The Reception team

Mrs D. Bridges
Class Teacher RB

Mrs J. Summer
Class Teacher RS

Mrs J. White
Class Teacher

Mrs N. McDade
TA

MRS A. EVANS
TA

If your child is unable to attend school for an extended period of time, please call the office on 0121 675 3573 and arrange a telephone meeting with Mrs Summer (RS), Mrs Bridges (RB) to discuss your child’s learning.

TOPICS AND LEARNING OVERVIEWS

OUR TOPIC IS: Will You Read Me a Story?

Welcome to the magical world of fairy tales! Let’s find out more about our favourite stories and discover some new ones. Our topic will begin with Cinderella where she will need our help with a very important task! We’ll look at different characters, their traits and their actions. We will move onto the Three Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood. We will be getting creative during this topic, making carriages for Cinderella, a boat for the goats to cross the river and drawing more detailed pictures of the wolf for a very important wanted poster! We will even get to visit a magical land where fairy tales will be brought to life.

There is a lot going on at Hillstone this half term, so we also have our Hillstone Literary Festival where the children will learn and perform a poem, read with the year 4 children and visit the book fair. We will also look at the celebrations: Mothers’ Day and Easter. The children will create some lovely cards to bring home for these celebrations.
Knowledge organiser

OUR TOPIC IS: Sunshine and Sunflowers

In the Sunshine & Sunflowers project, children will be learning all about growing. They will plant their own sunflower seeds and watch them grow. They will learn about the different parts of a plant and use the correct vocabulary to describe them. They will also explore the local environment and go on bug hunts and flower-finding missions. The children will learn to identify some minibeasts such as woodlice, ladybirds, dragonflies, butterflies and many more.
They will also be learning all about lifecycles and will order the life cycle of a butterfly.
We will observe the changes that happen within the environment as we head into summer.
Knowledge organiser

OUR TOPIC IS: Big Wide World

During this project, we will explore people, culture and communities through lots of different picture books.
We will learn about what life is like in our country for different groups of people that may be the same or
different to me. We will also travel around the world to other countries, such as Mexico, India, South Africa and China, to find out what life is like there and what similarities and differences there are between our countries. We will build on our previous knowledge about different religions and explore different cultures.
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OUR TOPIC IS: Marvellous Me

This half term, we will be learning all about how wonderful we are! We will be looking at ways in which we are similar and different to each other. The children will also have the chance to teach us all about their own families. There will be lots of opportunities for the children to be creative this half term: they will create their own self-portrait, pictures of their homes and use paint to add a splash of colour to their creations.
Knowledge organiser

OUR TOPIC IS: Festivals!

This half term, the children will be learning about different festivals celebrated at this time of year. We will begin the half term, learning all about Diwali and why this is an important celebration for Hindus. We will also learn about Christmas and how this time of year is celebrated by Christians. Throughout this topic, we will also be observing and talking about the changes in the environment as we move from autumn to winter.
Knowledge organiser

OUR TOPIC IS: Prehistoric time

This half term, we will be learning all about how wonderful we are! We will be looking at ways in which we are similar and different to each other. The children will also have the chance to teach us all about their own families. There will be lots of opportunities for the children to be creative this half term: they will create their own self-portrait, pictures of their homes and use paint to add a splash of colour to their creations.
Knowledge organiser

Current Term

OUR TOPIC IS: Will You Read Me a Story?

Welcome to the magical world of fairy tales! Let’s find out more about our favourite stories and discover some new ones. Our topic will begin with Cinderella where she will need our help with a very important task! We’ll look at different characters, their traits and their actions. We will move onto the Three Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood. We will be getting creative during this topic, making carriages for Cinderella, a boat for the goats to cross the river and drawing more detailed pictures of the wolf for a very important wanted poster! We will even get to visit a magical land where fairy tales will be brought to life.

There is a lot going on at Hillstone this half term, so we also have our Hillstone Literary Festival where the children will learn and perform a poem, read with the year 4 children and visit the book fair. We will also look at the celebrations: Mothers’ Day and Easter. The children will create some lovely cards to bring home for these celebrations.

ENGLISH

Week 1: Write an invitation to the ball.
Week 2: Choose a character from Three Billy Goats Gruff and write what you would say in their speech bubble.
Week 3: Write a message to your special person for Mothers’ Day.
Week 4: A description of the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood for the wanted poster!
Week 5: If you had a magic crayon, what would you draw?

Our writing all links to our topic and our focus is on building independence so that the children are able to write confidently with less adult support. They will be using their phonics knowledge to spell words, using their own ideas to create their sentences/phrases. We are starting to build in finger spaces and some children will begin to use capital letters and full stops to punctuate their sentences. We will continue to ensure that children are all forming their letters correctly.

READING

Our reading spine books are:
Cinderella
Three Billy Goats Gruff
Little Red Riding Hood
The Magic Crayon

The children will be retelling these stories, using the stories to talk about the characters and will answer questions based on what has been read to them.

Maths

The children will continue to look at composition of numbers up to 10 and will have an introduction to adding and subtracting numbers. They will also be introduced to doubles and we have a big focus on recognising numbers to 20.

PE

Physical activity not only improves health, reduces stress and improves concentration, but also promotes correct physical growth and development. Exercise has a positive influence on academic achievement, emotional stability and interaction with others.

Reception Classes

PE will continue to be on Wednesdays and Thursdays. This half term they will continue to build on their dance and gymnastics skills. They will be creating sequences, performing and evaluating them. Please ensure your child has their correct PE kit in school, including their PE t-shirt, shorts and pumps. Your child will need to be able to get themselves changed into their PE kit so please allow your child to practise this at home. It would be extremely useful if children could bring in a pair of gym pumps and a pair of trainers. During the cold weather, please provide warm clothing for lessons outside.

Learning diaries and
keeping in touch

You will be expected to record reading in your child’s diary. This is a fantastic resource for the children to use, but also key for parent and teacher communication. Please read with your child, at least 3 times per week and record this in their diary with further comments.

Additional Information

Supporting your child at home

Read, Write, Inc phonics videos will be sent home each week for your child to watch. They will also have a picture book to talk about at home. Alongside this, please practise the sounds in the ‘Speed Sounds’ book each day. Please encourage your child to speak about their day at home. Encourage the children to make friends and play together cooperatively. Children should be able to independently use the toilet and make healthy choices when eating. Please also show your child how to eat using a knife, fork and spoon. Read with your child regularly whether this is their school reading book or signs in the environment. Encourage the children to ‘write’ and mark make whenever possible whether this is drawing pictures or writing a shopping list using the sounds they know.

Please hear your child read their home reading or picture book every day at home. Practise reading letter sounds with your child using the ‘My Speed Sounds’ book.

Attendance and punctuality

Good attendance and punctuality is essential to help your child achieve the best they possibly can.
Every week the attendance cup is awarded to the class with the best attendance – hopefully our class can win the cup lots of times this coming term!
We will also be awarded points in the Punctuality League. Let’s see if we can beat last year’s score.

Uniform and jewellery

Please ensure children wear the correct school uniform, including black shoes and plain socks. Jewellery must not be worn. Please label all items so that they can be easily reacquainted with children if they are mislaid. This includes the inside of coats, shoes, hats, gloves and scarves.

Housepoints

Children can achieve house points for trying hard with their work!

Snack

We aim to teach the children about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. With this in mind, our fantastic chef provides a range of healthy snacks.

School Meals

We are committed to providing excellent food that is healthy, tasty, nutritionally balanced and is presented in an attractive way that the children will enjoy. A School Dinner is currently provided Free for Reception

Stamps

Children can achieve reward stamps for trying hard with their behaviour! Every time they collect 50 stamps, they are awarded with a certificate.

Dates for your diary

4th March – parents’ evening
5th March – World Book Day
20th March – Red Nose Day
23rd March – 26th March – decorated eggs
25th March – Easter Bonnet Parade
27th March – Wonderland trip

Visit our school calendar for up to date events.

Click to view