Reception/Y1

The Reception Team this year are:

Mrs Dodson (Class Teacher - Monday - Thursday)

Mrs Gilby-Young (HLTA - Friday Morning)

Mrs Hawkins (Headteacher - Friday Afternoon)

Mrs Preece (Teaching Assistant)

May Update

We have had another very busy and exciting month in Reception.

This month, the children have enjoyed learning all about the life cycle of a caterpillar. Our focus text has been The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has inspired learning across many areas of the curriculum. The children have retold the story using a story map, created caterpillars and butterflies using playdough, written lists of all the foods the caterpillar ate throughout the week, and made delicious fruit skewers linked to the story.

Our caterpillars will need a home over half term. I will be drawing a name out of a hat for one child in the class to take them home and look after them during the break. We think they will be forming chrysalises at the end of this week or the beginning of next week, so hopefully we will be able to witness the amazing transformation into butterflies after half term.

Our outdoor provision has been very busy too! The children have loved potion making, exploring and mixing natural ingredients including blossom, feathers, leaves and catkins found in our garden. This has inspired recipe writing, including pictures and labels of ingredients. The children have also enjoyed playing in our newly filled sandpit — thank you so much for all the cake donations which helped make this possible. We have also seen lots of imaginative role play in our outdoor café, where the children have been buying and selling cakes, ice creams and drinks using a till and money, as well as writing menus.

In Maths, we started the month by learning about 3D shapes. The children learnt the names of common 3D shapes, sorted them and described their properties, including whether they have curved faces or flat faces. We then moved on to teen numbers (and beyond), using tens frames and Numicon to support their understanding. The children have also been practising their number formation during morning work, which is helping to support their transition into Year 1 in September. Most recently, we have been deepening our understanding of numbers 1–10, focusing on addition and subtraction stories. The children have used tens frames and their growing number facts to help solve simple problems with increasing confidence.

In Drawing Club, we have enjoyed exploring The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and the adventurous world of Wacky Races. The children have really enjoyed the ‘get up, stand up vocabulary’ at the start of each session, which helps develop ambitious vocabulary through action and speech. Their drawings are becoming increasingly detailed and imaginative, and their writing is developing alongside this beautifully.

Reading skills are continuing to progress really well with the Read Write Inc. programme. The children’s handwriting is developing beautifully, and we are now using Year 1 writing books during Read Write Inc. lessons to support their progression into Year 1. The children are also becoming much more independent with their segmenting skills when spelling words, and are beginning to write sentences with far greater independence, both in Drawing Club and during Read Write Inc. lessons. Thank you for all the reading you do at home — it really does make a huge difference. Please remember to fill in reading records so we can keep up to date with what the children are reading at home.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came to Stay and Play on Monday. It was a fantastic turnout as always, and the children thoroughly enjoyed spending the afternoon with you all.