Specific Areas of Learning

Phonics

The children have been working so hard in their phonics and reading practice sessions. They have done an amazing job this term at practising reading some longer words. The children have been able to demonstrate their fluency skills in our reading practice sessions and we have been blown away! Please refer to your child's home learning sheets we send home each week to find out what sounds and words your child has been practising at school. 

Please see the attached documents for more information on all the phonemes and graphemes that we have learnt. For more information on how to pronounce these phonemes see the following for a video demonstration of how to pronounce the phomemes in:

Autumn 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZtjFIvA_fs

Autumn 2: https://youtu.be/qDu3JAjf-U0 

Spring 1: https://youtu.be/DvOuc7cWXxc (Vowel Digraphs and Trigraphs)

Click here to watch a presentation about we teach phonics.

pronunciation guide autumn 1.pdf

Please visit the Little Wandle Website for more information: https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

English 

 There has been some fantastic writing going on in classes and we have begun learning how to write simple captions. This term we are continuing to  learning how to write a simple sentence using our visual success criteria (below) to help us remember what we need when writing. 

Say the sentence

Phoneme fingers

Phonic knowledge

Finger Spaces

Capital letters

Full stops

Making our letters smaller

Maths

 

The children have loved learning about different number facts and recalling numberbonds to 10. They have also enjoyed learning about number stories involving addition and subtraction where we explain problems in "first, then, now". 

This term we will be focusing on number patterns such as even and odds to 20 as well as doubling and halving.  

Home Learning

Book Bags

Home work in Reception is about sharing opportunities to read with your child as well as explore concepts such as counting through everyday activities e.g. noticing numbers in the environment or counting out cutlery or plates for dinner.

Supporting your child with reading

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.

There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:

A reading practice book. The main reading practice book will be on an the e-readers and linked to our Little Wandle phonics teaching and reading practice sessions in school. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently. We will also try to send home a physical book at the correct level, but you may find the odd word that your child struggles with - please quickly help your child with these words and then move on. (NB we are hoping to buy more of the Little Wandle books in the future.)

A sharing book.  This book will be chosen from our library of Reading for Pleasure books. Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.

Reading practice book (e-reader)

This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.

Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

Sharing book

In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together.

Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!

 Here are top tips for reading at home...

• Read with your child. Try to spend about 5-10 minutes daily with your child reading to you. They also benefit from being read to, for example a bedtime story.
• Make a note in the reading record. This could be a comment or just a tick. Most children will probably be able to finish a book at this level, but a few pages is fine. We'll see how the child is progressing and change their reading book when finished.

 

Curriculum Overview for terms 1-

Term 1 – 7 weeks The first the term will mainly be focused on Baseline Assessments, where teachers will spend time with your children getting to know their prior knowledge and understanding. Maths – Baseline Assessments. English – Baseline Assessments. Phonics – Initial Sounds Topic – Being Together. PSHE – Being Me in My World. PE – Managing Self. Understanding the World – Talking about lives of people around us. Expressive Arts and Design – Draw with a variety of tools.	Term 2 – 7 weeks Maths – Exploring: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Shapes English – CVC words. Phonics – Initial Sounds Topic – Once Upon a Time. PSHE – Celebrating Difference. PE – Movement and Space.  Understanding the World – Understanding the past and now. Expressive Arts and Design - Draw on a variety of different surfaces.	Term 3 – 6 weeks Maths – Consolidating 1-5 and its composition. English – Caption Writing. Phonics – Digraphs and Trigraphs Topic – Scrappy Challenge. PSHE – Dreams and Goals. PE – Dance Understanding the World – Seasonal changes. Expressive Arts and Design – To choose colours for a purpose.
Term 4 – 6 weeks Maths – Numbers 6-10.  English – Writing a simple sentence Phonics – CVC words with digraph and trigraphs Topic – Journeys PSHE – Healthy Me PE – TBC  Understanding the World – Our personal journeys Expressive Arts and Design – Maps and transport	Term 5 – 6 weeks Maths –  Number bonds to 10,  English – Writing a simple sentence.  Phonics – Longer words, consonant clusters Topic – Seaside PSHE – Relationships PE – TBC Understanding the World – Seasides in the past  Expressive Arts and Design – Crafts of seaside animals and creatures	Term 6 – 7 weeks Maths – Doubling and halving English – Writing a simple sentence.  Phonics – Longer words, with different suffixes and prefixes Topic – Famous Buildings PSHE – Changing Me PE – Relay Racing Understanding the World – Famous building around the world  Expressive Arts and Design – Making and designing our own buildings

If you have any questions about anything, please come and chat to any of the Early Years team.