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Reception 2025
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Welcome to Reception
Miss Maxted and Miss Atkinson make up our Reception Team
Spring Term 2026
English
Our English sessions are based around speaking and listening skills, exploring language and making links to our rainforest topic.
Our key text this term is Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson. Children will be encouraged to join in with repeated parts of the story, sequence events and retell the story in their own words.
We are developing our ability to describe this half term, choosing words carefully to accurately explain what rainforest animals look and how they behave.
We will be looking more closely at non-fiction texts and will be planning and writing our own rainforest fact files later in the half term.
We are expanding our vocabulary all of the time and taking advantage of any opportunity to learn new words!
Phonics
This half term we are continuing with our learning of Phase 3 digraphs (one sound represented by two or more letters) For example, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo
Our Monster Phonics friends will continue to help us learn new sounds by linking them to different colours and we will be practising reading both colour-coded and plain text words in class.
We will be having whole class reading sessions linked to a familiar traditional tale each week, which will focus on our digraph for that week. Your child will take part in a group or 1:1 reading session each week.
Please continue to practise these books and flashcards as often as possible at home to ensure your child is confident and comfortable with the words in their book!
Your comments about progress at home are valuable to us, so please continue to fill out your child’s reading record each week.
Maths
This half term we are focusing on key mathematical skills of subitising (recognising patterns and arrangements of objects without having to count them) and composition of numbers. We will be exploring the representation and composition of numbers up to seven, thinking about how numbers can be combined to make new, larger numbers or split into smaller groups. We will be developing vocabulary linked to addition and subtraction and deepening our understanding of what each numeral represents.
Later in the half term we will be comparing mass and capacity, using a range of equipment. We will also be investigating and length and height and considering time through the order and sequence of different events, using a daily timetable in our classroom and looking closely at our clock.
Theme
In geography we are learning about the Amazon Rainforest in South America. We will be exploring the world map and thinking about some of the features of the rainforest, including which animals live there, what the weather is like and other physical features. This links closely to our key text
In Science we will be investigating which animals live in the rainforest and beginning to categorise animals that live in the rainforest too. We will also be focusing on seasonal changes in the Winter and exploring the features of this season.
In Art we will be looking at Rousseau’s “Tiger in a Tropical Storm” and using different media to create our own versions of this famous painting.
Autumn Term 2025
English
This half term, our English sessions will focus on developing children’s oracy skills—encouraging them to talk about story events, characters, and join in with stories and rhymes. We’ll begin with the key text A New House for Mouse, using it as a springboard for discussion and imaginative thinking. Later in the term, we’ll explore Owl Babies, continuing to build vocabulary and comprehension through storytelling.
At Godley, we follow the Monster Phonics programme to support children in learning to read and write. This half term, we’ll be introducing Phase 2 phonics, known as the Black Cat sounds. Children will learn the letter names and the sounds they represent, practise identifying sounds in words, and begin blending and segmenting to read and spell simple words.
To support this, children will take part in small group reading sessions, where they’ll develop word reading skills and engage in ‘book talk’—sharing ideas and thoughts about what they read.
Maths
In Maths, we’ll be building a strong foundation in numbers to 5, exploring different ways these numbers can be represented. Our focus will include:
- Matching and sorting
- Comparing quantities (more than, less than)
- Subitising – recognising quantities without counting
We’ll also explore patterns, and make comparisons in size, mass, and capacity. Children will be encouraged to think about which numbers are important to them and why, helping to make learning meaningful and personal.
Theme
In Geography, we’ll be learning about where we live, including our school environment and its immediate surroundings. Children will explore maps, landmarks, and features of the local area.
In Science, our focus will be on animals big and small—both within our school grounds and beyond. Children will observe, compare, and sort animals into groups based on similarities and differences, developing early classification skills and curiosity about the natural world.