Welcome to Reception
Home of the Foxes and the Owls!
What can I expect in Reception at SMITH?
Check out our Reception Passport!
Spring 2
Come and have a cracking good time as we explore all things eggs!
‘Race Around the World‘
Our main text focus is ‘Hattie Peck: The Journey Home’. Over the three weeks we will:
- Go on an egg hunt around our outdoor area!
- Write an adaptation of ‘Hattie Peck: The Journey Home’.
- Explore non fiction texts : We will be learning about different animals that hatch from eggs
- Follow a set of instructions on how to make a bird feeder.
- Make a set of binoculars to observe livings things in our outdoor environment.
- Design their own egg… What will hatch out of it?
- Investigate eggs – What will happen when it is boiled for 1 minute, 3 ? What if we add heat ? What if we stir it? Will it go back to its original state?
- Discuss questions like; Was it right for Hattie to take the eggs? Would you rather be was chaotic or calm? Would you rather live on land or in the sea?
Here is our Topic Web for Spring 2.
Spring 1
Happy 2025 everyone! Grab your ticket and jump onboard for an exciting half term!
‘Ticket to Ride‘
Our main text focus is ‘Emma Jane’s Aeroplane’. Over the three weeks we will:
- Receive a special boarding pass ticket to go on a flight to Paris!
- Explore non fiction texts to learn about ‘How things go’.
- Write a recount of a journey.
- Explore and compare different places around the world.
- Learn about transport and moving safely in PE.
- Find out about people who help us and the transport they use.
- Work as a team to make the future generations mode of transport!
- Discuss questions like; Would you rather fly through the sky or glide through the sea? Would you rather have wings, wheels or a parachute?
Here is our Topic Web for Spring 1.
Autumn 2
‘Animal Antics!’
Our main text focus is ‘I’m going to eat this ANT!’ Over the three weeks we will:
- Join in with alliteration.
- Explore non fiction texts to learn about insects and bugs.
- Make shopping lists and menus.
- Explore animals and their habitats.
- Learn and perform ‘When the ants go marching in’.
- Discuss questions like ‘Should we ever squish an ant?’
Here is our Topic Web for Autumn 2.
Autumn 1
‘Don’t Stop Me Now!’
Our main text focus will be ‘The Gingerbread Man!’
- Here we will join in with rhyme and repetition.
- We will make gingerbread people and talk about our uniqueness and individuality and our families.
- We will create obstacle courses to explore different ways of moving.
- We will create a healthy meal for the gingerbread person.
- We will also be focusing on building relationships and learning all about our feelings and how to manage our emotions.
Here is our Autumn 1 ‘Don’t Stop Me Now!’ topic web.
Take a look at the photographs of our fabulous little ones in action…
| Communication and Language | Physical Development | Personal, Social and Emotional Development |
| Literacy | Maths | Understanding the World | Expressive Arts and Design |
| Practicing our letter formations | Adding 1 more | Cookery – baking gingerbread men | Printing |
Phonics in Reception
In Reception we teach daily phonics. Phonics is all about how the alphabetic system works and exploring how to apply it in reading and spelling. Here at S.M.I.T.H. we follow Monster Phonics: a systematic approach, meaning that we teach in a logical progression, starting with single letter sounds to enable children to read and spell simple words, leading to consonant digraphs and vowel diagraphs and longer words.
How Monster Phonics Works | Monster Phonics
For more information on our phonic scheme please follow the links below!
If you have any questions regarding phonics please see your child’s class teacher.
Early Reading
Here at S.M.I.T.H we want to develop a life long love of reading.
We want our pupils passion and engagement with books to start from an early age. Keep your eyes peeled for our reading challenges – this is where we capture our pupils and their families love of books and reading. It is a lot of fun!
Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA)
This is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your child’s early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school. It is statutory for all schools from September 2021. Your child will be participating in the reception baseline within the first 6 weeks of starting reception.
PLEASE DON’T WORRY: You do not need to do anything to prepare your child for the assessment. Your child is unlikely to even know that they are doing an assessment when they are completing the tasks.
For more information the link below takes you to the government information for parents pdf. If you have any further questions please speak with your child’s class teacher.
Keeping You Informed
Class Dojo
This is where you will find messages from your child’s class teacher. This updates most frequently and will let parents know about things happening in class such as; day trips, enrichment activities, special events and visitors. This is the most effective and responsive communication tool with your reception teacher.
Please also keep an eye on the school story, on here you will find messages, competitions and school events.
Other ways of Communication
Please register with Parentmail, as we will keep you up to date via texts and emails.
We also have a school twitter account @St_michael_ham where class teachers post pupils work, videos and positive messages for our community.
If you need to contact school the email address: ao@smhsch.co.uk these message will be answered promptly or forwarded to the relevant staff.
Other Activities to Help your child at Home
Helping your EYFS child at home with Maths
Helping your EYFS child at home with Maths
‘Teach Your Monsters To Read’ FREE online reading activities