Welcome to Reception/Year 1

Our Reception and Year 1 Children are taught across 3 classes: Apple (Year R) Pineapple (Year R and Year 1 mixed) and Cherry (Year 1)

Our Teaching Staff

Pineapple Class
Mrs Leighton (Monday-Wednesday), Mrs Hayward (Thursday and Friday) and Mrs Indge 

PE

Pineapple Class PE Lessons are taught on a Monday by Mrs Pauling and Friday by Mrs Hayward.

Homework

Pupils who read regularly at home and school make considerably more progress in reading and this also has a significant impact on their writing skills and overall vocabulary. Please support the school by hearing your child read each night. Each child will have a Reading Record in which they should record their reading at home and at school, and this should be brought into school each day. These Records should be handed in on Fridays, so that we can ensure children are meeting the minimum expectation of reading at home at least 3 times a week and award Bookworms to those that have met, or exceeded, this requirement.

We will be changing books once a week on a Friday, and children will be given 1 or 2 new books a week.

Alongside daily reading, the children will have weekly spellings to practise too. Spellings being taught in class that week, will be stuck in homework books for children to practice and will be tested on Fridays. The children will have daily phonics sessions, which follow the ELS programme. Year 1 pupils will have their phonics screening check later in the year.

Additionally, the children will have access to Mathletics www.mathletics.com (an online maths learning platform), where they will have some tasks to complete to help consolidate their learning, and there will be some English tasks sent home too. Maths and English homework will alternate each week.

Growth Mindset

Throughout this year, we will be putting a lot of focus on developing a growth mindset. This principle focusses on the fact that our brain is a muscle and we have to build that muscle over time, just as we would any other muscle in our body. We often discuss how we may not be able to do something yet, but we can get better at things over time and with practice. It would be greatly appreciated if you could help to reinforce this message at home, particularly when supporting your child with their homework. This is something we are really passionate about instilling in the children as this positive outlook will help them to build their independent learning skills.

Children in Year 1 will need:

– A Water bottle.
– Forest school kit (Waterproofs (coat and trousers) extra warm layers in the winter and wellies) kept in school. Please make sure that every item is labelled with your child’s name.
– Children do not need to bring in snacks as we have a fruit snack in school. However, if your child
would like to bring their own piece of fruit for snack time then they are welcome to do so.
– A jumper, coat and any additional clothing such as sunhat, gloves etc appropriate for the weather
conditions.
– A bag that is big enough to fit their books in. This could be a backpack or a book bag. A book bag is preferable to a large rucksack as storage space is limited.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to email us at pineapple24@fairford.gloucs.sch.uk