Reception 2017-18
| Parents often ask us for suggested books for their children to read so we have put together a list of fiction and non-fiction books which are recommended for children in Nursery and Reception. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but represents a range of books suitable for your child. Please do take your child to borrow books from the local library. (They can take TEN books out, for free!) Please also encourage your child to read as often as it will impact hugely on their writing ability and general learning. | ||
| Title | Author | Topic/Theme |
| Elmer And The Wind (Paperback) | David McKee | Weather |
| Elmer (Paperback) | David McKee | Animals Colours |
| Maisy’s Wonderful Weather Book (Maisy Books) (Hardcover) | Lucy Cousins | Weather |
| Each peach, pear plum | Janet and Allan Ahlberg | Rhyme |
| There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly + CD (Paperback) | Pam Adams | Animals |
| The Wheels on the Bus (Paperback) | Annie Kubler | Transport |
| You Can Be My Friend (Charlie & Lola) (Paperback) | Lauren Child | Feelings |
| I Can Do Anything That’s Everything All on My Own (Charlie & Lola) (Paperback) | Lauren Child | Feelings |
| Ruby’s Rainy Day (Max and Ruby) (Board book) | Rosemary Wells | Weather |
| One Snowy Night (Tales from Percy’s Park) (Paperback) | Nick Butterworth | Weather |
| After the Storm (Tales from Percy’s Park) (Paperback) | Nick Butterworth | Weather |
| The Incredible Book Eating Boy (Book & CD) (Paperback) | Oliver Jeffers | Food |
| Funny bones | Janet and Allan Ahlberg | Our body |
| Kipper’s Rainy Day (Paperback) | Mick Inkpen | Weather |
| Little Polar Bear | Hans de Beer | Weather Animals |
| Rainbow Fish: Big Book (Big Books) (Paperback) | Marcus Pfister | Animals Colours |
| The Rumble in the Jungle: Pop-up Book (Hardcover) | Giles Andreae | Animals |
| Harry and the dinosaurs: Go to school | Ian Whybrow, Adrian Reynolds: | Starting school |
| Cock-a-doodle-doo! Farmyard Hullabaloo! | Giles Andreae | Farm Animals |
| One Warm Fox | Nick Butterworth | Weather Seasons |
| I Absolutely Must Do Colouring-in Now (Charlie and Lola) (Paperback) | Lauren Child | Feelings |
| Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (Paperback) | Eric Carle | Animals |
| The Jolly postman | Janet and Allan Ahlberg | Traditional tales |
| The rainbow fish | Marcus Pfister. | The sea/feelings |
| The Mixed-up Chameleon (Picture Puffin) (Paperback) | Eric Carle | Animals Colours |
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Giant Board Book) | Eric Carle | Food |
| The Tiny Seed (Picture Puffin) (Paperback) | Eric Carle | Plants |
| From Head to Toe (Picture Puffin) (Paperback) | Eric Carle | Body Senses |
| The Bad-tempered Ladybird (Paperback) | Eric Carle | Feelings |
| Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (Paperback) | Eric Carle | Animals |
| Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Paperback) | Eric Carle | Animals Colours |
| The Snowman (Picture Puffin) (Paperback) | Raymond Briggs | Weather |
| Rosie’s Walk | Pat Hutchins | Farm Animals |
| Man on the Moon: A Day in the Life of Bob (Book & CD) (Paperback) | Simon Bartram | Transport |
| Cuddly Dudley | Jez Alborough | Weather Animals |
| We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Paperback) | Michael Rosen | Bears |
| This is the Bear (Big Books) (Paperback) | Sarah Hayes | Bears |
| Emma’s lamb | Kim Lewis | Farm Animals |
| Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear (Paperback) | Martin Waddell | Bears |
| Handa’s Surprise: Big Book (Big Books) (Paperback) | Eileen Browne | Food Culture |
| The Train Ride: Big Book (Big Books) (Hardcover) | June Grebbin | Transport |
Non-fiction books
| Friends | Kim Lewis | Feelings |
| Open wide! My first trip to the dentist | Jan Green | Community |
| Firefighters | Claire Oliver | Community |
| My day | Henry Pluckrose | Day and night |
| Time to get up | Gill Mclean | Day & Night |
| Emergency! | Margaret Mayo & Alex Ayliffe | Community |
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Welcome to Reception – Autumn 1
Dear Parents,
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new families to Reception. During this term the children will be learning about ‘Myself and Our World’. This will involve talking about ourselves and our families. As we are a compassionate school, we will also be looking at our environment and we will be learning about what we can do to care for our planet. We aim to show compassion to each other and our world.
In Literacy we will be reading and enjoying many books during story times. If your child has a favourite story or book, please let us know! Once they have settled at school your child will receive a book bag which they are expected to bring to class every day. Please take the opportunity to read with your child every evening and to share comments with us in their reading diary. Your child will be learning new sounds every week during their phonics lessons and we encourage you to practise recognising and writing these sounds with them at home.
We will be learning Maths through stories and through early mathematical experiences, which will incorporate number recognition, counting, matching numerals to quantities and ordering objects according to length or height. You can help your child by identifying numbers in the environment and counting to at least 20 together when you are out and about. Also, you can talk about what shapes and patterns you can see around you. Go on a shape hunt on the way to school!
We always love to hear about what you enjoy doing at home with your children. Please share your experiences with school and bring in any models or photos of the activities you do together.
Please remember your child must wear school uniform every day.
Please make sure you label all your child’s clothes (including PE kit) with their name and class.
Our uniform is: A red jumper or cardigan.
A white shirt or white polo shirt
Black trousers or skirt
Sensible black shoes.
Hijabs should be black, white, navy blue or red. No pins – use slides to hold them in place.
If you would like a Park Hill badged jumper they are available from the School Office.
Please make sure your child has PE kit in school at all times as physical development is a prime area within our curriculum. PE kit is a plain white t shirt, black shorts or leggings with black PE pumps. Please provide these in a named PE bag.
Every Reception child is entitled to a free school meal and we’d encourage every family to make the most of this opportunity. If you want your child to have milk, this costs £1.10 a week in a named envelope and must be paid on a Monday. It can also be paid at the office on a weekly or termly basis.
In order to keep you updated about school events, we have a weekly newsletter distributed on Wednesday. This information is also on the school website – www.parkhill.bham.sch.uk.
Please ensure that your child is here every day and on time at 8:50am so they do not miss out on any learning. Each child who has achieved 100% attendance for each week might win the opportunity to take Jofli Bear home for the weekend and the class with the best attendance during the half term will also get a prize.
You may be interested in our Breakfast Club which runs from 8am every morning. For details see the School Office. If you would like to know about after school care from St Paul’s, please contact them on 0121 464 1888.
Many thanks,
The Reception team
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Dear Parents,
It has been a fantastic start to this half term, with everyone settling back into school life very well.
In Literacy this half term we will be continuing to look at ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and we will also be looking at the traditional story, ‘Little Red Hen’, focusing on the children’s ability to retell a story in full sentences and answer questions relating to the story.
In Maths we will be focusing on the language of ‘more’ and ‘fewer’ to compare two sets of objects, saying a number one more than a given number and saying a number one more or one less from a group of up to five objects. Recognising numerals and matching them to the correct quantity will also be a focus for each class.
Our topic is Ourselves and Our World. We will be focusing on how we keep ourselves healthy.
This term the children will also continue to attend some assemblies to increase their awareness of and involvement in school life.
We will be holding a Maths Inspire Workshop on Thursday 7th December at 9am for parents to come and work alongside their child.
Please do remember it is very important for your child to bring their book bag to school every day. This is so we are able to change their reading books and read with your child as often as possible as well as start or continue a dialogue with you when needed.
We will be sending homework home with your child on a weekly basis; please take the time to do the weekly homework with your children and return it every Monday. This will also give you insight to the phonics your child has been learning throughout the week – you can look for these letters in books you read together and your child can tell you the sound the letter makes.
Please do remember how important it is for your child to come to school every day and on time so they do not miss any of the exciting learning activities we plan for them! If your child comes to school every day for a week, they have the opportunity to bring home the attendance bear to take care of and enjoy over a weekend. Please take photos and write in his diary so the whole class can share the joy.
Look out for news about Children in Need in the Wednesday letter!
Many thanks,
The Reception team
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