Reception Learning - W.C 14.9.26

 

Year Reception: What We Are Learning 

This term our topic is Marvellous Me. Our focus book this week was The Colour Monster.

Here is what we have been up to: we have been learning all about the different emotions and how to manage our emotions. We learnt about the Zones of Regulation and how we can use our toolbox to regulate ourselves. The Zones of Regulation is a framework that helps children understand and talk about their emotions, energy levels, and how they are feeling. It teaches children that all feelings are okay, while helping them learn strategies to manage their emotions and get ready to learn or cope with situations.

The framework uses four coloured zones:

🔵 Blue Zone — Low energy: The child may feel sad, tired, bored, lonely, or unwell. Their body and brain may need help becoming more alert or comfortable.

🟢 Green Zone — Ready to learn: The child feels calm, focused, happy, content, or in control. This is often the best state for learning, but being in the Green Zone isn't the goal all the time.

🟡 Yellow Zone — Elevated emotions: The child may feel worried, frustrated, excited, silly, nervous, or annoyed. Their energy is increasing and they may need support to stay in control.

🔴 Red Zone — Very high energy: The child may feel extremely angry, panicked, terrified, or overwhelmed. Their emotions and body are highly activated, making it harder to think clearly or make good choices.

The children have also been working hard in Read, Write, Inc this week. The children have learnt the sounds i, n, p, g, o and have worked hard to practise writing the sounds in their Read, Write, Inc books. Please practise the Set 1 Sounds at home. The reading folders have now gone home and we would like you to bring them in each week on your child's reading day. Remember to read and sign the record 5 times a week. 

In Maths this week the children have been working hard to practise their number formation. They have used the Ten Town number formation rhymes to help them to write their numbers from 0-10. Please practise these at home with your child. 

0 (Zero Pond): "Around and round and round we go..."

1 (King One): "Start at the top and down we run..."

2 (Tommy Two): "From top to toe..."

3 (Thelma Three): "Hands round to knees..."

4 (Freddie Four): "Over one hand..."

5 (Fiona Five): "Over the next..."

6 (Seal Six): "Down her back..."

7 (Sir Seven): "Slide down his tail..."

8 (Eric Eight): "Across his back..."

9 (Nina Nine): "All the way round..."

10 (Tia Ten): "Draw one, then a zero…

We were excited to welcome the award-nominated educational theatre group, The Drama Geezers, to our school for a special, interactive resilience project called Max and the Quest for the Rare Diamond.
This school-wide adventure uses the power of story and play to help children build life skills in a fun, energetic, and completely safe environment.

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work! 

Reception Learning - W.C 8.9.26

 

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

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work! 

Reception learning 10.07.2026

 

Year Reception: What We Are Learning 

Our focus book this week was Dear Zoo.

Here is what we have been up to:

In Literacy we recapped our red words the,a,I,of,he,go,to,my,was,you,we,they,she,have,all,her,see,way

and remembered that sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

We wrote a letter to the zoo asking if we could have an animal.

We used words such as a tall giraffe, a funny monkey and a long snake. 

In Maths this week the children have been adding two different numbers together to see the bigger number.

We looked at animals and thought if a penguin has 2 legs and a lion has 4 then there are 6 legs altogether.  

World cup dress up day

This week we all dressed up in our favourite football kits or the colour of the flag our class had in the school

sweepstake. Alder class had the Netherlands, Aspen class had Turkey and Apple class has Brazil.

We watched highlights of games, made football bookmarks, designed our own football kit and coloured

the World cup mascots. 

Zoo trip

This week we also went to Call of the wild zoo. We had a great time looking at all the animals,

listening to information about life cycles and watching the bird show. 

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work! 

Reception learning 03.07.2026

 

Year Reception: What We Are Learning 

This term our topic is Journeys. Our focus book this week was The Journey Home from Grandpa’s.

This week we learnt all about road safety, transport past and present and what our favourite forms of transport are. 

In Literacy we recapped our red words the,a,I,of,he,go,to,my,was,you,we,they,she,have,all,her,see and remembered that sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop. We wrote about what forms of transport are seen in the story including a black crane, a blue barge, a pink tractor and a yellow car. Please continue to read 5 times a week with your children and work on set 2 or 3 sounds as well as word time words (1.4, 1.5, 1.6 etc).

In Maths this week the children have been exploring a range of maps and following directions. We have become very excited about our zoo trip next week after seeing what animals were on the map!

On Thursday, the children had a fantastic time at our Summer Disco! They enjoyed dancing to their favourite songs,showing off their amazing dance moves,and taking part in a fun-filled magic show. There was lots of laughter as everyone challenged themselves in the limbo. It was an afternoon filled with smiles ,music and excitement.

Hot weather

Next week is expected to be another hot week. Please ensure your child comes to school wearing sunscreen,brings a named sun hat and a water bottle, and is dressed in light cool clothing. There will be no need for jumpers or fleeces unless the weather changes.

School trip reminder - Friday 10th July 2026

A reminder that on Friday 10th July we will be visiting Call of the Wild Zoo for our school trip. Please ensure your child arrives at school on time, as the coach will be leaving promptly and we will not be able to wait for late arrivals. 

If you have chosen to provide your child with a packed lunch,please remember to bring it with them on the day. We are looking forward to a fantastic day of learning and adventure!

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work!