Reception 2025 - 2026

We are going to have lots of fun during our last term togther, exploing 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.

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.

Peak Wildlife Park - Our visit is on Wednesday 20th May. 

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 has changed to FRIDAY this term. Children should come to school in their PE kits (House t-shirts, school or plain black/navy shorts or 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 18th May 2026 

There is no Home Learning this week. 

Phonics:

We have completed our Phase 3 Phonics learning, so will now be spending some time recapping some of the trickier graphemes (a letter or group of letters that make a single sound). We are focusing on ensuring the children can:

1. Recognise the Phase 2 and Phase 3 graphemes and say their sounds (phonemes)
2. Decode and read words containing these graphemes
3. Write the Phase 2 and Phase 3 graphemes correctly, when given the sounds.
4. Sound out and write words containing these graphemes.
5. Read and write the Phase 2 and Phase 3 Tricky Words – these cannot be sounded out so we have to learn them by sight.

The'Keep-Up’ Phonics group will be focusing on the Phase 3 grapheme - unvoiced ‘th’ this week, as well as reading and writing the tricky words she and we

The Rapid Phonics group will be focusing on the Phase 3 graphemes ‘z’ and 'zz' this week, as well as reading and writing the new tricky word we

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  ow  oi  ear  air  ure  er

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. We are writing questions that we would like to answer during our visit to Peak Wildlife Park.

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 numbers by manipulating objects and learning how they can be composed (put together) and decomposed (taken apart). Through hands-on activities, we begin to understand how numbers are made, spotting patterns and building strong foundations for addition and subtraction. This helps develop our confidence with number and deepens our mathematical understanding.

   Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

   Understanding the World

  Physical Development:

This week, we are continuing our cricket sessions, working with the coaches to develop our skills.

    Expressive Arts & Design:

 In Music, we will continue to explore transport-themed rhythms, learning to keep a beat and create simple patterns using their voices and instruments. These activities support imaginative expression and confidence in the arts.

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