Welcome to Autumn Term in Reception
(2026-2027)

A very warm welcome to Reception and to our school community!

We are excited to welcome you and your child as they begin this exciting stage of their school journey. Starting Reception is an important milestone for the whole family and we feel privileged to be part of this big step.

Reception is a year filled with new experiences, growing friendships and lots of opportunities to learn, explore and discover. Through practical hands-on activities and creatively and carefully planned learning experiences, your child will begin to learn new skills, build confidence and independence and, most importantly, develop a love of learning.

We know that every child is unique and will settle into school life in their own way. Our Reception team is here to nurture, encourage and support each child, helping our classroom to be a place where children are excited to come to school, encouraged to be curious and feel proud of all they achieve.

We recognise how important a strong partnership between home and school is. We look forward to getting to know you and working closely together throughout the year, sharing your child's achievements, celebrating their progress and supporting them as they grow.

We hope this will be the beginning of many happy memories for both you and your child. 

Below you will find some information about the learning we have planned for your child this term:

Phonics

We will begin our phonics lessons on Monday the 7th of September (week 2 of the Autumn term). Phonics is taught through a scheme called Supersonic Phonic Friends. Please see our Phonics page for more information on the scheme and how it is taught. You will find information on which letter sounds will be taught each week as well as finding a parent newsletter to help you support your child at home. Please practice the new sounds taught each week as often as possible.

Literacy

Our ReadySteadyWrite book this half term is The Something by Rebecca Cobb. 

Underneath a cherry tree in a little boy's garden, there is a hole. He is sure there is something down there. Perhaps it is a mouse's house or a troll's lair? Or even a dragon's den! 

It is a delightful tale of imagination, excitement and creativity. 

We kindly ask that you please do not read the story with your child at home until we have finished exploring it together in class. We often enjoy our class books a few pages at a time, giving the children opportunities to look closely at the pictures, ask questions and wonder what might happen next. Not knowing the ending is all part of the excitement and helps to create lots of wonderful discussion and learning. Once we have finished the book in class, we would love for you to read and enjoy it together at home, should you wish to!

Mathematics

We use Power Maths to teach maths in Reception and across the school. Maths in Reception is taught in small progressive steps to build a solid foundation of deep mathematical understanding. We use our interactive whiteboard, concrete resources and maths journals in our teaching. This term we cover Numbers to 5, Comparing groups within 5, Shape, Number bonds within 5 and Space.

PE 

This term in Get Set 4 PE the children will learn the principles of a basic PE lesson such as safely using space, stopping safely, using and sharing equipment and working individually, with a partner and in a group. They will take part in activities which will develop fundamental movement skills such as running, jumping and skipping.

Geography

This term in geography we explore what type of home we live in, what a map is, what is around our local area, who helps us in our local area and what transport is.

PSED

Our PSED theme is Being Me in My World. We discuss how it feels to belong and that we are similar and different, we talk about recognising our feelings, working with others to make school a good place to be, we explore why it is good to be kind and use gentle hands. We also begin to understand rights and responsibilities, which means we should all be allowed to learn and play.

Science

In Science we will be learning about our body and our senses through the Developing Experts Scheme.

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

Our Reception Team

Class Teacher: Mrs Van de Weg 

Support Staff:

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

Ms Taylor - Tuesday am, Thursday am, Friday pm

Ms Thompson - Tuesday pm, Wednesday 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.

Wednesday

Each Wednesday, please return the reading book from our reading scheme along with your child's reading record.

Please also return your child's library book. 

Friday

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.)

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

Your child will also 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.

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.

Timetable