Welcome to this week's Reception newsletter! We’ve had another wonderfully busy week filled with curiosity, high energy and big smiles. The children have been diving into all sorts of exciting activities, from exploring positional language around the room to stepping out on outdoor adventures in Forest School.

What We Are Learning in School

Phonics: The children have been introduced to five new Read Write Inc. sounds this week: m, a, s, d, and t. We are practicing saying each sound clearly and spotting them during our phonics sessions.

m- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/m0oN6tqw/4VI9ai2L

a-https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/chX5me9v/me3ej4Qj

s- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Cxv3PC3x/YbXGq0Kk

d- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/ru5wPP5B/fEFHz9zo

t- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/MBZh8J6Y/V0QqUBYw

Maths: We have been getting to know our numbers on a deeper level through hands-on activities. The children explored how 2 is made of "1 and another 1", created their own collections of 2 and 3 objects, spotted groups that are 3 versus not 3 and learned that 4 is made of four ones. We also practiced positional words like under, on, between, in, behind, in front of and next to.

Story & Topic: Our story of the week has been the classic Dear Zoo! Through Talk 4 Writing, we learned expressive story actions, put key events in order and built a fantastic 3D story map. The children loved our daily creative challenges, including drawing their own zoos, making lion faces and completing "Fred's Cake" challenge.

How You Can Help at Home

Positional Language Games: Hide a favourite toy in the living room or garden and give your child clues using spatial words (e.g., "Is it under the cushion?", "It’s behind the door!", "Look next to the chair!").

Count Snack Collections: During meal or snack times, ask your child to create specific collections of 2 or 3 items. For example: "Can you place 3 apple slices on your plate? Can you find 2 spoons?"

Sensory Sound Tracing: Sprinkle a thin layer of salt, flour, or rice on a baking tray. Practice writing this week's phonics sounds (m, a, s, d, t) using a finger or a small stick.

Build a Shoe-Box Zoo: Use empty shoe boxes, blocks or food containers to build simple animal enclosures for toy animals or soft toys. Encourage your child to describe the animals using story words from Dear Zoo (e.g., fierce, tall, grumpy, jumpy).

Nature Walk Counting: On a walk to the park, ask your child to collect 4 leaves or 3 pebbles. Help them line them up and count them 1-by-1 using their finger

Have a lovely weekend,

Reception Team