Julia Donaldson Class 2023 - 2024

Welcome to class 

Julia Donaldson 

Our teachers are 

Mrs Constantinou (Monday, Tuesday)

Mrs Denney (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)

Mrs Bibi

Welcome to Julia Donaldson Reception Class!

Note to Parents: We will keep you informed on what we have learnt in school each week via our class web blogs. You will find these by scrolling to the bottom of this page to the section titled 'Julia Donaldson: Blog Items' and clicking on the most recently dated blog item. 

We are a class of 30 Reception children. Our teachers are Mrs Constantinou on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Mrs Denney on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Through the week, we also learn from a fantastic team of adults, including Mrs Bibi, Mrs Loonat, Mrs Hafiji, Mrs Asmal, Miss Ahmed and Mrs Akhalwaya. 

As newcomers to the world of school, we are on an exciting adventure. Right now, our focus is on understanding the routines and structure of the school day. We are also learning to explore different areas of our learning environment and how to use and share our resources effectively.

Our Topic for the first half term is "All About Me," during this half term, we place great importance on personal, social, and emotional development, as well as communication and language skills. For more information on what topics we will cover over the year, take a look at our 'Reception Long Term Plan' at the bottom of this page. 

In Reception, the heart of our learning experience lies the concept of play. Play offers a wealth of opportunities for us to thrive in the prime areas of learning while making every moment meaningful and enjoyable. Our teachers work closely with us, assessing our current abilities, and planning our next steps in learning with care, adapting our learning environment to meet our emerging needs on a continuous basis. 

Stay tuned for more updates from the Julia Donaldson Reception Class! Look back here later for our regular web blogs to keep you informed on what we have been learning in class. 

Things you need to know

Physical Education (PE) 

Our PE day is on a Monday, children will need to come to school dressed in their PE kit on this day. We are currently lucky enough to be working with a specialist PE coach called Bryn who is helping us to develop our fundamental skills.

Book Bags

We need to have these in school with us every day. Our reading books will be changed once per week and we will take them home with us Thursday-Monday so that we can read regularly to adults at home. We also use our bookbags to bring home letters and things that we have done in school, please check your child's book bag each day to ensure taht you do not miss any important information. We also communicate with parents at times via text message or email, please ensure that we have your up to date contact information and let the school office know of any changes. 

Homework

Our homework will be given out on a Friday. We will bring it home in a homework book each week. Completed homework should be returned to school no later than Tuesday. 

Home Learning

Here are some useful links to online learning activities and resources

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years/counting 

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/ 

https://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/activities/letterformation/

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-early-years/z6bgnrd 

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources 

Phonics and Reading

Children in Reception will have a daily 'Little Wandle' phonics session. They will begin their reading practise in the Autumn term with lilac, wordless books. When children are ready, typically in the Autumn 2 term, they will then recieve a decodable phonics book matched to a phonics level that they are secure with. You can learn more about the way that we teach phonics in the 'Phonics for Parents' section of the website.

When reading your child's reading book with them, printed inside the front book cover you will find the focus words and phonics sounds that your child is working on. The teachers use this cover page in school when planning for the reading sessions. Reading through the notes before you read with your child, will help to ensure that you are focusing on the right things and helping to condolidate what they are working on in school.

On the final page of each reading book, you will find some comprehension questions. Asking your child these questions as they read helps them to begin reading for meaning and strengthens their ability to understand what they have read. Comprehension skills are equally as important as being able to read the words; please spend time supporting your child with their comprehension skills also. 

Reading books will go out on a Thursday each week and we ask that they are returned to school on a Monday morning. We share our reading books with other classes and each reading book set needs to have all six books returned to school on a Monday morning in order for them to be redistributed to the next group. Please ensure that your child has their book bag with them in school EVERYDAY.

Alongside a wordless or fully decodable reading book, children will also have the opportunity to bring home a library book each week, your child will choose this themselves from a large range of books in our library. This is a book for you to read to your child and enjoy together. These will usually be changed on a Friday. 

Little Wandle phase 2 & 3 sounds videos 

Click play on the videos below to see all the sounds that we will cover in Reception this year. 

You might hear us referring to these as graphemes and phonemes:

Grapheme: A letter or group of letters used to represent a particular phoneme when writing. With children, we sometimes call this 'a sound written down', although, as with 'phoneme', it is helpful for children to learn to use the correct term from the beginning.

Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound that can be identified in words. We sometimes simply call this a 'sound', although it is helpful for children to use the term 'phoneme' from the beginning.