Reception

Welcome to Reception's Learning Page

MEET THE TEAM

Mrs Littlewood

Mrs Dalby (Maternity Leave)

Miss Hunter

Miss McLoud

Miss Harrison

Mrs Wilson

Our main driver project this half term is:

This exciting project teaches children about the different animals that roamed Earth millions of years ago and how they are related to animals that live on Earth today.

Support your child at home by:

1️⃣ Communication & Language

Listening & Attention

Listen to a dinosaur story (e.g. Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs).

Play “Dinosaur Sounds” – adult makes a sound, child guesses the dinosaur emotion (angry, sleepy, hungry).

Understanding

Follow instructions:
“Can you stomp like a T-Rex?”
“Can you fly like a Pterodactyl?”

Speaking

Describe a dinosaur:

Big or small?

Sharp teeth?

What does it eat?

Make up your own dinosaur name!

2️⃣ Personal, Social & Emotional Development (PSED)

Talk about feelings:
“How do you think the dinosaur feels?”

Share dinosaur toys and practise turn-taking.

Create a “brave explorer” role-play.

Praise effort when completing dinosaur tasks.

3️⃣ Physical Development

Gross Motor

Dinosaur movement game:

Stomp like a T-Rex

Stretch tall like a Brachiosaurus

Crawl like a baby dinosaur

Create an obstacle course – “Dinosaur Jungle”

Fine Motor

Cut out dinosaur shapes.

Dinosaur colouring.

Make dinosaur footprints in playdough.

Pick up “dinosaur eggs” (pom-poms) using tweezers.

4️⃣ Literacy

Reading

Share dinosaur story books.

Look at non-fiction dinosaur books.

Spot letters in dinosaur names (T for T-Rex).

Writing

Write labels for dinosaurs.

Attempt to write their own dinosaur name.

Draw and describe their own dinosaur.

Write simple sentences:

“The dinosaur is big.”

“It has sharp teeth.”

5️⃣ Mathematics

Count dinosaur toys.

Match dinosaurs to number cards.

Count dinosaur eggs.
“If 2 dinosaurs come and 1 more joins, how many now?”

Compare sizes: big/small.

Measure dinosaur footprints with cubes.

Sort dinosaurs by size or colour.

Create repeating patterns with dinosaur figures.

6️⃣ Understanding the World

Talk about extinct animals.

Compare dinosaurs to animals today.

Fossil exploration:

Make salt dough fossils.

Bury toys in sand and “excavate”.

7️⃣ Expressive Arts & Design

Paint dinosaur pictures.

Make a dinosaur mask.

Create a junk-model dinosaur.

Dinosaur role-play area.

Make dinosaur sound effects using instruments.

Children can access home learning activities by logging onto Seesaw. These are updated on a regular basis and support learning that is taking place in the classroom.

Our companion project is:

This mini project teaches children about the weather that happens during spring and allows them to explore natural phenomena, including rainbows. It supports them to explore colour in the natural world.

Support your child at home by:

1️⃣ Communication & Language

Listening & Attention

Listen to rain sounds and describe what you hear.

Watch the rain from the window and talk about what is happening.

Understanding

Follow instructions:

“Jump over the puddle.”

“Find something blue like the sky.”

Talk about how rainbows appear (rain + sunshine).

Speaking

Describe the weather each day.

2️⃣ Personal, Social & Emotional Development (PSED)

Talk about feelings linked to weather:

How do you feel on a rainy day?

What makes you feel bright like a rainbow?

Practise putting on coats and wellies independently.

Create a “rainbow of kindness” – each colour represents a kind action.

3️⃣ Physical Development
Gross Motor

Jump in puddles safely (or pretend indoors).

Make large rainbow shapes in the air with ribbons.

Weather movement game:

Spin like the wind

Fall like raindrops

Stretch like sunshine

Fine Motor

Use pipettes or spoons to drop coloured water onto cotton pads (rainbow experiment).

Thread coloured pasta to make a rainbow necklace.

Cut and stick rainbow strips.

4️⃣ Literacy

Reading

Share weather-themed stories.

Look at weather symbols and match to words.

Writing

Draw a picture of a rainbow and label the colours.

Write simple captions:

“It is raining.”

“I can see a rainbow.”

Make a weather diary for the week.

Write simple sentences about spring.

Sound out CVC words: sun, wet, rain, mud.

5️⃣ Mathematics

Count the colours in the rainbow (7).

Count raindrops drawn on paper.

Use numbered puddles and jump in order.

Compare puddle sizes: big/small.

Measure rainfall in a container.

Create repeating colour patterns (red, yellow, red, yellow).

6️⃣ Understanding the World

Explore:

What is rain?

What happens to puddles when the sun comes out?

Make a simple rain gauge.

Observe changes in spring:

Flowers growing

Wetter weather

Rainbow experiment:

Skittles experiment

Water + torch + mirror rainbow

Discuss seasons and how spring weather changes.

7️⃣ Expressive Arts & Design

Paint a rainbow using different tools (sponges, cotton buds).

Make cloud dough.

Create a large collaborative rainbow picture.

Sing songs:

“I Can Sing a Rainbow”

“Rain, Rain, Go Away”

Role-play:

Weather forecaster

Puddle explorer

Again, don't forget to look out for the fun, weekly activities on Seesaw and also look what we have been up to in class on class dojo.

Maths

Here is our overview for this term:

Key books that we'd recommend that will support your child(ren's) understanding in this terms maths:

• Zero is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco • None the Number by Oliver Jeffers • Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno • I Spy Numbers by Jean Marzollo • The Ugly Five by Julia Donaldson • Five Small Stars by Elizabeth Matterson and Madge Bugden • Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson • Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen • Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh • A Beach for Albert by Eleanor May • Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne • Sidney the Silly Who Only Eats 6 by M.W. Penn • Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore • 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle • Kipper’s Toybox by Mick Inkpen • Quack and Count by Keith Baker • Simon Sock by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet

Literacy

This half term we will be focusing on:

Giving meanings to marks as they draw.
Recognising and writing own name.
Writing recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
Forming lower-case and capital letters correctly.
Reading simple phrases and sentences made up of words with known letter–sound correspondences and, where necessary, a few exception words.
Reading individual letters by saying the sounds for them.
Using one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips in paper with scissors.
Using a comfortable grip with good control when holding pens and pencils.
Drawing story maps.
Using phonic knowledge to write captions and sentences.
Using stories to create opportunities for writing across the areas of provision.
Re-reading what they have written to check that it makes sense.
Writing short sentences with words with known sound-letter correspondences using a capital letter and full stop.

Reading and Phonics

We are continuing our ELS phonics journey. Your child has learnt all the phase 2 sounds and is now learning the phase 3 sounds now.

We will continue recognising phase 2 and 3 sounds segmenting words with sounds we have learnt, then blending the sounds together.

We will continue to practice to read the harder to read and spell words daily.

Books are changed every Friday and we ask that children practice reading at least four times a week.

Check out the following links to help at home:

How to pronounce pure sounds

How to blend words to read

This grapheme sheet and harder to spell and read words have been sent home but click the button below to see it online.

Key Days:

Both Reception classes will be doing PE on a Friday this half term.

Reading books will need to be returned by Thursday in order to send out a new book on a Friday. Please ensure you bring your child's reading book to school every day to support reading in school.

Grapheme Sheet for Parents

Grapheme Sheet for Parents

Harder to Read and Spell Words

Here is our Reception Class Charter challenge sheet. You can also download a copy by clicking on the image.

Download all the Charters as a PDF file