Welcome to Rokesly’s Reception Year classes.

This term we are unable to hold our Welcome and Curriculum meeting for new Reception parents in school. Please find a welcome letter and your invitation to our Reception zoom meeting here.

Parent Video: Tips to Support starting reception during COVID-19

We are looking forward to seeing all our new children in September 2020 and I’m happy to shre some resources with you that might be useful to support your child’s transition form Nursery to Reception

 Silver Class, Yellow Class, Gold Class

Welcome to Rokesly’s amazing Reception classes! We do everything we can to ensure that the children in our Reception classes are happy, confident and safe. This is reflected in the outdoor learning space and in the classroom itself. The ever changing layout of our classrooms are linked to the children’s needs and interests. We have a lovely bright classrooms, divided into different areas, with clearly-labelled resources to ensure easy access for the children. Our learning environments include indoor and outdoor areas and children have free access to the outdoors in all weathers. This is so that those who prefer to be outside may have the same learning opportunities as those who play inside.

Our Reception classes are very child centred and this is evident in our planning, which is based on our observations of the children, their interests and their achievements.

We cover a broad curriculum, following Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage. This is split into seven areas of learning, three Prime areas and four Specific areas. The Prime areas are Personal, Social, Emotional Development, Physical Development and Communication and Language. The four specific areas of learning are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design. We place a great emphasis on the Prime areas as these give the children the skills they need to progress and succeed in all areas of life and education.

In your child’s Reception class, they will have many opportunities to develop motor skills, which they will refine as they grow older. There is a direct link between physical development and brain development and it is essential that we work together to help your child build on the skills they have been working on since birth. As well as opportunities for gross motor development like running, climbing, jumping and carrying, we work hard to ensure there are many opportunities to develop fine motor skills too. You can read more about motor skills here.

There are plenty of activities you can do at home to practice and refine your child’s fine motor control. You can see some examples in a gallery on the Reception News page here

At Rokesly we use Letters and Sounds to teach children phonics for reading and writing. Letters and Sounds for Home and School has lessons you can watch with your child here.

Parents are welcome to help us with our cooking, reading, in our library sessions, in the classroom and on our school trips. The Head Teacher holds a volunteer induction meeting at the beginning of the school year which volunteers must attend. All volunteers must have relevant checks to work in school, which we will help you with at the meeting. Please see the Volunteers in School page.

The children have book bags to carry their school books to and from school. They will bring home letters in this bag, so please check it and empty it every night. After you have read with your child, please ensure their books are put back safe in the book bag so they don’t get lost. Each child also has a ‘comment book’ in their book bag. We use these books to inform you about your child’s progress on a weekly basis and we welcome your own comments. We keep school as fun as possible with lots of opportunities for the children to re-enforce their learning through self-initiated and free choice activities, whilst also providing quiet areas for them to reflect on the day’s events. Our class role-play areas change on a regular basis to ensure the children are interested and motivated to learn. We encourage role play not just within the classroom but also outside, where the children often feel more in control of their learning.