"Do everything in love” 1 Corinthians 16:14

 

Learning to love, loving to learn

Welcome to Reception

 

Our staff

Mrs Whittall will be your class teacher and Mrs Campbell will be supporting our learning.

The following information tells you a little more about the coming term in Reception and your child's learning. However, if you have any queries or questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

Natalie.whittall@st-marys.halton.sch.uk

General information

• Please tie up long hair.
• Please have a bottle of water at school every day. This can be refilled as necessary.
• Please bring a book bag including your child’s reading book and reading record every day
• A full PE kit, including trainers (not pumps) should be in school at all times. 
• All school uniform and PE kit needs to be named.

 

Autumn Half Term 1 2024

Welcome Reception!

Mrs Whittall and Mrs Campbell are excited to welcome you to St Mary’s. We have some exciting topics and experiences in store and are looking forward to exploring them together. We aim to make your first year at St Mary's a memorable one and hope you do too. 

 

Our Christian Values

During the Autumn term, our Christian value is Love.

“We love each other because he loved us first.” 1 John 4:19

 

Our Aims

We offer a curriculum rich in wonder and memorable experiences. We provide a stimulating environment that provides exciting opportunities, promotes challenge, exploration, adventure and a real love of learning.
It is our intent that all children develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally in an environment which values all cultures, communities and people. We aim for our children to be confident and independent, to believe in themselves and interact positively with others.
Play is an integral part of learning. A mix of adult directed and uninterrupted child-initiated play ensures the best outcomes for pupils.
Warm and positive relationships between staff and children, consistent routines and strong relationships with parents are key.

 

 

Reading

We will use Little Wandle scheme of work for our Phonics lessons and to develop reading and spelling strategies. Our we daily routine will include phonics and reading sessions.

Your child will bring home a ‘Phonics Reader’ and a ‘Love of Reading’ book. Regular reading at home is essential and we ask that you read the ‘Phonics Reader’ book with your child, at least 3 times per week. We suggest that you question your child regularly about the book they are reading to develop a deeper understanding of a range of texts, to develop new vocabulary and to strengthen writing skills.

Our class books for this half-term include’ The Gingerbread Man’ and ‘Perfectly Norman’

                         

 

Writing

In our first half term we will be working on our fine motor skills in order to prepare our hands for writing. We will be developing our pencil control and learning how to form the letters that we have been learning in our phonics lessons.

 

 

 

 

Maths

As mathematicians, the children will learn through concrete experiences moving onto pictorial and abstract methods as their confidence builds. They will also be expected to use their learning to reason about maths and solve problems. 

During the autumn term the children will build on previous experiences of number from their home and nursery environments, and further develop their subitising and counting skills. They will explore the composition of numbers within 5. They will begin to compare sets of objects and use the language of comparison.

 

 

 

Understanding of the World

People Culture and Communities

Helping your child to become familiar with the people and routines in and around our school. We will be talking about the children’s family and the things that are familiar to them.

Natural world

We will be exploring materials, looking at similarities and differences and natural and man-made. Thinking about how seasons and climates change. In particular, we will look at autumn and explore its characteristics.

Past and Present

We will introduce visual timetables and will be exploring and ordering our daily routines.

 

RE

For RE we will use the Questful RE planning. This half term we will explore Harvest and the impact that it has on people. We will also be visiting the local church on the 2nd October to celebrate Harvest.

Courageous Advocacy

As we continue to live our lives and act out the teachings of Jesus, we will look to be courageous advocates and challenge big questions.

PE

Our PE will concentrate on our balancing skills and invasion games.

Art and DT

As artists, we will be influenced by the work of Vincent Van Gogh to produce our own self-portraits.

 

PSHE

In PSHE, we will follow the Heartsmart scheme. We will be introduced to Boris, the Heartsmart mascot and learning about the importance of keeping our emotional and mental heart healthy. 

Music

As musicians, we will be using Charanga to explore different music genres and new terminology. To do this we will use the song ‘Me’

 

Possible trips & visitors

We are currently exploring possibilities for trips across the year. 

We will be going to the local church to celebrate Harvest on the 2nd October.