Reception

Welcome to Reception

We have two classes in Reception who work closely together. Staff provide an

enabling and exciting environment to aid the children in their first steps in school,

and develop their skills, knowledge and confidence.

                          This page will give you information on how the children learn in Reception.                                           

RTM Class

                                        Teachers: Ms Tennies and Mrs Mander                                          

Teaching Assistants: Mrs Newell and Miss Mouser

RK Class

Teacher: Miss King

Teaching Assistants: Miss Ludlow and Mrs Kwiecinska 

Mrs Avery teaches in RK on a Wednesday morning and all day on a Friday.

She teaches in RTM on a Wednesday afternoon.

Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Years is the period of time in your child's life between birth and 5 years.  This is a time when children learn rapidly developing skills, language and knowledge in a wide range of areas. During this period your child will be following the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework which focuses on 7 areas of learning and development which consist of:

The Prime Areas:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development.

The Specific Areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities and experiences planned are suited to your child’s unique needs. It is designed to be flexible so that staff can follow the children's needs and interests.

Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

PE

Our PE day is a Friday. Please ensure PE kits are worn to school on those days. 

• White t-shirt/ school PE shirt or house shirt;
• Dark shorts;
• Dark joggers and sweatshirt;
• Trainers.

Festival Week

As part of festival week we have listened to the story, The Rainbow Fish. We then painted our own version of the Rainbow Fish. We also looked at the work of the artist, Sol Lewitt and worked collaboratively to make work like him. We then watched the Skittle experiment and tried this ourselves. We learned that hot water dissolves the coloured coating on the Skittlles and makes a rainbow pattern. 

On Friday 2nd July, visited The Church on Fairford Leys and met Rev. Anthony Howells. This was part of their learning about their local community and local leaders. For many of the children this was the first time they had been inside this building which they have walked past many times before. Anthony is usually a frequent visitor to our school and the children enjoyed meeting him. He read a Bible story to the children, pointed out the symbolic meaning behind many of the things used in church and answered their many questions. 

Police Visit

PC Sansom came to visit St Mary's to read the book, PC Ben and show the children his police car. You can listen to the story being read on the link below.

 PC Ben

Reading Eggs

In Reception, we would love your child to participate with the Reading Eggs and Fast Phonics on line learning programme. Please support your child to try the activities, games and watch the learning videos which will help to develop their phonic knowledge, blending skills and spelling. There are decodable books for them to read, stories for you to share with your child and printable worksheets for practical practise and reinforcement. We will be able to follow your child's progress through the programme and see their hard work. Encourage your child to engage with the Reading Eggs and Fast Phonics programme regularly for short periods of time. 

Tales ToolKit

In Reception, we use the program, Tales Toolkit. This is a fun and interactive way of helping children to develop their oral story telling skills. There are four key symbols that are used to help children develop their own narratives. Please see the website below and the parent information documents to find out more about this program. All parents in Reception can sign up to become members of the Tales Toolkit family. Make sure you have a look and begin your story telling journey. 

Reception Tours

We are currently unable to offer tours of Reception. Please see the photos below which will show you the two Reception Classrooms at St Mary's School.

The Reception Classess are housed in their own building on the main school site. The children in Reception have their own outdoor area which includes a bicycle track, mud kitchen, a woodwork bench, water areas, a construction area and an outdoor reading and writing station.  The children also have access to the main school where they can visit the library and have PE lessons in the Hall. The children are also able to access the school field for sports and the Forest School site. 

If you have any questions about the Reception Class at St Mary's School, please email the school office.