Pre-School 2025 - 2026

Welcome to Pre-School Spring Term 1 2026  

We will be starting our first SpringTerm topic 'Traditional Tales' 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 making and baking activities and puppet shows 

Welcome to all the new children and their families starting with us in January, if you have yet to receive the welcome pack with details about the Pre-School day, then please ask at the school office or download the PDF in the files section attached to this page.

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 our ‘wow stars’ to complete at home, we will share your child’s celebrations/achievements together at school. Also, it is really great to share any news or information about home life with us, we would love to see any type of news in their books when you bring them back to us each week  

• 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: a,t,p,i,n 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 should be able to 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 20th of January 2026 

This week we will explore the story- The Gingerbread Man

Communication & Language:

This week we will repeat phrase ‘Run, run, as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread man’ as part of our musical performance of the story. We will use actions and instruments such as bells and tambourines to follow the rhythm in each phrase, counting 1,2,3,4 like the running feet of the animals chasing him. Our new words this week will be; beginning, middle, end and the characters names of pig, cow, dog cat, boy and girl and new repeating phrases; 'stop, you look good enough to eat'. 

   Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

This week we will go back to our calming breathing time for relaxation and self-regulation, using the ‘Calm kids the Gingerbread man’ episode. We have lots of opportunities this week to express our feelings through music and to play with new things such as our bakery role play table. We will also continue to model to the children how to make decisions about where they play and what they will play with, depending upon how they are feeling.    

Physical Development:

This week we will be playing 'ready steady stop' on the large playground which involves jumping, running, hopping for a short time then freezing. We will act out the Gingerbread man being chased down the paths using hoops and stepping stones to add challenges along the way. We will enjoy making mini pathways in the dry flour with our fingers and fine paint brushes and making our way from the top to the bottom of our trays. We will be using handwriting pencils that guide our fingers into a tripod position, we can then practise forming patterns, this week we will practise starting at the top of the gingerbread man’s windy pathways, carrying on all the way down.  

Literacy:

Literacy: 

This week we will play with puppets from the story independently in our small world area, and practise recalling the sequence of the story using the pictures of beginning, middle and end. 

Phonics:

 This week we will have lots of fun exploring how to make the pure sound 'p', using the air correctly pushed through our lips to finish in an open mouth position. We also use actions to help us as we will pretend to 'pat the puppy's head', one hand in a fist shape for the head and the other hand and patting on top as we make the 'p,p,p' sound. 

  Mathematics:

This week we will complete our exploration of position and space. We will use physical activities outside to run like the Gingerbread Man and hide and use the puppets to position them on, over, in or behind things. 

    Understanding the World:

This week we will role play with gloopy flour to create our fun sticky dough and use spoons to place it into gingerbread man cutter shapes, we will see what happens to the dry flour as we carefully add more and more water. We will explore what ginger is and enjoy tasting porridge and deciding what our favourite healthy topping is. 

   Expressive Arts & Design:

This week we will enjoy independent puppet play and practise using props and familiar words from the Gingerbread man story. We will create our gingerbread man musical story with a beginning, middle and end. We will be getting creative with light colours on different shaped sponges to print to make cake pictures and play with our role play bakery. 

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.