Welcome to Reception
We have 2 classes in Reception, Minnows and Turtles, who work closely together throughout the day. Minnows has 22 pupils, and their class teacher is Miss Rosie. Turtles has 20 pupils, and their class teacher is Miss Galloway. Mrs Dodds and Mrs Jackson support in both classrooms. Mrs Walton, Miss Dalby and Miss Mclauchlan also support in these classes. Mrs Foster and Miss Forster cover PPA.
Class Newsletters 2024/25:
Our curriculum:
At Bowburn Primary School, we believe that the Early Years Foundation Stage is crucial in securing solid foundations that children are going to continue to build upon. It is our intent that the children who enter our EYFS develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally whilst embedding a positive attitude to school and learning. We believe that all children deserve to be valued as an individual and we are passionate in allowing all children to achieve their full, unique potential.
In Reception, we focus on a different topic each half term. This topic will create an overarching theme to our learning in all areas. Topic work allows the children to make links between subjects and gain a deeper understanding. We also have a book each week (often linked to our topic) which we base lots of our learning and vocabulary around.
The curriculum is split into the prime areas: Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. The specific areas are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. We learn through exploring and playing and we spend a lot of time learning outside too.
Phonics
We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to plan and provide daily engaging phonics lessons. We teach discrete, daily 30 minute phonics sessions where children revise previous learning, are taught new graphemes/phonemes, practise together and apply what they have learnt.
We also teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:
- decoding
- prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
- comprehension: teaching children to understand the text
Maths
- Mastering Number
In Reception, we have daily 10 – 15-minute maths sessions based on a programme called Mastering Number, developed by NCETM. Mastering Number aims to strengthen children’s understanding of early number and provides children with the opportunity to develop fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. These sessions aim to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children in reception. Throughout the programme, children will use appropriate mathematical manipulatives and resources in order to support their learning of mathematical structures.
Please click here to see a long term overview of the Mastering Number programme.
Please click here to see a weekly overview of the Mastering Number programme.
- White Rose Maths
We supplement the Mastering Number programme with aspects from White Rose Maths to ensure that children are exposed to other mathematical concepts like shape, space and measure. See below for a yearly overview of topics covered:
Autumn:
- Match, sort and compare
- Measure and patterns
- Circles and triangles
- Shapes with four sides
Spring:
- Mass and capacity
- Length, height and time
- Explore 3D shapes
Summer:
- Manipulate, compose and decompose
- Visualise, build and map
- Make connections.
Our topics
Our topics are Marvellous Me, Let’s Celebrate, Light and Dark/Space, Growing, Amazing Animals and Under the Sea. We will support these topics with learning experiences, visitors in school and trips.
Autumn 1
Our Autumn 1 topic is called ‘Marvellous Me’. Children will start off the year by focussing on themselves as individuals whilst settling into their new surroundings. We will spend lots of time getting to know the children and allowing children the opportunity to get to know each other and their environment. Within this topic, children will learn about their feelings and our bodies and how they work. We will talk about similarities and differences between ourselves and will recognise things that we are good at. We will also talk about our families, where we live and people who help us.
Our texts for this half term are:
Autumn 2
Our Autumn 2 topic is called ‘Let’s Celebrate’. We will learn about different celebrations such as Diwali, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day and Christmas. We will recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways. We will invite parents and carers into school to watch our Christmas performance.
Our texts for this half-term are:
Spring 1
Our Spring 1 topic is ‘Light and Dark/Space’. We will explore light and dark and talk about what happens during the day as well as what happens at night. We will also find out about space and the planets. We will learn about Henry Moore and will have a go at creating our own 3D sculpture. We will celebrate Pancake Day, Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. We will have a visit from a local author, Adam Bushnell, and a workshop with Captain Chemistry.
Our texts for this half term are:
Spring 2
Our topic this half term is ‘Growing’. Throughout this topic, we will be exploring the great outdoors and will learn all about plants and flowers as well as different weathers and seasons. Children will have the opportunity to plant their own seeds whilst learning about the things that plants need to survive. We will observe the life cycle of our plants as they grow. We will also visit the farm to observe any newborn animals that have been born and to look at the similarities and differences between the mothers and their young.
Our texts for this half term are:
Summer 1
Our Summer 1 topic is ‘Amazing Animals’. Within this topic, we will explore different habitats around the world and will name and identify some of the animals that can be found there. We will learn about animal life cycles and will gain first hand experience of this as we observe the life cycle of a butterfly. We will witness the journey of caterpillars as they transform into butterflies across the half term and will then release the butterflies into our outdoor environment. We will also explore what lives in our school grounds and focus specifically on minibeasts! As part of this topic, we will enjoy an animal workshop visit where we will get the opportunity to meet, pet and hold different types of animals.
Our drawing club texts for this half term are:
Summer 2
Our Summer 2 topic is called ‘Under the Sea’. In this topic, we will learn all about animals and plants that can be found under the sea. We will celebrate World Ocean Day and will learn all about the importance of our ocean as well as how to keep our oceans plastic free. We will link this with learning on the reduce, reuse and recycle campaign. We will also focus on beaches will look at the features of a seaside and will compare seasides in the past to how they are now. As part of this topic, we will visit Tynemouth Aquarium.
Our drawing club texts for this half term are:
