Pupils: Reception
Teachers: Mrs Tracy Grundy
Teaching Assistants: Mrs Heather Salter and Mrs Karen Draper
Blog (Homework, letters, photos, etc)
Teachers and Teaching Assistants
The Meadow Class contains our Reception children. Mrs Grundy teaches this class with the support of Mrs Salter and Mrs Draper.
General Information
We work on the development of our reading, writing and mathematics skills. The termly class topics develop Scientific skills, knowledge of History, Geography and ICT and also include creative development focussing on Art and DT as well as skills associated with maths and literacy.
We are fortunate to have an outdoor area which is used by all children in The Meadow and The Woodland. The children have constant access to the outdoor area and readily use it to extend or develop their thinking through activities that have been selected by either themselves or ones that are based around their interests, there is also opportunity for some free play.
As a church school we place a strong focus on the development of their knowledge of the Christian faith and the appreciation and understanding of other religions. We say grace together at lunchtime and the children take turns to say a prayer to finish the school day.
This class follows the whole school behaviour policy and children are constantly praised and rewarded for excellent behaviour, work and effort in a variety of ways. They receive stickers or certificates and may be sent to show Miss Hastings their work!
Even though these are the youngest children in the school we have very high expectations for both their behaviour and their learning. They are encouraged to take responsibilities in the classroom. Some children are given jobs such as ‘cloakroom monitor’ and everyone is expected to help staff to get out and put away equipment and to ensure that we are all responsible for our learning environment.
What should your child have each day?
The children in the class are all required to bring to school each day….
• A waterproof coat for outdoor play.
• A water bottle so that they can have quick and easy access to a drink whenever they want.
• A book bag, with reading book, their library book and reading record book.
• Every child should bring their PE Kit to school on a Monday and leave it there all week.
• On a Friday we ask that the children bring an appropriate change of clothes for our ‘Forest Friday’ adventure afternoons.
Useful documents and links
What to expect, when?
It is widely recognised the vital role that parents have in supporting their children’s learning and development. Parents need to know what to expect in relation to their child’s development through the different age bands of the EYFS. What to expect, when? is a simple guide which takes parents through the expectations of each age band in the EYFS and how they can support their children’s learning and development.
What-to-expect-in-the-EYFS-complete
Reception parent transition leaflet
For more information about getting your child ready to start school click here.
Useful link for new parents – BBC Bitesize Starting Primary School
New Parent evening Powerpoint Welcome to THE MEADOW
’50 things before 5′ – an app to download with lots of activity ideas for pre-school children
Healthy Smiles School
We are a Healthy Smiles School which is an accreditation for all of the work we do on healthy eating and oral hygiene. Please see below for various tips and links around this topic.
New parents’ guide for our phonics programme Read Write Inc
At Great Rollright, we use the Read Write Inc. (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their literacy.
Read Write Inc. Phonics is a method of teaching reading and writing, which is centred around learning the sounds of the letters (phonics) and then blending them together to read words. The children also learn to break down words into individual sounds to write them.
When using RWI to read the children will:
- Learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into understanding what they read.
- Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts.
- Learn to read words using Fred Talk.
- Learn to read words by blending the sounds together.
- Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out.
- Show that they understand the stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove it’ discussion questions.
When using RWI to write the children will:
- Spell effortlessly so that they can put their energy into working out what they want to write.
- Learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds (graphemes).
- Learn to write words by saying the sounds in Fred Talk.
- Learn to write simple and then increasingly complex sentences.
- Compose a range of texts using discussion prompts.
- Compose stories based on picture strips.
- Write simple sentences.
Blending
Children learn to read words by blending the letter sounds that are in the Speed Sound sets. You can help your child learn to read words by:
– Sound-blending e.g. c-a-t = cat. Saying the pure sounds, as quickly as they can and then to blend the sounds together to say the whole word.
Read Write inc – Reading at home – Booklet one
FAQ
– How will I know how to pronounce the phonic sounds?
The Oxford Owl website has lots of videos to help you support your child with learning to read and write, including how to pronounce the pure sounds. It is important to note that we do not teach the letter names at this early stage just the sounds.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading–schemes–oxfordlevels/read–write–inc–phonics–guide/
It also has lots of free resources to support your child’s learning at home.
-How do I use the book set one sounds book to support my child?
Ask your child to flick through the book and read the sounds as quickly as they can. If your child hesitates reading a sound, the ‘picture – sound is on the back of the page as a reminder. Your child can also practise writing the sound on the same page.
The Read, Write Inc progression map can be found here
Useful websites for parents and carers
https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/literacy.html
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/5-7-years/letters-and-sounds
