Reception 2024 - 2025

Mrs Hughes

Mrs Bradley

Reception Autumn term 2

We hope that you have had a good week and have had time to relax and spend time together after a fantastic first half-term in Reception! We are very proud of every single one of you and how you have adapted to school life at Highfields. We now look forward to another wonderful half-term at this magical time of year which will be extremely busy as well as exciting!

For the first couple of weeks this half term, we will be learning about celebrations such as Diwali, Bonfire Night and Poppy Day. Then, as it is definitely getting colder, we will change our focus to Winter and Christmas.

In phonics lessons this half term, we will be developing our recognition of letters and sounding and blending of simple words. So far, we have introduced:

s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,g,o,c,k,ck,e,u,r,h,b,f,l

This half-term, we will be consolidating these sounds and looking at:

ff,ll,ss,j,v,w,x,y,z,zz,qu,ch,sh,th,ng,nk

Our new book from our literacy scheme will be “I’m Going to eat this Ant” by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros. This half term, we will be consolidating writing our names independently and developing how we write our letters correctly by starting them in the correct place using little rhymes. We will be using our phonics to help us write labels and spelling simple words by identifying sounds and then writing down these sounds using letters,

In Maths lessons, we will focus on 2D shapes, patterns, counting using numbers up to 10, subitising and comparing numbers using the vocabulary more or less.

We will have PE on Wednesdays this half term. Mrs Bradley and Mrs Gardner will be developing the children’s ball skills, in particular rolling, aiming, bouncing, throwing and catching. For these games’ lessons, which will be in the hall, the children will need to wear trainers and their PE kits (red hoodie/jumper, red T-shirt, black leggings or tracksuit bottoms). Please could you ensure that all uniform is labelled and checked regularly and be aware that for health and safety reasons, earrings must be removed or covered during PE lessons?

We will be learning our songs for our Christmas Play “Prickly Hay” which takes place on Wednesday 10^th December at 2pm and 5.30pm. (Details and tickets to follow). R.E. will be taught by Mrs Walker on Thursday afternoons during Mrs Bradley’s PPA time and this half term will focus on giving gifts, saying thank you and the Nativity story.

Thank you for your support with reading at home. The children are now beginning to read decodable phonics books. They will have read these books three times at school before bringing them home to show you what they have learnt. As before, listening to stories and talking about them is also fantastic to develop a love of books when snuggling up together at the end of a busy day! Please could you try to read with your child each day whether it be them reading to you with their phonics book or you reading a story to them? Please could we ask that you sign their reading diaries once you have done so and check that reading diaries are in bookbags every day as well as reading for pleasure books? We will be swapping and sharing reading for pleasure books with Year 6 reading buddies on Mondays.

We look forward to another wonderful half-term working with you!

Kind regards,

Mrs Hughes (Mondays and Tuesdays), Mrs Bradley (Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) and our wonderful teaching assistant Mrs Gardner.

If you have any questions, no matter what they are, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do my best to help in any way we can.

Key Dates:

Monday 4^th November: Back to school!

Tuesday 5^th November: Fluenz nurses in school

Monday 11^th November: Start of Anti-Bullying week

Tuesday 12^th November: Odd Socks Day

Tuesday 12^th / Wednesday 13^th November: Parents’ evenings

Wednesday 4th December: KS1 Civic Panto Trip – “Santa’s Christmas Cracker”

Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th December- FOHS Wrapping Room