It is hard to believe that we have begun our final half-term of this school year! Our final topic is ‘Moving On…to Year One’.  We plan to really make the most of what is left of our time in Reception by reflecting on and celebrating all the special times we have shared this year, before beginning our preparations for ‘moving on’ to Year One. 

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

The children will be encouraged to share their personal memories and experiences of their first year at school.  We will turn our thoughts to moving up to Key Stage 1, and supporting the children to develop their self-confidence by understanding that they are ready now to move on to new opportunities and fresh adventures in Year One.  The children will have opportunities to visit their new Year One classes and meet their new teachers. 

We hope to be able to celebrate and share all the magic moments from this year to remember with our Reception families.  This will likely to be a virtual recording of the highlights of our year, details to follow.

Communication and Language

During circle time, we will reflect on our talents and share our dreams and hopes for the future.  We will use our special books and learning journeys to recall events and recount our experiences.  The children will contribute to their end of year school report by talking about their ‘magic moments’ in Reception and articulating their feelings and memories about their first year at school. 

Literacy

All the literacy skills we have taught this year will be consolidated over this half term.  The children will know their literacy targets and understand what they need to do next in order to be ready for Year One.  These skills include:

*Recognising, remembering and saying all the Read Write Inc sounds, including special friends, taught this year

* Reading ‘red words’ and ‘green words’ using Fred Talk or Fred in your Head, watching out for tricky letters

*Using Fred Talk to blend simple words to read and segment simple words to spell

*Practising handwriting skills to write letters using the correct sequence of movement

*Developing confidence to write independently: full name, labels, captions, sentences

*Extending writing skills to write for a purpose: stories, lists, letters, signs, instructions, cards, messages

Our learning log homework books will focus on each of these skills as the term progresses.

Mathematics

As with literacy, the mathematics skills and key concepts relating to number and numerical patterns:

taught this year will be revised and consolidated to prepare the children for the Maths curriculum in Year 1.  These include:

*Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number.

• Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5.

• Automatically recall number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.

• Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system.

• Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity.

• Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally

Understanding the World

The children will be invited to identify the different ways they have grown and changed since they were babies and how much they have learnt since starting school as they prepare to move on to Year1.  We will sensitively approach the changes ahead and symbolically, we will look after caterpillars and watch them transform into butterflies.  This will remind us of the changes ahead as we move on to new adventures. We have grown our wings in Reception all year and now we are ready to fly on into Year 1!

We will talk about our aspirations as we ‘reach for the stars’ each day. Exploring different professions and careers, the children will have an opportunity to share their dreams for the future and reflect upon their talents and unique gifts.  We will talk about the people around us and their roles in society and hope to welcome Merseyside Fire Service into school to give us hands-on experience of their important job.

Expressive Arts & Design

On 1^st July, we will participate in an artist-led workshop to create a collaborative art installation based on the story ‘The Rainbow Fish’. Our creative activities will take on a nautical theme as we explore the ocean and the seaside and hopefully make the most of the sunny weather, reenacting our experiences of visiting the beach.  We will design and decorate sea creatures using recycled materials and use clay to create prints using sea shells and other natural materials.

We will also be rehearsing and learning a selection of songs, dances and speaking parts for our Graduation service.  The children will be encouraged to perform their part with confidence to ensure our final emotional performance together will be an event to remember

Physical Development

We begin Balanceability Learn to Cycle sessions, led by LSSP. The children will learn skills and techniques to support their balance and coordination, getting them off to a confident start in cycling and developing physical well-being, core control and a sense of direction too!  With the recent fine weather, we continue to reinforce our sun safety message: hats, drinks, sun cream.  We are unable to apply sun cream directly, so please ensure this is applied before coming into school or you may send in a labelled bottle of sunscreen for the children to apply themselves within the school day.

We are all looking forward to an exciting and memorable conclusion to our year together.  Please let us know if there is anything we can advise or help with as the children move ever closer to their transition to Year 1.