Reception - Mrs Lindblad 2026 - 2027

Reception

Welcome to our Class Page

Hello Everyone and WELCOME TO RECEPTION!

I am Mrs Lindblad, your child's Reception teacher, and I am delighted to joind by 3 amazing Teaching Assistants Mrs Flanders, Mrs Wood and Mrs Flood. Together we are looking forward to making this a truly magical, memorable and exciting year for every child in our class.

Reception is such a special year. It is a time when children make such huge steps in their development, whilst having plenty of opportunities to play, explore, imagine and have fun. Thoughout the year, your child will develop so many new skills from becoming confident readers and writers, developing their mathematical understanding and discovering more about the world around them to becoming increasing independent, resilient and confident learners.

But Reception isn't just about learning new skills. It is also about friendships, laughter, adventures and making wonderful memories. We want every child to feel happy, safe, valued and excited to come to school each day. We will encourage them to have a go, try new things, celebrate their achievements, learn from mistakes, comfort them when they need it and be the very best that they can be.

Your Reception Class Page

This webpage is designed to be your one-stop place for all the important information you need throughout the school year. Here you will find all the useful information about:

• Important information about the school week
• Equipment and items that your child might need
• What we are learning about in Reception
• The books and stories we are reading in class.
• Special events, activities and important reminders
• Other information to help you support your child's learning

Information about the school week

Our school day will start 8.50am and end at 3.10pm. I will come out and meet the children at the gate at 8,45am and should you wish to speak to me please feel free to catch me either at the start or the end of the day. Children will leave from the same gate at the end of the day.

Each morning, when the children come into school, the children choose their lunch using the screen in the classroom. This is a lovely opportunity for us to develop independence, confidence and decision-making skills as the children make their own choice for lunch. Although parents are able to make their child's choice from home we would encourage the children to choose for themselves where possible. We will be there to support and encourage them, helping them to make a choice they are happy with. Of course, if your child needs a little extra support or you would prefer to choose their meal for them, we will always work with you to make sure they have a positive experience. School dinners are free for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

We will have our PE lessons every Wednesday and Friday afternoon. On these days, children should come to school wearing their PE kit. As we will usually be learning and exercising outdoors, please make sure your child wears their PE hoodie and joggers over their PE shorts and T-shirt, so that they are comfortable and ready for all types of weather.

We are very lucky to have Mrs Millichap, a highly experienced Reception teacher, supporting our class each week. Mrs Millichap will be teaching the class for the first hour on Thursday mornings and throughout Friday afternoons. On Thursday mornings, she will teach our phonics lesson, helping the children to develop their early reading and phonics skills. On Friday afternoons, Mrs Millichap will lead our PE and PSHE/My Happy Mind sessions, giving the children opportunities to develop their physical skills, wellbeing, confidence and understanding of themselves and others. We are delighted to have her experience and expertise as part of our Reception team! 

Equipment and items your child needs in School

Water Bottle - Children should bring a named water bottle into school each morning. This should contain water only please.

Wellies - Children would benefit from having a named pair of wellies in school. They would then change into them for outdoor play, particularly in wet weather.

Coat - Children will play outside everyday, even when it is raining. It is therefore important that they bring a coat to school everyday. We also walk to the main school for lunch each day and the weather can change very quickly even if it seems fine in the morning.

Puddle Suit - If your child has a puddle suit then this would also be useful so that they can stay warm, dry and comfortable while they enjoy exploring, playing and learning outdoors in all weathers.

Spare Change of Clothes - Please keep a spare change of clothes in your child's bag in case they have a little wet accident or get wet, muddy or messy while enjoying our outdoor adventures!

What we are learning about in Reception

Our topic this half term is “Me and My Family”, giving us a wonderful opportunity to learn more about ourselves, our families and the people who are important to us. We will enjoy sharing a range of beautiful stories and books linked to our topic, using them as inspiration for exciting activities and learning experiences. Alongside this, there will be lots of opportunities for play-based and practical learning, helping the children to develop their gross and fine motor skills, build confidence and independence, and strengthen their social skills. We will spend lots of time getting to know one another, making new friends, learning how to play and work together, and developing the skills we need to become a happy, kind and supportive Reception class.

Our phonics learning will begin on Monday 14th September once we have carried out a baseline on each child. Each day, the children will be introduced to a new sound, with lots of opportunities to practise recognising, saying and writing the sounds we learn. Sound cards will be sent home regularly so that children can practise their new sounds with you. Once the children have learned a number of sounds and are confident with oral blending, they will begin bringing home blending books to practise putting their sounds together and developing their early reading skills. Your support with practising sounds and reading at home will make a wonderful difference to your child’s confidence and progress.

This year, we will be introducing Drawing Club to your child in Reception, a fun and exciting approach that brings together stories, imagination, vocabulary, drawing and early writing skills. Each week, we will explore a wonderful story and immerse ourselves in new and interesting vocabulary. The children will develop their drawing skills while learning to write the sounds, words and, as their confidence grows, phrases and sentences inspired by the story. We will also place a strong focus on correct letter formation to help children develop good writing habits from the very beginning. I will share the key vocabulary we are learning each week so that you can talk about these words and reinforce them at home, helping your child to build a rich and varied vocabulary.

In Maths this half term, we will begin by exploring matching and pairing, helping the children to notice similarities, differences and relationships between objects. We will then move on to recognising, creating and continuing patterns, before developing our counting skills. We will initially focus on numbers to 5, building a strong understanding of the value of numbers through lots of practical, hands-on activities, games and everyday opportunities to count. Our aim is to make maths fun, meaningful and enjoyable while developing the children’s confidence and mathematical thinking.

The Books and Stories we are reading this week.

• The Colour Monster
• Superduper You
• Don't Eat the Teacher
• Ruby's Worry

Special Events, Activities and Important Reminders

Wednesday 2nd September - School starts

Other Information

Snacks:

We will provide daily fruit or vegetables to every child in Reception so they do not need to bring in any additional snack. 

Homework

A strong partnership between home and school is incredibly important in helping your child thrive. We really value your support and the role you play in your child’s learning journey. In particular, practising phonics and reading regularly at home makes such a difference to your child’s confidence and progress. Even a few minutes each day can have a wonderful impact, and we are always here to offer guidance, encouragement and support so that we can work together to help your child become a happy, confident and enthusiastic reader.

Reading:

As a school will place a high emphasis on teaching children to read and we are passionate about fostering a love of reading and books. I intend to read at least 3 books a day to the class and your child will read daily to an adult during their phonics lesson. They will have additional reads where time allows. We ask you to please read to your child at bedtime (or any other convenient time) daily as this will have a huge impact on their reading progress, their vocabulary and all areas of their learning.  Please also write a short comment in your child's reading diary to say what you have read and how thet have done with their phonics activities. Once children progress to Ditty Sheets and reading books we would like to see every child  reading at least 4 times a week minimum at home. 

Our LEARNING JOURNEY for this week!

This week will be all about settling into Reception and getting to know our new school family. We will spend lots of time learning our daily routines, discovering where everything is and becoming familiar with our classroom and school environment. The children will have plenty of opportunities to learn the names of their new friends and teachers, play together and begin to build new friendships. We will also spend lots of time getting to know each child as an individual, building positive and trusting relationships and completing our baseline assessments through play and everyday activities. Most importantly, we want every child to feel happy, safe, confident and excited about their new Reception adventure! 

Best Wishes

Kathryn Lindblad