Welcome to Summer Term in Reception
(2025-2026)

We hope you had a wonderful half-term break and enjoyed spending quality time with family and friends. We are looking forward to an exciting and busy final half term of the academic year. During this time, we will continue to build on the children's learning and support them as they prepare for their transition into Year 1.

Phonics

This half term, we continue to consolidate all the sounds and tricky words, alongside a strong focus on letter formation and early writing. Please practise these skills at home whenever possible and support your child in forming letters correctly when writing.

Literacy

Our Read2Write book this half term is The Storm Whale by Benji Davies. This is the story of a lonely little boy, a whale washed up on the beach and a friendship that will change both their lives forever.

Mathematics

This term in Maths we begin with Shape, then move on to Measure (volume and capacity), Sorting into two groups and Time.

PE 

This term in PE we are focusing on games. The children develop fundamental movement skills through simple games, learn to score, work with a partner, understand teams and practice good sportsmanship.

Geography

This term in geography we explore the United Kingdom. We learn what a city is, discover different foods we will find in the United Kingdom and learn about festivals and celebrations that take place here.

PSED

Our PSED theme is Changing Me. We learn that everyone is unique and special and we understand and respect changes we see in ourselves as we grow. The children will learn who to ask for help when they are worried about new experiences and will have opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings about moving into Year 1. We will also take some time reflecting on our Reception year, celebrating the progress we have made, the friendships we have built and the wonderful memories created together.

Science

In Science, we will be exploring different types of insects and learning about their features and habitats. We will also be developing our understanding of how to stary safe in a variety of situations, including around electricity and fire, helping children to recognise potential hazards and learn simple ways to keep themselves safe.

For more information on our Summer term curriculum, please see our Summer Term Curriculum Newsletter.

Our Reception Team

Class Teacher: Mrs Van de Weg 

Support Staff:

Mrs Warner - Monday am/pm, Wednesday am, Wednesday pm PPA Cover, Thursday am/pm, Friday am/pm

Ms Wilson - Tuesday am, Wednesday pm

Ms Thomson - Tuesday pm

Additional Information

Please ensure your child has the following items in school every day:

A named water bottle for classroom use. This is additional to a lunchtime drink if your child is bringing a packed lunch from home.

A waterproof jacket as our learning environment includes being outside in all weathers.

A named warm hat or sun hat, as appropriate.

Wellie boots - please send in a pair of named wellie boots to be kept at school for outdoor use.

Puddle suit - please send in a puddle suit or waterproofs to keep in school.

Monday

Please return your child's library book.

PE day (Children come to school dressed in PE kit. Usual school jogging bottoms or shorts with their House T-shirt and trainers. No lace-ups please.)

Wednesday

Please return the reading book from our reading scheme along with your child's reading record.

Library day (Your child will come home with a new library book.)

Friday

Your child will come home with a new reading book from our reading scheme.

Curriculum

Children in our Early Years phase follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum, which consists of seven areas of learning:

3 Prime Areas - Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED).

4 Specific Areas - Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts and Design.

We teach children by ensuring challenging, playful opportunities across both the prime and specific areas of learning. We recognise that all children develop and learn at different rates and so our EYFS curriculum is designed flexibly to mee the needs of all individuals. We support individual learning through our skilful interactions and observations which lead to detailed next step planning.

The Characteristics of Effective learning underpin our curriculum. The ways in which the children engage with others and their environment, playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically underpin learning and development across all areas and support children to remain effective and motivated learners.

At the end of Reception, children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals (ELGs), which describe the knowledge, skills and understanding expected at this stage.

Please see the pages below for further curriculum details such as the curriculum newsletter. 

Tapestry

Our school uses Tapestry, an online learning journal, to share your child's learning journey with you. Through Tapestry, we record special moments, progress and achievements, and we love being able to give you a window into your child's time in Reception. We also encourage you to get involved by uploading your own photos and videos from home, helping us to build a rich picture of your child's learning and experiences.