Welcome to Reception.
Our Teachers are Mrs Dumont and Miss Young and our Teaching Assistants are Mrs Wonnacott and Mrs Panta.
Mar 272026
Happy Easter!
We have had such a fun and busy week!
It started off learning all about Easter. We were very lucky to have Mrs Woods from Year 2 Crimson Class, tell us all about how Christians celebrate Easter and she answered all the questions we had about the Church too. Following this, we made chocolate nests. The children told us it was very yummy!
In Phonics, we have continued to review Phase 2 and 3 sounds, including writing words and short sentences.
On Thursday, we went on a trip to Hertfordshire Zoo. We had a Lion Mini Meet, where a zoo keeper told us all about Big Cats as well as a workshop called Jurassic Safari where we learnt all about the features of animals and how they link to Dinosaurs. We saw so many different animals and went around the dinosaur trail. We had the best time! All the children should be very proud of how well they listened all day!
On Friday, we had a special visitor. William’s Grandpa told us all about how people make rockets. We watched some really interesting videos which included a rocket launch!
Things to remember:
- The children return on Tuesday 14th April.
- Please make sure that when PE Kits come back to school, that they are clearly named. This is the same for any uniform your child is wearing. Thank you for your support with this.
- Bring in reading books and reading records every day. We read with the children most weeks and like to keep you updated with their progress.
We hope you have a wonderful Easter break and we look forward to the last term of fun!
Reception Team 🙂
Mar 202026
What’s in the Witch’s Kitchen?
In Phonics, we are continuing to review the Phase 2 and 3 sounds. We have been practising segmenting and blending to write words and short phrases.
You may have noticed in our classrooms that we have started a new Literacy scheme called Drawing Club. The scheme focuses on the skills children need to be successful in their writing. Within the lessons, there are 4 mini moments that we cover: vocabulary, reading the story, drawing and writing words / phrases. Each day has a different theme that we talk, draw and write about. These include: Character, Setting and Adventure Time (this is where we answer a question about the story). This week our story was ‘What’s in the Witch’s Kitchen?’. We wrote and drew the witch, what they would eat from the kitchen, and answered these two questions; ‘How will you escape the witch’s kitchen?’ and ‘Where would you look to find the goblins for their wee?’. We have had so much fun and the children have loved using their imagination to come up with all sorts of wonderful ideas!
In our topic lessons we have focused on non-fiction texts to find out more information about space. The children came up with their own questions and we then found different ways that we could find the answers. They have really enjoyed information videos about space, particularly when the astronauts are floating around in their rockets.
Our school trip to Hertfordshire Zoo is next Thursday.
- Please can children wear school t-shirt and jumper, long comfortable trousers and closed in footwear such as trainers.
- In case of wet weather please bring raincoats
- Children will need a named packed lunch and water bottle – Please make sure there are NO NUTS (including pesto) in lunch boxes.
- Please try your best to arrive by 8:45 so we can get the children ready before the coach arrives.
Mar 062026
Welcome to Alien School
This week in our Literacy lessons we have focused on the story ‘Welcome to Alien School’. We spent time thinking about questions and what we might like to ask the aliens about their school. We then thought about and made comparisons between the alien school and Alban City School. Towards the end of the week the children each designed their own aliens and wrote a sentence to describe them.
In Maths this week we have been focusing on ordering numbers and then comparing them in relation to each other e.g. ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’. This week, ‘less than’ is used instead of ‘fewer than’ when the focus is on each number’s position in the counting sequence.
In Phonics this week we have continued our phase 2 and 3 phonics sound recap. We have been segmenting and blending for word reading and writing. We have also looked at the features of sentences. Our new ‘harder to read and spell words’ have been ‘out’, ‘were’ and ‘like’. The children have come up with some amazing sentences using these words.
World Book Day was a very busy and exciting day! The children loved sharing their costumes and outfits. We visited the Year 3 children and had a lovely time reading and sharing our favourite books. During discovery time the children designed and made their spoon book characters. As a class we worked together to do a world book day quiz.
Have a lovely weekend!
Reception Team 🙂
Feb 272026
Whatever Next
Welcome back! The children have had a lovely few days settling back into school. They have been super excited to learn all about space! We have read ‘Whatever Next’ and then sequenced each part of the story. We wrote a list of everything Baby Bear took to the moon in our books and drew beautiful pictures to match.
In Maths we have been practising verbally counting beyond 20 using the repeating pattern of the ‘1s. We have also been consolidating our understanding of the ‘stable order principle’ – rehearsing the order of the first 10 numbers and understanding that the position that each number holds in our number sequence does not change. While working with numbers to 10, we developed our understanding of the ordinal aspect by consolidating their understanding that each number has a value of ‘1 more’ than the previous number. We used our fingers to represent ‘5 and a bit’ quantities and Numberblocks.
Our Phonics focus this half term is to recap all of the phase 2 and 3 phonics sounds. We have spent time reminding the children of the segmenting and blending strategies such as robot arms or using our fingers. We have also practised writing labels and simple captions. We have had a big focus on sentence structure and reminding the children to read back their writing to check for any mistakes.
Key Points
- Please make sure your child has a full PE kit and extra school uniform/underwear in school in case they need to get changed.
- Thursday 5th March is World Book Day if your child would like to dress up as their favourite book character or in clothes they feel comfortable relaxing in. We will also be making book characters using wooden spoons, please help your child to choose a character and provide them with a wooden spoon. Any additional crafts you might have spare would be greatly appreciated!
Feb 132026
Lunar New Year
In Phonics we have been reviewing the Phase 2 and 3 sounds, practising segmenting and blending for reading and writing. This included harder to read and spell words too.
In Maths, we have been practising number formation and prepositional language. We used an object to move to different places, e.g under, over, on top of, next to etc.
In PE this week we have practised the skills of dropping, catching, throwing and catching a ball. We were very impressed with their skills and perseverance.
Our topic focus this week has been all about Lunar New Year. We spent time learning about how this celebration is prepared for all over the world and the different traditions. Then we watched the great race story and introduced ordinal numbers by ordering the animals according to where they came in the race. We also had a very exciting lion dance in the hall.
Next half term, we have changed our topic to ‘Space’, if you have any space themed items that you are happy to donate or lend, please let us know! Thank you.
We are still on the lookout for some craft items please, we are becoming low in stock… If you have any of the following items, we would hugely appreciate it.
- Colouring pens
- Feathers
- Paper plates / bowls
- Tin foil
- Buttons
- Metallic ribbon
- Coloured paper (including black and metallic)
- Masking tape / cellotape
As always, please save up your recycling items for our junk modelling boxes.
We hope you have a wonderful half term!
Reception Team 🙂
Jan 302026
Dinosaur fossils
In Phonics we have completed the teaching of our last Phase 3 phonics sounds, these were ure, er and ow. We have also introduced the new harder to read and spell words ‘ball’ and ‘tall’. Towards the end of the week we practised our segmenting skills to write words that included all of our new digraphs and trigraphs.
This week in our Maths lessons the children have continued to engage with activities that develop their understanding of composition, or the numbers within numbers. A key focus has been on exploring different ways to represent numbers using the Hungarian number pattern (die pattern). We have been exploring the pairs of numbers that make 5, and then use double dice frames to begin to explore 6 and 7 as numbers that are composed of ‘5 and a bit’.
In topic we have discussed the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts. We used non-fiction texts to find out more information about dinosaurs. We then spent time thinking about how we know all this information about dinosaurs if humans were not alive then. We looked at different dinosaur bones and fossils to support the children’s understanding of how we know what dinosaurs looked like, what they ate and where they lived.
You would have seen we have stuck the children’s magic badges and emoji passwords into their reading records. This is so you are able to access a number of learning enhancements at home. You unfortunately cannot scan the QR code from your camera, so the easiest way is to go to the ‘MyLogin’ website and scan from there.
Have a lovely weekend 🙂
Reception Team
Jan 232026
What do dinosaurs eat?
In maths we have been deepening our understanding of a ‘whole’ being made up of smaller parts through practical experiences. We enjoyed learning the song ‘5 little speckled frogs’ and using our hands and counters to represent the frogs on the log and in the pool.
In phonics we have introduced some new sounds including ow, oi, ear and air. We have spent time identifying these sounds within words before reading the whole word. We then thought of different words that had these sounds in and identified if they were at the beginning, middle or end of the word.
In topic time we have focused on the story ‘Tyrannosaurus Drip’, we made story predictions and discussed the feelings of the different dinosaurs throughout the story. Towards the end of the week we focused on comparing different dinosaurs and what they ate. We sorted the different dinosaurs into carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.
Key Points
- Please can you all practise letter formation, we have noticed a lot of children still forming many letters incorrectly.
- Remember to read 5-10 minutes a day to practice segmenting and blending. It is extremely important at this stage to recognise all phase 2 and most of the phase 3 sounds.
- We are still on the lookout for more creative items, such as: lolly sticks, pom poms, googly eyes, foam stickers, pipe cleaners, cellotape, envelopes and post it notes.
- We have completely run out of junk modelling! If you have any clean, recyclable items then send them our way. Thank you!
Have a lovely weekend!
Reception Team 🙂
Jan 202026
Say Hello to the Dinosaurs!
In Maths the children have continued to engage with activities that draw attention to the purpose of counting – to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. The children have also revisited the concept of cardinality – that the last number in the count tells us how many things there are altogether. We have also been ordering numbers to 5 and have discovered that each number has a value of 1 more than the previous number. We have been using cubes and Numberblocks to help us.
In Phonics we have started to learn some more of the phase 3 digraph sounds, including ar, ur, oo and or. The children have enjoyed thinking of lots of different words that include these new sounds. We have also continued to practise segmenting and blending for reading and writing. The new ‘harder to read and spell words’ this week were ‘they’, ‘are’ and ‘all’. We have practised making up our own sentences that include these words.
Our book focus this week in topic time has been ‘Say hello to the dinosaurs’. We have spent time learning about the different types of dinosaurs, their names and features. We have compared different dinosaurs and discussed why some dinosaurs had specific features. Then the children chose their favourite dinosaur to draw and either label or write a sentence about.
This week in Reception we have started ‘Let’s Read’. This is a teacher-led activity that involves small groups sharing the same book. During this session we focus on developing reading skills, including how to use a book, segmenting and blending of words and comprehension skills.
Key Points
- We would really love some more junk modelling – especially toilet rolls please!
- Both Lime and Apple class are getting quite low on some creative resources and any donations would be greatly appreciated e.g. masking tape, sellotape, envelopes, pipe cleaners, stickers, buttons, foam shapes, pom poms, googly eyes, food colouring, paper plates.
- In Literacy, one of our main focuses is letter formation. We are practising this daily in class and we would really appreciate it if you could support your child by forming the letters correctly. Here is a video link to practise at home – please note, the only differences are that we do y as ‘under and up the hull and down to the anchor’ and we flick our i, l, t: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rt1syuknWE
Jan 092026
Welcome Back!
We have had an amazing first week back in Reception. Well done to all of the children for coming back to school so well! They have come back really settled and have remembered all our school expectations and routines.
We have had some very excited children this week as we have started to learn all about dinosaurs! Our first focused book was ‘Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs’. We spent time finding out all the different dinosaurs that the children already knew and some interesting facts. Together we then created ‘lost/wanted posters’ to help Harry find his missing dinosaurs. We then used our imaginations to think about where the dinosaurs could have ended up and then each made our own simple maps to show the dinosaurs route.
In Phonics we have spent time reviewing and recapping all of the phase 2 and 3 sounds that we learnt before the Christmas break. We then introduced the new short ‘oo’ sound and we then read and wrote words including this sound.
This week in Maths the children used their perceptual subitising skills (seeing the quantity without counting) in different arrangements, moving from dots in a line and arrangements of 2, to a focus on standard dice arrangements. For larger quantities, the children began to use skills of conceptual subitising, beginning to quickly see the sub-groups within these larger numbers.
Don’t forget:
- Please bring in a named PE kit. We do PE on a Monday.
- Ensure reading books and reading records are brought in every day. As a reminder, we recommend reading 5-10 minutes every day as this supports your child with recognising the phonics sounds and reading fluency.
- Our library day is on a Friday and the children enjoy swapping their books for new ones. Please ensure each week, your child brings back their book otherwise we are unable to issue a new one. If it becomes lost or damaged, please speak to the class teacher.
- Look out for our curriculum letter as this will have the details of what we are learning this term.
Have a lovely weekend!
The Reception Team 🙂
Jan 072026
Happy Holidays!
A focus of our Phonics lessons this week has been letter formation and independently segmenting and blending CVC words for writing. We have been encouraging the children to read back their writing to check it has all of the correct sounds that they can hear. We have also played lots of fun phonics games.
In Maths we have been enjoying learning and singing to some fun number christmas songs. Children have also enjoyed practising the skills learnt last week, including measuring different objects around the classroom using uni-fix cubes.
In topic time we have read the story ‘A letter to Santa’. We enjoyed making story predictions and then finding out about what happens to our letters after we post them in the post box. We also talked about letters to Santa and what we put onto our christmas lists.
On Tuesday we went to watch Aladdin at the local theatre. We were extremely proud of how well they managed when walking to and from the theatre and managing to sit throughout the performance. It was lovely to see how much the children enjoyed joining in with the singing, dancing and interactions with the actors.
A huge THANK YOU from all of the Reception adult for our wonderful gifts, we were shocked by the generosity! We have had a great first term with all of the Reception children and we wish you all happy holidays.
See you all on January 6th 2026!
Reception Team 🙂
