Year R
Here you will find key information and helpful tips to support your child as they start their school journey.
What have we been learning this week?
Week Commencing Monday 18th May 2026
This week Handa's Surprise provided a story with a different setting and the children have enjoyed talking about tropical fruits and African animals. As part of their small world play they have retold the story using the animals and Mrs Madlin's beautifully painted stones to represent the fruits.
We have looked at a world map to find England and Africa and found the equator line to show how hot Africa is. We have used the vocabulary of country, continent and ocean to begin to understand different locations in the world and have compared images of where we live and where Handa lives.
The children were very excited to reach number 20 in Whizzy Maths and we have looked at how important the number ten is within the number structure. We were introduced to the 20p coin, recognised that we each have twenty digits using our fingers and toes and have practised counting forwards and backwards to twenty.
In art we have painted animal patterns and also created prints of patterns by etching into tiles to make a more effective texture.
In PDL we have talked about adults who keep us safe and what we could do if we get separated from our adult when out and about.
We wish you all a lovely half term break - stay cool and don't forget the sun cream!
How you can help:
As it is the end of the half term, you will receive an updated copy of your child's key words for reading and spelling. As mentioned before, we would like children to be able to read all 63 key words by sight by the end of the year and be able to spell as many of these words as possible.
If your child is not able to read and spell all of the words by the time they reach Year 1, support will be given to help them achieve this although the more they can already do, the better this will be for their confidence and independence next year.
Thank you for your support.
Number Formation Guide
Practise numerals at home with this printable number formation guide. All numbers are formed by starting at the top.
Curriculum Presentations
Thank you very much to the parents who attended the Year R curriculum meeting and the Phonics and Reading evening.
Please find the three presentations below as well as some ideas for supporting your child with phonics and reading games, wordless books and some examples of questions to ask your child when reading with them.
Thank you for your support.
If you have any questions, please pop and see the class teacher.
Letter formation and handwriting
Please find images of how to support your child in achieving the correct letter formation.
- lower-case letters start at the top
- dots and horizontal cross lines are added after the main part of the letter has been formed
- capital letters start at the top and go down first, the pencil is then taken off the paper to add the horizontal lines
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It is extremely important that your child uses a comfortable and efficient pencil grip, even though this may not be the same as your own. This should be the pincer grip.
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Climbing the tree to a better me
Our special tree focuses on the Social, Moral, Spiritual and Social aspect of our learning. In Year R we are practising using our manners, being a good friend and being respectful and responsible.
We can earn three stars for each rung of the ladder and at the end of the year we can earn a special sticker at the top of the tree for our effort in trying to show these things.
When we have collected three stars of the same colour we can show our certificate in assembly and our name is moved up the ladder in class to show our progress.
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