Summer Term 2026  

Welcome back to all of our children and parents/carers. We are so excited for your children to continue to progress and grow during this final term of Reception. Thank you for your continued support, it is really appreciated by all Reception staff. 

Our class assembly will take place on Friday 26th June 2026. 

Play underpins the Early Years Foundation Stage. It also underpins learning and all aspects of children’s development. Through play, children develop language skills, their emotions and creativity, social and intellectual skills. For most children their play is natural and spontaneous although some children may need extra help from adults. Play takes place indoors and outdoors and it is in these different environments that children explore and discover their immediate world. It is here they practice new ideas and skills, they take risks, show imagination and solve problems on their own or with others. The role that adults have is crucial. Adults provide time and space and appropriate resources. These might include clothes, boxes, buckets, old blankets that will inspire play and fire children’s imaginations. They observe play and join in when invited, watching and listening before intervening. They value play and provide safe but challenging environments that support and extend learning and development. 

 

Religion  

Our next RE topic will be ‘To the ends of the Earth’. We will be learning what happens to Jesus after the resurrection. We will be learning about The Ascension, the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the early community that formed and is now called the Early Church. We use real scripture and artefacts to inspire the children’s love and understanding of Religion. 

Our final RE topic will be ‘Dialogue and Encounter’. We will be learning about Christianity as a global religion and encounter different religious worldviews. We will be learning about ‘friends of Jesus’ and celebrations of other faiths.  

Reading for Pleasure  

Reading for pleasure is enjoyed by our children and staff on a daily basis in Reception class. The children are beginning to develop a real love for reading. 

 We will continue to use and introduce high quality texts to develop our love of reading in Reception Class. The children have daily access to the books in our provision areas. We carefully plan our books according to the children’s interests and use them to fire children’s imagination and curiosity. If you have any favourites or have recently enjoyed a book at home, please do let us know – we love story recommendations!  

 Please continue to read with your child at home each evening. This supports their phonetic knowledge as well as developing their love of books. Thank you for keeping the communication open by signing the reading diary, this helps us further support your child at school.  

 

Reading Support 

 Your child has now been introduced to all of the set 1 sounds in the RWI reading programme. Some children will be introduced to set 2 sounds by the end of reception.  

Please do keep up the regular practise at home. If you need a copy of the set 1 or 2 sounds, please do let us know.  

 

In the previous two terms we focused on blending the sounds together to read words e.g.  

m-a-t = mat 

d-o-g = dog 

sh-o-p = shop 

 

Parents, here is a short video to help with blending the sounds together to read words; 

 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search 

 

We will now be focusing on blending sounds independently to read words. Please read at home with your child every night and communicate through the reading diary. 

 

Maths 

 Our Maths curriculum embeds mathematical thinking and talk. The open ended provision in class will help the children to practise what they have learned during whole class sessions as well as becoming independent in creating their own challenges through many play opportunities during the school day. 

 To support and direct our teaching and learning, we follow the NCETM Mastering Number programme. 

There are six key areas of early mathematical learning. They provide the foundations for children as they progress through primary school, and beyond.  

 Cardinality and Counting – the quantity or the total amount 

Comparison – more or less 

Composition – one number can be made up from two or more smaller numbers  

Pattern – help children notice and understand mathematical concepts 

Shape and Space – helps develop wider mathematical thinking 

Measures – compare weight, length and volume 

 Our children love to watch Numberblocks – we use the videos and visuals to support and develop our mathematical understanding. 

Please do follow the link and enjoy the videos and activities at home with your child;  

https://www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/ey-numberblocks-at-home/  

Literacy 

 Our Literacy book focuses for this term were chosen to support learning around the topics ‘animals’ and ‘all around the world’. We will use each story to build interest, awe and wonder, and learning around each story. We will be building up to holding and writing simple sentences E.g. ‘It is a cat.’, with the expectation that all children being able to write independently by the end of the year. We will be using our phonics to support this, and adapting each activity to meet the needs of each child to ensure that all children have the foundations to build on in Year 1. 

Please ensure that you are providing opportunities at home to build on this learning and that you are talking to your child about the writing that they are completing at home.  

Every mark that a child makes independently contributes to their love for writing and enhances their fine motor skills. 

  

Parent notices 

 Please send your child in to school each day with a waterproof coat and a pair of wellies (we love to get wet and muddy and play outside in all weather conditions) 

 Please practice self-help skills at home such as putting own coat on and fastening independently 

 Ensure all clothing is name labelled 

 Water bottles to be brought to school each day and refilled at home 

 Children to come to school every Tuesday dressed in their PE kit (white t-shirt, navy/black shorts or jogging bottoms with school jumper on) 

 

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