Duckling

Hello and welcome to delightful Duckling class! The children are taught by me, Mrs Polson, and are assisted in the classroom by the amazing Mrs Duggan.

In the Autumn term, start the school year with our fantastic first topic: ‘Marvellous Me!’ We’ll be exploring what makes us special, looking at how we've grown from tiny babies to amazing children, and creating our own fabulous self-portraits. We’ll also be discovering more about our homes, our local area, and the wonderful people in our community who help us every day.
After half term, it’s time to celebrate with our next topic: ‘Let’s Celebrate!’ From the sparkle of Bonfire Night and the colours of Diwali, to the reflection of Remembrance Day and the joy of birthdays, we’ll be learning about a range of celebrations. We’ll finish the term with lots of festive fun as we take part in magical Christmas activities!

In the Spring term, get ready to blast off with ‘Planet Earth and Beyond!’ We’ll travel the globe, learning about different countries, recognising their flags, locating them on a map, and exploring famous landmarks. We’ll make and taste delicious pizzas when we learn about Italy, and create stunning Kandinsky-inspired peacocks as we explore India.
Then it’s off to outer space! We’ll zoom through the solar system, learning about planets, astronauts and space exploration. There’s so much to discover in this out-of-this-world topic!

As the weather warms up, our Summer term theme is ‘Once Upon a Time…’ We dive into the magical world of traditional tales and much-loved stories. One of our favourites is If the Dinosaurs Came Back – where we let our imaginations run wild thinking about how dinosaurs could help in our everyday lives! We also explore the incredible life cycle of butterflies through The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and even get to watch real caterpillars transform and flutter off into the world.

Throughout the year in Duckling Class, children grow in confidence as they develop their speaking and listening skills. They’ll share news during show and tell, take part in class discussions and circle time, and learn to listen carefully and ask thoughtful questions.

Above all, we aim to make Duckling Class a joyful, nurturing and exciting place to be. Your child’s first year at Roecroft will be packed with fun, friendships, learning and unforgettable memories!

Daily Routine

Doors open at 8.35am for children to come into school. Children arrive on the playground and come into the classroom when their teacher comes out to greet them. They put their book bags, coats, water bottles and any other belongings away, complete their self registration and sit themselves on the carpet to answer the register and ready to start the day.

During the morning we have rolling snack where the children wash their hands, pour their own milk, help themselves to water and choose their snack. This is an opportunity for a social time with friends to sit, eat and chat together while developing independence, social and personal self-care skills. 

Children have access to the outdoor area throughout the day where they mix with friends in the other two reception classes. We have a large canopied area so children can be outside in all weathers as well as the large playground. 

Children go for their lunch in the dining room at 11.45am until 1pm with their lunchtime supervisor. Parents pre-order children's lunches online and they select their name on the computer screen before being served their lunch. Children then sit with their friends to eat their school dinner as well as the children having packed lunch. Then when they are finished the children go outside.

School finishes at 3.20pm and parents wait on the playground for the children to be sent out, one at a time, when a designated person is there to collect them.

Curriculum 

Please click on the link below for curriculum information for the current academic year. This has details on the topics we will cover. 

Reception Curriculum Overview 2025-26

Phonics

Through the ‘read-write-inc’ phonics scheme we use at Roecroft we will begin to learn the set 1 sounds. Children always enjoy learning the different sounds and the rhymes used for handwriting. All children will have a phonics booklet sent home with the sounds of the set they are learning. When your child moves onto a new sound set, a new booklet will be sent home for you to practise with them. In the Spring Term, children are streamed into small phonics teaching groups where they are with other children working on very specific targets the same as them which helps to accelerate their progress further. Children really enjoy their phonics sessions and, learning the handwriting rhymes, meeting ‘Fred the Frog’ who helps to sound out words and blend words with our partners and trying our best to be ‘star of the session’. Children always make some fabulous progress and become more confident every day, but practicing at home will always support this. 

PE

PE day for Ducklings is on a Friday and children will need to come in to school wearing their PE kits on Thursday every week. They will always need their PE shorts on underneath their jogging bottoms even when the weather is colder, as our PE sessions are inside during the Autumn and Spring Terms. In Summer Term we move our PE sessions to outside so please ensure your child has appropriate PE kit on for the weather, including trainers.

Reading, Green Words and Red Words

Your child’s reading book will be changed twice a week, but please ensure that their reading book and reading record is stored in their book-bag and comes to school every day. Please ensure your child’s reading record is signed once you have listened to them read at home so we can ensure their book is changed. It is important to listen to your child read as regularly as possible to develop these early reading skills, so please don’t simply read the story to your child and ask them to repeat it back to you, or just tell them what the words say. It is very important they are the ones sounding out and blending the words to read, therefore developing their decoding skills. Comprehension cards have been sent home with questions for you to ask your child when they are reading. This is very important alongside their reading skills to ensure they understand the context of the books. In Duckling class, we change our reading books on Mondays and Fridays. 

Over the Autumn Term there are also a selection of green key words that are sent home. These are perfect for keeping in a little tin or pencil case and using and practising regularly to develop blending and sight reading. All of these green words are words in which your child can sound out and blend together, for example, ‘d-o-g, dog’ ‘p-a-t, pat’ or ‘th-i-nk, think.’ Please ensure you practise these with your child as frequently as possible alongside their reading to develop these important early literacy skills. Once your child is confident with them, so they can sound them out independently, cut off the sound buttons and children can then read them on sight, without sounding them out. This will help to develop their reading fluency and is an important skill to learn. Children can also work on writing these words independently, sounding them out accurately and using them in sentences. As we work our way through the ‘read-write-inc’ phonics scheme that we use at Roecroft, you will notice more of these words being sent home for your child to practise.

Finally, children will also have ‘red words’ which are words children have to learn by sight that cannot be sounded out, for example ‘was’ ‘I’ ‘you’ ‘the’ ‘said.’ Please practice these at home regularly as this will also help to develop your child’s fluency when reading and they can also apply this knowledge to their writing. We test these in school on a regular basis, and the next set will be sent home to learn once the previous set have been confidently learnt. 

Homework - Doodle Maths

Your child will have a log in to the 'Doodle Maths' app which can be accessed on tablet computers, phones, laptops and PC's. Children can earn stars in a virtual world to build their own avatar. Children should complete their daily questions as well as playing the other maths games and activities available to them. Teachers will monitor children's progress and award a 'Homeworker of the Week' for those children who are consistently answering questions and earning stars on a daily basis.