Author: Mrs Wood

One of the challenges this week was to create a sun safety poster. We talked about the key things we need to remember to stay safe in the sun.

You must wear a hat to protect your head.
I always put sun cream on.
When it’s hot, you need to drink more water.
I play in the shade when I get too hot.

Help at Home: With the weather looking very sunny next week, talk to your child about how they can stay safe in the sun.

Yesterday, we were joined by the Leeds City Council Road Safety team for a special assembly focused on keeping ourselves safe. We learned how to stay safe when walking to and from school, travelling in cars, and crossing roads. We also explored the Green Cross Code (Think, Stop, Look, Listen) and met their travel mascot, Arlo!

After the assembly, one of the team stayed to speak with us in more detail about how to stay safe near roads.

Thank you!
As we come to nearly the end of another busy and successful half-term, I would like to say how incredibly proud I am of all the Reception children. They have shown such enthusiasm, resilience and curiosity in everything they do, and the progress they have made across all areas of the Early Years curriculum has been wonderful to see. The children should be very proud of all they have achieved this half-term.

A huge thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support at home. Your encouragement and involvement make such a positive difference to your child’s learning and development, and it is greatly appreciated.

Literacy
This week in Literacy, we have loved exploring Walking Through the Jungle by Julie Lacome. The catchy, repetitive language has really helped us to build confidence with retelling the story.
We loved joining in with the repeated phrases and actions as we travelled through the jungle to find different animals! The predictable pattern of the story supported us in remembering the sequence of events and retelling the story independently.

Help at home: Use the story map in your child’s bag to practise retelling the story together at home.

In our construction area, we have also enjoyed designing and building jungle habitats for the animals from the story. The children worked creatively to add trees, rivers and hiding places, using their imaginations to bring the jungle to life.
Living and Learning
In Living and Learning, we explored the importance of healthy eating. We looked closely at the different sections of the Eatwell Guide plate and discussed how it helps us make healthy choices.

After a thoughtful class discussion, the children drew pictures of healthy meals, carefully including a range of foods from each food group.
Maths
In maths, the children developed their understanding of numbers to 10 through practical activities and games. Using the rhyme 10 Fat Sausages, they explored different ways to make 10 and learned that numbers can be made up of smaller parts.

The children used their fingers, 10-frames and number patterns to investigate ‘5 and a bit’ numbers to 10, helping them understand that numbers such as 7 can be made from 5 and 2 more.

This week, we’ve been enjoying the story The Bug Collector by Alex Griffiths.

In the book, George visits a wildlife museum and becomes fascinated by bugs. Inspired by his visit, he collects minibeasts from his garden and keeps them in jars—but soon notices they don’t seem very happy.

We had a thoughtful discussions about why:

The jars are closed, so the bugs can’t breathe.
The butterfly doesn’t have space to spread its wings.
They have no food or water.
They are not in the beautiful natural world.
They don’t have any room to move around.

This led us to explore the idea of habitats and why they are so important for living things.
Help at home: Can your child remember which habitats these minibeasts live in?

Thank you for sharing photos of your child’s home learning minibeast hunts—they’ve been a fantastic link to our story discussions!

Provision
Our construction areas have been especially popular this week, with children creating a range of fantastic models. Once they’ve finished building, we encourage them to photograph their creations using an iPad and add the pictures to the design books.

Here’s a selection of some of their amazing models—and their brilliant photography skills too!
Caterpillar Update
Our caterpillars are growing nicely—some of us think they’re getting fatter, just like The Very Hungry Caterpillar! We’re really looking forward to seeing stage 3 of the life cycle happen next.
Maths
This week, the children consolidated their understanding of the composition of 5, using their fingers to explore different ways of making 5 and recognising parts when some were hidden. We linked this to a familiar rhyme about monkeys/kittens jumping down from the bed, helping children visualise numbers decreasing.

We used this stem sentence to explain our thinking:
5 is made of ____ and ____; ____ and ____ make 5.

They also practised subitising (quickly recognising amounts) and explored how numbers 6 to 9 can be made as ‘5 and a bit’, using a range of practical resources and representations.
Help at home: Re-enact the rhyme about monkeys/kittens jumping off the bed using soft toys and a simple ‘bed’ (e.g. a shoebox). Encourage your child to join in and use their fingers to show how many are on and off the bed.

On Monday, a very special parcel arrived at school… inside were five tiny and very hungry caterpillars!

The children were full of excitement as I carefully opened the box. We spent time observing the caterpillars closely, noticing their size, movement, and how eager they were to begin feeding.
Over the next few weeks, we’re looking forward to watching them grow and change. The children will have the opportunity to observe each stage of their journey. This links perfectly to our word of the week: metamorphosis—the process some living things go through to become adults.

We can’t wait to share updates as our caterpillars continue their incredible transformation!

DT
In the creative area, we’ve been exploring how to safely use hand drills to make holes in pieces of wood. The children have been learning to handle the tools with care, applying the right amount of pressure and control to create their holes. They showed great concentration and enthusiasm as they developed these new practical skills.
Next week, we’re excited to put these skills into practice by working together to build a class bug hotel for our outdoor area. Thank you to everyone who has collected natural resources to help fill our bug hotel—we really appreciate your support!

Stay & Learn
Thank you to everyone who attended our final Stay & Learn session today.  We hope you found the session helpful and came away with some useful tips and ideas for supporting your child’s fine motor skills. If you were unable to attend, click here to view the slides.

Home learning activity

Yesterday in Living and Learning, we talked about  the importance of sleep. We were so impressed by their thoughtful and mature contributions as they shared their ideas about why sleep helps our bodies and minds. The children talked about feeling more energetic, happy, and ready to learn after a good rest.

Lu – I want to sleep because I want to grow.
Ha – If I don’t sleep enough, I get tired.
Ar – If I can’ sleep, I ask my Dad to hug me.
Ken – Sleep helps your body recover from things.
Ro – Sleep is important because it helps you recharge your brain.
Imo – Sleep gives us more energy.
Ka – Sleep is good for you because it makes you intelligent and good at writing.
Sal – It gives you lots of energy so you can grow.

Help at home: Continue the conversation at home by talking about bedtime routines and why a good night’s sleep is so important.