Reception and Mixed Year 1

Welcome to Reception\Year 1

We are delighted to welcome you and your child to Reception\Year 1. This year will be filled with new discoveries, friendships, and exciting learning opportunities. Our aim is to create a caring and supportive environment where every child feels happy, confident, and ready to shine.

This page will be updated regularly to help keep you up to date with everything happening in Reception/Year 1. Please also look out for an email every Friday from class teachers that will include news, reminders, and information to support with your child's learning.

We look forward to working closely with you to support your child’s journey and to celebrate their achievements together.

Mrs Carr and Mrs Bailey

Week Beginning 10.11.2025

As part of Anti-Bullying Week, we explored the theme “Power for Good.” The children learned how their actions and words can help others, and we talked about kindness, friendship and how to be a good role model in our school community.

We also learned about Remembrance Day. The children reflected beautifully and took part in age-appropriate activities to help them understand why we remember and honour those who have helped keep us safe.

In Drawing Club, our focus book was Simon Sock. The children loved diving into the story, creating drawings inspired by the characters, and continuing to develop their early writing and storytelling skills.

Well done to all the children for another fantastic week of learning!

Week Beginning 03.11.25  🎆 🎇 

It has been a busy week, and the children have returned to school really well after half term.

In phonics, we learned ff, ll, ss and j, and in maths we explored the composition of 5 through practical activities and games. The children also enjoyed learning about Bonfire Night and created artwork linked to fireworks. 

Thank you to all the parents and family members who joined us at the Blessing Mass this week, and to those who helped walk with us to and from St Edward’s Church.

A big well done to the children for their wonderful singing, acting, and for confidently bringing up their paintings. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Happy Half Term! 🌟

What a fantastic end to a busy half term! The children have worked so hard and we’re so proud of how they’ve settled into routines, made new friends, and shown such enthusiasm for their learning.

This week, they’ve loved learning about Diwali and have continued exploring the signs of autumn. We’ve also been learning some lovely new songs for our Blessing and the children were very excited to meet their Year 5 buddies!

Phonics assessments have been sent home — please keep practising the sounds taught so far and name writing over the break.

A big thank you to everyone who came to Parents’ Evening, and to those volunteering to help with our church walk after half term (practice Tuesday 4th leaving school approx. 9:10 am, blessing Wednesday 5th November leaving school approx. 1:15 pm).

Have a wonderful, well-earned half term break! 🍂✨

Week 6

This week, Little Red Riding Hood captured our imaginations during Drawing Club. The children created simple codes linked to the story and enjoyed practising their initial sounds while exploring the characters and events from the tale.

In phonics, we focused on the sounds h, b, f and l. We also revisited the tricky words ‘I’ and ‘is’, and learned a new tricky word: ‘the’. The children are growing in confidence with recognising and using these sounds and words in their early reading and writing.

During maths, we practised subitising amounts up to four — recognising quantities without counting — and began to explore the number 5 through interactive games and practical activities.

Reminder – Blessing Mass

On Wednesday 5th November at 2:00pm, Reception will be attending the Blessing Mass at St Edward’s Church.

We kindly ask for parent volunteers to walk with us to and from the church to ensure the children can travel safely. If you are available to help, please let a member of the Reception team know. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Week 5

This week in Reception, The Leaf Thief book inspired our Drawing Club, where the children created simple codes linked to the story and practised their initial sounds.

In phonics, we learned ck, e, r, u and the tricky word ‘I’. In maths, we compared amounts and explored the number 4. We also enjoyed learning about Autumn and noticing seasonal changes.

📚 Phonics Reading Workshop – Next Thursday at 2:45 pm for parents only as children will remain in the classroom. Come along to see how we teach phonics and ways to support reading at home.

👕 Uniform Reminder – Full uniform is required each day. No PE kits needed this half term; PE begins after the half term break.

Well done to all the children for a fantastic week!

Week 4

The children have had a wonderful week and have shown such enthusiasm for learning! This week, they’ve especially enjoyed mathematics, phonics, and oracy activities.

This week we focused on:

Phonics: g, o, c, k

Tricky word: is

Oral blending (e.g. c-a-t cat, t-o-p top) see homework sheet

Number of the Week: 3 (Numberblocks – Three)

Mathematics: Counting – Cardinality (understanding how many items are in a group) and Ordinality (recognising position in a sequence) 

Understanding the World: Signs of Autumn 

Oracy: Taking turns speaking with a partner, linked to our ‘All About Me’ topic.

Week 3

This week has been a fantastic week for the children in school. The children are really settling into school life and we have been impressed with their efforts. 

In phonics we have been learning about the phonemes i, n, m and d and have started to blend words with these sounds in, for example: m-a-n.

In mathematics, we have started to learn the rules for counting and really enjoyed teaching our class puppets how to count. 

In RE lessons, we have started to learn about the Creation story and went on a walk to see how many things we could find that God has made. The children have also enjoyed making artwork for our Creation display.

Week 2
This week in Reception/Year 1, the children have made a fantastic start to their learning. We introduced the first four phonics sounds: s, a, t, p, and the children enjoyed practising saying and recognising these initial sounds.

The following website has some really useful videos that explain how we teach it:

👉 https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/  

Please pay particular attention to the video titled ‘Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 1’ as this will support you in helping your child pronounce the taught sounds correctly.

In mathematics, we have been developing our subitising skills—learning to look, not count—with numbers up to three.

This week we also visited the school prayer garden, where the children enjoyed some quiet reflection time together. Next week, we are looking forward to beginning our Creation unit in R.E.

Week 1

We were so proud of the children for their first week in school. They have been busy making friends, getting to know their teachers and learning where the different areas are in school.

We read the story ‘Worry Boots’ by Lisa Thompson to help the children talk about they were feeling on their first week of school. 

We look forward to beginning our formal phonics and mathematics lessons with them next week.

Useful Websites / Information for Parents