Welcome to Reception !!
Please scroll down below to see links and information which we hope you will find useful to help your child make a smooth and happy transition into school in September and beyond!
Teaching Team: 2025-2026
Class Teacher: Mrs Clarke
Teaching Assistants: Mrs Warne, Mrs Kingman, Miss Jones, Miss Karusta, Miss Chapman
Higher Level Teaching Assistant: Mrs Kennedy (Wednesdays from mid morning)
EYFS Curriculum
Further information about the EYFS Curriculum and School Policies can be found in the 'Curriculum' area of our website. Please click here to view this page.
Please see below for a copy of the Early Learning Goals the children are working towards achieving by the end of the year, alongside the Characteristics of Effective Learning, which are encouraged to help guide how children approach their learning and develop their skills.
Current Topics and Activities
Further information about current topics and activities can be found on our '2024-2025 Class Page'. Please click here to view our current 'Topic Overview' and examples of activities and what we have been learning so far this year.
Timetable
An example timetable of our day can be found below.
N.B. This is the type of timetable we are aiming towards once the children are fully settled and all elements of the curriculum have been introduced. We are however very adaptable / flexible in Reception so if a particular activity takes longer than anticipated / the children develop a fascination for something outside of the timetable which may be of interest to all, timings and activity content may vary slightly from day to day.
Information for Parents
Please find below links to documents which have been shared via our Reception Pack or during our Parents' Presentations.
Additional Resources
To support you in gaining a little more information about Great and Little Shelford we have placed several videos and links on our Admissions page here. It contains:
- A virtual tour by a previous Head Girl and Head Boy
- Previous Reception pupils’ favourite parts of Reception
- 'A Day in the Life of Reception' video
If you are looking for further details:
- Information about how to ordering uniform can be found on one of our parent pages.
- You can also discover what is going on across the school in our Weekly Newsletters
- A section of the website explores our vision in more detail, including information about how we developed it.
- Details about our Collective Worship sessions can be found within information about our school and examples of our Church Services held throughout the year can be viewed in a section dedicated to showing how we kept learning alive during Covid 19.
- More information about the Curriculum at Shelford can be found in our Curriculum and Enrichment section, including details about our curriculum development in 2020
- If you wish to find out more about a specific year or class, you can view our Class Pages.
Getting Ready for School
Please find below a series of resources which you may also find useful to look at when preparing your child for school. The following websites are also useful to look at.
https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/toddler/learning-to-talk/learning-to-talk-3-to-5-years/
PACEY_preparingforschool_guide.pdf
Ready to Start School Booklet.pdf
Help_Me_Learn_parent_leaflet (2).pdf
Activities to practise at home
Ideas of activities to practise at home over the summer can be found below.
Supporting your child further: Developing Independence
We strongly promote developing children’s independence over the year – It helps to increase self-esteem and a positive self-image. You could support this development at home by:
- encouraging them to carry their own things to the classroom in the morning
- talking to your child about what they would like for lunch so they are able to tell an adult once inside the classroom
- selecting clothes for your child which are easy for them to put on and take off. N.B. Named clothing helps your child to recognise their name and belongings
- practise putting coats / jumpers on and off (encouraging self-regulation as to when they are hot / cold)
- letting your child have a go on their own first!
Starting school is often an emotional time for children as they meet new people and come across new challenges and situations. We encourage you to support your child in talking about and labelling their feelings throughout their journey in order to make sense of their emotions and how to deal with them.
Getting Ready for Change – Reception Year
Starting school or education is a wonderful and exciting time. To help families prepare for this transition (change), local NHS healthcare professionals have created an online health questionnaire that can be your ‘Getting Ready for Change’ checklist. This is for all children who will be reception aged.
It covers lots of points from hearing and eyesight through to emotional health and behaviour. It also provides links to approved information and support.
You can access the questionnaire by using this link: https://portal.cambspborocyphs.nhs.uk/GRfC/Reception
If you have any questions, you can contact the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Healthy Child Programme. Call on 0300 029 50 50 or text 07520 649 887
Communication and Information
Non-urgent questions can be sent directly to the class teachers at reception@shelford.cambs.sch.uk
All urgent information is to be sent to the office at office@shelford.cambs.sch.uk
PTA / Class Reps
- Further details about school life throughout the year can be found here.
- We would encourage you to make yourself known to the class reps (once elected) to ensure you can keep up to date with all information shared.
- A member of the PTA will be available at our Teddy Bears' Picnic in September to support you in signing up to Classlist (a community app that helps schools and parents connect, collaborate and celebrate together) if you haven't done so already. https://www.classlist.com/