Reception Staff
Mrs Richards – Reception Teacher
Hi, my name is Chrissy Richards and I am going to be teaching Reception class at St John’s from September 2021. Having previously worked at St John’s for 7 years as an HLTA in Reception, I am absolutely thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to return to the school where my heart truly belongs, in the capacity of class teacher! In addition to many years experience working in the Early Years sector, my degree was also studying Early Years specifically. I am hugely passionate about my job and feel privileged to be a part of your child’s learning and development journey. I look forward to working in partnership with you. It is my intention to ensure your child thrives this year, and has a wonderful, memorable start to their school life!
In addition to being Reception teacher, this year I will be subject coordinator across school for Art and DT.
When I am not in school teaching, I really enjoy gardening and long walks in the countryside or by the coast with my family and friends. On Sundays I volunteer as a kid’s leader at my church.
Mrs Hogarth – HLTA
My name is Mrs. Hogarth and I am the Higher-Level Teaching Assistant in Reception. I work as part of the EYFS team to support the planning and implementation of the EYFS curriculum and to provide a safe and stimulating environment for all the children to learn and play in.
Since 2008 my role has evolved from working in Nursery to now being based in the Reception Class with Miss Smith. What I absolutely love about working with this age group is being able to share with the children all the things I enjoy doing with my family such as baking, gardening, exploring the outdoors and having fun!
Mrs Kirkbride – Enhanced Teaching Assistant
My name is Mrs Kirkbride and I am an enhanced teaching assistant in early years.
I love working with children, each day is different! I have been at St John’s almost two years and enjoyed every minute! I am excited to be on this journey with your child as they start their school life.
At home I am married with two beautiful children, Ryan and Scarlett and I love to spend my spare time on long walks at the coast with our dog Bella.
Reception Important Information
Mrs Richards (Reception Class Teacher) and Mrs Hogarth (HLTA) work full time in Reception, along with Mrs Kirkbride who supports children with additional needs.
Reading Books
Developing reading skills is fundamental to your child’s development and a huge part of their Reception journey! Children will receive a book every Friday to bring home and practise, as well as being able to access books and activities through Active Learn, with each child receiving a personal log-in. Additionally, staff will hear the children read throughout the week on a one-to-one basis. Children will also read to adults during other activities such as Guided Reading. The reading books that are sent home must be practised numerous times at home so that the children become confident young readers. Reading packets must be signed and returned to school every Thursday to be changed.
Homework
Throughout the year we ask parents to consolidate the skills being explored in the classroom such as children writing their own name, practising their counting, sharing books and developing their independence. Your child will also bring home lists of tricky words to practice recognition and spelling. From time to time we may send an additional piece of homework based around Knowledge and Understanding of the World.
PE Lessons
At the moment, Reception children will be completing all PE lessons every Friday in the hall. They will not need PE shoes until the Summer Term. We ask that your child brings their PE kit in a drawstring bag containing named white t-shirt and shorts. This will come home every half term to be washed and should be back at school on the first day back.
Additional Information
It would be extremely helpful if you could name your child’s uniform (especially the jumpers) in case they are misplaced throughout the school day. A spare clothes bag is not necessary for your child (unless a specific need has been discussed with staff), as we have limited storage space for this and have lots of spare clothes available to borrow if needed.
Your child should bring a named water bottle every day.
Please do not bring excess bags containing toys etc as we have limited space and belongings may get lost or damaged in school.
Finally, we look forward to getting to know you as we support your child together. If you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of the team.
Thank you for your continued support!
Mrs Richards, Mrs Hogarth and Mrs Kirkbride.
Reception Book Reviews
Reception have been reading The Billy Goats Gruff and have been reviewing the story.
Click on the link below to view the topics that will be taught this academic year.
Reception Curriculum Overview 2021-2022
Reception Newsletters
Reception News Summer 1 2022
Reception News Spring 2
Reception News Spring 1
What we have been learning about.
We have loved listening to ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ this week! During Literacy, we made WANTED posters to track down the giant. We drew super pictures and then used our phonics knowledge to write sentences to describe him or her.
Reception have had a fabulous PE lesson! They used the large apparatus safely and confidently- practising their balancing, jumping and climbing skills. They were superstars!
Reception have begun to learn about the Christian period of Lent. We especially enjoyed making pancakes today for ‘Shrove Tuesday’…they were delicious!
Reception have had lots of fun using chopsticks to eat a Chinese meal!
Reception have been learning about how different animals survive in the Winter months. We decided to make some bird feeders to give the birds a helping hand during this cold weather!
Virtual visit to The Oriental Museum
Reception wouldn’t let Covid get in the way of their school trip! The Oriental Museum had to cancel our trip so we decided we would have a virtual / imaginary trip! We travelled on a big bus and sang songs on the journey! We had a picnic lunch in the classroom, then enjoyed a range of Chinese New Year arts and crafts in our very own Oriental Museum! Before ‘coming home’ we enjoyed chatting to staff at the real museum in Durham and taking a look at some of their artifacts over a TEAMS call. We joined in with an interactive version of ‘The Great Race’ story, all about the Chinese Zodiac. We learnt that we are a mixture of roosters and dogs and that 2022 is the year of the Tiger!
Letters to Santa
Reception were working hard writing their letters to Santa last week. On Friday we excitedly posted them!
Indian food tasting experience -Diwali
We tried Pakora, onion Bhaji, samosa, poppadoms and mango chutney as part of our RE learning about the Hindu Festival of Light, Diwali.
Remember, Remember the Fifth of November!
We had our own safe bonfire in Reception. We listened to a story, sang songs, enjoyed hot dogs, chocolate sparklers and hot chocolate with marshmallows.
Visit from Bishop Auckland Fire Station
This week Reception have been learning about Guy Fawkes in preparation for Bonfire night. We were very lucky to have some very special visitors in from Bishop Auckland Fire Station. We were able to have a good look at the fire engine and learnt all about the very important job that firefighters do to help keep us all safe. We learnt how to keep safe around fireworks and what we should do if our clothes ever caught fire- STOP, DROP and ROLL!
Reception Newsletter
Reception News Autumn 1 – 2021
Home Learning
Information regarding home learning – updated 16/03/21
Reception’s virtual classroom is ready for use, you can find the link by accessing through Active Learn, or following the link Reception Virtual Classroom
Additional tasks have been added to Purple Mash. Keep checking as more tasks may be added throughout the week. You can also complete your own learning using Mini Mash. Remember to complete the games and books on Active Learn too.
Log in details for Purple Mash
Username – First name and first initial of surname, e.g. KateS
Password – 1234
Log in details for Active Learn
Username – First name and first initial of surname, e.g. KateS
Password – 12345
School Code – apxm
Please get in touch if you have any problems accessing your online learning.
Home Learning Link – https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQfKCsJWs8uP9psknfknJbdfUYQLi3WLQkuMqZ7ulklbUhhaOXOovm_e-XqqctOdiilAIRtu_G7Xd-X/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000
Other useful websites:
- Play online games to help with your counting skills – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years/counting
- Use the Cbeebies website and watch educational shows like Alphablocks https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/alphablocks and Numberblocks https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/numberblocks
- Phonics Play has a variety of free games for children to access to practise their sound recognition and blending https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
- Cosmic Kids Yoga – https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cosmic+kids+yoga
- Joe Wickes PE https://www.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEB&search_query=joe+wickes+pe
- Nursery Rhymes and Songs https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-a-to-z-index/z4ddgwx
Stay safe and we hope to see everyone soon.
