Apple Class - Reception
Hello and welcome! 
We’re so excited to welcome you and your child to Apple Class.
This page will be your go-to place for updates, reminders, and a little window into all the wonderful learning, adventures, and fun we’ll be having together.
We can’t wait to share this special journey with you and your children this year!
PE Lessons 
We have a P.E. lessons on a Friday. We will also complete active brain breaks throughout the school day.
To help your child be ready for all of our exciting PE lessons, we kindly ask that PE bags are brought into school at the start of every half term. These bags will then stay safely in school so that your child always has their PE kit ready for lessons. At the end of each half term, PE bags will be sent home for a wash and refresh, ready to be returned again at the beginning of the next half term.
PE Kit 
Children will need to wear a plain white t-shirt, black or navy shorts and black pumps for indoor PE. For outdoor PE and activities in all weathers, they will also need jogging bottoms, trainers and a black jumper or jacket. Please ensure that all items are clearly NAMED. For safety reasons, we ask that no jewellery is worn on PE days and that long hair is tied back.
Water Bottles 
Having a water bottle in class helps to keep children hydrated and ready to learn. Please make sure the bottle is clearly labelled with your child’s name and contains water only (no juice or squash, please). Bottles will be sent home daily to be washed and refilled.
What to bring into school? 
We ask that every child brings a named water bottle, book bag, a weather appropriate coat and cardigan or jumper into school each day. In colder weather we kindly ask that the children come into school with gloves, scarves and hats as we access our outdoor area in most weathers.
Home Learning 
Your child receives a reading folder at the start of the academic year. Inside the folder is the book your child is reading in class, a reading record book which you sign so say you have read with your child and a reading leaflet explaining how we teach reading and how you can support your child at home. The books we sent home this half term are wordless books. This is to help your child develop good reading routines. Talk about the pictures in the book with your child to encourage them to share what they know. Help them to look after their book by turning the pages carefully and storing their book carefully in their zip pack. We request that the book is returned promptly on a Monday morning in their zip pack so the books can be collected and changed ready to be given to another child on Wednesday.
Our stock of books which go home replicates the stock of books we use in our reading sessions in school. Each book your child brings home during the year matches their phonic learning.
On a Friday your child will receive a Phonics sheet containing the letters, sounds and tricky words that they have been learning during that week. Please practise these with your child.
Phonics 
At Marsden, we use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds phonics programme to give our children the very best start on their reading journey. In Reception, we begin teaching phonics straight away in the Autumn term.
Children are introduced to the first sets of sounds (phonemes) and learn how to match them to written letters (graphemes). They practise blending sounds together to read simple words and segmenting words to spell them. Alongside this, we focus on building children’s confidence in recognising and reading tricky words (words that can’t be sounded out easily).
We teach phonics daily. Children also take part in small group reading sessions three times a week. These focus on developing decoding (sounding out), fluency and comprehension skills, so that every child begins to see themselves as a reader. On the other days the children also have independent reading time and work on identify newly taught sounds with targeted phonics activities.
Our goal is to help children develop a love of books, stories and reading right from the start, while giving them the strong foundations they need to succeed as confident, fluent readers. By Christmas, the children will be taught all single letter sounds.
Maths
In Reception we follow the Mastering Number programme, which helps us to build a strong understanding of numbers. Every day we have fun, practical maths sessions where we explore numbers, patterns and shapes using resources like counters, cubes and counting objects.
Autumn 2
What is Celebration?
This half term our topic is Let's Celebrate. We will be exploring a variety of celebrations, festivals and special events from different cultures and religions, helping children to learn about similarities and differences between people and communities.
Our learning will include:
- Rosh Hashanah
- Chinese Moon Festival
- Diwali
- Hanukkah
- Sikh Diwali
- Bonfire Night
- Remembrance Day
- Road Safety
- Light and Dark
- Seasonal Changes
- Christmas
We will also be spending lots of time preparing for our exciting Nativity performance, learning songs, practising our speaking voices and building confidence on stage.
Literacy
This half term we will continue to develop our reading, communication and writing skills through Drawing Club. Drawing Club encourages children to become imaginative storytellers through drawing, discussion and early writing.
Our focus texts, tales and animations are:
- Billy's Bucket
- The Magic Porridge Pot
- Little Glow
- The Snowman (animation)
- A Letter to Santa
- The First Story of Christmas (animation)
As we explore these stories, we will introduce new vocabulary, including:
rubber, peering, shoal, submarine, magic, boil, overflow, pavement, vanished, menorah, folk symbol, impress, chilly, soaring, enchanting, glinting, noticed, chimney, crispy, hurry, gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Alongside Drawing Club, we will focus on correctly forming letters, hearing and writing sounds in words, and beginning to write simple CVC words such as cat, dog and pin.
Phonics
We will continue to follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. This half term, we will begin by learning the final Phase 2 sounds:
ff, ll and ss
We will then move on to the Phase 3 sounds:
j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, nk
The children will continue to practise blending sounds to read words, segmenting words to spell and reading simple sentences with increasing fluency. We will also learn and practise new tricky words as they are introduced throughout the half term.
Maths
In Maths, we will be developing our understanding of number through practical games, investigations and hands-on activities. Children will compare sets by matching objects and use mathematical language such as more than, fewer than and an equal number. We will explore the concepts of whole and part, continue to develop our subitising skills within 5, including recognising amounts from familiar die patterns, and focus on the composition of the numbers 3, 4 and 5. The children will practise counting objects accurately, matching numerals to quantities within 5 and 10, and counting verbally beyond 20. We will also explore ordinality through the number staircase pattern, learning that each number is one more than the previous number and developing a deeper understanding of the number 5.
In Shape, Space and Measure, children will compare circles and triangles, identify and name shapes with four sides, look for shapes in the environment and combine shapes to make new ones. We will also describe positions using mathematical language and compare the mass of different objects, discussing which are heavier and lighter.
Learning Through Play
As always, our learning will be brought to life through play, exploration and first-hand experiences. We will investigate seasonal changes, explore light and dark, create artwork linked to celebrations from around the world and take part in exciting festive activities as we approach Christmas.
apple class aut term topic.pdf
End of Year Expectations; Reception
end of year expectations reception.pdf
Staff
Miss Moulson, Mrs Baldwin, Mrs Sewell and Mrs Marsh