Howick Church of England Primary School

Class 1 - Reception

Welcome to Class 1!

Reception is a very special year where your child begins their exciting journey into school life. In Reception, we create a happy, caring and stimulating environment where children feel safe, valued and eager to learn.

Our days are full of fun and discovery. Through play-based learning and carefully planned activities, children develop important skills in communication, language, literacy, maths, and understanding the world around them. We also nurture their creativity, confidence and social skills, helping them to become independent and curious learners.

Outdoor learning, stories, songs, art, role-play, and exploring are all part of our busy week. Every child is encouraged to achieve their best and enjoy new challenges at their own pace.

We work closely with parents and carers to ensure each child has the best start to their school journey. Together, we help children build strong foundations for a lifetime of learning.

We can’t wait to share this wonderful year with you and your child!

Important Dates

PE Days: Monday and Thursday 

Book Change and Homework: Thursday

Our Approach

As an EYFS team, our approach to early childhood education is best described as a beautiful recipe of rich ingredients, inspired by the wisdom of early childhood pioneers. Our curriculum is carefully designed around our school’s driver words, establishing a broad and enriching programme that nurtures curious and creative “thinkers and doers” for the future. At Howick, we are committed to providing the very best for our children. We believe that a broad, balanced and stimulating curriculum, underpinned by strong, meaningful relationships, allows our children to flourish with confidence, self-belief and wisdom.

Throughout this magical year, children will enjoy an abundance of opportunities to learn through play. We recognise that every child is a unique individual who develops at their own pace. Whatever their starting point, our curriculum is thoughtfully designed to help children build resilience and perseverance, while offering appropriate challenge and support. We aim to empower them with the confidence to aim high and aspire to achieve more.

As an EYFS team and positive role models, we are committed to providing high-quality interactions that deepen and extend children’s learning. We deliver our curriculum through a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities, guided by the EYFS Framework 2021 and shaped by the children’s own interests.

Please find attached the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974907/EYFS_framework_-_March_2021.pdf 

Our Learning Intentions (2025-2026)

Preparing our little ones for life at Howick and beyond!

Although our curriculum overview outlines topics, skills, and suggested activities, we remain flexible and responsive to the needs and interests of our cohort. While skills are sequenced in an organised progression, we recognise that these skills will be revisited and reinforced throughout the year, allowing children to build upon their learning over time. Both content and skills are planned around possible lines of development to ensure a meaningful and engaging learning journey.

Our EYFS curriculum lays strong foundations for lifelong learning and ensures a smooth transition into Year 1. Through a rich balance of child-led exploration and adult-guided learning, children develop essential early skills in communication, literacy, mathematics, and personal development. We focus on building confidence, independence, and a love of learning—key qualities that help children thrive as they move into more formal learning in Key Stage 1. By the end of Reception, our children are well-equipped socially, emotionally, and academically, ready to embrace the next stage of their school journey with enthusiasm and resilience.

Our Classroom 

Our classroom is a warm and welcoming “home away from home,” inspired by the Curiosity Approach. It’s thoughtfully designed with natural resources, cosy spaces, and beautiful, authentic materials that spark children’s curiosity and invite exploration. Here, children feel safe, valued, and inspired to learn through meaningful play and discovery every day.

Our continuous provision is well thought and planned for. Please see attached our progression document. 

Class Time Table

Our class timetable is thoughtfully structured to balance focused learning with plenty of opportunities for play, creativity, and exploration. Each day includes a mix of adult-led activities and child-initiated time, allowing children to develop essential skills while following their own interests. We also incorporate regular outdoor learning, story sessions, and time for social interaction, ensuring a well-rounded and engaging day for every child.

Our Learning Journey

Come and join the magic that is early years!

In Reception, children develop through seven key areas of learning that support their growth and prepare them for the next stage of education.

Prime areas: 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED): Children learn to understand their own feelings, build relationships, and develop confidence and independence.

Communication and Language: This area focuses on developing speaking, listening, and understanding skills, helping children to communicate effectively and enjoy stories and conversations.

Physical Development: Children improve their coordination, control, and movement, alongside learning about healthy habits and how to take care of their bodies.

Specific areas: 

Literacy: Children begin to recognize letters and sounds, develop early reading and writing skills, and learn to enjoy stories and books.

Mathematics: This area helps children explore numbers, shapes, patterns, and measurements, building a strong foundation for problem-solving and reasoning.

Understanding the World: Children discover the world around them, including people, places, nature, technology, and different cultures.

Expressive Arts and Design: Children express themselves creatively through art, music, dance, role-play, and design, developing imagination and confidence.

Together, these areas provide a balanced curriculum that supports all aspects of a child’s development in Reception.

Literacy

In Reception, literacy focuses on fostering a love of reading and writing while building essential early skills. Children begin by exploring sounds and letters through phonics, learning to listen carefully and recognise the sounds within words. They develop early reading skills by enjoying stories, sharing books, and understanding how print works.

As children gain confidence, they start to practise writing by forming letters correctly, writing their names, and expressing their ideas through marks and simple words. We also introduce sentence writing, encouraging children to write short, simple sentences using their developing phonics knowledge and an understanding of basic grammar, such as using capital letters and full stops.

Throughout the year, children grow in their ability to read simple texts and write independently, helping them build a solid foundation for their ongoing literacy journey.

Mathematics

In Reception, maths is all about helping children explore numbers, shapes, patterns, and measurements through hands-on, practical experiences. Children begin by recognising and counting numbers, understanding their value, and learning to compare quantities. They explore simple addition and subtraction through everyday activities and develop problem-solving skills.

Children also learn about shapes, sizes, and spatial awareness, discovering how objects relate to one another in space. They explore patterns and sorting, which helps build logical thinking. Measurement activities introduce concepts like length, weight, and time in fun and meaningful ways.

All of these experiences lay a strong foundation for more formal maths learning in Year 1 and beyond, while encouraging children to enjoy exploring maths in their everyday world.

Number Day was so much fun in Class 1! The children took part in activities in the hall and classroom exploring number in lots of different ways. 

Understanding the World

In Reception, Understanding the World helps children explore and make sense of the people, places, and environments around them. Through hands-on activities and first-hand experiences, children learn about families, communities, and different cultures, developing respect and curiosity about the world.

They discover how things work by exploring natural materials, plants, animals, and simple technology. Children also begin to understand time by learning about past and present events in their own lives and in stories.

This area encourages children to ask questions, investigate, and develop a sense of wonder about the world, laying the foundation for future learning in science, geography, history, and technology.

Expressive Arts and Design

In Reception, Expressive Arts and Design encourages children to explore their creativity and imagination through a variety of activities. Children use materials like paint, clay, and collage to create art, helping them develop fine motor skills and self-expression.

They also enjoy music, singing, dancing, and role-play, which support their confidence and ability to communicate ideas and emotions. Through these creative experiences, children learn to experiment, make choices, and express themselves in unique ways.

This area of learning nurtures imagination and helps children develop a lifelong love of the arts while building important skills for thinking and problem-solving.

Courageous Superheroes! 

We have been learning all about courageous superheroes and their impact on society today. The children have inspired and have begun to gather ideas on what difference they can make. 

In Class, 1 our children are passionate about saving our wonderful earth. Inspired by the Kings Coronation and a desire for change, our class came up with their own set of promises to live by. The children came up with their own art work to showcase the world that it is becoming and the world they want to see. 

We created a Rainbow Fish using single use plastic and crisp packets. We displayed our art work to raise awareness of ocean pollution. 

Comparing life in Ghana with life in the United Kingdom

The children also had a special visitor, Katie, who’s told the children about her time in Ghana. The children enjoyed comparing life in Ghana with life in the United Kingdom. 

Curiosity, Awe and Wonder - Our Curiosity Cube

Our curiosity cube encourages the children to look at things in a different way and talk about what they see as well as develop their ability to ask questions. We have recently enjoyed investigating a birds nest filled with eggs. This has sparked a thirst for new information and desire to find out more about the world in which we live. 

Here are just a couple of our questions: 
Why do they have spots? 
Will they crack? 
Where have they come from? 
Did they come from an eagle?

Outdoor Learning

At Howick CE Primary School, we understand and appreciate the importance of the outdoor environment for our children. It is a continuation of our indoor provision and it will be used at every opportunity. We provide our children with opportunities to develop their gross motor skills, to deepen their imaginations and also their sense of curiosity.

As part of our learning, about seasonal change, the children have enjoyed learning about the challenges that animals can face. We created a special home for hedgehogs to hibernate. We even found some juicy worms to leave as a special treat for any special visitors that may need a toasty home for the colder months. 

Recently, we made some bird feeders to hang in our outdoor area. It has been wonderful observing all of the different wildlife visiting our grounds. 

Forest Schools

 We will be going to the Booths Plantation Site for 6 weeks to take part in Forest School sessions.  

Week 1 was so much fun, playing games, learning how to keep safe, creating pictures with leaves and hunting for bugs.  

Phonics: Information for Parents

At our school, we use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised scheme. This is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) that helps our little ones to develop the best possible foundation for reading, writing and language skills.

The following videos will help parents/carers with the pronunciation of phonemes (sounds). 

Additional Support

Little Wandle Teaching Videos 

If your child is finding a particular sound difficult, here you will find a link to an online Little Wandle video which might help.  I have also attached some videos for you to watch at home which should help with grapheme recognition and letter formation.

Autumn Term 

Week 1 (s,a, t, p) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCKu-m-8czk&list=PLBylnf4b6qQvsCziWw816PVJ7ye7ef9gO

Week 2 ( i, n, m, d)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofBrSdYCpN8&list=PLBylnf4b6qQvsCziWw816PVJ7ye7ef9gO&index=2 

Week 3 (g, o, c, k) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qual9RfvVVg&list=PLBylnf4b6qQvsCziWw816PVJ7ye7ef9gO&index=3 

Week 4 ( ck , e, u, r)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvECOGh_VFo&list=PLBylnf4b6qQvsCziWw816PVJ7ye7ef9gO&index=4 

Week 5 ( h , b, f, l) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NfruAF9_mE&list=PLBylnf4b6qQvsCziWw816PVJ7ye7ef9gO&index=5 

ai - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sonzCnU6BP4 

ee - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cMtu2oHWQM

igh - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsyyBalkGj0 

oa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y61k6QylNl0

oo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7GE4OaXFW4 

oo (u) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEAucz3Tw7A 

ar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3cp24bAB_Q 

or - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifyB7HCxqOc 

ow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPDqZeU9Sl0 

ur - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNuzPjBMBY 

oi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiT5KWDQt8c 

air - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ybaKtxpMY 

ear - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Soi95mq1jU 

er - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2deUwkPaRM 

Tricky Words

In Class 1, we love a good sing-a-long and a boogie to a song. Here are a couple of tricky word songs that help us with our learning. 

Mathematic Development 

Number Bonds to 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrhDYWNZE2k 

Count to 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Ajq682yrA 

Count to 100: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGetqbqDVaA 

Topic - Superheroes! 

As a class, we have really enjoyed learning about superheroes at home and at school. We are now beginning to talk about superheroes in the past (Captain Tom Moore), as well as superheroes in our local community. Recently, P.C Lizzie and PCSO Danielle came into our setting. They told us about their very important roles as Police Officers. We are really looking forward to exploring other superheroes and their special roles!

As part of our learning, the children explored historical superheroes and their roles. We learnt all about Captain Tom Moore and the fabulous work he did for charity. The children were so inspired that they decided that they also wanted to make a difference. They became real life superheroes for the day! We used our baking time to make just over 65 cakes and sold them at our very own cake sale. Altogether, the children raised just over £50 for the people of Ukraine! 

On Thursdays We Bake
Each Thursday, we sit together and bake a delicious treat. We have made lots of different things including seasonal soups, shortbread, sour dough bread, gingerbread biscuits,  fruit kebabs , and even mince pies! It’s been interesting learning about different ingredients, where they have come from, and how we can transform them into something new! 

At the end of each session, we evaluate our baking and talk about what might make it even better. 

Our Howick Values 

As a school, we are guide do by our school values. Each half term, we focus on a different value. We have focused on Creativity, Friendship and Hope so far! 

This half-term, we have focused on the value of Hope. The children have enjoyed making links between the significance of the Christmas tree and our school value. We each designed and made a beautiful hanging Christmas decoration to share Hope at this magical time of year. 

Meet Norman! 

We recently adopted a class pet. Norman is a wonderful friend to our children and loves nothing more than to explore and investigate! The children enjoyed learning lots of facts about sails and related this to our topic -habitats. 

Celebrating Cultures and Faiths

We have really enjoyed learning about different cultures and faiths. Recently, we learnt about Diwali and that this is the Hindu festival of light. Class 1 had three very important visitors into class! We finished our week by having a Diwali party and tasting traditional treats.  

As part of Equality Week, we learnt about Rosa Parks and her important role. Her story has inspired us to be positive role models and treat everyone equally and fairly. 

We had the most incredible time at our very own Holi Festival. The children dressed in white clothing and experienced throwing powder paints into the air. It was wonderful to see how the different colours began to merge together and mix. I think you can tell by our faces just how much fun was had by all! 

Christmas Crafts and Learning 

Seasonal Changes

Ways to Support Learning at Home

There are lots of fabulous ways that you can continue your learning at home! I have attached a couple of links to fantastic websites and activity ideas. 

Phonics: There are lots f ways that you can support phonics learning at home. I have attached a PDF document below with lots of suggested activities. Additionally you might like to watch Alphablocks at home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LjGDcXqcs).  

Mathematics: Top Marks offer fantastic games for children to practice their mathematic skills! Remember to check that the games are age and ability appropriate  (https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16&AgeGroup=1). You might also enjoy watching Numberblocks which is a firm favourite in Class 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euhbE8aMfC0). 

Information for Parents: Guides and Information