Clownfish Class - Reception

Welcome to Clownfish Class!

At Dymchurch Primary we firmly believe every child should have the best possible start to school life and so our curriculum and environment are specifically designed to ensure this.  Our Reception class follow the Early Years Curriculum and this is broken down into the following areas:

The prime areas:

• communication and language

• physical development

• personal, social and emotional development

The four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

• literacy

• mathematics

• understanding the world

• expressive arts and design

Our curriculum is designed to cover these areas in a range of different ways including teacher led inputs, adult led activities, enhanced provision and continuous provision.  This includes both an indoor and an outdoor area which are specifically designed so that all children can make the most of all learning opportunities across a range of activities and interests. This is so that the unique child is taken into account and all children can therefore learn and increase their language skills through play, investigation and curiosity.  

Please see below for this term's topic web.

 To find out more about our curriculum and outdoor learning click below:

Environment

Our classroom and outside area are organised into different areas, to reflect the ‘Areas of Learning’ outlined in the Early Years Framework. Our environment will grow with the children, with different challenges introduced every week to reflect children’s development and interests.

The Timetable

P.E will be on a Friday afternoon. Please ensure your child comes in their PE kit on this day. 

We will also enjoy 'Forest Friday' on Friday afternoons. As the weather creeps into Autumn please ensure your child brings in wellies as we will be getting muddy! Waterproofs will be provided by the school. 

Home learning 

Every Thursday your child will come home with a sharing book they have chosen from their visit to the school library.  Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!

Every Friday your child will come home with a new Big Cat reading practice book that they have in class during the week.  This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading. Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

Your child will also come home with a Little Wandle Phonics home learning sheet. This will recap all the phonemes (sounds) they have learnt in school that week. 

Further Information

Attached, please find:

Throughout the year, children will have the opportunity to engage with and explore a variety of activities that encourage development in each of the seven ‘Areas of Learning’. Children need to meet the Early Learning Goal in each area at the end of the academic year in order to achieve a ‘Good Level of Development’. Each term, we will send home a Topic Map to keep you informed and so that you can support your child’s learning at home. 

Further resources 

Support for Little Wandle Phonics

Nursery Rhymes