Reception - Imps Class
Welcome to Imps class!
Imp class is taught by Mrs Stead, Mrs Gorry and Miss Rees. We are also supported by Mrs Blatchford.
Learning in our classroom
Newsletters and Timetables
Our Curriculum
Personal, Social, Emotional Development
PSHE lessons will enable us to explore issues that arise in our children's experiences. Our school is using Restorative Practice as part of our behaviour management and children will be encouraged to understand feelings - their own and others' - so that they can develop emotional literacy and empathy. Children will be encouraged to understand their own bodies and growth patterns as well as being encouraged to develop independence in looking after themselves. We discuss the importance of relationships, rules and respect for ourselves and others. Philosophy for Children (P4C) sessions allow us to further explore issues affecting us and the wider communities we belong to.
Communication and Language
Wide-ranging opportunities in both the indoor and outdoor environments will enable children to develop their communication and language skills: talking to others in one-to-one and group situations, asking questions, reciting rhymes and expanding vocabulary. At all times, children will be encouraged to speak in sentences rather than phrases. Children will continue using the Tales Toolkits resources introduced in nursery to develop story telling and will also use Drawing Club to engage with their imaginations. Philosophy for Children (P4C) sessions also have a huge impact on our communication and language skills. On Seesaw you will see our "Word of the Week" which you can use at home to help embed your child's understanding of new vocabulary.
Physical Development
We have daily fine motor sessions and activities in provision to help strengthen our muscles for writing. Writing and mark making is encouraged in all areas of the classroom so that the writing becomes meaningful and purposeful for children. We will support children to establish comfortable, strong pencil grips and pencil control as they begin to form letters and make meaningful marks. Please use the phonics posts on Seesaw to review correct letter formation and discourage children from writing the letters incorrectly even if they are recognisable - it is much harder to un-teach skills than to teach them. Writing correctly will ensure children can write at pace and that they are ready to join in later years. It also helps to distinguish similar letters such as b,d,p and q.
Our PE days will change to Tuesdays and Thursdays but there are other opportunities to develop gross motor skills using action songs, the outdoor area and our wide selection of bikes, trikes and scooters. We have also planned outdoor learning lessons within the school garden, at the Jubilee Field and around the village on Monday afternoons.
Literacy
This term, we will begin phase 2 of our synthetic phonics programme. Children will be taught to read and write CVC words such as cat. There will also be some tricky words (words that can only be read from memory and not through phonetic decoding) to learn. All our phonics learning will be shared with you on Seesaw so that you can support children at home.
Please take the time to read with your child as often as you can. To begin with, children will bring home a book from the class library to share which they can change once they are ready to. In a few weeks, your child will be ready to begin reading by themselves with our "Rhino Reader" books linked to our phonics programme. Please encourage your child to read their book to you 3-5 times per week for maximum progress. Books are changed once children are reading them fluently. When they are ready, children will be given some sight words to learn to speed up their reading fluency and automaticity. You can read more about sight words here.
Mathematics
It is a common misconception that children who can count really high are great mathematicians and very advanced. In fact, counting is a very basic skill and has quite limited use in calculation so we will spend a long time on small numbers but we will REALLY understand them. This term we will be looking at the numbers 1-5.
Understanding the World
This term we will be finding out about ourselves and our place in the world. We will celebrate some autumn festivals such as Harvest, Diwali, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day and Christmas. We will be celebrating diversity in the natural world through our Learning in Nature Project.
In RE, we will find out why God is special to Christians. This will include exploring the Christian Creation Story and comparing this to our own ideas about the world was made.
Expressive Art and Design
There are always many different art and craft materials available for children to use in their choosing time as well as lots of props for role play and story telling. The children will learn a variety of ways to use their voices and percussion instruments to explore melody and rhythm in music sessions. This term we will explore how we can make different colours and different shades of the same colour with paint. We will also have opportunities to design and make egg protectors and diva lamps.