We would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome our new children and their families to Duckling and Dove class at Forster Park Primary School. Reception is a year of growing socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually. Your child will interact with a new environment, make new friends and enjoy a range of different learning experiences. You may be surprised at how quickly your child progresses! Your involvement, interest and enthusiasm will help make this a wonderful year of growth for you and your child. Your contribution to your child’s education is always appreciated! 

Personal, social and emotional: We will begin our school year by establishing strong expectations and learning new routines. To help us build new relationships, we will learn about friendly behaviours such as turn-taking, respectful listening and kind words. 

As we learn about what makes us unique, we will start to learn to appreciate our friend’s similarities and differences. 

How to help your child at home – -Talk about what they have been doing during the day, who they are friends with. 

Communication, language and literacy: We will begin learning our phase 2 sounds in Phonics lessons this term. We will learn to say, read and write a new sound every day.  We will listen to a range of stories, rhymes and songs and develop our memory and language skills when retelling familiar stories. 

How to help your child at home – – Read every night and sign their reading record. – Engage in homework tasks and revise the sounds learnt so far— build upon your child’s ability to speedily recall sounds. -Log into Bug club and share one of the many books. 

Understanding of the world: We will talk about being part of a team this year, learning about our classroom and friends and wider school community. We will talk about our families, who lives with us and what we enjoy doing. We will learn about celebrations and the harvest festival and how the season changes. 

How to help your child at home– – Celebrate different families together. – Point out the changes in the environment as the season changes.

Physical Development: Both classes have access to the playground and climbing equipment. The children will be challenged to use their bodies safely and effectively around the apparatus.  We will also be using our fine motor movements in our weekly Playdough disco lessons.

How to help your child at home- – Encourage your child to dress themselves independently—can your child do up their own buttons and zips? 

Mathematics: Maths is all around us. This term, we will enjoy learning numbers through stories and rhymes, acting them out using props and equipment.

How to help your child at home- – Look for numbers when out and about (number plates, house numbers, prices etc.) – Play board games and card games with number cards, talk about the value of numbers (Who’s number is the biggest? Why?) 

Expressive art and design: We will be exploring a range of materials and equipment this term when creating artworks and collages. We will paint self portraits and will also use our imaginations when creating new worlds and role playing. 

How to help your child at home- – Sing along to familiar nursery rhymes and songs. – Enjoy arts and crafts with your child at home.