We are very proud of our Reception children, they have settled into their new school life so well. They have been working hard on learning to follow simple instructions and to keep up with all the golden rules, including washing our hands!
Due to safety measures and restrictions that are currently in place, we are starting our year a little bit differently than how we usually do things. However, please be reassured that we will do our very best to give the children the best experiences and to ensure they flourish in their potential at our school.
This blog is to give you an overview of the learning that will be happening this term. Usually we will have a workshop for parents, to share more information and discuss ‘life in Reception class’ in more detail. We are planning to do this workshop via zoom (more details to follow in the next few weeks).
During this Autumn term the children will be learning through our three topics:
- All about me
- People who help us
- Christmas
In Literacy, we will be reading some great stories such as Fireman Sam and The Jolly Postman. The children will learn to retell these stories using actions. We will begin to learn to write using phonic knowledge and the correct letter formation. So lots of practise at home with holding those pencils please! Get your children to colour in some pictures and practise writing their name.
In Communication and Language, we will spend lots of time focusing on speaking and listening, phonics and reading. Please read with your child regularly and practise their sound and word cards daily.
In RE we are learning about the Christian religion and the theme is ‘Caring for others’. We will also be focusing on Christmas and why it is a special time of year for Christians.
At St Michael’s we have 7 school values: Respect, Love, Hope, Peace, Trust, Joy and Resilience. We will start the year by learning about the value of ‘Respect’ as well as ‘Love’ and next half term our focus will be ‘Peace‘.
In Maths, we are learning all about numbers through our ‘CLIC’ programme, which stands for:
- Counting
- Learn Its
- Its Nothing New
- Calculation.
The aim with this programme is to develop the children’s mental maths skills in a fun and exciting way. Our maths objectives for the Autumn Term are:
- Rote count to 10
- Recognise numerals 1 – 10
- Write numerals 0-9
- Count 3 objects
Please reinforce this learning at home, as well as the following two ‘Learn Its’ which we would like the children to know off by heart:
- 1 + 1 = 2
- 2 + 2 = 4
During our Personal, Social and Emotional Development, we will learn how to co-operate with one another and how to look after other people’s property. We will focus heavily on how to share, care and take turns. Please play lots of games to support your child with this. For example, junior monopoly or snakes and ladders.
Our Physical development focus is Multi-skills. The children will engage in fun and challenging sporting activities, whilst keeping their social distance, that will develop lifelong skills and fitness in sport. Reception PE is usually on a Tuesday morning, so please remember to come to school ready to go in your school tracksuit.
In our Understanding of the World we will learn about our senses, and label the different parts of our body. In Expressive Arts and Design, the children will engage in a range of creative learning including drawing self-portraits, role play and learning new songs and playing instruments.
Home learning
At St Michael’s we use the CLASSDOJO online platform for setting homework. Children in Reception are expected to read at home every day, but at this point we do not give other home learning. However, we will use the classdojo platform to post our ‘sound of the week’, so please every available opportunity to reiterate the learning of that sound at home.
Your child will be sent home with their log in details for classdojo; the log in is in the form of a QR code. Past experience has taught us that it is easier to scan the QR code for tablets and smartphones, but if using a laptop, typing the log in details are a better option. If you would prefer this option, please contact us via our school email, schoolmail@stmichaels.lewisham.sch.uk so we can send this to you.
stay in touch
Despite the current restrictions about entering our school premises, please do not let that stop you from staying in contact with us. If you wish to speak to us, please contact the school office via schoolmail@stmichaels.lewisham.sch.uk and we will be happy to address any concerns you may have.
