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Reception

  • Oct 242025

    This week in Reception

    Wow! What a wonderful week full of colour! We have been learning all about the Hindu festival Diwali as well as looking at patterns and comparing sets of objects in maths.

    You can learn more about Diwali here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/my-first-festivals-diwali

    Here we are making colourful Diwali patterns and pictures!

    We used our knowledge of letters and sounds to write some amazing poems and shopping lists for Diwali. We are very proud of the fantastic progress we have made so far this half term!

     

     

    Looking for a free activity to enjoy together this half term? Visit your local library and take part in My First Library Adventure, by bringing the special bookmark (which came home from school) with you. If you have lost yours don’t worry. Just ask at the library for a new one. 

    Choose from hundreds of picture books, fact books and beginning to read stories to share at home.

    Complete the Adventure to enter the special prize draw. Fifty lucky Hertfordshire Reception pupils will win a personalised, signed book from author/illustrator Ged Adamson with two overall winners enjoying an author visit with their whole class. Find out more here: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/news-and-campaigns/startingreception

    How you can help at home:

    • revisit the sounds we have taught so far – please see previous blogs
    • Continue to read with your child everyday
    • Enjoy lots of family time – perhaps go for an autumn walk (we’d love to see photos), visit the library, encourage your child’s independence in getting dressed, shoes, coats etc
    • Play games, sing songs and rhymes with your child, encouraging them to listen for the sounds they can hear in words

  • Oct 162025

    Art 🖼️

    This week in Reception, we continued our learning all about the famous artist Clarice Cliff and her colourful designs! To challenge the  children’s knowledge and art skills, they decided to have a go at creating their very own Clarice Cliff-inspired artwork.

    The children started by cutting out different shapes from tissue paper, carefully choosing colours and shapes that they thought would look great together. The next day, they got creative using glue and bottles to make their designs! The children loved sticking their tissue shapes onto the bottles to make their very own decorative masterpieces. It was amazing to see how the designs turned out, full of imagination and creativity, and personality.

    We also started a Literacy topic on poetry this week. The children have enjoyed listening to nursery rhymes and talking about their favourite one. We learnt the poem ‘Purple is’ which is about different things that are the colour purple.

    How you can help at home:
    – Can your child go on a shape hunt around the house? Can they draw shapes they see and make a picture?
    – Continue reading everyday and practising the sounds.
    – Listen and sing along to some nursery rhymes

  • Oct 102025

    This week in Reception

    This week in Reception has been very busy! We have been trying out lots of new activities to help us practise our fine motor skills, maths skills and phonics.

    We have been working hard at subitising this week – we have been discussing how we see numbers inside other numbers and also matching amounts of objects to numerals. We used tweezers to help us match the correct number of conkers to each number card – it was very tricky as the conkers were slippery!

    You might like to use these number rhymes to help practise number formation at home. You could try writing them in mud, water or with chalk on the floor.

    Phonics

    This week in Phonics, we have been checking our understanding so far – we have been using our knowledge of the sounds we have learned to practise writing words and labels for pictures, including maps of the playground. Here are the sounds we have learned so far:

    Expressive arts and design

    This term we have been learning about the British artist Clarice Cliff – we know she created some beautiful pottery that was known as “Bizarre”. We have looked at the vibrant colours and shapes in her work. So far we have practised drawing shapes, tracing shapes and painting them. We are working towards our own design inspired by Clarice Cliff’s work – watch this space for more of our fantastic artwork!

     

    How you can help home:

    • Practise all of the sounds taught so far – you might like to hide them as a treasure hunt around your house! Talk about sounds in the environment – where can you spot the sounds you already know?
    • Help your child to recognise and write their name independently – also help them to use a tripod grip when holding a pencil and forming their letters correctly.
    • Talk about Clarice Cliff and ask your child to describe what they can see, what they like/dislike about it. Maybe you could try making your own artwork together – we’d love to see some of your creations on Tapestry!
    • Continue to establish good bedtime routines for your child – build reading into your daily routines. Reading anything and everything your child is interested in will help them enormously! You could try reading recipes together, football results in the newspaper, comics, postcards or even invitations.

     

  • Oct 032025

    Poetry and Autumn

    On Thursday, we celebrated National Poetry Day. The Reception children learnt a poem about the different leaves you see in autumn. We spoke about the different features of a poem and the children used some actions to help them remember the poem.

    Look at our wonderful poetry pictures!

    We have also been continuing to explore the signs of autumn. The children enjoyed exploring the Reception garden and playground, searching for signs of seasonal change. They were especially excited to use magnifying glasses to investigate the contents of our investigation box and talk about their observations and extend their learning from last week.  The children also enjoyed using their autumn treasures in their play, such as making ‘leaf lasagne’ and comparing the different sizes of conkers and leaves and doing some conker paint rolling.

    How you can help at home: 
    – Take part in a maths autumn hunt – how many conkers can they find? Can they subitise a certain amount?
    – Continue listening to your child read their phonics book at least 3 times a week.
    – Talk about the changes in weather with your child.
    – Can your child make up their own short rhyme for National Poetry Day?

  • Sep 262025

    This week in Reception

    This week in Reception we have been very busy exploring the signs of Autumn – we have a very large Horse Chestnut tree in our garden and have spotted lots of the conkers falling off! We have been using  some of these conkers to make our very own Conker Pie – ask us how we made it!

    Understanding the World

    We also learned all about the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah. We know that it is the Jewish New Year. We found out lots of interesting facts from Miss Reuben. She even brought in some apple and honey for us to taste – it was delicious. You can watch a video about how some Jewish families celebrate here:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/the-lets-go-club-celebrating-rosh-hashanah

    Phonics

    This week we have learned the sounds:

    g, o, c, k

    Here are their rhymes to help us when we write them:

    g – goat – start at his ear, around the face and down the beard
    o – ostrich – around the ostrich’s body
    c – camel – curl around the camel’s back
    k – kid – down the body, up the arm, down the leg

    How you can help at home:

    • Look for signs of autumn – conkers, pine cones, acorns and leaves changing colour
    • Talk about festivals and celebrations you share together as a family
    • Read at least 3 times a week – talk about the pictures, encourage your child to talk about their favourite page
    • Practise the sounds we have learned so far in Reception – s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k
    • Encourage your child to practise mark making – sticks in the mud, water on the floor with brushes, chalk; these all help with preparing your child for writing!

  • Sep 182025

    Phonics and Literacy

    Due to a technical issue, we are unable to upload photos this week.

    This week in Reception:
    We are so proud of how well the children have settled into their daily routines this week! It’s been wonderful to see their enthusiasm for learning, especially as we start learning some important early literacy skills.

    This week, we had a focus on phonics and writing. The children have been busy learning the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, and have shown great excitement as they practice recognising and using these sounds in their play. We’ve been practicing forming the letters carefully, encouraging good handwriting skills, and mark making — the first step on the journey to becoming confident writers.

    Some of the activities the children enjoyed included our name writing,  mark making with glitter with a challenge of forming letters in the glitter and also beginning to recognise sounds in words to help them read.

    During literacy lessons, we have been making books ”All about me”. The children have loved drawing and writing all about themselves including their family, favourite food, favourite pet and where they live. They love becoming mini authors.

    How you can help at home: 
    • In your child’s bag this week, they will be receiving a name writing sheet with a whiteboard pen. Please practise name writing as often as possible to support your child 🙂
    • Hide the sounds ‘s’ ‘a’ ‘t’ ‘p’ ‘i’ around the house and ask your child to find them.
    • Ask your child to find objects around the house or outdoors beginning with ‘s’ ‘a’ ‘t’ ‘p’ ‘i’
    • Read your child’s library book with them and begin to ask them questions about the story? Can they show you any feelings?
    • We will be sending WOW cards home, please write a special moment on the WOW card and send it back into school so we can share your child’s moment with the class and put it on our WOW moments board 🙂

     

    Have a lovely weekend x

  • Sep 122025

    Welcome to Reception!

    Hello and welcome to the new school year. We are delighted to welcome all the children into Reception. We have had a very busy start to the new term, despite the change in weather!

     

    We are so proud of all the children, whether they are new to Merry Hill or are returning after the summer break. They have all settled in so quickly and are fast making lots of new friends. We have been busy learning all about the rules of the classroom and how to use each area safely and correctly.

    All of Reception have been getting stuck straight in with their learning, building friendships and trying new challenges. They have demonstrated great resilience when things have been tricky, such as changing for their first PE lesson, trying school dinners and exploring the forest in the rain! They are fully immersing themselves in their learning already and this is wonderful to see – we are very proud of them all already! As you can see we have already achieved so much – our first PE lesson, our first Mini Explorers session, making new friends, staying for lunch, mark making and taking turns to play maths games to name just a few. We look forward to seeing what is to come – watch this space!

     

    As you may already know, we have introduced The Merry Hill Way and the children are brilliant at showing us and talking about how to be Ready, Respectful and Safe! We are already very good at talking about how to be Ready for school each day. We will continue to build on how we show that we are Respectful and Safe as the weeks go by.

     

    Another new thing this term is the introduction of our daily feeling word – this is to help develop children’s breadth of vocabulary and understanding of emotions and feelings. This week we have already learned happy, unhappy and angry. You might like to discuss these words at home with your child.

    How you can help at home:

    • ensure your child is Ready for school each day by establishing good bedtime routines, as well as checking that all of their belongings are labelled clearly
    • talk to your child about their day – encourage them to answer questions in full sentences such as “I loved digging in the sand pit with my new friends”
    • model being Respectful towards others at home – looking at the person who is speaking, waiting for their turn with a toy
    • explore the outdoors – enjoy a walk in the woods or a bike ride together, discuss changes you notice in the environment
    • read with your child – share their library book, encourage them to talk about the pictures in books – using their imagination to make up the story
    • discuss how to stay Safe on the journey to school

  • Jul 172025

    🐘A final entry… 🐘

    As we wrap up this wonderful academic year, it’s time to look back and celebrate all the exciting adventures our Reception class has experienced together. From colourful elephants to deep-sea creatures, our learning has been full of imagination, discovery and fun!

    Elmer the Patchwork Elephant
    Our year began with Elmer, the patchwork elephant, who showed us the beauty of being different. Elmer’s bright, patchy colours reminded us all that being unique is something to be proud of. He was more than just our class theme — he helped us learn kindness, friendship and the joy of celebrating ourselves and others.

    Journeys to the Moon with Whatever Next
    Next, we blasted off into space with Whatever Next, exploring the moon and beyond! This story took us on a magical journey that sparked our curiosity about space and the stars. We imagined what it would be like to float among the planets and learned about the excitement of adventure and discovery.

    Zog and the World of Dragons, Kings, and Castles
    With Zog, we entered a kingdom of dragons, brave knights and grand castles. Zog taught us about courage, learning from mistakes, and the importance of helping others. We loved hearing about his adventures and imagining life in a magical medieval world.

    The Journey Home: Caring for Our Planet
    Then came The Journey Home, a gentle reminder about looking after our planet and all the animals that live on it. We learned about endangered animals and how important it is to protect their homes. This topic helped us understand how our actions can make a difference to the environment and inspired us to be little eco-heroes.

    Commotion in the Ocean: Exploring Sea Life
    Diving into Commotion in the Ocean, we discovered the fascinating creatures that live beneath the waves. From playful dolphins to mysterious octopuses, this topic sparked our curiosity about the ocean and the amazing animals that call it home. We learned to appreciate the wonders of marine life and why it’s important to keep our oceans clean.

    Ahoy, Pirates! Fun in the Sun
    Finally, we set sail on a pirate adventure, learning how to be brave, work as a team and enjoy the sunshine! We played games, sang songs and imagined ourselves as fearless pirates exploring tropical islands. It was the perfect way to celebrate all the hard work we’ve done this year.

    This year, our Reception children have made incredible progress in their literacy skills. We began by learning how to hold a pencil correctly and forming some recognisable letters. Through daily phonic lessons, the children learned to recognise letters and their sounds, helping them sound out and read simple words. Many of them are now confidently writing sentences all by themselves! It’s truly special to watch them use these skills to read books independently and write notes for their loved ones. The progress they’ve made is something to be so proud of.

    In maths, the children have developed a strong foundation through a variety of exciting activities. They have learned to measure and compare objects, name both 2D and 3D shapes, and create repeating patterns. The children can write numbers, count accurately, and have even reached doubling numbers. They’ve also started to recognise odd and even numbers and have been exploring addition and subtraction in fun and practical ways. Their enthusiasm for maths has grown alongside their skills!

    As this year comes to a close, we want to say a huge thank you to our amazing Reception children for their enthusiasm, curiosity and kindness. We’re so proud of how much you’ve grown and learned. To the parents and carers, thank you for your wonderful support — it truly makes a difference.

    As always, the learning does not stop just because it’s not happening in a classroom- please continue to look out for digraphs and trigraphs  while out and about this summer as reading is the number one thing you can do to help your child prepare for Year 1.  Also any board games involving a dice will support your child to subitise easily alongside the benefits of learning to take turns.

    Here’s to all the memories we’ve made and to the exciting adventures still to come in Year 1. Have a fantastic summer holiday, Reception! Keep shining bright like Elmer’s colours and keep dreaming big like our journey to the moon.

    With our fondest wishes,

    Mrs Jones, Miss Reuben, Mrs OJ, Mrs Hill, Mrs Barnes & Mrs Bradbury

    🌟🚀🐉🐘🌊🏰🏴‍☠️

  • Jul 102025

    The penultimate week!

    The end of the year is in sight! The week started off with  moving up day where the children went to visit their new year one classes.  They were super excited and had lots to tell us when they arrived back in Reception.
    The weather has started to become lovely and hot again and the children have thoroughly enjoyed playing in the sun! They have enjoyed making potions, dipping their feet in the paddling pool, being creative and painting on cling film, and riding the scooters around the garden.

    In maths, we have continued exploring the concepts of “more” and “less.” Using their rekenreks, the children pushed a certain number of beads and then told their partner what the number would be if they added one more or took one less. We were impressed by their growing fluency when they could confidently identify the difference, even when it was more than one. The children used their rekenreks effectively to support their understanding and quick recall.

     

    In Literacy, we have built on our learning of instructions. Building on from their instructions about how to be a pirate, the children then wrote instructions on how to be in Reception. We started off by writing what we do in Reception and then we put them into instructions. We were amazed by the beautiful handwriting that the children produced when writing their instructions.

    It was wonderful to see so many of you at our open afternoon, celebrating and sharing the children’s amazing work and achievements from this year!

    How you can help at home: 
    – Ask your child what their favourite part about moving up day was to help with their transition.
    – Continue to read with your child and practise their phonics everyday.
    – When at home, ask your child to find one more or one less of a specific object for example when setting the table for dinner, you can ask them to get one more fork and then how many do you have after you get one more.

  • Jul 032025

    Pirate Sandwiches, Missing Numbers and a Very Jumpy Visitor! 🏴‍☠️➕🐸

    What a busy and exciting week we have had in Reception! The children have amazed us with their curiosity, creativity, and confidence across all areas of learning.

    In Literacy, our budding writers learned how to write instructions, and what better topic than how to make pirate sandwiches? The children carefully sequenced each step, using words like first, next, and finally to guide their writing. Best of all, they got to follow their own instructions to make their sandwiches — and of course, eat them too! One child happily declared it was “The best sandwich ever!” 🍓🍞 Not bad for a jam sandwich!

    In Maths, we’ve been diving into part-whole models. The children explored how to find the missing number, confidently explaining what needed to be added to one part to make the whole. For example, “If the whole is 9 and one part is 4, then we need 5 more!” It’s been brilliant to see them using their number knowledge and reasoning skills so clearly.

     

    But the highlight of the week might just have been our surprise visitor… Terrance the toad! 🐸 Early one morning, a very big (and very jumpy!) toad made a special appearance in our garden. The children were absolutely fascinated and had the opportunity to observe him up close — from his bumpy skin to his big eyes and long legs.

    Terrance’s visit inspired a whole range of fun learning activities:

    • Jumping like frogs in the garden (some very impressive leaps were seen!)

    • Fact-finding about frogs and toads — we now know the difference between the two!

    • Listening to lovely frog and toad-themed stories during story time

    How you can help at home:

    This week we have been reviewing our new phonics sounds, it will benefit the children greatly if they can practice these sounds at home!

    It’s been a week full of imagination and discovery, and we’ve loved every minute of it. Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

    Have a restful (and maybe a little hoppy!) weekend!

    With warm wishes,
    The Reception Team

  • Jun 262025

    Pirates Ahoy!

    This week, our new literacy topic—Pirates—has launched with a bang, and the classroom has been transformed into a pirate adventure zone! When the children arrived on Monday, they were greeted by pirate flags featuring skulls and crossbones, a treasure map, and even hidden treasure scattered around the room. The excitement was immediate. For our literacy lesson, we went on a pirate hunt around KS1 to see what posters we could find that represent what a pirate needs.

    During child-initiated, the children immersed themselves in a range of pirate-themed activities, including going on a word hunt, creating parchment paper for their own treasure maps, building big pirate boats outside, and designing their very own pirates.  They also followed step-by-step instructions on how to be a pirate, fully embracing the role with enthusiasm and imagination. Every day their curiosity grows, and it’s been wonderful to see their love for learning shine through this new topic. Most importantly, they have loved saying “Aye Aye Captain”!

     

    We have also been learning about the artist Tinga Tinga and exploring his unique, colourful painting style. The children were fascinated by his use of bold spotty patterns and bright colours, and they used this inspiration to create their own sea creatures.


    How you can help at home:

    – Read some pirate themed books and see if your child can spot any harder to read and spell words in the book.
    – Ask your child to go on a treasure hunt around the house to find a specific amount of objects for example, can they find 5 objects that are blue.
    – Please continue reading the phonics book with your child as this will help them to build fluency with the new sounds we are learning.

     

  • Jun 202025

    🏑Super sunny Sports Day!⚽️

    Today was a day full of laughter, excitement, and teamwork as we held our much-anticipated Sports Day! The sun shone brightly over the school grounds, setting the perfect stage for a fun-filled event that brought together students, teachers, and parents for a memorable day of friendly competition and community spirit.

    From the moment the children arrived, their faces lit up with enthusiasm, eager to take part in various races and games designed to encourage physical activity and to build confidence. The children showed incredible determination as they balanced eggs on spoons, carefully dribbled rackets, and navigated their way through challenging obstacle courses, cheered on by proud parents and supportive teachers.

    The day kicked off with the classic egg and spoon race, where tiny hands carefully balanced eggs on spoons, leading to bursts of giggles and with every careful step. Next came the racket dribbling challenge, where children skillfully guided balls with tennis rackets, showing fantastic coordination and focus.

    The obstacle course was a favourite for many, with a fun mix of crawling and jumping that tested the children’s agility and determination. At the beanbag throw station, children aimed with excitement, trying to land their beanbags into targets to win points and applause.

    One of the most thrilling moments came during the penalty shootout, where budding football stars took turns aiming at the goal, showcasing their kicking skills amid cheers from the crowd.

    Beyond the activities, the event was a celebration of community, friendship, and the joy of movement. The day ended with a fabulous picnic!

    A big thank you to all the staff, parents, and volunteers who made today possible — your support and enthusiasm created a wonderful experience for our children.

    Best wishes,

    The Reception Team