Reception

Summer 2 Curriculum Newsletter

Reception

Welcome back to Term 6 in Reception!

We hope you had a restful half term and are looking forward to the term ahead.  We are very much looking forward to this term and our new STEAM topic and I am sure the children will enjoy it too.

Warm weather

Now that the weather is warmer, please ensure that your child is sent to school wearing sun cream and with a hat (please ensure this has your child’s name inside). If you would like your child to reapply their sun cream at lunchtime, please send it in their bag clearly labelled with their name – children will then be prompted to reapply throughout the day and given support to do so if needed.

Although we expect good weather this term, we continue to make the most of our outdoor learning environment each day. Because of this, it is still essential that children have a named coat in school every day.  As always, please ensure that all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled so that they can be easily returned if misplaced.

As ever, it is important that children have access to fresh drinking water each day, please ensure the bottle is labelled with your child's name. We are passionate about promoting good oral hygiene and healthy teeth so please ensure water bottles are filled with water only; please save juice for a treat at lunch time.

PE 

This term we hope to enjoy PE outside as much as possible so please ensure that the children have appropriate PE kit.

For indoor PE: Children will need black shorts and a plain t-shirt in their house colour.

For outdoor PE: Children will need black shorts and a plain house coloured t-shirt, plus trainers (preferably Velcro) and a sweatshirt.

Our topics this term in PE are athletics and ball control and our PE day continues to be on a Thursday Morning. It is useful for the children to bring their PE kit in on the Monday and leave in school until Friday as it is handy to have a spare pair of clothes in case of any accidents.

Jewellery: A reminder that only stud earrings and wristwatches may be worn to school. Earrings must be removed by the child or covered for PE.

STEAM

This term our STEAM focus is preforming arts, and we will be answering the question ‘Can I explore festivals and celebrations from around the world?’  The children will be working towards preparing for and organising their graduation ceremony.

Curriculum

Literacy	Using our phonics skills to write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others. Joining in with repeating refrains in stories. Apply our own grapheme, phoneme knowledge to write our own invitations to our graduation and memories of our time in Reception.
Mathematics	Beginning to develop our understanding of time. Consolidating our understanding of 3D, 2D shape and length. We will be learning how to use rekenreks to show ways of making ten including recalling doubles facts. Verbally counting beyond twenty. Comparing quantities up to ten. Investigating even and odd numbers.
Expressive arts and design	Role playing a variety of scenarios to represent family lifestyles and experiences. Sharing photos of each other celebrating with their families. Painting self-portraits and making comparisons with portraits they painted at the beginning of the year. Making mortar boards using a variety of materials in preparation for a graduation ceremony.
Understanding the World	Learning that other families and communities celebrate differently. Children will be making observations of artefacts and matching them to celebrations. Children will prepare for an end of term graduation and their wider transition into year one.

Reading

We are continuing to enjoy ‘Talk Through Stories’ this term, which provides the opportunity for children to really explore key texts, understand the principle of the story, learn new vocabulary and explore new characters. Each week we will focus on one key text which the children will become very familiar with.  

Our literacy key texts for this will be: 

• Zog
• Cottonwool Colin.
• The Scarecrow’s Wedding.
• Tiddler

Other topical key texts this term will be:

• Julian and the Wedding
• The Koala Who Could
• Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School

Key Dates:

• Friday 30^th June: INSET Day (children not in school)
• Tuesday 18^th July: End of Term 13:00

If you have any concerns, please do come and speak to one of the reception team bearing in mind that we tend to have more time at the end of the day as our priority in the morning is to settle the children and begin our learning. Thank you for your continued support – we are looking forward to another exciting term ahead.

Mrs Wingrove

Reception Class Teacher

Talking with your child:

Research shows speaking, listening, and understanding are central to every aspect of our lives. A child’s later educational success stems from their ability to express their needs, learn how the world works and communicate with others. These websites show short simple videos, such as when to introduce new vocabulary or how to have engaging back and forth conversation with your child.   

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people
• Learning to talk | 3 to 5 years | Start for Life (www.nhs.uk)
• Talking with your child document (see link to document below)

Improving oral health

Start good oral health habits from the earliest age with your child to prevent tooth decay. Sadly, it is still a serious problem among young children, with tooth extraction being one of the most common procedures for children under 6 in hospital. Watch this video to learn more about ways to start and support your child’s oral health.

Phonics and early reading

Reading is a vital life skill, children who have stories and rhymes read to them regularly, will have the opportunity to open the doors to so many different worlds. More importantly, reading will give your child the tools to become independent lifelong learners. We can achieve this together through the Read Write Inc program to help your child learn to read fluently.

Encouraging children to develop a love of books by reading to them daily and by giving them access to a wide range of books at home, at school, local library and through online resources such as

• https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/
• https://www.ruthmiskin.com/parents/
• https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/bedtime-stories
• how to say the RWI sounds:

Maths

Support your child’s ability to understand, recall and fluency in mental addition and subtraction facts, so they go from counting to calculating.

• https://play.numbots.com/#/account/search-school

Additional guidance for parents.

A parent’s guide as to what to expect in the early years along with a locally developed app, 50 things to do before you’re 5, in Oxfordshire!

• What to expect in the EY document (see below)
• Health Visitor Support
• https://oxfordshire.50thingstodo.org/app/os#!/welcome