Menu
Home Page

Squirrel - Reception

 

Welcome to Reception 

Reception is a fantastically exciting year when we welcome you to your learning journey at RAF Benson Community Primary School.

We have some amazing things planned for you and we hope you will enjoy your journey with us.

 

Who's Who?

Your teachers this year are:

Blue Squirrels: Miss Fitchew

Red Squirrels: Miss Webster

TA: Mrs Laidlaw and Mrs Clarke

PPA cover: Mrs Lyes and Mrs Walshe


Drop off and Pick up:

Your parents/carers will need to drop you off in the mornings at your classroom door. After you have waved good-bye to your adult, you will need to hang up your coat and put your bag and water bottle away. You can then find an activity to start your day. Your parents/carers will be able to pick you up from your classroom at the end of the day. 

 

You will need:

  • School uniform                                      
  • PE Kit
  • A pair of named Wellies             
  • A book bag
  • A painting apron or old shirt
  • A named water bottle
  • If you have one you can bring A waterproof outdoor suit (all-in-one or trousers) but don't worry we have some for you to borrow if you don't. 

 

School Dinner and packed lunch

Please remember to ask your adult to  order your choices for meals using the online system the day before the meal is required. 

If you are bringing in a packed lunch, please remember to pack a delicious healthy selection of foods and please be aware that we are a Nut Free school. No chocolate spread or peanut butter!

Snack

Please remember to bring in a named water bottle.        

Week 1 of Reception: Please bring in a small healthy snack to eat.

Week 2 of Reception onwards: We will provide a selection of delicious healthy snacks for you to eat so you will not need to bring in a snack.

 

PE Kit and Spare clothes

You will have PE lessons on a Wednesday afternoon and we look forward to seeing how well you can hop, skip and jump! Please can you make sure that your kit has your name on it and you know where to look for your name. During the week, you can leave your Kit bag on your peg and take it home on a Friday.

Please bring in a spare set of clothes and underwear in case of any accidents. These can be kept in your school bag or PE kit bag.

 

Learning Journeys   

We record your ‘early learning goal’ achievements in books. You will have 3 books. These will be kept at school and we will give your parents an opportunity to view them if and when Covid guidelines allow.

They are :

General book: Personal, social and emotional development; Communication and language; Physical Development; Expressive arts and design; Understanding the world.

Literacy: Reading and writing development.

Mathematics: Numbers and Number patterns development.

We love to see all the work that you have accomplished and celebrate with you. If you have any work at home that you would like to add to your books please bring it in so we can add it to your learning journey.

Achievosaurs award

Achievosaurs

Achievosaurs are our resident dinosaurs who celebrate your ‘growth- mindset’ and ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’ achievements. There are six Achievosaurs altogether, each linking to an aspect of the characteristics. They enable children to become more aware of how they learn, and give them language to explain the skills they use when learning.  We will be handing out certificates to those who have excelled in a particular skill. These will be sent home on Fridays. We usually have plush toy dinosaurs to take home but due to Covid guidelines we will need to keep them at school until these guidelines change.

 

Wow moments

Wow moments are those little (or huge!) achievements that happen at home. We would like to celebrate these moments with the children at school too, so we will be sending home some popcorn templates for you to fill in when you have a ‘Wow’ moment. These could be anything from getting dressed independently for the first time to reading a sentence in your book. We have a popcorn display board and we hope to fill it with all those precious moments. Please could you send in any completed popcorns so we can add it to our board. These will then be put in their Learning Journey books to help with tracking their achievements. Once our board is filled to the brim, we will have a ‘Popcorn Cinema’ afternoon to celebrate. This will take place in the classroom at an appropriate time.

 

Outdoor Learning 
We go outdoors every day, come rain or shine. Outdoor learning enables you to enjoy the natural environment and learn to seek out essential exercise, fresh air and activity. It allows the you to be experimental and supports problem-solving skills. It nurtures your creativity by providing opportunities for developing imaginations, inventiveness and resourcefulness. We offer suggestions and challenges for you to do at the various stations and plan adult-led activities in Literacy and Mathematics. 
During the long winter months, it can get a little bit chilly so on some occasions we will offer you a comforting ‘hot chocolate’ or warm milk drink during snack time to warm up. We recommend you have a good winter waterproof coat, waterproof gloves, and a hat to help make these sessions more comfortable. Please make sure they are clearly named.
During the warmer months, we recommend you have a light waterproof coat and a sun hat. Please make sure that they are named.


Homework
It is our school policy that we do not give homework to reception children other than reading and fun maths activities. After you have settled into our school routine, you will be able to take a book from our classroom library to share with your family. We will let your adults know when this will start closer to the time. 
Once we begin our phonics sessions, you will receive an envelope with the phonic sounds you need to learn each week. Please practice these sounds each day. You can play games with the sounds such as ‘Which one is missing? and ‘Can you find...?’ etc. You can also practice writing the sounds. Try writing them in flour on the kitchen counter or using shaving cream on the bathroom tiles in the bath. Once you are confident with the sounds, you can begin to form simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words to read. If you are not sure of how to pronounce the sounds, a google search of ’sounds of the English phonic code ‘will provide some good examples. Other activities that you can do at home include cutting skills, creating story maps of your favourite book, learning to do zips and buttons, using a knife and fork to cut up your meals and storytelling. However, it's really important that you have a good rest at home so that you are ready for all the learning you will be doing during your day at school.
You will be able to take home formal reading books after we have learnt our first set of phonics sounds. We will let your adults know when this will happen. We will send out a separate letter explaining about our reading program nearer the time.

 

Questions?

If your adults have any questions, we are always happy to talk to them before or after school. They can arrange a time to chat through the school office.  If you have an urgent request or query, please contact the school office and they will be able to pass on any messages.

Top