Welcome to Reception.
Our Teachers are Mrs Dumont and Miss Reynolds and our Teaching Assistants are Mrs Wonnacott and Mrs Panta.
May 162025
How many moons does Saturn have?
This week in maths we have looked at the composition of the numbers 6 to 9 using the ‘5 and a bit’ structure, and then began to explore how 10 can be composed. We explored the different ways of making 10 (number bonds) by using double die frames and coloured counters.
In phonics we have been practising to read and write CCCVC words (consonant, consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant) and we have been recapping our phase 2 and 3 phonics sounds and harder to read words. We have been continuing with our daily sentence writing. This week we provided the children with a picture each day and then they had to write a sentence about what they could see. We are encouraging the children to be very independent writers, including knowing when to use full stops, capital letters and fingers spaces.
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.
On Friday we walked to Normandy playing field to practise for our sports day activities. The children really enjoyed trying out different skills and activities. We were very impressed with how well all the children worked together and supported each other as a team!
Key Points
- Sports day is on Friday 23rd May – Children will come home with their PE kits on Thursday after PE, please could the children come into school on friday morning in their PE kit and trainers. The children can then wear their PE kits all day at school.
- After half term we will be learning about Minibeasts. As part of this topic we will all be making our own minibeasts using toilet rolls, please collect and bring in as many as you can at the beginning of next half term!
Enjoy your weekend 🙂
May 092025
How can we get to the moon?
This week in our topic lessons we have been reading and focusing on the story ‘Rocket Mole’. This story created lots of discussions around how we know so much about space and where humans have visited in space already. When reading this story the children had the challenge of thinking of a new way to get the mole into space. We then watched videos and discussed Neil Armstrong’s visit to the moon.
In Maths the children have consolidated their understanding of the composition of 5 and have practised recalling the parts of 5 when 1 part is not visible. We have learnt a rhymes about 5 kittens jumping ‘down’ from the bed and representing these with fingers that are ‘up’ and those ‘folded down’. We have also encouraged the children to subitise when an arrangement does show 5, and when it does not. On Friday we looked at capacity and introduced some new vocabulary e.g. full, empty, half full/empty, nearly full, nearly empty.
In phonics lessons this week have continued to recap phase 2 and 3 sounds and ‘harder to read and spell words’. We have spent time segmenting and blending longer words ‘ccvc’ (consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant) and ‘cvcc’ words (consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant). We also looked at words ending in ‘ed’ and how this can also make a ‘d’ sound. The children are becoming more confident with their daily independent sentence writing. This week we have started our sentences with ‘I can see’ and then encouraged the children to write about something they can see in the pictures provided. Please encourage your children to practise their simple sentence writing at home.
On Thursday we celebrated the 80th anniversary of VE day and took part in lots of different activities. We created medals, union jack bunting, spitfire planes and decorated biscuits for our own tea party!
In PE we continued with our gymnastics topic. This week we learnt some new gymnastics poses and practised making our muscles tight to hold the poses without wobbling. We then explored a range of different climbing equipment.
Key Points
- Please return Library books on a Monday so that your child can choose a new book to bring home.
- Reading diaries and books need to be in school every day. Please put these in the drawers outside your child’s class.
May 022025
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 we recapped doubles using our fingers and Number Blocks. We then moved onto numbers and how we can identify if they are an odd or even number.
In Phonics we have continued focusing on segmenting and blending ‘cvcc’ and ‘ccvc’ words. We also looked at words ending in ‘ed’ and how this can sometimes make a ‘t’ sound e.g. ‘camp’ becomes ‘camped’. We have continued with our daily writing in our individual books. Each day we have been focusing on the key features of a sentence such as capital letters, fingers spaces and full stops. The children can access resources within the classroom to help with their writing such as sound mats and finger space sticks.
This week we had our first visit to the local sports field. We spent time investigating the area and developing gross motor skills. The children were very sensible walking to and from the field, they all followed the rules to keep themselves and others safe. We definitely had a lot of fun!
Key Points
- Just a reminder that there is a bank holiday on Monday so school will be closed.
- Id you have borrowed any school clothes/underwear please can you return them as we are getting very short of supplies!
Apr 252025
Welcome back!
We hope you all had a lovely Easter break. Reception have had a great few days back at school.
The new playgroup has been a huge hit with the children. We have enjoyed exploring all of the new equipment during our playtimes and lunch times.
In Phonics this week we have recapped the phase 2 and 3 sounds and harder to read words. We have also started to read some longer words known as ‘ccvc’ (consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant) and ‘cvcc’ words (consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant). Each day we have been practising writing simple sentences in our new writing books. We have spent time looking at the key features of a sentence including full stops, fingers spaces and capital letters.
In Maths we have recapped counting and the different strategies we can use e.g. putting objects in a line, touching objects 1-1, moving objects into separate piles. We then introduced counting on from a given number and when we might use this skill.
This week in PE we were lucky to have Mr Clements join our lessons. The children were very excited when they entered the hall as all the gym equipment was out for them to use. The children learnt how to move in different ways and how to make different body shapes. They then transferred these skills onto the equipment.
Mr Bushell also visited each Reception class this week to do a lesson on computing. Mr Bushell linked the lesson to our topic of space which led to the children programming a space robot using simple instructions on an ipad.
Apr 042025
Seaside holidays
In topic this week we looked at photographs of seaside holidays in the past and discussed the similarities and differences to seaside holidays now. These photographs sparked a lot of discussions and questions from the children. They took a particular interest in the bathing machines and that women had to get changed in these and then transported straight into the sea.
In phonics this week we have focused mainly on our segmenting and blending skills for reading and writing. The children also got their own literacy writing books, we practised writing a simple sentence independently using our phonics skills. We will continue to write in our literacy book daily when we return after the Easter break. Please support your children to write independently at home using their segmenting and blending skills. If children are unsure of sounds, please encourage them to use their sound mats that are in their yellow reading record books rather than telling them the answers.
On Thursday the children followed a simple recipe to make chocolate crispy nests. This meant they had a yummy afternoon snack!
As part of our dance topic in PE this week we have introduced the children to yoga movements in time to music.
On Thursday Reception also went to their first school disco. We were very impressed with some of the dance moves we saw! Thank you again to the parents that volunteered to help with the disco.
Key Points
- After the Easter holidays our new topic will be all about space. If anyone has any books, props or black sheets/blankets we could use in Reception, they would be greatly appreciated.
- To help us make space rockets we would love any donations of bottles, toilet rolls or small rectangle boxes.
- Just a reminder the children will come back to school on Wednesday 23rd April.
Have a fantastic Easter break!
The Reception Team
Mar 282025
A Day at the Seaside
In Maths we introduced ‘grouping’ and thought about different ways of sorting and grouping objects by their attributes – such as colour, size or function. Towards the end of the week the children then used their previous experience of investigating doubles to begin to practically explore even and odd numbers. We used Numberblock characters to help us to identify odd and even numbers e.g. flat top characters are even numbers and uneven tops are odd numbers.
In our topic lessons this week we have been reading the storybook ‘A day at the seaside’. We spent time focusing on the perseverance of the characters and how important perseverance is. The children then shared their own experiences of times they have persevered. After reading the story we also compared a seaside town and how it is different/similar to St Albans.
In phonics we have been recapping our phase 2 and 3 phonics sounds. We have practising to identify and read these within words and sentences. We have introduced the new harder to read words ‘children’ and ‘love’. In Reception we are also having a big focus on children writing words, captions and sentences independently. Please encourage your children to practise writing independently at home using their segmenting and blending skills they have learnt during our phonics sessions. Please remember that you all have a phase 2 and 3 sound mat in your reading records to support the children when writing.
This week in PE our dance focus was transport and learning vehicle actions to match to the beat of the music.
Key points
- If your child wants to bring in a book or item that links to our current topics, please can you ensure your child only brings something in once a week to make it fair for all children.
- Just a reminder that we finish at 1:30 on Friday 4th April for the Easter holidays.
Have a great weekend,
The Reception Team
Mar 212025
How can we save the oceans?
On Friday Reception had their first school trip to Hertfordshire Zoo. We had an amazing time walking around the dinosaur trail and visiting lots of different animals in the zoo. We were also lucky enough to attend a ‘penguin mini meet’ where one of the zoo educators talked to us about the penguins, their habitats and how to look after them. To build upon our dinosaurs topic last term, we also attended a ‘Jurassic safari’ educational session. The coach and packed lunches were of course another highlight of our day!
In our topic time this week we have focused on the storybook ‘Harry saves the ocean!’. This story formed great discussions and questions about how our oceans and sea creatures are in danger. We then found out the different ways that humans can help the oceans such as recycling our rubbish.
Last week the children explored ‘floating and sinking’ by testing a range of materials in the water tray. They then designed and made their own boats to create from junk modelling and creative resources. On Wednesday morning we enjoyed trying out our own boats in the water tray. We discussed why some boats and materials were more effective than others.
In Maths we have continued to explore the composition of numbers within 10, focusing on the ‘special case’ of when 2 equal parts combine to make a whole (doubles) e.g. 5 + 5 = 10, or 2 + 2 = 4. We have encouraged the children to use the stem sentences below …
‘This is a double because _____ is a part and _____ is a part.’
‘_____ is made of _____ and _____; _____ and _____ make _____.’
In Music this week the children have been learning some different songs all about Spring time with Mrs Dore.
In PE we have continued with our dance focus. We recapped what the ‘beat’ in music is and used counts of 8 to help us to stay in time with each other and the music. We enjoyed thinking of and sharing different ways to move one part of our body in time with the music.
Mar 142025
What does a submarine see?
This week Reception have been on an adventure into the deep ocean. We have focused on the book ‘What a submarine sees’ and discussed different types of sea creatures, how we know what sea creatures are in the ocean and how the ocean changes in different areas. We then looked at how a submarine actually works.
In discovery time the children were set a challenge of predicting and investigating which different materials would float or sink in water. Each child then designed and labelled their own boats to create next week.
In Phonics we have continued with our Phase 2 and 3 phonics practise. We have spent lots of time using whiteboards to practise our segmenting and blending skills for writing labels and simple sentences. We have also been encouraging the children to use the phonic sound rhymes to support with letter formation.
In PE we have continued with our dance topic. We spent time counting the beats in different songs and trying out different dance movements. The children then enjoyed performing their dances to each other.
Key Points
- A reminder that Reception will be visiting Hertfordshire Zoo on Friday 21st March. The children will need their school t-shirt and school jumper but they can wear comfortable trousers and shoes. All children will also need to bring a home packed lunch and water bottle to school with them on that day.
Mar 072025
World book day fun!
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.
Our book focus this week has been on the story ‘Billy’s Bucket’. We have spent time through the week reading parts of the story and then making predictions about what could happen next. For example at the start of the week every child drew what they thought would be inside of Billy’s bucket and then wrote a sentence to describe this.
World Book Day was a very busy and exciting day! The children loved sharing their costumes and outfits. We visited the Year 4 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.
Key Points
- Next week we are going to be investigating floating and sinking. We would love some materials to help us with this activity such as corks, plastic/metal containers and lolly pop sticks.
Feb 282025
Welcome back Reception!
It has been a busy week back at school for our Reception children!
We have started our new topic ‘under the sea’ and the children have loved getting creative and making lots of different sea creatures and props for our new role play areas.
Our story focus this week has been ‘The Rainbow Fish’. We have spent lots of time thinking about friendships, feelings and emotions. We have also been sequencing the story and thinking about how the story changes from the beginning, middle and the end.
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 6th 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!
- Any recycling for junk modelling can be put in the large brown box outside of Lime Class.
- We are currently really short of bottles of poster paint in red, yellow, blue, white and black. If you happen to have any of these colours at home that you are not using, we would love to take them off your hands!
