Reception 2025 - 2026

Welcome back! We hope you all had a fabulous Easter break and are ready and raring to go for the Summer Term.  We can't believe this is our last term together in Reception but we are going to have lots of fun as we explore our new topic 'Welcome Aboard'. Our topic web, with more information about our learning is available in the 'Files to Download' section at the bottom of this page.

Routines, Reminders & Messages

Doors open at 8.45am and Reception children will continue to be brought down at 3.10pm, just before Key Stage One finish for the day.

The New Tapestry App Has Arrived - Desktop Users will not need to do anything but App Users now need to download a new app (not an update) from the App Store / Google Play store. We have sent you a Tapestry memo with more information and new user guides.

Book Bag and Reading Diary - Your child was given their book bag and reading folder on their first day.  The folder contains their reading diary and phonics reading books.  Please look through the diary and complete the permissions pages as soon as possible (we can't put any lovely photos on our webpage until we have your consent).  

Please record in the diary each time you read with your child.  We will make a note of when we have read in school too.  You can use the diary to pass notes to us but please remember that they are not checked daily.  If your message is urgent or very important then please telephone or email the school office instead.

Phonics Reading Books - Your child will bring home two books per week, that match the sounds learned in phonics lessons. It is important for the children to re-read the books - at least 3 times at home - to help them become more fluent, begin to recognise words and to feel successful as a reader. We encourage the children to read once to sound out and blend all of the words, a second time to remember and begin to read a little more confidently and a third time to help their understanding of the book and be able to talk about it. 

Please ensure all books and the reading diary are kept in your child's folder in their book bag and brought in to school every day, as we also read these books in class. Books are changed on Mondays - we have very limited supplies so please ensure they are in school and availiable to be passed on to the next child.

'Reading for Pleasure' books -  Your child will choose a Reading for Pleasure book during their first week.  These are lovely books for you to share with your child at home. Your child is not expected to read these for themselves but they are wonderful as a bedtime story or snuggled up on the sofa to read together. These books are also changed on Mondays and again we have a limited supply, so would appreciate your support in ensuring they are returned on time to be available for another child.

P.E. -  Our P.E. day is on Thursday. Children should come to school in their PE kits (House t-shirts, school or plain black/navy tracksuit) and velcro pumps or trainers - no laces please!

Home Learning is sent home on Fridays.  This will be a mixture of activities in Home Learning books, online or via Tapestry. Please ensure it is completed and, where applicable, books are returned by the following Wednesday, when we collect them in. 

Tapestry - we use this to share highlights of your child's learning, send messages and set some home learning tasks.  If your child attended our Pre-School then your existing login details are still valid.  If you are new to Rode Heath then you should have received an email with instructions on how to get started (check your junk folder if you don't receive an email). As always, please let us know if you have any problems.

School Spider - Please ensure that you have downloaded the School Spider App. We use this for communicating general school messages and information such as head bumps and changes to arrangements for clubs.

Ensuring that our children are happy, safe and secure in school is very important to us.  We follow our Hearts and Minds curriculum to ensure children's personal, social and emotional development is central to our practice.  More information about our Hearts and Minds curriculum and the weekly Hearts and Mind planning can be found using this link: Hearts and Minds. 

To find year group expectations for Maths, please click here, scroll down and click on the overview. 

For year group expectations for English, please click here, scroll down and click on the overview. 

The expectations for Science and the Foundation subjects can be found by selecting the relevant heading from here.

Our Learning Journey: Monday 13th April 2026 

Phonics:

This week we will be continuing our Phase 3 Phonics and learning the graphemes or and ur  We will make sure we recognise the graphemes and can link them to the sound they make (phonemes).  We will practise hearing the sounds in short words, reading short sentences and forming the letters correctly to write words.  We will also learn the tricky word her.  We call them 'tricky words' because they cannot be sounded out phonetically, we have to learn to read and write the whole word.

The Rapid Phonics group will be focusing on the Phase 3 grapheme j this week, as well as reading and writing the new tricky word he

Pure Sounds - We teach the children to use 'pure' sounds (the sounds that letters make in words)  Click on the pictures below to hear the 'pure' sounds for Phase 2 and Phase 3 phonics.

Phase 2 Graphemes - s  a t  p  i  n  m  d  g  o  c  k  ck  e  u  r  h  b  f  l  ff ll ss

Phase 3 Graphemes - j  v  w  x  y  z  zz  qu  ch  sh  th  ng  ai  ee  igh  oa  oo  ar  or  ur

Phase 2 Tricky Words - I  no  go  to  the  into

Phase 3 Tricky Words - he  she  we  me  be  was  my  you  they  all  are  her

Literacy:

This week we will be using our Phonic knowldege to plan and write simple sentences using taught sounds and tricky words.

Letter Formation - We work very hard on developing a good pencil grip and forming our letters correctly in Reception. This is important because it reduces strain on the hand muscles and prepares children for joining letters and writing at greater length in Years 1 and 2. The pictures below show the correct formation for each letter and the rhymes we use to support the children to recall them.

  Maths:

This week we will be exploring 3D shapes. We will handle and investigate cubes, spheres, cylinders and cones, talking about their properties, and spotting where these shapes appear in the world around us. Through play, construction and problem‑solving activities, the children are building strong early spatial awareness and mathematical vocabulary.

   Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

This week we are learning about how people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in their own unique ways. We will talk about our own families and exploring how others may celebrate in ways that are similar or different from us. We are developing respect, curiosity and understanding as we learn about the diverse communities around us.

   Understanding the World

  Physical Development:

This week, we are starting cricket and will be working with the coaches to develop our skills.

    Expressive Arts & Design:

Engineering:

Don't forget to visit our Think Like an Engineer website regularly to see what we're all busy doing: 

https://thinklikeanengineerproject.com

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.

If you are worried about how to keep your child safe online, please follow the following link:.

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/keeping-your-under-five-safe-online