Reception, it's a funny old term, rather like a waiting room, a foyer, or a gathering place before the main event. The main event here being the start of Key Stage One and school life. Reception has in many ways been seen as a 'holding pen', a preparation for 'school readiness' rather than a stage and age in its own right. Neil Farmer draws upon his experience of working with and supporting schools and leaders up and down the country and abroad – in many instances going right back to the basics – and putting forward suggestions and strategies that will assist teachers in gaining an ownership of their classroom and a true understanding of their vital role as a facilitator, mediator and coach. It is not a 'one cap fits all solution', but rather some practical tips that Reception teachers may decide to employ, alter and make their own.

Girls are continuing to out perform boys in every aspect of the EYFS. Even in physical and creative development, areas where boys should feel competent and confident, girls are making greater progress. The education establishment has to respond and help boys realise their true potential or we run the very real risk of producing a generation of disaffected boys unable to assimilate new skills and knowledge, to empathise, to see themselves as capable and creative or to think imaginatively. This book by Neil Farmer, a highly respected and experienced early years consultant, will appeal to all practitioners and parents who are interested in how boys develop and how they give them the best possible start in life!

Reception, it's a funny old term, rather like a waiting room, a foyer, or a gathering place before the main event. The main event here being the start of Key Stage One and school life. Reception has in many ways been seen as a 'holding pen', a preparation for 'school readiness' rather than a stage and age in its own right. Neil Farmer draws upon his experience of working with and supporting schools and leaders up and down the country and abroad – in many instances going right back to the basics – and putting forward suggestions and strategies that will assist teachers in gaining an ownership of their classroom and a true understanding of their vital role as a facilitator, mediator and coach. It is not a 'one cap fits all solution', but rather some practical tips that Reception teachers may decide to employ, alter and make their own.

Children learn best when they follow their own interests. They have a natural desire to explore, communicate, create and learn. Anna Ephgrave has developed her practice to ensure this is possible. Children thrive when a setting is organised and managed by the adults, but led by the children. They learn and develop if they are in a stimulating environment which is carefully organised and when observations are used to support their "next steps". They take risks and surpass expectations when they have clear routines and boundaries, combined with a supportive staff and an enabling environment. The Reception Year in Action offers a unique insight into the workings of a highly successful reception class as it progresses through a complete academic year. Covering all aspects of working with young children, the book clearly explains how the classroom and garden are organised and the boundaries that are in place to keep children safe, happy and free to explore and learn. It then sets out the examples of learning and development that occurred during each month, as well as any surprises, activities and examples of "next steps" that came about as a result of events. At each stage Anna Ephgrave gives the reason behind the decisions and shows what the outcomes have been for the children. Key features include: explanation of a system of spontaneous planning detailed advice on how to use different environments to support play and learning guidance on the role of the adult and working with parents ways to support children’s individual interests, cirumstances and talents including those with special needs and English as an additional language photocopiable pages of planning sheets, record keeping sheets, sample letters to parents and role play resources over 150 full-colour photographs to illustrate practice list of resources and materials examples of recorded observations and planning for next steps foreword by Helen Bilton. This book aims to inspire teachers by giving them the practical ideas, and evidence of success, to work in a way that is rewarding, manageable and, above all, best for the children in their care.

A broad survey on how audiences make meaning out of mass media Media Reception Studies broadly surveys the past century of scholarship on the ways in which audiences make meaning out of mass media. It synthesizes in plain language social scientific, linguistic, and cultural studies approaches to film and television as communication media. Janet Staiger traverses a broad terrain, covering the Chicago School, early psychological approaches, Soviet theory, the Frankfurt School, mass communication research and critical theory, linguistics and semiotic theory, social-psychoanalytical research, cognitive psychology, and cultural studies. She offers these theories as a set of tools for understanding the complex relationships between films and their audiences, TV shows and their viewers. She explains such questions as the behavior of fans; the implications of gender, sexuality, and race/ethnicity with regard to the media; the effect of violence, horror, and sexually explicit images on viewers; and the place of memory in spectatorship. Providing an organized and lucid introduction to a staggering amount of work, Media Reception Studies is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding the effects of mass media.

A London hairdresser’s life begins to change dramatically when he meets two very different women at a party in this delightful social comedy. Thirty-one-year-old Gavin Lamb is a shy hairdresser in London’s West End. Self-educated, he likes Mozart and can quote Tolstoy, but being something of a late bloomer, he still lives at home with his parents. Although he’s a master of the styling chair, he simply can’t work out how to be around women—not least his own mother. And the misguided efforts of his best friend, Harry King, don’t do much to assuage Gavin’s unfulfilled dreams of love. One night, he reluctantly attends a party where the hostess, Joan, is a grotesque vision in an orange wig and silver lamé. Joan is rich and married, and Gavin soon finds himself opening up to her. That same night, he meets Minerva Munday, who’s taking a nap on one of the guest beds. Minerva crashed the party and claims to hail from a royal bloodline. Both Joan and Minerva—polar opposites—will transform Gavin’s life in ways a lot more exciting than his nightly fantasies. But true love continues to elude him. Will he ever get it right? The bestselling author of the Cazalet Chronicles has written a witty and perceptive comic novel that went on to win the Yorkshire Post Novel of the Year Award and inspire the 1989 film starring Jesse Birdsall, Jane Horrocks, and Helena Bonham Carter. A man looking for love in all the wrong places, Gavin may come to realize his soul mate has been in front of him all along.

While her rehab counselor's advice replays in her mind, Ansley Boone takes on the role of dutiful bridesmaid in her little sister's wedding at an isolated resort in the middle of hill country, a place where cell reception is virtually nonexistent and everyone else there seems a stranger primed to spring. Tensions are already high between the Boones and their withdrawal suffering eldest, who has since become the family embarrassment, but when the wedding reception takes a vicious turn, Ansley and her sister must work together to fight for survival and escape the resort before the groom's cannibalistic family adds them to the post wedding menu.

She's back, but this time she's a mother. . .intent on protecting her young. Two years after her husband's death, Kate Marshall returns home seeking security and stability for her three-year-old daughter. But when her path crosses with ‘the one who got away'. . .her husband's best friend, she has to fight the desire to be with him for the sake of further heartbreak for her and her daughter. A tough, straight talking theatrical agent, Mark Johnston is dangerously handsome, exceedingly rich, irresistibly charming – and branded by the tabloids as one of the UK's most eligible bachelors. So even though Mark lost the girl of his dreams to his best friend, he finds no hardship in being single. Or so he thought.Determined not to lose her a second time, Mark has to find a way to convince her they can work. But can Kate cope with the media interest and ruthless, money-hungry clients surrounding him, being anywhere near her daughter? Or accept that Mark Johnston is really the family man he claims to be? 72,721 Words

"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.

A wedding entertainer explains how to have a fun and exciting reception by finding the right vendors, mapping out a plan for pacing the event and personalizing the reception so that guests will have a night they will never forget.