Reception Class - Buttercup Class

Welcome to Reception - Buttercup Class!

Staff in Buttercup Class:

We are always happy to help, so if you have a question or query how big or small feel free to come and chat to one of us.

What does our day look like?

Please have a look to see what we are up to each day in our current timetable.

What does our curriculum look like?

In Reception we select topics to suit the children’s interests. Through finding out what the children are interested in we can tailor the curriculum accordingly. We follow the EYFS

Statutory Curriculum which you can see below:

Here is an overview of what is expected within the strands, it is a useful tool for understanding the profile:

What will we learn in term 6?

Our topic is 'Land Ahoy!'

We have a planned trip to Reculver beach to engage in a Seashore Safari with Anna Outdoors (Further information on trip letter).

We will build upon our environmental knowledge as we explore sea life, different sea creatures and the habitats they live in.

During our final term in Buttercup Class we will continue to work on and build upon all the skills and knowledge we have gained throughout the year. We will engage in several problem solving activities as well as writing for a range of reasons. We will revisit all our phonic sounds and tricky/high frequency words to embed them further.

We will train to be a Pirate and work towards gaining our 'Pirate' status ready for our end of year Pirate Party celebrations. For our Pirate Party all children are invited to come to school dress as a pirate. Please see list in class to sign up for a donation towards the party lunch. 

We will continue to support you and your child in their transition into Class 1. If you have any questions or concerns, please come and see us, the door is always open. 

We look forward to sharing and celebrating all your child's achievements this year, and we thank you all for your continued support.

What did we learn in term 5?

Our topic was 'Do cows drink milk?' We explored where our food comes from and focused on the from farm to fork journey. We look at where some of our foods come from, especially ice cream! We participated in a range of planting activities, observed changes and growth in plants.We planted beans and predicted if we thought they would grow or not! We welcomed caterpillars into our class and cared for them whilst observing and monitoring how they changed and grow. Once the caterpillars had changed into butterflies we set them free into our class garden. We watched them flutter off and land on nearby flowers, we observed them drinking nectar. We were busy taking care of our school garden to make sure it looked lovely for the village open gardens weekend.

We continued to explore number and compare various sized groups. We practically explored the concepts of addition and subtraction. We investigated 2d and 3d shapes and thought about their properties. We looked at patterns in number and explored counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. We investigated a range of mathematical problems and recorded our findings in different ways.

Our Christian friends Tessa and Tom shared stories from the Bible with us. We continued to develop our fine and gross motor skills through a range of activities during our last Forest School sessions, and in Forest School inspired activities back at school. Our letters and sounds phonics journey continued as we explored more phonics sounds, tricky words and high frequency words. We used our expanding phonic knowledge to write for a range of reasons, including instruction writing, we also began to write our own stories.

What did we learn in term 4?

Our topic was 'Who can help us?' We invited people from our community into talk to us about their roles and jobs and thought about how people in different jobs help us.  We had a vet and some police officers come to visit us at school as well as having the opportunity to visit a local fire station.

We will continued to explore number and compared various sized groups. We  explored the concepts of addition and subtraction. We investigated 2d and 3d shapes and thought about their properties.

Our Christian friends Tessa and Tom shared stories from the Bible around the theme of 'Salvation' with us, and we thought about the Easter story and why it's important to Christians. We continued to develop our fine and gross motor skills through a range of activities but especially during our Forest School sessions. Our letters and sounds phonics journey continued as we explored more phonics sounds, tricky words and high frequency words. We used our expanding phonic knowledge to write for a range of reasons, including a letter to a fire station and thank you letters to our visiting police officers and vet.

What did we learn in term 3?

Our topic was 'Once Upon A Time...'. We shared a range of traditional tales, discussing them as we went along and had a go at being story tellers ourselves. We explored numerals 1-10 by counting and measuring beanstalks and gingerbread men. We had a go at baking some gingerbread men...BUT one escaped! He's now sending us postcards from the different places he visits! 

Our Christian friends Tessa and Tom shared special stories from the Bible (New Testament) with us. We continued to develop our fine and gross motor skills through write dance, yoga and funky fingers activities. Our letters and sounds phonics journey continued as we explored more phonics sounds, tricky words and high frequency words.

What did we learn in term 2?

Our topic was 'Why do squirrels hide their nuts?'. We explored our surroundings and observing seasonal changes. We thought about different types of animals and explored hibernation and migration. We discussed how we can care for animals and our environment.  We continued to write our names and explore different ways of mark making. We continued our Letters and Sounds phonic journey, explored numerals 1-5 and what each numeral represents whilst engaging in some problem solving activities. We also thought about  2d shapes and what makes each one special. We enjoyed meeting our new class friends Tessa and Tom who have started teaching us all about Christianity. We enjoyed lots of Christmas preparations, including learning lots of lovely songs and doing our Wriggly Nativity show. Thank you for all your support at our PTFA Christmas fair, we hope you enjoy the children's Christmas goodies.

What did we learn in term 1?

Our topic was 'Friends'. We all settled into school life well and made friends with each other. We shared lots of friendship themed texts. We learnt new routines together and agreed some rules for our learning and playing environments.  We all worked hard to recognise our own names and our friends names, had a go at mark making and writing our own names. We began our Letters and Sounds phonic journey, explored numerals 1-5 and what each numeral represents whilst engaging in some problem solving activities. We observed some seasonal changes and explored our outdoor environment.

Are there any trips/events planned?

Non - Uniform Days

Friday 7th June - 'wear it wild'

Friday 21st June - Summer Fair contributions

Ice Cream Party Day

Friday 24th May - during the day we will celebrate our learning about where our food comes from as well as marking World Book Day - Children can come to school dress as their favourite book character or in general non uniform.

Reculver Trip

Friday 14th June - arrive at Reculver play park at 9.30am (Parents to drop off) We will return to school via coach ready to be collect as usual from school at the end of the day.

Sports Day

Thursday 20th June - please send in a plain 'team' coloured t.shirt for your child to wear during Sports Day.

Pirate Party

Thursday 18th July - during the day we will celebrate our school year together with various themed activities, including a pirate party lunch (please sign up to bring in an item for the party)

How does our classroom look?

Useful websites or Apps:

Here are some useful Apps:

Here are some useful websites:

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/

http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/index.html

Here are some useful books:

What Every Parent Needs To Know by Toby Young & Miranda Thomas  USBN: 0241004721/9780241004722

Here is a useful download of what to expect and how to help your child in their first year at school: