Reception 2025 - 2026

Welcome to Reception 2024-2025!

In Summer 1 our topic is 'Is it hot where you are?' with a focus on the Caribbean. We will learn about countries such as Trinidad and focus on how life is different in the Caribbean to where we live. We will be reading 'Coming to England' by Floella Benjamin and 'Caribbean Animals' (non fiction). 

In RE, our topic for this half term (Summer 1) is 'To the ends of the Earth.' The children will also participate in a 'Celebration of the Word' each week focusing on the Sunday Gospel. 

More information about our EYFS curriculum can be found here St Paul's Catholic Primary School: Reception (st-pauls-hyde.tameside.sch.uk)

Reception Staff

Mr Rothwell is the class teacher and Miss Bower will teach Reception on a Tuesday afternoon. Miss Cocking is our full time teaching assistant and Mrs Elsmore will be with us each morning. Mrs Elsmore is also our lunchtime organiser. 

Notices

Our class page will contain documents to support your child's learning at home, such as half-termly key instant recall facts in Maths, reading book information and phonics resources. You will find all documents and files below. Please also take a look at our reception gallery where we may post images of your childs learning. Each week I send home a 'Reception Newsletter' which contains information and pictures about all of our learning for the week as well as some pictures of the children's work.

Please can all parents ensure that their child has the correct uniform. Please can parents label each individual item of uniform, footwear and P.E kit as it is much easier to return lost items if their name is in it!

Daily snacks such as fruit and raisins, as well as milk are provided by school. Please can children bring in a water bottle with their name on everyday, this can be refilled in school if necessary. Water bottles should not contain juice. 

Please inform me before school or by ringing the school office if a different adult will be picking your child up, so that we can keep everyone safe. The school office email address is below if required.

PE

During this term we will having PE on Friday's and they will need to bring their PE kits every Friday. Jewellery, including earrings, should not be worn. 

Learning Journeys

The learning your child does in school will go into an observation on Evidence Me which will be sent home via the app or into their individual Learning Journey, along with photographs, notes, observations and weekly Focused Tasks. Any home learning or significant achievements can be recorded and sent into school and we will add them to your child’s Learning Journey. 

Homework

Some of the homework will be set on purple mash and each child will receive a log in for this. These tasks will help you see what the children are learning in school as well as allowing you to support them at home and build their confidence in developing new skills. Some homework will be detailed in our weekly reception newsletter although it will not be set weekly. Please make sure you are reading with your child regularly, at least a few times a week, including your 'read with me' and 'I can read' books.

Reading Books

Each child has a 'read with me' book. They will start on Lilac band, and progress to pink and red bands. These books can be changed anytime. Your child will need to put them into the 'finished box' so we can change them. 

Your child will also be given a phonics reading book with an 'I can read' sticker on. These will be matched to the current phase of phonics that we are covering in class, so they should try to read them independently. These are handed out every Friday and should be returned the following week.

Class Fund

We welcome all donations to our Reception class fund every week, with a suggested donation of £1. This is purely an optional donation, If you wish to donate termly, that is fine too! Our fund pays for lots of little extras to enhance your child's learning, such as a choice of snacks, ingredients for cooking and any additional learning resources for our classroom. Thank you all for donating to this, it is really appreciated by staff.

How to contact us

If you do have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask a member of staff. I will be on the gate every day before and after school. You are more than welcome to arrange an appointment with me if required. Alternatively, please ring or email the school office email address admin@st-pauls-hyde.tameside.sch.uk where a member of staff will respond during school hours. Thank you for your support.

Kind Regards,

Mr Rothwell.