Welcome to Pre-School Summer Term 1 2026  

Welcome Back! We hope that you have enjoyed your Easter break together. This week we will be starting our first Summer topic 'Minibeasts and the Natural World' please enjoy looking at the topic web in the file section below.

We have lots to look forward to this half-term including all our walks around the school grounds and our minibeast hunts talking place in the woods and field areas of school and our mini Pre-School garden.

Routines, Reminders & Messages for Children starting Reception 2026: 

• Tapestry – If you have not yet sent any family photos or photos of special times for your child then we would love to share them in class. Please upload a photo of your child’s family as soon as you can, thanks so much!  

• Book Bags – Please look out for your child's book bag day. Each week we will continue to add a new letter and sound to explore and practise togteher.

• Reading for Pleasure' books - Your child will choose a 'Reading for Pleasure' every week.  These are lovely books for you to share with your child at home and are wonderful as a bedtime story or snuggling up on the sofa to read together. These books are also changed on your child's specific Book-Bag Day and again we have a limited supply, so would appreciate your support in ensuring they are returned on time to be available to be chosen by another child.  

• Phase 1 Phonics- We will be learning about how to hear and say sounds at the beginning of words. We will start with letter s and work on a new letter each week will follow. Each week you will receive a small poster with instructions on how to model the pure sound and practise new words at home together. 

• Lunches - You may change lunch option at any time for your child so if you wish to switch to a school lunch provided by our kitchen, please do not hesitate to let us know, an order form and menu can be obtained online or from the school office.   

• Passwords - We require a password for every child. If you have not provided a password on your registration form, then please inform myself or Miss Moss at drop-off or pick-up time so that we can update our records. Also, if there are any changes to normal collection routines, please let us know on the day or contact the school office.  

• Tapestry Learning Journey - If you are new to Tapestry as a family then please look out for an email with instructions on how to get started by the end of this week. If your child has an older sibling and you already have an Tapestry login then please reactivate your previous account, it will be accessible by the end of this week. If your child attends another setting we can share accounts with the other setting with your permission. If your child had a previous account at another setting then we can continue their Learning Journey by accessing a Key Code from the manager, please contact your previous setting and ask the manager to email Rode Heath Admin with the key code and we can then transfer the data to our Pre-School. As always, please let us know if you have any problems.

Week Commencing: Monday 11th of May 2026

'This week we will learn all about the countriside where we live' 

Communication & Language:

This week we will enjoy the story 'We’re Going on a Bear Hunt' by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury and as we read through this story we will practise the repeating phrases and say the sounds for each section of the adventure out loud. We will enjoy copying the actions and keeping a beat as we perform the story as a song.

   Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

This week we will be practising using positive words and kindness. We will use the strategy of ‘colour friendship bears’ and talk about how different friendship bears help each other through tricky times. This week we will be having a simple discussion about what a good friend can do and look at the important words that Happy Yellow Bear says: ‘This teddy is cheerful and has a big smile. He is very kind and likes to help his friends. He loves to wave and cuddle. This teddy likes to make new friends with other teddies and boys and girls and to make them feel happy too. Would you like to have a friend like Happy Teddy Bear?’.

Physical Development:

This week we will continue to practise our ball skills, throwing and catching, rolling and batting. We will also be starting new pencil challenges including writing our names from memory We will focus on pencil grip and starting points for our capital letter and lower-case letters. This week we will continue practising our cutting skills using our dominant hand. We will try to hold the scissors using the correct finger positioning, thumb at the top and cut along a straight line. We will complete the bear hunt challenge and cut and stick a story sequence map.

Literacy:

This week we will enjoy the very exciting story of 'We’re Going on a Bear Hunt'. We will focus on the characters in the story and what happens first, in the middle and at the end. We will enjoy the repeating phrase and make a song together with actions as we retell the story.

We will be focussing on moving across the page of a book from left to right and begin to discuss what the bear is feeling and what our thoughts are about the beach picture at the end of the story. We will begin to notice some familiar graphemes in the words in this story, focussing on hearing and saying our new letter sound: b, for bear, b for big, b for beautiful. 

Phonics:

This week we will have lots of fun exploring how to make the pure sound 'b', have a look at the I spy game and the pure sounds poster to show you how to make this sound in your child’s book bag. This week we will be practising the rhyming CVC words bug, mug, hug and rug. Practise segmenting each word into its individual sounds b-u-g, then blend together ‘bug’. What other words can you think of to add to the rhyming chain?

  Mathematics:

This week we will learn to Match dot patterns with our ladybird game and play subitising games with our bear cave and bear number lines. We will have fun practising counting how many claps and listening games with our eyes closed to see if w can her 3 claps 4 drum beats and so on. We will also represent sounds with resources, like the ‘swishy swashy’ grass and the ‘stumble trip’ forest sounds in our story this week.

    Understanding the World:

This week we will explore the different places in the story the fields with long grass, forests and rivers around us, have we ever seen them? What do they look like, how do we interact with those places in our countryside? We will also talk about what habitats bears live in and the different types of bears that live around the world.

   Expressive Arts & Design:

This week we will enjoy learning about sounds with musical instruments and creating our own bear hunts. We will enjoy playing in our new Minibeast cafe and serve funny drinks and snacks too!

We know that the first few weeks at Pre-School can be a bit of a scary time, even for mums and dads! If you have any worries then please come and talk to us- mornings at the door can be a bit busy but we have more time to talk at the end of the day. Please email the office directly if you would like a phone call or a meeting.

Our door is always open, please contact us for help at any time.  At busy times, please telephone to leave a message or email and we will respond as soon as we can.