Reception
Spring Term
Friday 13th June 2025
Dear Parents and Carers,
We have had a fabulous week preparing for our Learning Festival, which is set to take place this Friday. The children have been busy baking, making decorations and finalising plans for the big day. We cannot wait to celebrate our year of learning with you! Fingers crossed the weather holds out!
Maths
This week in maths, we are helping the children explore how numbers up to 10 can be broken apart and put back together in different ways. They will be learning to do this more systematically and noticing patterns in how numbers can be split (e.g. 4 can be 3 + 1, 2 + 2, etc.). We’re using tools like number houses and rekenreks to help them see and explain these patterns using words like "increasing" and "decreasing."
Children will also compare how different tools (like cubes, counters, and rekenreks) show number partitioning differently, helping them understand how to use each one effectively. The numbers we are working with are kept small so the focus stays on building a strong understanding of how numbers work. Can your child talk to you about partitioning and how the different numbers to 10 can be split? We have been using part-whole models to support the children in understanding this concept.
Phonics
This week in phonics, the children have been building their reading and writing skills. Each day, we have revisited previously taught sounds and tricky words using flashcards, re-introduced phonemes such as oi, ear, air, ure, and er, and practised writing them down. We also focused on tricky words like come, do, to, were, when, have, and there. Later in the week, we explored in more detail the tricky words like, little, and what, helping children to recognise the parts that are decodable and those that are not. Children applied their learning by writing full sentences through dictation, such as “Do you like to boil the pot?” and “What is in the bag?”
To support your child’s phonics learning at home, you can revisit this week’s sounds (oi, ear, air, ure, er) and tricky words (come, do, to, were, when, have, there, out, like, little, what) by spotting them in storybooks or around the house. Encourage your child to write simple sentences using these words or create silly sentences together to make it fun! Playing online games like Tricky Word Trucks on Phonics Play is a great way to reinforce learning through play. Please find below the phonics play log in.
Outdoor Day
During our Outside Day this week, the children had a wonderful time planting wildflowers in our playground. We are so proud of their enthusiasm and care for the environment. The sunflowers we planted earlier in the year are coming along beautifully, and this has inspired us to continue enhancing our outdoor space by planting a variety of new things over the coming weeks.
We also revisited the pond for another exciting pond dipping session. The children were eager to see what they could find and were thrilled to discover more tadpoles. We are now on the lookout for frogs — hopefully, we will spot some soon!
Parent Reading Session Friday 20th June
There will be a slight change in next week’s reading session. Next week’s parent reading session on Friday 20th June will take place in the morning from 9:00 – 9:30. We hope to see you there!
Healthy Living Week
This week, we have been celebrating Healthy Living Week at school. The children have embraced the theme by coming to school in their sports kits and taking part in a variety of physical activities and challenges throughout the week. We have also been making our learning more active and fun, with each class joining in a daily Wake Up, Shake Up session at 12:45 to get moving and boost energy levels.
Thank you to everyone who has already sent in a “healthy selfie”. It has been wonderful to see our families getting active together. If you haven’t had the chance to send one in yet, there’s still time! We would love to showcase as many healthy moments from home as we can and celebrate physical activity across our whole community. Thank you for your continued support.
Thank You
This will be my final newsletter before I begin my maternity leave next Friday! As you may know, I am getting ready to welcome a little baby boy! It is such an exciting time and I am so grateful for all your kind words and support so far. I just want to say a huge thank you to both the wonderful parents and children. It has been a fantastic year indeed. I also want to say a huge thank you to my amazing team: Elizabeth, Sophie, Halima, Justine and Natalie. They have not only supported me throughout the year, but have really looked after me in these final weeks. I could not have asked for a better team to work alongside.
Although there is still a few weeks to go, I wish you all a relaxing and happy summer holiday. I am looking forward to catching up with you and the children when I return next year — hopefully with a few baby pictures to share too!
Kind regards,
The Reception Team
Elizabeth, Ella, Sophie, Halima, Justine and Natalie