Welcome to Walnut Class

Reception Class & Year 1

Class Teacher: Ben Mali

Learning Journey

What will we discover on our adventures together? This Learning Journey we will be exploring the magic of the world around us by going on story journeys, making maps, and learning about the natural and human elements of our playground. This will lead to us redesigning our sensory garden to create a forest of stories, which we will work together to create through the year with the support of families and our school community. 

PE Days

Our PE day is Friday. Children are to arrive at school dressed in their PE kit on this day.

Outdoor Learning

Lots of our learning happens outdoors, so please ensure children have their wellies and a waterproof coat in school each day. On Wednesdays we will spend the whole afternoon outside, so please ensure children arrive at school wearing clothing suitable for being outdoors. 

Phonics

Reception

Our reception children take part in phonics lessons every day, where we are learning to recognise, sound out and write Set 1 sounds. The best way to support your child with their reading and writing at home is to encourage them to practice what they have been learning, and to ensure you are reading to your child at home every day. We have a wonderful reading corner in class and children will be choosing books every Friday to take home and read with their families.

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Year 1

Children take part in phonics lessons every day. Our year 1 children read their story books three times at school and then take a similar book home to read. This helps to develop their confidence and fluency as well as encouraging them to focus more on their comprehension, punctuation and expression.

Year 1's homework is to read this book daily in order to practice these skills. All children are expected to read for at least 10 minutes and families are asked to keep a log of their reading in their Reading Record. 

Children need to have their reading book and reading record in school every day. This is changed each Friday, and children also have the option of choosing a book from our reading corner which can be changed on any day.

You can access further resources and books suited to your child’s reading level below.

Maths 

In Walnut Class our reception children are focusing on our sense of numbers by counting in different ways through songs, activities and continuous provision. Our year 1 children are developing their number sense up to 20 with targeted teaching in small groups.