome to Spring 2!
This half term our topic is Growing
Within Literacy lessons the children will explore the books ‘Lulu’s flowers’ by Anna Mcquinn and ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ which has been written by a variety of authors. Their writing for a purpose will be based around instructions and we hope to see them applying their phonics in order to segment to spell the words needed for each instructional phrase as well as remembering the spelling of some common tricky words.
Through the focus texts and exploration within our investigation lessons the children will build on their knowledge of different life cycles, with a focus on plants which was touched upon in Nursery and will develop their understanding of where food comes from. We will carry out different experiments surrounding growing and the children will be responsible for growing their own plants in our outside area.
Within maths children will secure their knowledge of the stable order principles to 5 and will subitise with arrangements up to 6. They will build on their understanding of the composition of numbers 6 and 7 as numbers that are composed as 5 and a bit. They will be encouraged to use the language more and less. Within shape, space and measure we will relook at the measure of height, linking this to the monitoring of their plants growth over the course of the term.
Phonics
A few quick reminders
When beginning in Reception a key priority is for us to support children to become independent, confident and resilient learners. We consciously spend the first few weeks building positive relationships and creating a fun and safe space that the children both enjoy and feel comfortable in. Our EYFS environment (both Nursery and Reception) is largely organised through the use of the Rainbow challenge; each area in the room is associated with a colour from the rainbow and the children are encouraged to independently explore and take ownership of their own learning by working towards reaching a full rainbow by the end of the week. This is something that our children from Nursery will be confident with!
The areas include:
Construction area - Blue
Creative area - Purple
Maths area - Yellow
Writing area - Red
Reading area - Green
Roleplay area - White
Fine- motor area - Orange
If they complete the Rainbow they are rewarded with a sticker at the end of the week.
Homework
Each child also has a homework book, this will outline their weekly homework and we ask that any written homework please be completed in the book so that we can review their efforts each week when it's returned. The weekly deadline for homework to be returned to school is on a Thursday Morning at drop off which will give us enough time to change their books and mark their homework ready for the new work to be sent home on a Friday! In addition to this your child will be sent home with a book for enjoyment that they have chosen for you to read to/with them and they will also be allocated an e-book (online) that they have been reading in school to support their application of phonics. Please go to www.collinshub.co.uk and use their login details found in the front of their reading records books.
Drop off and pick up- Gates open in the morning at 8:40am and children are to be collected at 3:10pm. Please enter by the Myrtle Street entrance and walk your child up onto the EYFS playground where you will see a class teacher stood ready to welcome them into the classroom. At the end of the day we ask that you que patiently outside the gate and once seen your child’s name will be called. If someone else unfamiliar to the staff needs to collect your child/childen please make us aware and pass on the password to them as we cannot realise the children to unfamiliar adults without this.
Attendance and Punctuality – if your child is not in school on time or off school altogether, they miss out on so much learning – please make sure your child is in school, on time, every day, the gates close at 8:55!
Outdoor play- please make sure your child has suitable clothing, a waterproof coat, wellingtons, sunhat, gloves, etc. We go outside everyday come rain or shine!
Please remember to put names in all clothes, shoes, bags, lunch boxes, etc.
Tapestry - The online learning journey
At Ashbury Meadow we use the online learning journey called Tapestry. This will be something that you can use at home and see what your child has been learning about in school and to access homework and learning. You will be able to upload homework and observations of your child for the class teacher so it is important that any ‘log on’ issues are sorted ASAP. If your child was in Nursery at Ashbury- your log on details will be the same. If you are new to the school- details will come in due course.
Useful websites
The school website:
https://www.ashburymeadow.co.uk/class/reception-m-b
E book access:
Online Learning Journal:
Oral health:
https://www.dentalhealthcareeoe.nhs.uk/services/oral-health-improvement/early-years
Thank you for all your support!
Reception Team
Files to Download
Reception M & W: Gallery items
Visiting Beswick Library, by Miss Millington
Investigating people who help us in Reception, by Miss Millington