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:

*Reading all Phase 2 and 3 tricky words and high frequency words on sight

*Recognising, remembering and saying all the phonemes, digraphs and trigraphs taught this year

*Using phonic skills 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, all the mathematics skills taught this year will be revised and consolidated to prepare the children for the Maths curriculum in Year 1.  The key skills to concentrate on are:

*counting accurately groups of up to 10, then 20 objects

*recognising, naming, ordering, sequencing numerals to 10 then 20

*matching sets of up to 10, then up to 20 objects to the corresponding numeral

*counting forwards/ backwards to/from 10, then 20

*saying the number that is 1 more than/1 less than a number to 10, then 20

*using addition to combine two groups to find a total to 10, then 20

*using subtraction to find how many left when taking away from 10, then 20

*estimating numbers

*recognising doubles and halves

*naming and describing flat 2D and solid 3D shapes

*recognising, copying and recreating repeating patterns

*comparing and ordering three objects by length, height, weight, volume

*using mathematical vocabulary relating to time and money

*writing the numerals 0-9 using the correct sequence of movement

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 grown as they prepare to move on to Year1.  To enrich our conversations,

*please email a baby photo of your child to us: reception@emmaus.liverpool.sch.uk

(Please note, we may use these photos as part of an end of year celebration and they may be shared on the school website).

As we are unable to undertake any school trips this year, we have invited some special visitors into school for the children to meet.  We are looking forward to welcoming some ‘minibeasts and megabeasts’ from Alldays Farm on 17 June and some exotic creatures from Dylan’s Reptiles on 24 June. We hope these experiences will provide even more wonderful memories for the children to take away with them.

Physical Development

We plan to practise some ‘field events’ to develop ball skills, coordination, control, team work and perseverance.  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.