Year Reception: What We Are Learning
This term our topic is Marvellous Me. Our focus book this week was Super Duper You.
What a fantastic start our Reception children have had! We have been busy getting to know our new environment and exploring all of the exciting provision both inside and outside. The children have been discovering new resources, making friends, choosing their own activities and learning how to become confident and independent learners.
We have also been learning our school routines, including getting ready for the day, tidying up, listening to instructions and moving around school safely. A very exciting milestone was having our first lunch in the dinner hall! 🍽️
These first few weeks are all about building confidence, independence, relationships and a sense of belonging. We are so proud of how the children are settling in, and it has been lovely to see their confidence grow each day. 💕
This week in maths, we have been busy exploring numbers to 5! The children have been practising counting objects carefully, recognising numerals and putting numbers in the correct order.
We have been using lots of practical activities and games to help us understand that numbers represent a quantity and that each number has its own place in the number sequence. The children have enjoyed spotting numbers around our environment and showing what they know in lots of different ways.
These early number skills are an important foundation for developing children’s number sense, counting skills and mathematical understanding. We are encouraging the children to count slowly and carefully, making sure they touch or move each object as they count.
The children have also been working hard in Read, Write, Inc this week. The children have learnt the sounds m,a, s, d and t and have worked hard to practise writing the sounds in their books. Please practise these sounds every day at home!
As part of our Topic work this week the children have made their own self-portraits. The children spent time looking carefully at their faces and thinking about what makes them unique. We talked about our different hair, eye colours, skin tones and facial features before having a go at drawing our very own portraits. We were so proud of the children for looking closely, having a go and celebrating their own wonderful, unique features!
This week we started our new Drawing Club, which we will enjoy every week. Our first challenge was to draw our very own superhero cape, including special symbols to show just how super duper we are! 🦸♂️ 🦸♀️
Drawing is a wonderful way for children to develop their fine motor skills, pencil control and hand strength, while also encouraging creativity, imagination and confidence. It gives children a chance to express their ideas and feelings through pictures, and helps them to develop the skills they will need for writing too.
Simple Ways to Support Your Child at Home ⭐️
Here are some simple resources you can use at home to support your child’s learning:
📚 Reading
Oxford Owl – Free eBooks and reading activities.
BookTrust – Book recommendations and fun reading ideas.
🔤 Phonics
PhonicsPlay – Fun phonics games.
Set 1 sounds - Read, Write Inc sounds
🔢 Maths
Topmarks – Fun maths games for counting, numbers and shapes.
White Rose Maths – Maths activities and ideas.
🗣️ Talking & Language
BBC Tiny Happy People – Simple ideas to build vocabulary and communication.
Learning Through Play 🎨
Remember that play is learning! Building with blocks, playing shops, cooking, drawing, puzzles, dressing up and playing outside all help children develop important skills.
Try using everyday items such as:
Pasta or buttons for counting
Post-it notes for practising sounds and letters
Empty food packets for playing shops
Pegs for fine-motor activities
Boxes for building and construction
Water, sand and natural objects for exploring
