Welcome to Koala Class!

Welcome to Reception at King’s Park Infant School. Our class is called Koala Class.

Our Class Teacher in Koala Class is Miss Kemble and she is supported by Mrs Cowling, Miss Adams and Mrs Hancill.
In reception we learn through play and are encouraged to explore, investigate and question the world around us. We base all our learning around our 5 Learning Powers which aim at making us all well-accomplished learners. These are:

Resilient Ranger

Co-operation Cop

Creative Crusader

Inspector Independent

Captain Curiosity

Forest School

Every other week the children get the chance to do Forest School with Mr F! We will begin this after half term!

Outdoor Learning

This is a key area for children to learn in. We have an outdoor area which is an extension of our classroom that magnifies what is indoors. Children have the opportunity to explore outside every day whatever the weather. They will engage in a range of key areas including a mud kitchen, water play, large construction toys, a stage to preform, reading/drawing shed, obstacle course and more!

Maths

We follow Mastering Number which aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children. The aim over time is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. We also follow White Rose for other areas of Maths such as shape, measure and time.

PE

In PE we follow a scheme of work delivered by the teacher (Val Sabin), this focuses on the social, personal and cognitive aspects and allows children to work on personal goals and build resilience.

Learning Through Play

The children learn through play both indoors and out, using a ‘continuous provision’ approach. This provides them with the freedom to explore in a constant, safe and familiar environment but it also challenges them with new opportunities for learning within that environment. New enhancements are introduced each week often based around the topic we are learning or around children’s interests. We celebrate the learning powers during play encouraging children to become independent, resilient, creative, curious and cooperative learners.

In the afternoons, we explore lots of different subjects including Science, Music, Computing, RHE and PATHS (see our subject pages for more information.) History, Geography, Art and DT are explored in our Topic lessons where children’s curiosity is ignited through our topic questions. Here are some snapshots of our learning!

Drawing Club

In reception children take part in Drawing Club as part of their English/topic lessons. Drawing Club immerses children into a world full of imagination and opens up the magic world of tales and stories to children whilst at the same time enriching their language skills and developing their fine motor skills. Children’s creative streaks are enhanced as well as their ability to share ideas and skills. It provides an age-appropriate approach that is highly engaging.

During Drawing Club we have a focus story or animation. During the session children learn exciting vocabulary linked to the story or animation in a contextual way through actions. They then draw a character, setting or event giving them the opportunity to adapt and invent their own ideas and deepen their understanding of the story! One of the most exciting parts of Drawing Club is adding secret symbols and passwords to our drawings this can make anything happen! At the start of reception, children may just add one or two sounds they have learnt so far in Phonics. This will then progress as their Phonics knowledge does to adding words, phrases and then writing sentences. Drawing Club shows children that the pencil is like a wand and can make all kinds of things happen to what we draw together. It helps promote a love for writing and gives children a purpose to pick up the pencil!