Reception

Meet the Reception Team!

Hello and welcome to Reception!

In Reception, your child will be supported by their class teachers, Mrs Turner and Miss Willis, along with our wonderful teaching assistants, Mrs Padigar and Mrs Galbraith. Together, we will work closely with your child throughout this very important first year at school.

We are excited to welcome the children into our Reception family and look forward to helping them learn, grow, and develop throughout the year. In Reception, learning is carefully planned through play, exploration, and meaningful experiences, helping children to develop independence, curiosity, and a love of learning.

Our curriculum is based around the seven areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Communication and Language

• Physical Development

• Literacy

• Mathematics

• Understanding the World

• Expressive Arts and Design

Through a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities, children will build essential skills and knowledge across all of these areas, preparing them for the rest of their school journey.

As always, parents and carers are very welcome to ask questions and share any concerns with the Reception team. We believe that working in partnership with families gives children the very best start to their school life.

We are very much looking forward to a wonderful year together in Reception!

PE (Physical Education)

Children will do PE (An Introduction to PE) on Mondays this term (Autumn 1). For more information about PE kit requirements and expectations, please visit our uniform page.

Reception Transition

A child starting school can be a daunting experience for parents and children so our school ensure that the transition process is a positive and happy one. This is the first stage of your child’s learning journey so we help this process by:

• a full induction programme for children, parents and carers, which includes an induction evening meeting at the school and a stay and play session for children to attend with their parents/carers prior to a September start
• providing a wealth of information about getting ready for school and life at St. Gregory’s in our Reception welcome pack
• Staff communicating with and where possible visiting the pre-school setting your child is already attending
• a home visit after the Summer holiday, before your child has their first day in school
• a staggered entry in September

Phonics Shed

At St. Gregory’s we follow the Phonics Shed phonics scheme of learning.

About Phonics Shed: An Introduction to Phonics Shed – YouTube

Please view the video to meet the letter characters. Phonics Shed – Songs – Alphabet Rap – YouTube​

The children have a phonics lesson every day. They have a new sound lesson four days a week and a review lesson of the four sounds every Friday. 

Tapestry

At our school we use Tapestry which is an online learning journal for each child. You will have your own individual log in, in which you can view weekly pictures or videos of your child’s learning. You can comment on these observations and you can add your child’s home achievements, which we can celebrate at school!

Homework in Reception

Reading Book

The school expectation is to read with your child 5 times a week. The children will then need their book and diary in school every day so please ensure it goes back into their bags each night. Please sign the diary when you have heard your child read.​

High Frequency Words

Please practice these. There are lots of ideas in the pack of how you can help your child learn these words. 

Golden Bear

Each week in both Nursery and Reception we choose one superstar to bring the Golden Bear home. Please write about what you did at the weekend with the Golden Bear and stick in/draw some pictures. Some examples of things to write about could be having a film night at home, going to the park or going to the library.

Prayers

The children have been given a prayer book to practice their Year Group Prayers. Please ensure you practice each prayer together.

Reception prayers:

• Morning Prayer
• Prayer before meals
• Prayer after meals
• Evening Prayer
• Hail Mary Prayer
• Our Father Prayer

Reception Calendar