Castleton Primary School and Children's Centre

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Green Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS12 1JZ

Andrea Riley and Alistair Darnell (co headteachers): headteacher@castletonleeds.org.uk

0113 2637756

Castleton Primary School and Children's Centre

'Unlocking Potential'

Reception

Welcome to Reception!

In Reception, we are very lucky to have two classes. We have individual classrooms, but the children are free to move between both classrooms and our fantastic outdoor area during their continuous provision.  

We have:  

Miss Gains (Class Teacher for RG) 

Mrs Ratour (Class Teacher for RR) 

Miss Rushworth (Teacher working across Reception) 

Miss Roberton (Teaching Assistant)  

Miss Hesson (Teaching Assistant)  

Mrs Lopez (Teaching Assistant)  

Miss Mandel (Teaching Assistant) 

Miss Strafford (Teaching Assistant) 

Mrs Cook (Teacher – PPA) 

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We have PE on a Monday afternoon. Please send your child to school wearing their PE kit (white t shirt and black bottoms).  

Please send your child with a named water bottle each day.

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We are looking forward to welcoming all of the children into Reception, and you may have some questions about your child starting school. Here are some we have answered:

You will: 



  • make friends

  • share and take turns with friends

  • choose your own learning

  • do lots of group activities 

  • learn how to be part of a team

  • learn about stories and books

  • learn how to tell and act out stories

  • paint, draw and make models

  • learn about numbers and counting

  • learn about shapes, money and other maths

  • use lots of different toys and play with things like sand, water, bikes, jigsaws, puzzles, whiteboards, scissors, pens, crayons, glue, animals, cards, trains and many more! 

  • learn all about phonics to help you to read and write 

  • go on visits out of school

  • sing and dance

  • learn to look after our school and classrooms

  • have lots of fun!


  • a book bag

  • your water bottle

  • a huge smile



Autumn 1

This half term we are looking at the book ‘Dear Zoo’. We will be learning the story and about all the different animals in the book. The children will be making their own puppets and masks to help them retell the story as well as drawing story maps to help us remember all of the words. We are going to be looking carefully at the different patterns on the animal’s skin and making our own animal patterns. We will be using the instruments to make music to match the different animals.   

  

We use Maths No Problem and Mastery of Number to support children’s mathematical learning. To begin with, the children are learning lots of counting songs including 5 Little Monkeys, 5 Little Speckled Frogs and 5 Little Elephants. As well as practising our counting through playing lots of games and learning about sorting and patterns.  

  

You can support your child at home by talking to them about the story ‘Dear Zoo’ and asking them about the different animals- you can access the story on YouTube. Additionally, looking at numbers in the environment and counting with your child will support their learning. Please see Schoop for the weekly newsletter to see what the children have been learning each week and ideas of what to do at home.   

 

Autumn 2

We are very proud of F2 and how they have settled into life at Castleton! They have had a great first half term in school and have enjoyed getting to know their class and their teachers. The children doing a great job of following their new rules and routines. 

This half term we are looking at the book ‘The Owl Babies’. We will be learning the story and using its structure and language to create our own stories.The children will be making their own puppets and masks to help themretell the story as well as drawing story maps to help themremember all of the words. Alongside this, we will focus on 'Autumn' and some of the changes across the season. For example; how the weather has changed from summer and the importance of dressing appropriately for the weather. You can support your child at home by talking to them about the story ‘The Owl Babies’ and discussing what happens in the story (you can watch the story on YouTube) as well as reading them a bed time story each night.   

In maths we will continue to focus on numbers to 5 in more detail. We will then look at time, 2D shapes and positional language.  Watching Numberblocks on BBC iPlayer is a great way to support your child with their maths learning as well as continuing to practise counting forwards and backwards and looking at numbers in the environment.

Please continue to check Schoop for the weekly newsletter to see what the children have been learning each week and ideas of what to do at home.  

PE continues to be on a Monday and children need to come to school wearing their PE kit. As the weather gets colder please ensure that your child comes to school wearing a coat. For times when children come to school wearing Wellies please send a separate pair of shoes to wear inside. 

 

Thanks for your continued support. 

Spring 1

What a fantastic first term the children have had at Castleton! It has been wonderful to watch the children showcase their individuality and personality as we have got to know them. We are proud to say that they have shown confidence in and around their school environment.

In this half term, we will be focussing our story re-telling on the ‘Owl babies’ where we will use actions, story maps and props to support the children’s retention of the story language and sequence. In addition, we are aiming for the children to retell other stories. These could be familiar stories that the children already know, for example ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’, or imaginative stories of their own using the provision resources. The children will continue their daily phonics learning and although they are not quite ready to take reading books home, you could spend 10 minutes reading to your child everyday as this will help to promote their love for reading and spark their imagination.

In maths, we will be extending our number learning on from 0-5 to counting forwards and backwards from 0-10. We will then explore position names, such as first, second, third, etc, number representations on five and ten frames, the 'counting all' addition strategy and finding 1 more and 1 fewer. You could support your child at home to count numbers in the right order by playing counting songs on the ‘BBC counting songs’ website and giving them counting tasks for example setting the table with the right number of plates and cutlery.

Alongside this, we will be exploring another seasonal change where we will be thinking about the weather in Winter and the appropriate clothing choices, and how this relates to environments that are cold all year round such as the ‘Antarctica’. You can support your child at home by going on nature walks and looking for signs of Winter that they could bring into school and either add to our ‘wow wall’ or ‘show and tell’.

Please continue to check Schoop for any updates and PE continues to be a Monday. Coats must be worn daily especially with the forthcoming cold weather.

Thank you for the continued support.

Spring 2

At this time of the year, it is lovely that the children have captured school life and become familiar with their expectations and daily routine.

During this half term, we will be focusing our story re-telling on the ‘The Little Red Hen’ where we will use actions, story maps and props to support the children’s retention of the story language and sequence. In addition, we are aiming for the children to independently retell other stories. These could be familiar stories that the children already know or imaginative stories of their own using the 5 sentence stems: 

Once upon a time..., 

Early one morning/late one night..., 

Unfortunately..., 

Luckily... 

Finally.... 

The children will continue their daily phonics learning with a huge focus on oral blending, something we do using FRED TALK, as this is essentially needed for the children to begin reading. However, you could spend 10 minutes reading to your child everyday as this will help to promote their love for reading and spark their imagination.

In maths, we will be extending our number learning on from to counting forwards and backwards from 0-20. We will then explore number bonds to 10, measure lengths, explore capacity, create AAB, ABC and AABC patterns and look at 2D and 3D shapes. You could support your child at home to count backwards from 20 and look for shapes in their home environment.

Alongside this, we will be exploring another seasonal change where we will be thinking about the weather in Spring where will be exploring plants. We will also be learning about animals and how to care for pets and chicks. You can support your child at home by going on nature walks and looking for signs of Spring that they could bring into school and either add to our ‘wow wall’ or ‘show and tell’.

Please continue to check Schoop for any updates and PE continues to be a Monday. Coats must be worn daily since the weather can be unpredictable and homework will be sent out on a Friday and is to be returned on a Monday.

Thank you for the continued support.