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 20th April 2026
This week the children have enjoyed sharing their prior knowledge of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to support the new clue container and our learning activities based around this. We have had a lot of giants wandering around stomping and bellowing "Fe Fi Fo Fum!" and this has also been helpful when writing speech bubbles. Some children have retold the story using resources such as wooden blocks, puppets and small world people and some have written many sentences to write the story in their own words.
In Maths we have used the number 17 to make some tall beanstalks - with cubes, cut out leaves and finger prints and we have practised counting in ones to 17 and back to 0 again as the beanstalk is 'chopped down'.
We have used our imagination to draw what we think the giant's castle looks like and this has also been used as a stimulus for writing. Many children are now confidently using phonic patterns, key word spellings, finger spaces and full stops in their sentences - well done!
How you can help:
Please can we request that key rings are removed from book bags. They can be hugely distracting at the end of the day when we are trying to finish off the day's learning and some are so big that they don't fit in our drawers. All of our children should be able to recognise their own name by now but if your child is concerned about finding their bag amongst a sea of green, please attach a small piece of ribbon to the handle or a small pin badge to the flap to help them.
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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