Class Teacher – Mrs S Clarke
Teaching Assistant–Mrs D Morris
‘The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences’
Loris Malaguzzi
Reception Long Term Plan 2025/2026
Our children in Reception learn through enhanced continuous provision, both in our indoor and outdoor classroom.
Our children learn through the Characteristics of Effective Learning, these are:
- playing and exploring
- active learning
- creating and thinking critically
These are important life skills and attitudes which support children in being ready to face challenges, explore and extend their learning.
We have 7 different areas of learning these are broken down into our Prime and Specific areas.
Our Prime Areas of learning are:
- Personal, Social, Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Communication and Language
Our specific areas of learning are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive Arts and Design
All of the activities planned within our EYFS key stage are linked to these areas of learning with close attention paid to the characteristics of effective learning.
What’s happening this term in Reception…
Happy New Year and welcome back to our Reception class! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas break filled with rest, fun, and special moments with family and friends.
We are so excited to see the children back in school and ready for a new term of learning and discovery. This term will be full of exciting activities, stories, play, and opportunities for the children to grow in confidence and independence.
Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to a happy, busy, and successful term ahead together!
Religious Education
Our RE topic this term is ‘Galilee to Jerusalem’. The over arching theme for this topic is God is Love and how Jesus shows his love for us.
During this topic, the children will be first be introduced to the Feast of the Epiphany (Matthew 2:1-12)
They will also begin to learn about Jesus as a child and how he grows up into a loving family.
We will also be introducing the children to two scripture readings – Jesus blesses the little children (Mark 10:13-16) and Feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1-14)
English
This term, Reception’s core text is ‘Blue Penguin’ by Petr Horacek. The story follows a small blue penguin who feels different from the others and sets off on a journey to discover where he belongs. Through this warm and engaging tale, the children will explore themes of belonging, friendship and self-confidence, while developing their listening, language and comprehension skills.
We will also be reading ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ by Julia Donaldson. This story follows a clever little ladybird who overhears a plot to steal a prize cow and quietly saves the day with the help of her farmyard friends. Through this fun and rhyming story, the children will explore themes of teamwork, listening and problem-solving, while developing their language, comprehension and early reading skills.
Phonics
In Reception, we use the Read Write Inc. phonics programme to help children learn to read and write in a fun and supportive way. Children take part in daily phonics sessions where they learn letter sounds, practise blending sounds to read words and begin to write simple words and sentences. Read Write Inc. builds confidence, encourages a love of reading and gives children the strong foundations they need for future learning. Parents are encouraged to support this at home by practising sounds and sharing books together.
Mathematics
This term in mathematics we will be continuing to consolidate our knowledge of number. We follow White Rose Maths and NCETM which allows children to delve deeper into number and learn all about what a number is and what it consists of. We will be looking at numbers to 20 and the different ways we can represent these. We will also be teaching the children the concepts of addition, subtraction and sharing as a means of division.
What can I be doing at home?
Reading to your child every day! Reading allows children to enter a new world, learn new words, new cultures, new experiences and develops imagination. It provides the chance to question, predict and most of all enjoy!
Find reasons to write. Before going shopping, write down lists of what you will need. Ask your child to write down the first sound of the items, whilst shopping ask children to find the b,b,b bread. Draw pictures and write captions of the things you have been doing at home and over the weekends.
Practice recognising your numbers every day and counting out objects to match. Find 1 more and less than numbers and create your own number problems. Count, count count!
Can you create your own maths problems?
If I have 5 sweets but I ate 1 how many would I have left?
How many beads can you put into the pot into 1 minute?
General Information
Please ensure you are checking Class Dojo frequently. This is the most up to date form of communication between home and school. Here, you will find out information linked to your child’s class, whole school events and general information.
Each Monday we collect £1 which is used to buy snack for your child throughout the week. All contributions are greatly valued to ensure your child has a healthy week at school.
In Reception we have access to our outdoor classroom daily to keep us physically active and healthy. In addition to this, our planned PE day is Tuesday. On P.E days children are required to come in to school wearing their full PE kit.
Please ensure ALL your child’s clothing has names on it. As they go through the wash names do tend to fade so please keep checking to ensure that things don’t go missing, especially jumpers and cardigans.
Many thanks for your continued support in school and at home.
Mrs Clarke