Reception – Fir Class

Welcome to Fir Class, the learning environment for our Reception children. Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Price are our teachers. Our teachers encourage us to be confident and resilient learners who strive to succeed!

In Fir Class, we have a happy, caring, and stimulating environment that promotes enthusiasm and a love for learning. We believe that every child is unique and full of potential, and we endeavour to ensure that all children reach this through play and carefully planned activities. Our engaging curriculum and learning environments encourage children to become responsible and take ownership of their learning. In the mornings, we enjoy learning new sounds to help us read using the Read Write Inc. programme, followed by our English and Maths lessons.

In the afternoons, the children in Fir Class enjoy taking part in enriching CIL activities that enable them to develop and become independent learners. We aspire to build on the children’s own knowledge and skills by planning in-the-moment experiences which prepare them for the wider world. Provocations (open ended activities) are set up in the environment to stimulate conversation and ideas amongst the children. This allows them to become leaders of their own learning by freely exploring, creating and thinking critically.

This term, we’ll explore the topic “People Who Help Us,” focusing on various individuals and groups who play vital roles in our communities. We’ll learn about doctors, vets, teachers, firefighters, and police officers who provide essential services. We’ll also cover emergency services like paramedics and rescue teams, and public service work- ers such as mail carriers, farmers, and construction workers. Through activities and projects, we’ll discover how these people make a positive impact on our lives.

After half term, we will also be learning about the different seasons throughout the year and the celebrations that happen during them. We’ll explore how the world around us changes with each season, from the colorful leaves in autumn to the flowers blooming in spring. Along the way, we’ll learn about celebrations like Diwali, bonfire night, remembrance day and Christmas. With fun activities, we’ll learn about the weather, clothes we wear, and how plants and animals change with each season, helping us notice and appreciate the world around us!

In Forest School and outdoor learning, excitement is in the air when exploring nature. We are very excited to use our school farm as this allows us to learn new skills such as caring for and looking after the animals as well as ob- serving the changes in the calendar. We will look forward to noticing the changes that occur over autumn and into winter.

Useful information:

Every child in Fir Class will be given an independent reading book at their assessed reading level. Please read with your child as regularly as possible as this makes a huge difference in all areas of their learning. Please aim to read and share stories with your child for 10 minutes on a daily basis and also remember to record in your child’s reading diaries when you have read to ensure that they don’t miss out on the reward of a free book once their book- mark is completed. They will also have a keyring with all the initial sounds. Practise these as much as you can as it will help them to recognise sounds in words in order to read them.

Here’s the standard of reading that we aim for in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Click here to learn more about Phonics & Reading at Longlands.