Spring 1

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During the first half of Spring term, we have been learning all about different animals through our topic ‘Animal Explorers’. We learned about predators and prey, nocturnal and diurnal animals, animal habitats and how animals adapt to live in certain conditions. We have done lots of hands on learning, experiencing and investigating first hand, developing our curiosity and enquiry skills. We especially enjoyed our visit from Tom from Proteus Reptile Trust who brought with him some fascinating creatures that we were able to handle and learn more about.

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We have made super progress with our phonics this half term which will support us in achieving our end of year goals of being able to read and write phrases and sentences independently. We will be finding every opportunity to develop these skills further during the next half term. We are also becoming competent mathematicians with our basic knowledge of numbers including being able to subitise accurately and talk about the composition of numbers.

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Next half term our topic will be ‘Heroes and Villains’ which will allow us to learn about not only fictional heroes and villains but also real life heroes such as doctors, nurses, Police officers and other front line workers. We might even be lucky enough to meet some real life heroes!

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Please continue to support your child with daily reading, weekly homework on Education City and weekly phonics work via the links sent on Marvellous Me. Family Learning sessions will continue every Wednesday morning at the Adventure Playground. There will also be an opportunity for you to come into school to work with your child towards the end of March, more information to follow shortly. 

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Autumn 2

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As 2024 draws to a close, it’s hard to believe that we’ve completed a whole term in Reception already! We have continued our learning during Autumn 2, with a lot of our work centred around traditional tales through our topic ‘Let’s Pretend’. We are established now in Reception and we feel happy and confident in school, following the rules and expectations of our teachers and building relationships with adults and our peers. We have made super progress in our phonics, learning to read and write new sounds and blend them together to read words. We have also been working hard to deepen our understanding of number, exploring and using a range of different equipment as concrete representations of numbers to 10. We have enjoyed our Drawing Club sessions, using our imagination and developing those important fine motor skills. We have been learning to draw with greater detail, painting and colour mixing and using different materials to express ourselves, using our own ideas. We have been asking and answering questions about the world around us and using our outdoor area as well as the Adventure Playground to support us with this.

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We’ve also managed to squeeze in our Christmas craft session, a Christmas carol concert and a visit to see Santa at the West Midlands Safari Park! We are ready for the Christmas break now but we are excited about what 2025 has in store for us in Reception!

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Please continue to support your children with weekly home learning tasks on Education City and RWI phonic links sent via Marvellous Me. Children will bring home a new book and library book each week, please record when you share these with your child, along with any other reading that you do at home, on Boom Reader. It is important that your child returns their books to school each week so that new books can be given. We update your child’s Padlet weekly so please continue to access this and give the photos a ‘like’ so that we know that you are able to see these. The children are excited about sharing their achievements with you in this way and it is a great way to discuss with your child what they are learning in school. If you have not already done so, please ensure that you have access to the Marvellous Me app which is our main tool for communicating with parents about key information and events.

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Family Learning sessions will continue from January every Wednesday morning at the Adventure Playground. If you are interested in attending any of these sessions, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

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As always, your input is vital and we value any information that you may have about your child’s development to support us with our assessments. If your child ‘wows’ you at home, feel free to add this to their Padlet.

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Many thanks for your support this year. May we wish you a very merry Christmas and a healthy and happy new year. We look forward to welcoming all children back on Monday 6th January 2025.

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Autumn 1 

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What a busy first half term we’ve had in Reception! The children have settled well, adapting to new routines and expectations brilliantly. We have had lots of fun learning all about ourselves through our topic ‘Marvellous Me.’ We have read lots of books, learned new sounds and used lots of different apparatus to support our learning about number and shape. We have been creative and inquisitive, expressing what we have learned through paint, drawing, malleable materials, modelling and role play.  We have also really enjoyed being able to go on our first school visit with our parents to Kingswood.

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We are looking forward to another exciting half term in the lead up to Christmas where we will develop in all areas of learning through our topic ‘Let’s Pretend’ (details of this can be found on the topic map below). We will be working towards our ‘End of Autumn’ expectations, learning to blend and segment sounds to read and write words. There will be an opportunity for parents to come into school to speak to the Reception staff and have a look at some of the work we have been doing as part of the Autumn term parents evening and we will be holding our annual Christmas craft session where you are invited to come into school to be creative with your child, creating masterpieces to display in your homes over the Christmas period! We are also super excited about our visit to see Santa at West Midland Safari Park!

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Teamwork is so important when supporting children in Early Years and we really do appreciate the work that you have been doing with your children at home, sharing their reading book with them and accessing the RWI phonics links. Your child’s Padlet is updated weekly in school, keep checking in to see what we’ve been up to! Remember, if your child ‘wows’ you at home with something that they do independently, you can add this to their Padlet too so that it can form part of their learning journey. Please make sure that you are registered on the Marvellous Me app using the code sent home so that you don’t miss out on messages, this is our main way of sharing up and coming events and information that you need to know.  If you need a new login code, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

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For those who are able to attend, Family Learning sessions run weekly, every Wednesday morning. Please ask for more information if this is something that you would be interested in.

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As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child or if you need any support, please come and speak to us, the door is always open and if we can’t address it immediately, we will arrange a separate meeting with the appropriate people.