Reception (Tugs)

Dear Parents/Carers, 

Welcome to the Tugs class! 

This letter contains some important information for the start of the year. 

Book bags  

Books will be changed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so please make sure your child brings their book bag on that day. Their reading books should be signed whenever you read with them and at least 3 times a week. On Mondays and Wednesday, the book they bring home will be a Floppy’s Phonics stage book but on Friday’s your child will be able to choose any book from the book corner to read. This may mean it is easier to read or more difficult to read (in which case you can read it with them).  

PE kits 

We will be doing PE every Wednesday morning so please send your child to school dressed in a school appropriate PE kit. This should be in line with the school colours with no brands or characters. PE lessons will be outside so please ensure your child is wearing appropriate footwear, e.g. trainers, and is dressed for the weather. We will not be changing out of our PE kit at first, but please encourage your child to practise dressing themselves at home, so that they are ready when we do start to change in school. 

Water bottles 

Please send your child to school with a water bottle every day. 

Outdoor Learning  

We love learning outdoors in Reception and will be making the most of our outdoor space whatever the weather! Please send your child in with wellies and a waterproof coat for our outdoor learning sessions. These can be brought in on the day, or you may find it useful to leave a spare set in school, so that if the weather suddenly changes, we can still get outside and enjoy learning and exploring. Your child should still come with their normal school shoes for indoor learning.  Please make sure all wet clothing and wellies are clearly labelled. 

Topics 

Phonics 

Learning to read is one of the most important skills that your child will develop over the next few years. The more support and encouragement that you can offer your child, the more likely it is that he or she will make good progress. At school we are using the Oxford Reading Tree series to take your child through the early stages of learning to read. We are using the Floppy’s Phonics teaching programme, which is a step-by-step phonics reading scheme. It introduces the children to the letters and sounds (the alphabetic code) that are at the foundation of all reading and writing. You can access Floppy Phonics at home by following the steps below. We will be starting on Book 1. 

1. Go to www.oxfordowl.co.uk 

1. Click on the ‘Log in’ link (top right). 

1. 3. Type in the class name and password and click ‘Log in’. 

Username: tugs 

Password: riverside 

Finally, please ensure all clothing, bags and bottles are clearly labelled.   

Thank you, 

Lucy & Rose (Class Teachers)