Our Learning

Reception

Welcome to Reception at Samuel Lucas

This is where the children’s learning journey starts with us and their unique combination of strengths, needs and experiences will provide the starting point for their education here.

The Foundation Stage area consists of 2 classrooms and an outdoor learning environment. There are 30 children in both reception classes.

Other student teachers and helpers may join us during the year and will support the children by working with individuals or small groups.

In the Reception year, your child will develop a range of important skills upon which their future education will be built. All children are unique and develop within different time frames and at different rates so there will always be a wide range of abilities within each class. Please see an overview of the curriculum here Early years Curriculum and EYFS Curriculum Goals 2021-2022.

Reception Class – Summer Term 2023

Communication and Language

We will be encouraging the children to recount their experiences, using the appropriate tense. For example, At the weekend I went to the park. We will support them to add more detail as they share their thoughts and ideas, such as This one is my favourite because …, I like it when it’s sunny but ….

PSED and Jigsaw

Our theme for this term are ‘Relationships’. The children will talk about:
Relationships
– How to make friends
– How to solve friendship problems when they occur
– How to help others feel part of a group
– Showing respect and how to treat others
– Knowing how to help themselves and others when they feel upset and hurt
– Knowing and showing what makes a good relationship

The children will have the opportunity to work in pairs, and in small teams. We will be encouraging to give their points of view and listen to the points of view of others.

Physical Development

We will be continuing to perfect the formation of our letters in order to ensure that we are starting and finishing at the correct points. During enrichment we will be applying the sewing skills we have been learning to sew around the edge of our puppets. We will also be practising using the mouse pad on the laptops and using tools to improve our models in woodwork. During PE lessons the children will continue to develop their fundamental skills learnt from the autumn and spring terms.  They will be learning how to take part in team games and introduced to the idea of fair play, the importance of rules in games, scoring and counting points and developing an understanding that sometimes we may win and sometimes we may lose.

Literacy

In daily monster phonics sessions children will revisit and review phase 3 sounds and learn phase 4 sounds. They will continue to build a bank of common exception words. Children will consolidate their written skills by saying words and phrases aloud, listening carefully for the sounds they can hear, writing them down and reading back what they have written. We will be learning the story of Jack and the beanstalk and will encourage the children to use story vocabulary, as they invent their own version of the story.

Maths

The children will learn that the quantity of a group can be changed by adding more and will use the vocabulary first, then, now to support this.  They will then learn that the quantity of a group can be changed by taking items away and will use the vocabulary of first, then, now to support this.  They will also visit practise and consolidate areas of previous learning around sharing and grouping, number bonds to 5 and 10, doubling, odd and even amounts and comparing amounts using the vocabulary more/less/equal.

Understanding of the world

We will begin this half term by reading the book Dear Earth, by Isabel Otter. We will think about the different habitats on planet Earth and consider ways in which we can ensure that it remains healthy for many years to come. We will then learn about Saint George’s Day and May Day and the traditions related to them before celebrating the King’s coronation.  For the remainder of the half term, we will be learning about, volcanos, fossils, dinosaurs and Mary Anning.

Our local visit this half term will use a map as we walk to the market square and will compare how it is now to photographs from the past. We will go in St Mary’s church, and relate it to our work on Sacred spaces, before finally visiting the greengrocers and market to but blueberries and strawberries for our coronation Eton mess.

Expressive Arts and Design

We will be designing carriages for the King’s coronation and then following our designs as we make the carriages from junk modelling materials. Finally, we will review our work and see whether there is anything we can do to make it even better. We will continue to practise our drawing skills each week in our weekly “We are drawers” sessions. Children will continue to act out stories during helicopter story sessions. We will continue to add to our repertoire of songs and the children will have the opportunity to play percussion instruments.

Reception Class – Spring Term 2023

This half term our topic focus is “Once upon a time.”

Personal Social and Emotional Development

At the beginning of the school year we will be talking about new year’s resolutions and setting ourselves goals for things that we would like to achieve this term. Our jigsaw learning, this half term, will also be focused around “Dreams and Goals” In our “my jobs” time will be having a focus on working in partnership with our peers, listening to their ideas and giving ideas of our own. The children will continue to have the opportunity to try different activities and will be encouraged to practise to get even better at activities they have already tried.

Physical Development

The half term we will be focusing on the correct formation of our lower case letters. We will be recapping the letter families and how each of our letters are formed. We will support the children to continue to develop their fundamental movements, such as walking, hopping, skipping, climbing, as well as their ball skills, in both PE lessons and when accessing our outdoor learning environment.

Communication and Language

We will be supporting children to share their thoughts, feeling and ideas in whole sentences, modelling back to the children as necessary. For example, if a child comes to tell us “I need my coat on” we will model back “Can you help me put my coat on please? We will introduce children to story related vocabulary and use signs to support the children to remember it and use in their own retelling of stories. In our “my jobs” time we will when working as a pair or small group we will encourage children to articulate their ideas and listen to the ideas of their friends.

Literacy

Each week we will have a focus on a different traditional tale. We will ensure the children know the story really well, before they create a version of their own. We will be continuing with our monster phonics programme moving onto phase 3 digraphs. Children will be supported to apply their new phonic knowledge in their reading and writing. When writing we will be practising saying a word, listening carefully to the sounds in the word, writing them down and reading back what we have written to ensure it makes sense. Our local visit this half term will be to Next page books. Each week a group of 10 children will get to vote on a book to purchase and bring for our class libraries.

Maths

In maths the children will compare amounts using the vocabulary “more” “less” and “the same”. We will learn about the composition of numbers within 5, using a five frame and part, part whole model to help. We will go on to explore the numbers 6,7,8 and sorting objects into pairs. We will combine amounts, seeing how many they have altogether. We will explore capacity considering when items are “heavier” and lighter” and when containers are “full” half full” empty” “nearly full” or “nearly empty.”

Understanding of the world

We will be having a focus on materials considering which materials are best for a job. For example, the three little pigs found bricks were the best material for their houses. We will consider how houses vary around the world and how they are different now from in the past. When thinking about Goldilocks and the three bears we will make porridge and observe how the texture changes throughout the process. We will explore what it tastes like too!  We will carry out and experiment to see if we can stop ice from melting. When thinking about the Billy goats Gruff we will explore bridges around the world. We will also learn about Chinese/Lunar new year and link back to the other celebrations that we have already found out about since September.

Expressive Art and Design

We will be working in pairs/small groups to construct a variety of models such as a junk model house, the great wall of China, or a chair for the three bears. We will be having a focus on our drawing skills, encouraging children to look carefully at the object they are drawing first, before representing it on paper. We will be engaging in imaginative play as we retell and invent stories using props to help us. We will be finishing the half term with “Cinderella’s ball” where we will dance to ball room music.

Enrichment

We will be building on our skills from last half term in each of our enrichment areas. This half term we will be weaving, hammering and sawing wood, using a paint programme on the computers and making (and eating) a sandwich.

Reception Class – Autumn Term 2022

Welcome to Lilac and Willow Class! We are very much looking forward to getting to know your children and working in partnership with you to ensure they get off to a great start at Samuel Lucas School.

Characteristics of Effective Learning: We will be thinking about the different skills needed to help us learn effectively. These will be threaded throughout all our learning. We will be introducing the children to our Mr Men and Little Miss characters – Mr. Bump, Mr. Happy, Mr. Busy, Little Miss Curious, Mr. Brave, Mr. Adventure, Little Ms. Brainy, Mr. Nosey, Mr. Clever, who will help us to understand good learning behaviours.

Personal Social and Emotional Development: We will be learning how to access the indoor and outdoor environments at school. We will be getting used to the school routines and expectations. We will be developing our “golden rules” and thinking about how we show the 5R’s throughout the school day; Relationships, Resilient, Risk taking, Resourcefulness and Reflective. Throughout Child Initiated Learning we will be learning to work cooperatively with our peers. We will be supporting the children to become independent in taking items of clothing on and off, using knives and forks effectively and developing good hygiene practices when washing hands etc. In line with the whole school we will be learning to self-regulate our feelings and emotions from developing an understanding of the Zones of Regulation, as well as working on the “Being in my world” piece of the Jigsaw PSHE curriculum.

Physical Development: We will be taking part in lots of fine motor activities that will, in time, will help us to form recognisable letters. We will be enjoying “dough disco” sessions to give our fingers a workout. We will be practising holding our pencil, using an established grip and practising lots of pre-writing skills. We will be having PE sessions in the hall, with Mr. Smith, where we will get the opportunity to develop our gross motor skills.

Communication and Language: We will be practising how to listen carefully during short whole class sessions and small group times. Throughout Child Initiated Learning time we will provide the children with opportunities to develop their imaginary play and extend their story-related vocabulary. We will listen to the children’s explanations, thoughts, and ideas all throughout the school day and ask questions to challenge their thinking further.

Literacy: We will be listening to a wide range of stories and listening out for words that rhyme. We will be focusing on “pre reading behaviours” encouraging children to identify the title of books, track from left to right and notice that a sentence ends with a full stop. We will be making marks for meaning whilst playing in the role play area, such as making a shopping list or taking a telephone message. We will be recapping Phase 1 phonics, which will ensure that we have all the skills firmly in place to move onto Phase 2 once we are ready. We will begin to get to know the characters in our scheme “Monster phonics”.

Maths: We will be enjoying singing lots of number rhymes and making the most of all opportunities to count and compare amounts. For example, when seeing how many children are at school and how many are at home. We will be sorting objects into groups, according to different criteria such as shape and size. We will be making patterns and looking out for when we see them in the natural environment.

Understanding of the world: We will be enjoying sharing the children’s summer treasure hunt activities with them, beginning to learn more about their families and experiences. We will be making observations of what’s going on in the natural world during the season of Autumn and taking part in our own reception harvest festival.

Expressive Art and Design: We will begin to draw, paint and collage as a medium to express our thoughts and ideas. We will begin to learn the process of designing, making, and reviewing as we take part in junk modelling activities. We will use the helicopter story approach to act out existing stories as well as those that we have created ourselves.

Reception Learning Blog