Henleaze Schools Blog Feed - Reception Blog 2025-26

Term 5, Week 1

Thu, 2 Apr 2026 08:41:27 GMT

Key dates

Monday 20th April - Term 5 starts.
In Term 5, we are hoping that we will be able to do PE outside. Please make sure your child has appropriate footwear in their PE bag at the beginning of Term 5. We will be sending PE kits home during the Easter holiday to be washed.
The first groups of children will be starting outdoor learning this week so please make sure they have everything they need on Tuesday/Friday. Please refer to the email communications.

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is History. We would like you to look for something from the past in your house or when you are out and about. For example, you may have a CD/tape player (now replaced with music streaming and Bluetooth speakers). During our history lesson, we will be asking your child to talk about the ‘old’ item.

You can also send us any moments that you feel are significant in your child’s learning or want to share with your child’s class teachers. Click the links below to find out how to add observations from different devices.

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ this week.

Book:	Mrs Noah’s Garden
Vocabulary focus:	clung, ancient, shoots, weaving, shallow drills, germinate, marvelled , blossomed
At the end of the week, children will know:	what specific gardening words mean – shoots, shallow drills, germinate how important team work is the story of Noah’s ark.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	engage in extended conversations about stories articulate their ideas and thoughts in well-formed sentences explain the meaning of new vocabulary.

Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To use longer sentences that are well formed and link sentences together
Personal, Social and Emotional development	Our PSED topic this term is ‘Self Regulation - listening and following instructions’. To understand why it is important to listen carefully To talk about and retell parts of a story they have deep familiarity with.
Physical development	Our PE lessons will be focusing on ball skills this term. To develop rolling and tracking a ball.
Phonics	To be able to blend using adjacent constants ft, ld, lf, lk, lp, lt To learn the new common exception words said and have
Maths	To automatically recall number bonds to 5 To verbally count beyond 20 To notice verbal counting patterns
Understanding the World	History: To know the difference between long ago and now. To compare life for their family now compared to life for their family in the past R+WV: To recognise that everyone has places that are special to them. Science: To plant a seed. To talk about simple plant parts and what happens to them. To make predictions about what might happen To make decisions about what to do e.g. where shall we put the seeds to grow?
Expressive Arts and Design	To discriminate between changes in pitch, recognising high and low sounds. To use actions to demonstrate pitch. To explore high and low sounds using voices. To develop threading and weaving skills To practise and apply weaving skills using paper

Term 4, Week 6

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:09:06 GMT

Key dates

Thursday 2nd April - Last day of school before the Easter Holidays. Children can wear their home clothes and we are accepting donations for FHIS
Monday 20th April - Term 5 starts.
In Term 5, we are hoping that we will be able to do PE outside. Please make sure your child has appropriate footwear in their PE bag at the beginning of Term 5. We will be sending PE kits home during the Easter holiday to be washed.
Look out for an email explaining this year's ‘outdoor learning’ opportunities.

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is PSED/Understanding the World. We have been learning the story Anansi and the Golden Pot and thinking about similarities and differences between life in Ghana and life in the UK. We talked about traditional foods in Ghana and the children tried some plantain and red-red stew. We would like you to send in a photo or video of any traditions your family have. It may be that you do something every weekend (e.g. have pancakes for breakfast on Saturdays), a food that you enjoy to eat together or something you like doing together.

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ this week.

Book:	Luna Loves Dance
Vocabulary focus:	Alone, huge / massive, sketch, crunches, aside, describe, thrashing, wanders
At the end of the week, children will know:	what an art gallery is that there are lots of different artists who paint and create in different ways that not all families are the same.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	engage in extended conversations about stories, learning new vocabulary talk about a character’s feelings, assigning the correct vocabulary to emotions empathise with characters (starting school, different families).

Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To take part in simple dance performance (in PE) with confidence
Personal, Social and Emotional development	Our PSED topic this term is ‘My Wellbeing’. We will be learning about the importance of exercise, relaxation, road safety and healthy foods. To understand the importance of healthy food choices. To explore what it means to have a balanced diet. To know and talk about the different factors that support their overall health and wellbeing.
Physical development	Our PE lessons will be focusing on dance this term. To explore actions in response to a theme and begin to use counts.
Phonics	To revisit Phase 2 and 3 phonemes and Common Exception Words
Maths	To build numbers beyond 10 (10-13 and 14-20) To continue patterns beyond 10 To verbally count beyond 20
Understanding the World	History: To relate the changing seasons to the passing of time. Geography: To know the names of the seasons and what the weather is / can be like in each. To talk about the changes that each season brings in relation to their environment: the clothes they wear, the weather and the plants. To describe how trees and plants change in different seasons. R+WV: To explore the Christian Easter story and make connections to new life Science: To look at how materials change, e.g. when cooking (melted chocolate). To know how to use a variety of different tools and equipment and how they work.
Expressive Arts and Design	To make chocolate Easter nests.

Term 4, Week 5

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 13:37:23 GMT

Key dates

Thursday 2nd April - Last day of school before the Easter Holidays.
Monday 20th April - Term 5 starts.

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is Science. We would like you to go on a spring walk. What can you see that tells you it is spring time?

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ last week and this week.

Book:	Anansi and The Golden Pot
Vocabulary focus:	adored, wise, plantain, observant, perplexed, merely, entire, craved
At the end of the week, children will know:	what a traditional tale is where Ghana is / some traditional foods of Ghana what being generous means.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	understand that being generous brings joy talk about how greedy Anansi was make comparisons with themselves and the characters/scenarios in the story.

Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To understand spoken instructions without stopping what they are doing to look at the speaker.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	Our PSED topic this term is ‘My Wellbeing’. We will be learning about the importance of exercise, relaxation, road safety and healthy foods. To understand what it means to eat healthily. To eat a healthy range of foodstuffs and understand the need for variety in food. To describe a range of different food textures and tastes.
Physical development	Our PE lessons will be focusing on dance this term. To remember and repeat actions moving in time with the music.
Phonics	To revisit Phase 2 and 3 phonemes and Common Exception Words
Writing	To use a dictated sentence starter to write the start of a sentence. To compose and write the second part of a sentence.
Maths	To copy and continue patterns To notice patterns in the environment
Understanding the World	R+WV: To know about the Jewish and Christian story of Passover, and the Jewish celebration of Pesach. Geography: To name, locate and talk about one other country, linked to what they have read. To know key facts about another country. To begin to use atlases and globes. Science: To name some habitats.
Expressive Arts and Design	To recognise and create different patterns using loose parts and shapes. Describe patterns using correct vocabulary

Term 4, Week 4

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:21:57 GMT

Term 4, Week 3

Thu, 5 Mar 2026 09:45:35 GMT

Key dates

Wednesday 11th March - Buttercup Class walk. Please look at the weather forecast and make sure your child has their coat and appropriate footwear.
Thursday 12th March - Daisy Class walk. Please look at the weather forecast and make sure your child has their coat and appropriate footwear.
16th - 27th March 2026 - Big walk and wheel week. We’re encouraging families to get active by walking, wheeling, scooting, or cycling to school. It’s a fun way to boost health and wellbeing for everyone!
Thursday 2nd April - Last day of school before the Easter Holidays.
Monday 20th April - Term 5 starts.

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is Science. We have been learning about the solar system. Ask your child to draw or write a list of the planets they know. If they write them, encourage them to use their phonics e.g. Jupiter may be spelt Joopiter.

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ last week and this week.

Book:	Martha Maps it out
Vocabulary focus:	universe, solar system, flattened, sphere, urban jungle, succulent, telescope, adventure, wonder
At the end of the week, children will know:	that we are part of a universe that includes space, planets and stars that maps show us where things are that we use maps for different reasons.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	name some planets and know we live on the planet Earth discuss some of the features on different maps relate to characters and settings in the story.

Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To follow instructions with multiple steps.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	Our PSED topic this term is ‘My Wellbeing’. We will be learning about the importance of exercise, relaxation, road safety and healthy foods. To understand what it means to be a safe pedestrian.
Physical development	Our PE lessons will be focusing on dance this term. To explore actions with a prop. To use children's tweezers to pick items up.
Phonics	Phonics mastery: ow, oi, ear, air Revisit CEW: are, my
Writing	To write dedicated sentences with a focus on using a capital letter and full stop.
Maths	To explore bonds to 10 with 3 parts To recall doubles to 10 To recall odd and even numbers
Understanding the World	To name people who help others in the community and talk about their different roles. To discuss the area surrounding the school using knowledge from observation, discussion and maps. To recognise the different areas and places in the community, e.g. religious / important buildings, shops, park, playground, road and road signs.
Expressive Arts and Design	To listen to others, e.g. when singing a short song / sharing opinions about music and performance.

Term 4, Week 2

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:36:42 GMT

Key dates

Thursday 5th March - World Book Day - dressing up as a book character
16th - 27th March - We have some exciting news for you! We are taking part in Big Walk and Wheel, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting challenge. The challenge runs from 16 – 27 March 2026. It’s free to take part and we would love everyone to be involved. What do you need to do? Encourage your child(ren) to walk, scoot or cycle to school on as many days as possible during the event.

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is Geography. Have fun drawing an imaginary map like a treasure map or map of a made up planet or have a go at drawing a map of your garden, bedroom or anything you like!

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ this week and next week.

Book:	Martha Maps it out
Vocabulary focus:	universe, solar system, flattened, sphere, urban jungle, succulent, telescope, adventure, wonder
At the end of the week, children will know:	that we are part of a universe that includes space, planets and stars that maps show us where things are that we use maps for different reasons.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	name some planets and know we live on the planet Earth discuss some of the features on different maps relate to characters and settings in the story.

Next week’s learning

Our learning this term will be focused on location and place.

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To follow instructions with multiple steps. To talk with confidence about their favourite books and the characters / story line / information within them. To describe main story settings, events and principal characters in increasing detail.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	Our PSED topic this term is ‘My Wellbeing’. We will be learning about the importance of exercise, relaxation, road safety and healthy foods. To learn how yoga can help our bodies to stretch, relax and stay healthy. To explore guided meditation and relaxation.
Physical development	Our PE lessons will be focusing on dance this term. To explore and remember actions considering level, shape and direction. To use playdough tools.
Phonics	To revisit: oo, ar, or, ur CEW revisit: they, all
Writing	To write dedicated sentences with a focus on using a capital letter and full stop
Maths	To know 1 more within 10 To know 1 less within 10 To understand composition to 10 To make number bonds to 10 (2 parts)
Understanding the World	To name the city / town / village / country in which they live and the street where their home and school are. To know what type of home they live in. To draw information from a simple map. RWV To explore how some Hindu people celebrate Holi by learning about the story behind it
Expressive Arts and Design	To accompany songs with simple instruments, keeping a steady beat.

Term 4, Week 1

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 13:32:03 GMT

Key dates

Week commencing 23rd February - To encourage sustainability we will be facilitating a costume swap ahead of World Book Day on 5th March. This will involve families donating pre-loved costumes. The first week back after the half term holiday a box will be located in the entrance hall for your donations. These costumes will then be available to take on both Parents Evenings from the entrance hall.
Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th February - Parents evenings
Tuesday 24th February 2026 - 100 day. We are taking part in a themed Maths day. We have chosen this day as it will mark reaching 100 on our daily counts.We are asking for your support in enabling your child to come to school with one thing you can find at home that represents 100.
Thursday 5th March - World Book Day. More details to follow but advance warning of dressing up as a book character

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is D&T.

If you are making pancakes over half term, or doing any other cooking at home with your child, we would love to see some photos.

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ this week.

Book:	Mr Wolf’s Pancakes
Vocabulary focus:	neighbours, nearby, politely, borrow / lending, chorused, drifted, greedy, gobbled, bulging
At the end of the week, children will know:	some well-known fairytales and nursery rhymes (and the characters) that sometimes it is hard to forgive people that we all have things we find hard but we should keep trying.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	explain why helping others is important understand why the neighbours might not have wanted to help the wolf talk about how greedy the neighbours were in the story.

Next week’s learning

Our learning this term will be focused on location and place.

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To re-tell short stories they have heard in roughly the right order and using language that makes it sound like a story.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	Our PSED topic this term is ‘My Wellbeing’. We will be learning about the importance of exercise, relaxation, road safety and healthy foods. To learn about the importance of exercise. To explore how exercise affects different parts of the body.
Physical development	Our PE lessons will be focusing on dance this term. To copy, repeat and explore actions in response to a theme. To use a whisk.
Phonics	To revisit Phase 3 mastery ai ee igh oa CEW revisit: was, you
Writing	To write dedicated sentences with a focus on using a capital letter and full stop
Maths	To find 9 and 10 To compare numbers to 10 To represent 9 and 10 To subitise to 10
Understanding the World	To know that a clock / watch tells us what time it is / when to do things. To learn why and how some people celebrate Shrove Tuesday. To name and describe human and physical features of the places they have visited and places from stories, e.g. beach, island, fields, mountain.
Expressive Arts and Design	To name an increasing number of instruments, describing the sounds they make and what they might be used for.

Term 3, Week 6

Sat, 7 Feb 2026 10:29:35 GMT

Key dates

Tuesday 10th February - Safer internet day
Friday 13th February 2026 - Open morning 8:50-9:20. You are invited into your child's classroom to look at their writing book ahead of parents evening.
Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th February - Parents evenings

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is Expressive Art and Design. We would love to see your doing something creative this week. We have left this open-ended so that you can share something creative your child enjoys. It could be drawing or artwork, building something or playing a musical instrument.

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ this week.

Book:	Chicken clicking
Vocabulary focus:	crept, tiptoed, browse, blamed, amazed, online, preened, appeared
At the end of the week, children will know:	that the internet can be used to purchase things and also to communicate with other people that what Chick did was not right and was not safe that people can easily pretend to be someone else online.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	understand that we need to be safe online understand that we should not buy things online before checking with a trusted adult discuss why we need to be open and honest with trusted adults explain that we should never arrange to meet someone we have met online.

Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To use language to predict.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	To plan a party to celebrate the special friendships within the class.
Physical development	To create sequences using apparatus.
Phonics	To master phase 3 phonemes: ch sh th ng
Writing	To write a dictated sentence using correct letter formation
Maths	To talk about time To order and sequence time
Understanding the World	History: To name people who help others in the community and talk about their different roles. R+WV: To explore how some Muslim people celebrate Ramadan.
Expressive Arts and Design	To perform different rhythm patterns in unison as a class ensemble. To maintain a pulse within a group performance. To follow a musical structure.

Term 3, Week 5

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 16:44:57 GMT

Key dates

Friday 13th February 2026 - Open morning 8:50-9:20. You are invited into your childs classroom to look at their writing book ahead of parents evening.
Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th February - Parents evenings

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is Maths. We would like you to go on a hunt around your home for objects that you can order by length. Collect at least 5 and order them from shortest to longest. Can you find any items that are the same length? Please send us a photograph of them in length order. We will ask your child to talk through what they found and use the language short, shorter, long, longer and the same length.

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Key text

The objectives below will be covered over the four ‘Structured Story Times’ this week.

Book title:	Shu Lin’s Grandpa
Vocabulary focus:	satchel, silent, dipped, splodges, surrounded, properly, strokes, scales
At the end of the week, children will know:	how important it is to make people feel welcome that we should respect different cultures and learn from them we can communicate stories and ideas through art.
At the end of the week, children will be able to:	engage in extended conversations about stories, learning new vocabulary talk about a character’s feelings, assigning the correct vocabulary to emotions empathise with characters (starting school, different families).

Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To link statements and stick to a main theme or intention.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	To learn how to help, listen to and support others when working in a team.
Physical development	To explore travelling around, over and through apparatus. To travel with confidence and skill around, under, over and through balancing and climbing equipment.
Phonics	To master phonemes y z zz qu To revisit Common Exception Words we and be
Writing	To write a dictated sentence using correct letter formation
Maths	To explore length. To compare length. To explore height. To compare height.
Understanding the World	To know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities, cultures and traditions. To recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways. To name, locate and talk about one other country.
Expressive Arts and Design	To maintain a pulse within a group performance. To rehearse as a group (ensemble).

Term 3, Week 4

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 16:45:13 GMT

Key dates

Friday 30th January – Inset day. School closed to children

Fairytales

Over the next week (w/c 26th January), we are going to be learning about fairytales. If you speak another language and would be happy to come into school and read your child’s class a fairytale in another language, please speak to your child’s class teacher.
We would love to read lots of different fairytales in school. Please bring in any named copies of fairytale books you have at home. Alternative versions also welcome!

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is Literacy. We would love to see your child using their phonics to write some labels for things in your home (could be a photo of an object with their writing on a piece of paper or post-it note, or labels written on a whiteboard) eg box, chair, shelf.

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Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To understand that describe sequences such as “first we are going to the shop, next we will play in the park”.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	To consider why it is important to support each other by being kind. To know that most friendships have ups and downs, and that these can often be worked through so that the friendship is repaired or even strengthened, and that resorting to violence is never right.
Physical development	To develop rocking and rolling.
Phonics	Phase 3 Mastery: j v w x Revisit CEW: me
Reading	Guided reading groups
Writing	To write a dictated caption or sentence.
Maths	To make pairs. To find doubles. To make a double. To combine 2 groups
Understanding the World	To compare and contrast characters from stories, including figures from the past.
Expressive Arts and Design	To play rhythms accurately as group. To rehearse as a group (ensemble). To tap out simple repeated rhythms.

Term 3, Week 3

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 16:45:32 GMT

Key dates

Friday 30th January – Inset day. School closed to children

Fairytales

Over the next 2 weeks (w/c 19th January and 26th January), we are going to be learning about fairytales. If you speak another language and would be happy to come into school and read your child’s class a fairytale in another language, please speak to your child’s class teacher.
We would love to read lots of different fairytales in school. Please bring in any named copies of fairytale books you have at home. Alternative versions are also welcome!

Noticeboard

Please bring in clean cardboard boxes of all sizes for our Design and Build area (junk modelling). No plastic please.

Tapestry observation

The focus this week is Communication and Language. We would love to see a video clip of your child reciting a rhyme they know off by heart.

You can also send us any moments that you feel are significant in your child’s learning or want to share with your child’s class teachers.

Click the links below to find out how to add observations from different devices.

Apple device Andriod device Desktop

Next week’s learning

Subject	This week’s learning objectives
Communication and language	To link voice tone and volume to emotion.
Personal, Social and Emotional development	To understand the characteristics that make a good friend. To think about why it might be difficult for others to be a good friend all of the time. To understand how important friendships are in making us feel happy and secure, and how people choose and make friends. To understand that healthy friendships are positive and welcoming towards others, and do not make others feel lonely or excluded.
Physical development	To develop jumping and landing safely from a height. To jump off an object and land appropriately using hands, arms and body to stabilise and balance.
Phonics	Individual class targets, mastering previously taught phonemes.
Reading	1:1 reading
Writing	To write a dictated caption or sentence independently and accurately.
Maths	To know 1 more and 1 less within 8. To know the composition of 6, 7 and 8.
Understanding the World	History: To develop an understanding of how houses, clothes, transport and toys have changed over time. To comment on images of familiar situations in the past.
Expressive Arts and Design	Music: To listen to, perform and internalise rhythms. To identify instrumental timbres (sounds) of non-European music. To maintain a pulse through movement.