Lionel Primary School
Working together to provide an educational environment that inspires, challenges and nurtures each child.
Reception
Welcome to the Reception Year Group Web Page
New Reception Starters September 2025 Information
Orange and Cherry Classes 2025-2026
Members of Staff:
Mrs Hicks
(EYFS Lead & PPA Cover Teacher)
Cherry Class
Miss Caven Miss Williams
Orange Class
Mrs Fourie Mrs Brown
General Information About Reception
We hope you have all had a wonderful summer holiday and that you are looking forward to starting in Reception! We understand that many parents and carers may be feeling a little unsure about their little one starting on their school journey, but please let us reassure you that they will quickly settle. This year will be filled with many exciting new learning opportunities and you will be amazed at the amount of progress your child will make.
Here is a little information about your child starting school.
Daily Routine
We operate a 'soft start' to school in the morning, which means that you can drop your child off at their classroom door any time between 8.50am and 9.00am. Teachers or teaching assistants will meet the children at the door from 8.50am where they will say goodbye to their parents or carers, and hang up their own coats and bags in the cloakroom. We will only bring a few children into the cloakroom at a time to avoid overcrowding. Parents must stay and supervise their children outside until greeted by staff. We thank you for your patience in the mornings whilst we get everybody in happily and safely.
The register is taken at 9.00am promptly and the gate to the Reception garden will be locked at this time. We begin our learning straight away at 9.00am so please ensure that you arrive before this time. If the children are late they miss vital information and learning time. If the gate is closed, please take them to the school office to be signed in. We are unable to open the gate after this time.
School finishes at 3.30pm. Please wait in the Reception garden outside your child’s classroom door to collect your child. We thank you in advance for your patience at this time to make sure that each child is collected safely.
What your child needs
Each day, please send your child in with:
- a named water bottle (no fizzy drinks)
- a named bag to keep their belongings in on their peg
- a named Lionel School Book Bag to keep any reading books in
- a named waterproof coat so that they can access our outdoor learning area whatever the weather
- a small healthy snack (no nuts, sweets or chocolate please)
- a spare set of clothes (underwear, tights, socks, trousers, leggings etc) in your child’s school bag each day in case of any accidents.
Please make sure that ALL of their uniform and belongings are clearly labelled so that we can reunite lost items with their owners!
Lunches
From Thursday, 11th – Friday, 19th September, please send a packed lunch in a named lunch bag for your child to ease their transition into school.
From Monday, 22nd September, your child will be able to choose to have a free school lunch or bring their own packed lunch from home. This can be ordered each morning from the class teacher on the door. The menu is available on the school website. Please take a look at this with your child before school to help them decide what to order.
Snacktimes
The children will be able to have a piece of fruit provided by the school. They will also be able to have some milk to drink if they have signed up for this via the Cool Milk website (link below). Please also send in a small healthy snack for your child to enjoy as we find that they get very hungry by mid afternoon!
https://coolmilk.com/parents/
Curriculum Information
In Reception, we follow a child-led curriculum. Each half term is planned around a theme which we then adapt based on the children’s needs and interests. This half term’s theme is ‘Magical Me’ and we will spend time getting to know each other. The children have a chance to talk about themselves and their families. Each week there will be a different focus including ‘Who lives in our House?’, ‘What are the different parts of our body called?’, ‘People who help us’, ‘What do we use our senses for?’ and ‘Healthy Eating’.
Please could you send in a photo of your family so that your child can share it with their class in their first few days at school. This can be a hard copy, uploaded to Tapestry, or emailed to eyfs@lionel.hounslow.sch.uk.
The link to the curriculum overview for parents for our ‘Magical Me’ topic can be found below. It contains information on what the children will be learning this half term, including any key vocabulary, along with ideas and activities to support at home. This curriculum overview will also be emailed to all families.
In Phonics in Reception, we follow Ruth Miskin’s Read Write Inc Scheme. In class the children will learn new sounds daily and will begin to learn to blend these sounds to make words. Further information about our phonics learning will be shared with you in our Reception Curriculum Meeting for parents on Thursday, 9th October.
In Maths in Reception, we follow the White Rose Maths scheme. This scheme fosters a mastery of basic maths skills during the early years phase to build the important initial building blocks of maths knowledge and skills. Again, we will explain our maths curriculum in more detail at the Reception Curriculum Meeting on Thursday, 9th October.
Other Key Information
Reception Curriculum Meeting for Parents – This will be held on Thursday, 9th October at 9.05am in the Junior Hall.
Tapestry – Please ensure that you have activated your child’s Tapestry account. This is your child’s online learning journey and we will be adding photos, videos and observations of what your child has been learning at school, as well as lots of other important information. An activation email has been sent to your email address. This often goes to junk email inboxes so please check there. If you have any issues with activating your account then email us at eyfs@lionel.hounslow.sch.uk and we can help you. A guide to using Tapestry and how to add your own observations is available below.
PE kits will not be required until January 2026. The children do not get changed for PE lessons during the Autumn term.
Reading books will be issued to your child and sent home at the end of this half term. Further information about this will be shared with you during the Reception Curriculum meeting.
Cooking money – In Reception, the children regularly take part in cooking and creating activities. We ask parents/carers for a donation of £2.00 per child each term to cover the cost of ingredients and other resources needed for these activities. Please could give the £2.00 to your child’s class teacher.
Weekly Reception Newsletter – This will be emailed and added to Tapestry every Friday with information about what the children have been learning that week, what is coming up next, and any important dates or other information..
Discussions with your child’s teacher
We operate an open-door policy and are always available for a quick chat at the beginning and end of the day. If you would like a longer appointment, then please email us with any questions or queries and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Our email address is:
Thank you in advance for all of your support, and we look forward to a fantastic year!
The Reception Team
Reception Curriculum Information
RWInc Parent Information
Other Useful Resources