Reception
We are excited to welcome you to the Yew Tree family and we are really looking forward to working with you and your child this year. We have lots of exciting activities planned for the busy year ahead, and cannot wait to share these experiences with the children. We really value your support and the role you play in your child’s education, so if you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of staff.
Meet the Reception Team
We're really lucky to have such a supportive, friendly team in the Early Years.
The staff that will be supporting your child in their learning journey this year are:
Teaching Staff:
RA - Ms. Horsley
RB - Ms. Hall
RC - Mr. Day
Support Staff:
Ms. Galloway, Ms. Grice, Ms. Henden and Ms. Isaac.
Other Staff:
Early Years Lead: Ms. Fry.
PPA Cover (Monday Afternoon): Ms. Ditchfield, Ms. Wilkes and Ms. Walker-Laver.
PE Days
PE will take place ONCE A WEEK for Reception children.
RA - MONDAY
RB - TUESDAY
RC - WEDNESDAY
Children are required to wear a PE kit in Reception.
Please bring PE kit in a labelled bag to leave in school for the half-term.
Please click here to see the clothing uniform policy for more information.
Forest School
Forest School will take place ONCE A WEEK for Reception children.
RA - THURSDAY
RB - THURSDAY
RC - TUESDAY
Children are required to attend school on their Forest School day in uniform and bring outdoor clothing and footwear in a labelled bag. For more information about Forest School at Yew Tree, please click here.
Curriculum Information
All of the work we do in Reception goes towards developing your child in the 7 key areas of learning; Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Physical Development, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design.
All of our work in these areas will be documented by photographs, videos, mark making, artwork and other pieces of evidence on Tapestry in Online Learning Journals. You can find more information about Tapestry below. Your child will work in small groups each day completing guided maths and writing activities, as well as a daily phonics session to develop their reading and listening skills. These activities will develop key skills for your child, as well as being fun and interesting to engage them with their learning.
We also follow a 'creative curriculum', which is a thematic approach to delivering aspects of the curriculum. All of our topics provide lots of stimulating activities for your child to choose and explore.
Our Topic
Our current topics are "Creep, Crawl and Wriggle" and "Animal Safari".
Head over to our school Twitter(X) page where you will find exciting photographs of our learning. Click here to access our school Twitter(X) page. Learning will also be shared on your child's Tapestry account.
Creep, Crawl and Wriggle
In this project, the children will learn about minibeasts. They will observe minibeasts in their natural habitats and create shelters for them to live in. They will learn about the life cycle of a butterfly and explore what minibeasts, such as snails and worms, need to survive. They will compare the features of minibeasts and learn the names of their body parts.
Animal Safari
In this project, the children will learn about incredible animals that live worldwide. They will explore various animal habitats and compare the animals that live there with animals in their locality. They will learn how to care for pets and what all animals need to grow, survive and stay happy and healthy. They will explore animal features and find out how they survive in the wild. They will compare the ways that animals are similar and different.
Phonics
At Yew Tree children are taught phonics using the Sounds Write phonics scheme. The children are taught sounds in unit chunks which correspond to the reading books they will bring home. Phonics sessions are comprised of different elements which include: symbol search, word building, word reading, sound swap and sentence reading. Below are some resources that will give you an understanding of how phonics is taught at Yew Tree.
Tapestry is a secure Online Learning Journal to record photographs, videos, observations and comments, in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, to build up a record of your child’s experiences during their time with us. This system allows us to work with parents and carers to share information and record the children’s play and learning in and outside of the classroom.
Click here to view the Tapestry Agreement letter.
Click here to redirect to the Tapestry webpage.
If you do not yet have access to your Tapestry account, please speak to your child's class teacher.
Contact
Yew Tree Primary School
Birchfield Way
Yew Tree Estate
Walsall
West Midlands
WS5 4DX
Tel: 01922 626926
We also use Class Dojo to communicate relevant information.
If you do not yet have access to Class Dojo, please speak to your child's class teacher.