Week 7

Hello! We have had another fun and busy weekend in Reception.

This week, Lions and Tigers took part in Forest School, exploring different shapes in the woodland. The children learnt about spiders and made their own webs and spiders.

Here is an overview of what your child has been learning this week in Phonics, Maths and Understanding the World (Topic), along with some simple ideas for how you can support their learning at home:

Phonics

This week, the children have been focusing on learning and practicing these new letter sounds:

‘f’ - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/n02p2WhM/dvZXa5tL

‘e’ - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/QbCwcbhQ/xH3j5HXA

‘l’ - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/p7Wzbiow/L3mrnRRj

‘h’- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/vjOHD3SZ/j2WTSjnj

‘r’- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/UCI5QAiq/iByZU470

Fred’s adventures (woods): https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/WdKYgPlU/SQLfbnVx

Blending: https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/vNmmRSaL/0LqIBU0w

What you can do at home to help:

• Rainbow Writing: Practise writing the sounds with a range of different colours
• Sound Splat: Put 5 sound cards on the floor and say a sound – splat the sound with your hand or a fly swatter if you have one!
• Initial sound match: Have a range of objects/toys that have starting sounds that match your chosen card, such as a mouse, apple, dog, pear – can your child match the sounds to the objects?

Maths

In Maths this week, we have been working on geometry and comparing quantities:

• Beginning to compose and decompose shapes so that children recognise a shape can have other shapes within it, just as numbers can
• Representing 5 in different ways and making collections of 5

What you can do at home to help:

• Folding pillows, blankets and sheets: What happens when you fold it in half? What shape have you made? Can you make a triangle? What 4 sided shapes can you make?
• Make a collection of 5 – are all your objects the same? Are they all different? Are they the same size or shape?

 

Understanding the World (Topic)

Our Topic focus this week was all about "Healthy Me":

• We learnt about how eating food can give us energy and help us to grow and about the difference between healthy foods and sometimes foods, such as sweets and cakes. We also talked about the importance of a balanced diet.
• We learnt that exercise can help us to grow strong and we took part in a range of different exercises and noticed what happened to our heartbeat and to our breathing.
• We learnt that it is important to wash our hands, brush our teeth and keep our bodies clean.

What you can do at home to help:

• Talk about healthy choices: involve your child in choosing and preparing a variety of foods. Encourage them to identify healthy foods and sometimes foods.
• Keep active and practise good hygiene: enjoy being active together, such as going for a walk, dancing or playing in the park. Talk with your child about why keep our bodies clean is important.

Thank you for your continued support with your child's learning!

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Reception Team

 

Week 6

We have had another busy and exciting week of learning. This week, some children in reception have taken part in their first Forest School session! The children thoroughly enjoyed exploring our school forest and collecting natural materials to build nests.

Here is an overview of what your child has been learning this week in Phonics, Maths and Understanding the World (Topic), along with some simple ideas for how you can support their learning at home.

Phonics

This week, the children have been focusing on learning and practicing several new letter sounds:

‘o’ - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/TSsr9ozZ/dpT7TC3a

‘c’ - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/VnSfIZ3F/dsLsOCJt

‘k’ - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/AfxW94R2/b9p3Rp19

‘u’- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/JLraAPcR/HbjfOUjU

‘b’- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/AoeB4Znq/yYCfWhYY

What you can do at home to help:

• Sound Hunts: Look for objects around the house or while out on a walk that start with this week’s sounds (e.g., o range, c at, k ite, u mbrella, b all).
• Air Writing: Have your child practice forming the letters o, c, k, u, and b by "writing" them in the air with their finger or using sand.
• Initial Sound Games: Play "I Spy" focusing on initial sounds (e.g., "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'b'...").

Maths

In Maths this week, we have been working on geometry and comparing quantities:

• Identifying and naming 4-sided shapes (squares and rectangles) and using them to create pictures.
• Comparing two sets of objects to determine which set has ‘more than’ or ‘fewer than’.

What you can do at home to help:

• Shape Spotting: Challenge your child to find 4-sided shapes (squares and rectangles) around your home - such as doors, windows, cereal boxes or books!
• Comparing Snacks/Toys: During mealtime or playtime, make two small piles of snacks (like raisins or buttons) or toys. Ask your child: "Which pile has more?" or "Which pile has fewer?" Encourage them to count the items in each set to check their answer.

Understanding the World (Topic)

Our Topic focus this week was all about "Special Places":

• We discussed what makes a place special and drew pictures of our own special places.
• We explored special places at home, at school and in the local community
• We learned about places of worship and special places for Christians and Muslims and discussed why these places are significant.

 What you can do at home to help:

• Talk about your special places: Have a conversation with your child about a place that is special to your family (e.g., a park, a family member's house, or a place of worship) and talk about why it is special to you.
• Community Walk: Next time you are out in your local area, point out different places in the community (e.g., library, park, place of worship, school) and ask your child what happens there.

Thank you for your continued support with your child's learning! Have a wonderful weekend!

The Early Years Team

 

Week 5

This week, some children in reception have taken part in their first Forest School session!

The children thoroughly enjoyed exploring our school forest and collecting natural materials to build nests.

In Phonics, the children focused on building their sound knowledge with the letters /t/, /i/, /n/, /p/, and /g/.

t- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/enRGCJ0N/pBf2gSN1

i-https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/ybAwAMVo/uEDL6wGH

n- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/966lkPMH/jlCzDXjj

p- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/MuBgthlc/un1YtPgG

g- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/GIUAskuQ/wdW0SyAt

To support your child's learning at home, you can try a few simple and playful activities together. For phonics, go on a "sound hunt" around the house or garden to spot items starting with /t/, /i/, /n/, /p/, or /g/ or let your child practice writing letters in a tray of flour, rice or shaving foam.

In Maths, the children have worked hard on sorting objects by type and developing their subitising skills - learning to instantly recognise quantities of two and three without counting. They practiced showing numbers on their fingers, explored auditory sound patterns up to three and noticed when small groups of objects were rearranged or changed. Towards the end of the week, the children used positional language to describe and create their own visual patterns showing four. To boost your child’s maths confidence, practice "fast eyes" subitising during snack time by holding up 1, 2, or 3 fingers or arranging small pieces of fruit into patterns of 4.

In our topic lessons, the children explored the meaning of ‘personal boundaries’ and were introduced to the term ‘consent’ through the story Don’t Hug Doug. We also continued developing our Talk for Writing story, Dear Zoo. The children created a 3D story map, using small figures to represent the animals and drew pictures of the animals from the story to create their own storybooks.

Reminders:

• Forest School: Reception children go out in groups to take part in Forest School sessions. Please make sure your child has wellies in school, just in case it is their turn for Forest School. If your child has an all-in-one waterproof suit, this can also be left in school for them to use.

Thank you,

Reception Team

 

Week 4 

Welcome to this week's Reception newsletter! We’ve had another wonderfully busy week filled with curiosity, high energy and big smiles. 

What We Are Learning in School

Phonics: The children have been introduced to five new Read Write Inc. sounds this week: m, a, s and d. 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

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

 

Week 3

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 hunting for initial sounds around the room to meeting some exciting new puppet friends along the way.

What We Are Learning in School

• Phonics: The children are focusing on oral blending and segmenting through interactive listening games. They have met Fred the Frog for "Fred Talk", played games with "Fred's Fridge", practiced with CVC word blocks and hunted for initial sounds playing games like I-Spy around the classroom.
• Maths: We have been learning to identify and name circles and triangles, as well as sharpening our counting skills up to 5. The children are practicing touching each item just once as they count, counting sounds, moving objects one by one and understanding that the final number they say represents the total amount.
• PSED (Personal, Social & Emotional Development): We are focusing on how to be "Super Learners" by looking at key learning traits. The children are exploring what it means to be determined like Zog, curious like Norman and brave enough to take learning risks like George.
• Story & Poetry Time: Every day starts on a lively note with our "Wake Up Shake Up" routine and reciting our poem, Two Feet. For our end-of-day story time, we are diving into the classic tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

How You Can Help at Home

• Try "Fred Talk" at Home: Break simple words down into individual sounds during your daily routine (e.g., "Put on your c-oa-t" or "Touch your h-ea-d"). You can also play I-Spy around the house to spot things starting with specific sounds.

Fred’s Fridge- https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/seBszdVu/GSDLPfvB

Fred says - https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/0gXY3Yik/xr4FaMFt

• Count Everyday Objects: Help your child count out up to 5 items—like snacks, buttons or cutlery—by touching each object once or sliding it across the table. Reinforce that the last number they say tells us how many there are altogether.
• Shape Hunt: Keep an eye out for circles and triangles around the house or while walking to school.
• Encourage "Super Learning": Celebrate when your child shows determination on a tricky task, ask questions to spark their natural curiosity and praise them whenever they step out of their comfort zone to try something new.
• Share Stories & Rhymes: Revisit Goldilocks and the Three Bears together or chant simple poems to help build their vocabulary, rhythm and love for reading.

Reminders:

Reading for Pleasure: Look out for a new reading book coming home in your child's bag this week! This is for you to share and enjoy reading together.

Top 5 Favourite Books: We've printed and sent home a list of 5 stories we've been reading in class. Sharing these at home will help your child join in with familiar phrases and boost their vocabulary!

Name Labels: Please ensure all clothing, coats, and wellies are clearly labelled with your child's name so lost items can easily find their way back to you.

 

Week 2

It has been another busy and exciting week in Reception, with the children settling into their daily routines brilliantly!

In Phonics, we focused on rhythm, rhyme and voice sounds throughout the week. We spotted rhyming words while reading Oi Frog!, clapped along to nursery rhymes and experimented with changing our voice volume and tone for different story characters. The children also created simple body percussion sequences and played rhythm games using musical instruments.

In Maths, we began exploring the concept of subitising—learning to instantly recognise small quantities without counting them one by one. We practiced subitising groups of 1 and 2, represented numbers on our fingers in various ways and began spotting smaller subgroups of 1, 2 and 3 within larger arrangements.

Our topic lessons and circle time sessions focused on building a safe, kind and inclusive classroom. We discussed the importance of using kind words and kind hands, learned why indoor and outdoor rules keep us safe and reflected on what makes a good friend. Through our No Outsiders story You Choose, we also celebrated the wonderful similarities and differences between us all.

Here are a few simple ways you can support your child's learning at home, directly linked to what we have been practicing in school this week:

In Phonics and Literacy, you can practice listening for rhyming words while reading storybooks together at home, just like we did with Oi Frog! You can also sing familiar nursery rhymes together and practice clapping along to the beat, or play simple rhythm games using kitchen utensils as instruments.

For Maths, try practicing "quick-seeing" or subitising during everyday routines. You can ask your child to quickly tell you how many items they see without counting—such as 1 or 2 pieces of fruit on a plate, or small groups of toys. You can also ask them to show you numbers on their fingers in different ways.

To support their PSED learning, talk with your child about what it means to use kind words and kind hands. You can discuss simple rules you have at home and why they keep everyone safe, or chat about what makes a good friend as they build new relationships at school. Celebrating their independence and talking positively about their new school environment will also continue to build their confidence as they settle into their new routines!

 

Week 1

Welcome to our very first reception class update!

It has been an absolute joy getting to know your children over these first few days. Settling into a new routine, exploring a new environment and making new friends takes a lot of energy. This week the children have shown incredible curiosity and resilience.

From day one, we have been heavily focusing on our core school driver—Respect—in everything we do. Together, we are learning what respect looks like in action by being kind and gentle with our words and hands, taking careful care of our classroom resources and listening thoughtfully to our new friends. Alongside building these caring habits, the children have loved exploring all our learning areas, practicing daily routines like carpet time and learning how to tidy up together as a team.

To help our days run as smoothly as possible, a few practical preparations make a huge difference. If you haven’t already, please bring in a named pair of wellies so we can enjoy outdoor play in all weather, as well as in the mud kitchen and sand area. It is also very helpful to keep a labelled set of spare clothes on your child's peg for any unexpected accidents.

Thank you for your wonderful support and partnership as we begin this exciting journey together; our door is always open if you ever have a quick question at drop-off or pick-up!