Reception
Welcome to Reception!
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.”
(Psalm 127:3)
Welcome to the Reception class page. We are delighted to have you as part of our class, school and community family.
Meet the staff
Class Teacher - Miss Laidler
Teaching Assistants - Miss Carroll, Miss Cattermole & Mrs Hallam
Cover Teachers - Mrs Jobbins & Mrs Pickering
Meet the Children
Life in Reception
We have busy days filled with play, singing, laughter and discovery.
During your child's time in reception, they will take part in a variety of activities and play-based experiences which aim to challenge, foster a love of learning and inspire their natural curiosity. We play outdoors in all weathers and we will regularly come home messy after a busy day in the mud kitchen, creation station and play dough area!
To find out about the Reception curriculum, please visit our Early Years page.
If you need to speak to me or have any queries, please email: reception@stjosephscatholicprimary.org or speak to the office and book an appointment.
I am really looking forward to working with you all this year.
Miss Laidler
Key Information:
- P.E. days are on a Monday. P.E. kits must be worn to school.
- Reading books will be changed on a Friday.
- 'Fabulous Phonics' homework books will be sent home on a Friday and need to be returned on Fridays.
- Your child receives free milk until their 5th birthday.
If your child wants milk, please register at this link: Cool Milk - the UK's leading school and nursery milk supplier
- School dinners are free for all children until they are in Year 3. Please speak to us about having a free school meal!
Summer Term
Butterflies
Over the Easter holidays, our butterflies emerged from their chrysalis. We spent a few days looking after them before deciding to release them into the world. We looked around for a good place for them to be released (somewhere safe with plenty of food) before waiting for a dry day. We held the butterfly in our hands and then watched as they flew away.
Spring Term
Middleton Park Trip
We went on our first school trip to Middleton Park! We went on the mini-bus, played on the park and had a snack. We were really well behaved, had lovely manners and enjoyed our time at the park. Our teachers were really proud of us.
Easter
We have been learning about Easter. Miss Laidler brought in some hot cross buns for us to smell, feel and taste. We thought they ‘smelled sweet, felt sticky and tasted yummy!’. We enjoyed them toasted with a little butter on top with our milk at snack time.
World Down Syndrome Day
We celebrated World Down Syndrome Day. We led our first class assembly, learned the song ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry and Singing Hands and we wore our odd socks! We celebrated the fact we are all special, unique and very much loved. Our teachers are very proud of us.
P.E. - Gymnastics
Jack and the Beanstalk
We have been reading Jack and the Beanstalk. As part of Drawing Club we have learned some new words with actions, we designed our own giant and the castle for him to live in. In our UTW sessions, we planted a bean and made our own castle in the clouds for it to grow to. We have been exploring what seeds need to be able to grow.
Maths - Weight
We have been using balancing scales and water to help us learn about the weight of different objects. We have learned words such as ‘lighter’, ‘heavier’, ‘float’ and ‘sink’. We explored this together as a class as well as in provision.
Dinosaurs
In Spring 1, we learned about different dinosaurs. We learned that dinosaurs existed millions of years ago and some of them were herbivores and some were carnivores. We designed our own dinosaur through visiting Drawing Club, we measured dinosaurs in maths and we built dinosaur zoos in the small world area. We were delighted when a mysterious egg appeared and we had to leave it to hatch.
Music
We have been enjoying weekly music lessons. We have been learning how to follow a beat and copy more than 2 instructions at a time. We have been learning about pitch and have taken part in lots of games to help us practise the skill.
Maths - Shape
We have been learning about various 2D shapes and their properties. We visited the Shape Shop to explain the different shapes we wanted to 'buy' and their properties, including colour. We then learned how to sort shapes into groups and extended this further by creating names for our own groups.
Drawing Club
This half term, we have introduced Drawing Club into Reception class. We have explored a variety of stories including: If I had a Dinosaur... and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. We have been creating our "codes" which has helped us practise our mark-making skills! During Drawing Club we have learned lots of new vocabulary and we have been trying to use these in our play and learning during the day.
R.E. The Epiphany
We celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany by making our own crowns and having an Epiphany Party. This helped us remember that the wise men visited Jesus many years after he was born and that they brought him some special gifts.
Autumn Term
Here are a few photos of the learning taking place during the autumn term in Reception Class 2023-24. Please log onto Tapestry for more photos and some observations!
Merry Christmas!
love from Reception and Year 6 x
St Gemma’s Reindeer Walk
Stay and Play
Seasonal Changes
As part of ‘Understanding the World’ and ‘Expressive Arts and Design’, we have been making our own autumnal wreath. We went outside and explored school. We collected leaves, twigs and other materials to create our wreath.
R.E - The Annunciation
We acted out the story of the Annunciation. We took it in turns to be the Angel Gabriel and Mary. We thought about how Mary felt and practised using our own faces to show this. We talked about why Mary was chosen by God and how this made her feel inside.
Mathematics - 1, 2, 3 it’s Me!
In mathematics, we have been learning about the numbers 1 2 and 3. We have been practising subitising, making, writing and representing 1 2 and 3. We celebrated Baby Bear’s third birthday and made sure the bears all had enough things for their party.
R.E - God’s World
We learned about the different ways we could look after God’s world. We talked about looking after the world by making positive choices, such as putting rubbish in the bin, turning the tap off etc. We then put this learning into action by exploring and planting cress seeds and watching them grow.
Diwali
We have been learning about Diwali. We read ‘The Best Diwali Ever’ and then the children shared their own Diwali stories and experiences.
We looked at real Diya Lamps and then used clay to create our own.
Remembrance Day
Reception class took part in their first Remembrance Day activities. They carefully decorated their own poppy using paint and glitter, to help us remember all of the soldiers that have died. We then gathered around the flag pole at 11am with the rest of school and took part in a 2 minute silence. We took part brilliantly and respectfully.
Autumn Walk
We went outside to explore our school grounds. In R.E. we have been learning about God’s World and all of the wonderful things He made. We found lots of natural objects outside: leaves, sticks and flowers. We talked about what we liked about them.
We gathered them and practised our counting skills. In Maths, we have been practising subitising to 3…so we put our skills in action!
R.E. - God’s World
In R.E. we have been learning about God’s World. We looked at a globe and found the seas and the land. We looked at where we live now, but also where each of our families has come from too. We have many families from all over our wonderful world!
We then looked at photos of animals from all over the world too. We discovered there are more animals than we knew! We learned about koalas, flamingoes, turtles and tortoise (and the differences between them), penguins…and many more. To finish our learning, some of us wrote prayers to thank God for the different animals in the world. We then shared them with each other as we prayed reverently together at the end of the lesson.
Elmer Day
This half term, we have been learning about Elmer and how special he is. We then thought about how this makes us special too because we are all different. To celebrate this, we had our own Elmer Day in Reception class. We wore our own clothes from home, played with our friends, invited our parents in to play during the afternoon and even decorated some Elmer style biscuits (multi coloured!).
Reading in Reception
We have enjoyed using the different areas in Reception class to share stories with our friends. We have looked at stories together and pointed to and talked about the different pictures within stories.
Sensory Play
As part of our play, we have been taking part in a range of sensory experiences. We used shaving foam to join foam pieces together - we pretended it was glue or cement! We also explored the ‘potions’ area outside. We mixed the coloured water together with sand and mud to create new textures.
Listening Walk
We made our very own listening ears and went on a listening walk around our school. We practised being quiet so we could hear all of the sounds inside and outside. We heard laughter, pencils being used for writing, typing and even the telephone. During our walk, we got to know our school grounds and found out where everything belonged.
Mathematics in Reception - Patterns
During our mathematics sessions, we have been learning how to create patterns, sort objects and group objects in different ways. We have explored colour, shape, texture and have been identifying “sets” of objects.
Year 6 Buddies
We enjoyed meeting our Year 6 buddies and playing with them in the Reception area.
Miss Laidler and Mrs Hegarty spoke to the children about the importance of being a role-model as well as a friend to the younger children. The Year 6 children were kind, caring and looked after the Reception children very well. We are really looking forward to working together this year! ⭐️
Welcome to Reception!
We have officially welcomed our thirty new wonderful Reception children into our school family. We have been spending the last few weeks getting to know each other, exploring our classroom and making new friends.