Welcome to Reception!

The Reception team is Miss Bours, Mrs Mallett, Mrs Walsh and Mrs Schofield. 

If you have any concerns, please come and see us and we will be happy to answer any questions. Alternatively, you can email us on:

Miss Bours - RB.Homework@pussbank.cheshire.sch.uk

Mrs Mallett - RMP.Homework@pussbank.cheshire.sch.uk 

Main Office - admin@pussbank.cheshire.sch.uk 

We have an open door policy at Puss Bank School and Nursery and we are always available to talk in the morning or after school.  Due to training needs we will find it tricky to speak to you on a Tuesday after school but we are always happy to arrange another time to chat about anything that you wish to raise with us.

If something happens during the day please feel free to telephone the school directly and a member of the office team will relay that information directly to the class teacher.

What will we be learning in the Spring Term?

Our topics this term are Animals in Winter and Around the World. 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development 

We will use the continuous provision, learning to persevere and concentrate on a task of their choosing. In particularly we will be exploring ‘pants are private and reviewing Puss Bank Promises.

English

In English our topic 'Animals in Winter' firmly relates to the texts we are exploring. We will be orally retelling the story of 'The Storm Whale in Winter' in our own words, learning new vocabulary to develop our communication and language and understanding what the begnning, middle and end of a story may look like. Children will then have a go at putting themselves in the shoes of different characters, writing speech bubbles to write what different characters are saying or doing.

We then explore the non-fiction text 'Hello Penguin' which is all about... penguins! We explore the concept of a non-fiction book and the features that make this type of book stand out. Using our trip to Peak Wildlife to support, we look at facts about penguins and other animals that we may know as being winter animals.

Maths

In Maths we will be exploring the numbers 1 to 5.  We will start by using our 'fast eyes' to subitise (know how many without counting) dot patterns and objects.  We will consolidate our early skills of the five principles of counting- focusing on how to count and what to count.  We will begin to explore where numbers sit in the number system and use mathematical language of more and fewer when comparing sets of countable objects.  We do all of this with the help of Numberblocks.  Occasionally we will watch small clips to help us start our thinking and reasoning trying to use full sentences in our explanations.  We love maths and play games outside and in small groups to help us secure our learning, happy counting!

Phonics

In Phonics we will begin to learn our single letter sounds.  We will learn how to say the sound (phoneme) and what it looks like (grapheme).  We begin by aurally blending small words said by an adult.  We then learn how to say the sounds we can see and blend them together to start to read small words.  We are introduced to tricky words, these are words that can not be sounded out, we just need to learn them by sight.  Each day we learn how to write a new letter and at the end of the week we play games to match, sort and read words we have learnt so far.

Around the World

This term we will be looking at past and present experiences, maps and features of a map and looking at different types of houses and how these look different.

 

How can parents help?

 

• Practise writing your child's name, using the correct letter formation
• Practise dressing and undressing. Can they do their zip on their coat? Can they find which shoe goes on each foot?
• Please continue to hear your child practise their reading books at least 3 times a week
• Share the sharing book they bring home and talk about the story afterwards.
• Let them find their own way to do activities and allow them to struggle with things they find difficult.
• Make learning fun! It's not a 'table-top' activity, it can be done anywehre eg. spot sounds they know on your local walk, count how many ducks are in the pond etc. 

 

English Support

Reception are now following a curriculum written by a training organisation known as EY2P. 

To support your children at home further with English here are some ideas you may want to try!

• Sing songs and rhymes: this is great for building memory and developing speech and language
• Storytelling: reading with your child and seeing if they can retell a story with you is great for language, concentration, imagination building and much more!
• Drawing and doodling: this is great for developing handstrength. I would adovcate using pencils and crayons where children have to work their hands even more to see their beautiful colouring!
• Letter hunts: see if you can spot any letters whilst your out and about in books, signs or any packaging.

Phonics Support

At Puss Bank School and Nursery, we use the phonic scheme Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds to teach phonics. 

How to say phase 2 sounds with your child

Please watch this video with your child to support them in saying their new phase 2 sounds. 

Maths Support

Maths Tutorial for EYFS - find out how children learn to count and understand numbers in the EYFS.

Please watch this video to learn more about 'Number' in the Foundation Stage, in turn this will enable you to support your child at home.

We will be practising writing our numbers, as we are members of a Trust we have been asked to used Numberblocks.  Please click on the link to hear the song.  Remember you can write your numbers with anything and anywhere.

Important Information

PE will be on a Wednesday. Children are to come to school in their school uniform and bring in a PE kit to keep here. 

Homework will be handed out on a Friday and collected in on a Thursday the following week.

Reception Trips and Experiences

• Peak Wildlife Park - Monday 9th March 2026
• West Kirby Beach -  Tuesday 23rd June 2026

All trips and events can be found on the Arbor app where you can consent and make payments. Letters will be sent out nearer the time with further information.