Reception

Sophie Greaves
Reception Class teacher

Jody Stevenson
Reception Class LSA.

Welcome:

My name is Sophie Greaves and I am the Reception class teacher, the Early Years and KS1 Phase Lead, and the reading lead at Thomas Hall school.

I love working with the younger Primary aged children and have been a Leader in Early Years for over 18 years. I strongly believe that ‘Happy Children Learn’ and my passion is finding fun and exciting ways to motivate and inspire the pupils in my care. I love the fact that the children in my class always come in to school with a smile on their face and become so engaged in their learning that it shines out through the work that they produce.

I look forward to welcoming you to our school and getting to know each of you over the coming year.

Our aims for our Reception children:

In Reception, we aim to:

Create a strong sense of belonging
so every child feels safe, valued and confident to explore and learn.
Develop confident communicators
by building rich vocabulary and encouraging children to express their ideas clearly.
Lay strong foundations for reading
through daily phonics teaching and a love of stories and books.
Support learning through play and exploration
where children investigate, problem-solve and deepen their understanding.
Promote physical development
by developing strength, coordination and control needed for writing and independence.
Encourage independence and resilience
so children become motivated learners who can persist and take pride in their achievements.
Build early mathematical understanding
through hands-on experiences that develop number sense and reasoning.
Foster creativity and imagination
by providing opportunities for children to explore, create and express their ideas.
Prepare children for Year 1
by developing the skills, knowledge and confidence needed for the next stage of learning.

About the Early Years Curriculum

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) curriculum is an educational stage for children aged 0-5.

Within the EYFS, children are given the opportunity to learn through activities that are built around their interests, their own questions, as well as their identified next steps.

The curriculum is broken down into 7 areas of learning and development.

The three Prime areas of learning help your child to become confident, independent and able to communicate and interact with other adults, as well as their peers.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
Communication and Language (C&L)
Physical Development (PD)

The 4 Specific areas of the curriculum then build on this confidence and independence through introducing more creative and academic subjects that help the children to get ready for moving through into KS1.

Literacy (L)
Mathematics (M)
Understanding the World (UTW)
Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)

At Thomas Hall School, we endeavour to get to know your children well and planning is always based on the needs and next steps for each individual member of the class.  Our teaching is organised through a variety of approaches that provides a balance of child initiated and adult led activities:-

Planned focused activities where adults work with a small group of children at a time. Activities are differentiated to meet the needs of every child participating.
Small group teaching of early reading and writing through the phonics based programme – Read Write Inc.
Whole class teaching for short periods of time such as shared story time, direct teaching songs and rhymes, discussions and sharing work.
Opportunities for teachers to work alongside children as they develop their interests in specific areas of the curriculum.

For further information from the Reception team, please find the PowerPoint shared with parents when their children starts with us here, an overview of the areas of learning that we cover over the year, and our current timetable:

Reception Induction Session

Reception Yearly Overview

Reception Timetable

Baseline

At the start of Reception, all children work with the teacher and complete an initial Baseline assessment. This is to help the teacher to know your child better and to help them to plan for their next steps as they begin their learning journey at school.

The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your children's early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school, using materials that most children of your child's age will be familiar with. It is statutory for all schools.

The RBA will provide an opportunity for your child to have valuable one-to-one to one with their teacher at an early stage, so that the teacher can get to know your child better. It will provide a helpful snapshot of your child so that they can be supported in the most appropriate way.

You do not need to do anything to prepare your child for the assessment. Your child is unlikely to even know that they are doing an assessment when they are completing tasks and activities.

There is no "pass" or "fail" or numerical score, and the results of the RBA are not used to track individual pupils or to judge schools' Foundation Stage performance. The RBA is about 15 minutes long, covering literacy, language, communication and early maths. Teachers administer the assessment and record their results electronically.

The RBA is interactive and practical, and the DfE suggests that "in most cases pupils should not be aware that they are being assessed". Children are asked to answer questions verbally or by pointing at or moving objects. If children need a break during the assessment, the teacher can pause at any time.

For further information please follow this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reception-baseline-assessment-information-for-parents/reception-baseline-assessment-information-for-parents

Or download the leaflet for parents below:

Baseline Information

Early Years Profile

The EYFS profile is completed for every child in the final term of their Reception year, and has three main purposes: to inform you about your child’s development, to make the transition to Year 1  smoother, and to help the Year 1 teacher plan a curriculum that will suit all of the pupils in their new class. The profile measures your child’s attainment in areas of learning known as Early Learning Goals (ELGs). 

Please download more information here:

Profile Leaflet

RWI Phonics

Our school follows the Read, Write, Inc (RWI) Phonics scheme.

Read Write Inc. is a government backed phonics scheme designed by Ruth Miskin, which through systematic teaching and consistent routines, enables children to achieve high levels of reading success. At Thomas Hall Primary School we believe that reading is the key to all learning and we are fully committed to making sure that every child is a reader by the end of KS1.

We have a dedicated team of Teachers and Teaching Assistants who are receiving accredited RWI training and will be referred to as RWI Tutors. They are passionate about achieving success and take part in meetings for coaching and training purposes. The scheme is overseen by the RWI leader, who will monitor RWI sessions and ensure that all teaching is high quality and that children are focused and engaged.

For further information, please access the following videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbWIujM1WGM – a parents guide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_6Jb0-3qz8&list=PLDe74j1F52zSCiOMSn3zQDSzgu9TrbQ1c&index=2 – How does Phonics work?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUbrJPAt65g&list=PLDe74j1F52zSCiOMSn3zQDSzgu9TrbQ1c&index=3 – How to help your child to learn their sounds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07DruIKFsKw&list=PLDe74j1F52zSCiOMSn3zQDSzgu9TrbQ1c&index=5 - How to listen to your child read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UmwXQwx5gk&list=PLDe74j1F52zSCiOMSn3zQDSzgu9TrbQ1c&index=6 – Why read to your child?

Or download our leaflets here:

RWI Parent Handout

RWI Handout 1

RWI Handout 2