Working together to be the best we can

Settling in to our

new school…

Welcome to RD and RV!RD

Mrs Dryland, Miss Odeyemi and Mrs

Brown

RV

Mrs Vidal, Mrs Baker and Miss

Croucher

A few quick reminders…Please ensure that your child brings…

• A labelled, filled water bottle

• A labelled waterproof coat with a hood

• Their book bag with their reading journal

…everyday!

On Fridays: The smaller plastic wallet with sound

cards need to come into school

PE in Reception• Reception children will have two PE sessions a week

• RD will have outdoor PE on a Tuesday and Dance on a

Friday

• RV will have outdoor PE on a Tuesday and Dance on a

Friday

• RM will have outdoor PE on a Wednesday and Dance on

a Friday

• RW will have outdoor PE on a Wednesday and Dance on

a Monday

• Tights, Earrings, laces and getting changed

independently

Communication

There are plenty of ways to communicate:

• Communication books at the East and West

Gate

• Email

• Ring the office to make an appointment or

leave a message

Parent RepresentativesEvery class in Stamford Green has a parent rep. They provide a point

of contact for all the parents of the children in the class.

• RM’s Parent Reps are Mrs Collins (Annabel’s Mum) and Mrs

Illingworth (Poppy’s Mum)

• RW’s Parent Reps are Mrs Illingworth (Charlie’s Mum) and Miss

Preston (Finley’s Mum)

• RD’s Parent Reps are Mrs Curran (Joshua’s Mum) and Mrs Rush

(Pippa’s Mum)

• RV’s Parent Reps are Miss Bridges (James’ Mum) and Mrs Aldridge (Jack’s Mum)

Please make sure that they have your details!

Eating in Reception

• The children have settled well into their new

lunchtime routines

• Eating expectations

• Fruit time

• Bringing in fruit/veg from home

Drop Off and Pick UpA few reminders about these times…

• Make sure your child knows who is picking them

up

• We ask all the children to tell us when they see

their grown up

• Drop off time is 8.40, pick up time is 3.00pm.

• No scooting or cycling within school grounds

• The morning train system will end this week. We

will be practising in lessons beforehand!

Other information

• Houses – Ashley, Horton, Waterloo and Hookfield.

• Y6 Buddies

• Birthday invitations

• Playdates

Show and Tell

• Will start after half term

• Please do not let your child bring anything into

school at present

• We will let you know all about Show and Tell in

our Weekly Information email closer to the time

School Behaviour Code

• Rewards and sanctions

• ‘Step’ system – warning and chance to learn

and improve - please don’t worry!

• Consistent throughout the school but built in

differences to suit younger children

• Values & Values Buttons

Reading in Reception• From tomorrow your child will be bringing home

a picture book in their book bag each day.

Please share these at home with your child and

jot down a positive comment in their Learning

Journal.

• Children will start on our Book Band Scheme in

the coming weeks.

• Reading takes place in lots of different ways in

school and will be recorded in the Learning

Journal.

Learning in ReceptionOur Primary areas of learning in Reception are:

• PESD - Personal, social and emotional development

• C and L - Communication and language

• PD - Physical development

Our secondary areas of learning are:

• Literacy – reading (including Letters and Sounds) and writing.

• Mathematics – numbers, shape, space and measures.

• Understanding the world – people and communities,

technology and the world.

• Expressive arts and designs – exploring, using media and

materials and being imaginative.

Our First Theme

Fantasy Lands:

• Fairy Tales including Goldilocks and the Three

Bears, The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread

Man, The Billy Goats Gruff and Jack & the Bean

Stalk

• Stories set at Christmas

Exploration time The children spend the majority of their day

doing this.

It is a chance for children to flow freely between

all classroom and indoor/outdoor spaces.

There is always a range of independent and

teacher-led activities available for the children

to choose from.

Discrete lessons Daily phonics sessions

Daily maths sessions

RSE (Relationships & Sex Education) will take

place later on in the year. There will be more

information (and a parent meeting) before this

happens.

What is Phonics?• Sounds that make words for

reading.

• Letters that make sounds for writing.

• Sadly not all English words are

phonically sound-out-able.

Why learn Phonics?• Supports reading

• Supports spelling

• It’s statutory!

Letters and Sounds

Phase 2

• Taught in Reception

• Introduces individual letter

sounds

• Children learn about reading

and writing using these sounds.

Phase 2 Sounds

s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g,

o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h,

b, f, ff, l, ll, ss

Phase 2 SoundsThink of how we pronounce the

sounds.

If we ‘fuh’ rather than a whispered

‘f’ we might spell ‘fun’ as fn’.

Whispered sounds are:

s, t, p, c, k, ck, h, f, ff, ss

Phase 2 soundsIn learning to read and write we

focus on

1. The initial sounds

2. The final sounds

3. The sounds in the middle

Research shows that fluent readers scan over the word using the first letter and its shape to read it.

Phase 3• Taught in Reception

• Introduces individual letter

sounds and some sounds made

with more than one letter.

• Children learn about reading

and writing using these sounds.

Phase 3 Sounds

j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure,

er

What is a phonics lesson like in

Reception?

• Starts with whole class sessions focussing on

Phase 2 sounds.

• Children practise reading and writing –

‘blending’ and ‘segmenting’ the sounds.

• Later in the term children are taught in

smaller groups led by teachers and

teaching assistants which allows each child

more practice during the time.

What does Phonics look like in

Reception?• The make-up of the groups changes at

points through the year.

• Children’s phonic understanding develops

at different rates.

• The adults leading the groups swap.

• The value of repetition cannot be

underestimated.

How can I help my child?Your child needs to:

1. Recognise the sound on its own.

2. Write the letter for the individual sound.

3. Recognise the sounds in words then

develop the skill of blending them to read

the word.

4. Break a word up into sounds verbally and

write those sounds down to make a word.

How can I help my child?Read with them, read to them, read in front

of them.

Talk to them.

Help them follow their interests.

Help them follow school routines and

patterns.

Give them time and space to rest and

relax.

Thank you for coming!

Our 7 Commitments to your children

What a super start our children have

made on their seven-year journey!