Federation of Earlswood Schools
A Place to Learn Together
We offer Nursery Provision to Year 6
Weekly Blog
Please see our Reception noticeboard to find additional information on Phonics and Reading at school: https://www.earlswood.surrey.sch.uk/notice-board-9/
Week beginning 19th January 2026.
Noticeboard:
If you have any junk modelling such as kitchen roll tubes, bottle lids, corks, cereal boxes or washed out tubs which you no longer require please send them into school for our junk modelling areas, the children love to be creative and make amazing models! Please can we ask that boxes or containers which have contained nuts or meat are not sent into school.
Our learning this week:
Topic: For the next two weeks we will be learning about traditional tales. We will be sharing our favourite traditional tales, finding out about different characters and exploring what a traditional tale is. The story we will focus on this week is Little Red Riding Hood.
Drawing club: This week we will be exploring the traditional tale ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. We will be drawing the character and setting. We will then be going on adventures with the story. The vocabulary we will be teaching the children will be: caring, mischievous, snooping, greedy, thoughtful and crafty.
Maths: This week in Maths, we will be learning all about mass and capacity. The children will be encouraged to compare quantities using the vocabulary associated with weight such as heavy and light and capacity such as empty and full.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be focusing on the digraphs (2 letters which make 1 sound) ur, ow and oi e.g. fur, owl, boing and the trigraph ear e.g. hear. The children will also be using their grapheme knowledge to support them when blending to read words and sentences and segmenting sounds when writing. The tricky words we will be recapping and encouraging the children to read are: into, was, you and they. We will also be learning to write the tricky words: my, by and all.
PSHE: We will continue to focus on how we overcome challenges and become more resilient. We will also be encouraging the children to set their own goals for things they would like to improve on and will be working towards these goals over the next few weeks.
RE: We will continue to learn about books that are special in different religions. We will be learning how some stories within these books are about people who are special to different faiths. This week, we will be reading a story from the Bible and talking about how Christian’s see Jesus as a special figure in their religion.
PE: In PE this week the children will learn to stop safely, they will also be playing games with balls and will learn how to keep a ball close to them and how to stop a ball from rolling away by putting their foot on top of the ball.
Week beginning 12th January 2026
Welcome back! We hope you all enjoyed a restful Christmas break and we would like to wish you all a Happy New Year! The children have settled back into school brilliantly and have been busy learning all about the season of Winter.
Donations-
- If families are able to donate any left over Christmas ribbon or wool that would be much appreciated.
- We are also in need of flour, salt or food colourings for our playdough.
- If you able to collect some sticks during the weekend that would also be greatly appreciated.
Our learning this week:
Topic: This week we will be learning all about the weather. The children will be finding out about and naming different types of weather we see throughout the year.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be focusing on the digraphs (2 letters which make 1 sound) long oo, short oo, ar and or e.g. moon, book, dark and horn. The children will also be using their grapheme knowledge to support them when blending to read words and sentences and segmenting sounds when writing. The tricky words we will be recapping and encouraging the children to read are: and, push, was, you and they. We will also be learning to write the tricky words: was, you and they.
Drawing club: This week we will be exploring the story book ‘One Snowy Night’ by Nick Butterworth. We will be drawing the character and setting. We will then be going on adventures with the story. The vocabulary we will be teaching the children will be, gloomy, nuzzled, spooked, chortle, thump and pair.
Maths: This week in Maths we will be focussing on numbers 0-5 and finding one more and one less. We will also be subitising and exploring the composition of the number 5.
RE: We will be learning about books that are special in different religions. The first book we will be learning about is the bible and how it is an important and special book for Christian's.
PSHE: We will continue to focus on how we overcome challenges using our perseverance and become more resilient.
What a wonderful sing a long we had this week! The children were all amazing and certainly started of the festivities with cheer and joyfulness! We hope that you enjoyed the sing a longs and would like to thank you all for all of your support this term.
On behalf of every member of the Reception team we would like to thank you all so much for your very kind and generous gifts and cards and would like to wish you all a very happy and restful Christmas break.
We look forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 5th January 2026.
Week beginning 5.1.26
Our learning this week:
Topic: This week in our topic lesson we will be introducing the season of winter. We will find out about what we notice with the weather during the winter, what clothes we need to wear to keep warm, the flowers we might see and what animals do during the winter.
Drawing club: This week in Drawing Club we will be listening to the story ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’ We will be drawing the character and the setting. We will then be going on adventures with the story. The vocabulary we will be teaching the children will be, ‘courageous’, ‘wandering’, ‘encounter’, ‘gusty’, ‘snuggle’ and ‘slumber’’
Maths: This week in Maths, we will be learning to match numerals and quantities up to 5. We will also be learning about the importance of the number 0.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be learning the digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound) ai, ee, oa and the trigraph (three letters which make one sound) igh. The tricky words we will read are are, the, I put, pull and full. We will also learn to write these tricky words. We will continue to recognise these tricky words: go, no, to, into, he, she, push and of. The children will also be learning to read short phrases and will be using their segmenting skills to help them when writing short words such as rain, feet, night and boat.
PSHE: This week in PSHE we will be starting our new topic based on our dreams and goals. The children will be learning about the importance of not giving up and persevering even when we find something to be a little tricky.
RE: This week we will begin our learning about special stories from different faiths. This week we will find out about our own special stories and think about why they are special to us. If your child has a special story please do pop a photo of your child and their favourite story onto Tapestry and we will look forward to sharing these with the children.
PE: In PE this week we will be learning how to change direction when playing games safely and will begin to understand rules and how they can help us when playing games.
Week beginning 15th December 2025
Thank you all so much for your support during Christmas making afternoon, we loved being able to spend time creating lots of wonderful Christmas crafts with you all and hope you all enjoyed the afternoon as well!
Christmas sing-a-longs:
The children are enjoying learning our songs for our Christmas assembly and are looking forward to sharing them with you!
Robin and Wren – Tuesday 16th December at 2.30pm
Owl and Finch – Wednesday 17th December at 2.30pm
The children have been working so hard to prepare for their sing-a-longs and they look and sound great, we can't wait for you to see it!
Reading books:
Please can we remind you to not let your child’s reading book go in their bag with their water bottles as books are getting damaged and broken.
Our learning this week:
Topic: This week in our topic lesson we will be focusing on internet safety, we will talk about ways we can help Smartie the penguin to make good decisions whilst using the internet. We will be encouraging the children to ask for help from an adult when they are on the internet.
Drawing club: This week in Drawing Club we will be exploring the animation ‘The Night before Christmas’ a Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film from 1933. We will be drawing the character and the setting. We will then be going on adventures with the story. The vocabulary we will be teaching the children will be, ‘blizzard’, ‘ornament’, ‘chimney’, ‘merry’, ‘soot’, and ‘illuminate’.
Maths: This week in Maths, we will be learning about 4 sided shapes and their properties.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be reviewing all of the sounds and tricky words we have learnt this half term and we will be recapping previously learnt digraphs (two letters which make one sound). The children will be using their grapheme knowledge to support them when blending to read and segmenting sounds when writing.
PSHE: This week in PSHE we will be talking about kind and unkind behaviour. We will be talking about the words we can use if we are unhappy or see unkind behaviour.
RE: This week we will learn all about the importance of saying thank you. We will consider how it is often a good time to say thank you during a celebration. The children will be encouraged to think about a time when they have said thank you during the week.
Week beginning 8th December 2025
Noticeboard:
Old Christmas decorations:
If you have any old tinsel, ribbon, bows or paper we would love them for a cutting and collage activity! Please do bring these into school as soon as possible.
Christmas sing-a-longs:
The children are enjoying learning our songs for our Christmas assembly and are looking forward to sharing them with you!
Robin and Wren – Tuesday 16th December at 2.30pm
Owl and Finch – Wednesday 17th December at 2.30pm
Christmas Making afternoon – Friday 5th December at 1.30-3.00pm
Next Friday 5th December it is Christmas Making Day! We would love you to join your child in an afternoon of festive fun where we will be busy making different Christmassy crafts! Please queue up at your child’s classroom outside door from 1.30pm and sign in on the sheets outside of the classroom.
Please do not take photographs of the children for safeguarding reasons and if your child needs the toilet, they will need to ask the adult running the activity, please do not accompany your child to the toilet during the afternoon.
We cannot wait to welcome you all in and are looking forward to starting our Christmas festivities with you!
Our learning this week:
Topic / RE: This week we will continue to focus on the celebration of Christmas. We will be finding out about the story of the Nativity and thinking how we each celebrate Christmas, we will also talk about how some people do not celebrate Christmas.
Drawing club: This week in Drawing Club, we will be sharing the story of “The Gingerbread Man”. We will be drawing the character and the setting and will then be going on an adventure with the story. The vocabulary we will be teaching the children will be, ‘accelerate’, ‘soggy’, ‘disappointed’, ‘cunning’, ‘mocking’ and ‘leap’.
Maths: This week in Maths, we will be learning all about the numbers 4 and 5 and will be exploring all of the different ways we can make 4 and 5. The children will be encouraged to use their subitising skills to talk about how they see 4 and 5 e.g. I can see a 3 and a 2, I know that together 3 and 2 make 5.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be reviewing the digraphs (2 letters which make one sound), sh, th, ng and nk. We will also be recapping all of the tricky words we have learnt this half term. The children will be using their grapheme knowledge to support them when blending to read and segmenting sounds when writing.
PSHE: This week in PSHE we will be continuing our learning about kindness and how we can all be kind to our friends. The children will be encouraged to choose an ‘act of kindness’ towards a friend during the day.
PE: In PE this week we will be learning how to work with others cooperatively and work together as a group.
Week beginning 1st December 2025.
Noticeboard:
Old Christmas decorations:
If you have any old tinsel, ribbon, bows or paper we would love them for a cutting and collage activity! Please do bring these into school as soon as possible.
Christmas sing-a-longs:
The children are enjoying learning our songs for our Christmas assembly and are looking forward to sharing them with you!
Robin and Wren – Tuesday 16th December at 2.30pm
Owl and Finch – Wednesday 17th December at 2.30pm
Christmas Making afternoon – Friday 5th December at 1.30-3.00pm
Next Friday 5th December it is Christmas Making Day! We would love you to join your child in an afternoon of festive fun where we will be busy making different Christmassy crafts! Please queue up at your child’s classroom outside door from 1.30pm and sign in on the sheets outside of the classroom.
Please do not take photographs of the children for safeguarding reasons and if your child needs the toilet, they will need to ask the adult running the activity, please do not accompany your child to the toilet during the afternoon.
We cannot wait to welcome you all in and are looking forward to starting our Christmas festivities with you!
Playdough ingredients
We are often making playdough for the children to use in our provision and we would be ever so grateful if you are able to donate any of the following playdough ingredients such as:
Flour
Salt
Food colouring
Cream of Tartar
Our learning next week:
Topic: This week we will be learning about Christmas. The children will be finding out about how Christmas can be celebrated and what the children might see in the run up to Christmas.
Drawing Club: This week in Drawing Club we will be listening to the story, “The Pine Tree” by Julia Donaldson. The children will be drawing the characters in the story, talking about and the setting of the story and then going on an adventure! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘ancient’, ‘iridescent’, ‘warble’, ‘soaring’ ‘remote’ and absent’.
Maths: In Maths this week we will be learning about the composition of the number 5. We will be subitising quantities up to 5 and learning about the composition of the number 5. The children will also be counting up to 5 and backwards from 5 and will be comparing quantities using the language of more and less.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be reviewing strategies to read plurals where there is an ‘s’ at the end of the word. We will introduce the tricky words – we, me and be. In addition to this we will recap all of our previously learnt sounds and tricky words. The children will also be learning to read short phrases and the children will be using their segmenting skills to help them when writing short words such as cups, dogs and fish.
PSHE: In PSHE this week, we will be learning about how we make friends with others. We will encourage the children to talk about how they can be a kind friend.
RE: In RE this week we will be continuing our learning about Christmas and thinking about how we celebrate Christmas, we will also learn about how some people do not celebrate Christmas.
PE: In PE this week, the children will be learning how to use equipment safely and responsibly.
Week beginning 24th November 2025.
Noticeboard:
Parents evenings
We are looking forward to meeting you all for parents evening next week. If you have not made your appointment yet please book online by Friday 21st November.
Inset day
Please note that school is closed on Monday 24th November for an INSET day.
Playdough ingredients
We are often making playdough for the children to use in our provision and we would be ever so grateful if you are able to donate any of the following playdough ingredients such as:
Flour
Salt
Food colouring
Cream of Tartar
Our learning next week:
Topic: This week we will be learning about celebrations. The children will be finding out about different celebrations that are celebrated in our community and how they are celebrated.
Drawing Club: This week in Drawing Club we will be listening to the story, “After the Storm” by Nick Butterworth. The children will be drawing the characters in the story, talking about and the setting of the story and then going on an adventure! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘atrocious’, ‘mangled’, ‘handkerchief’, ‘hefty’ ‘slumber’ and ‘saw’.
Maths: In Maths this week we will be learning to use positional language when describing the position of items in relation to others such as, under, next to, below, beside, on top of, behind and in front of. We will also be exploring the composition of the number 4 and will be encouraging the children to subitise up to 4 objects.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be learning the digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound) sh, th, ng and nk. The tricky words we will learn are, she, he and of. We will continue to recognise these tricky words: go, no, to, into, he, she, push and of. The children will also be learning to read short phrases and will be using their segmenting skills to help them when writing short words such as mess, fix and jam.
PSHE: In PSHE this week, we will be learning about families. We will share our thoughts on why our families are all different but how they might share some similarities with other families.
RE: In RE this week, we will be learning about the Nativity and how Christmas is an important celebration for the Christian faith.
PE: In PE this week, we will be learning how to move safely and stop with control. The children will learn to take smaller steps when stopping and to stop in a balanced position on their feet.
Week beginning 17th November 2025.
Parents evenings
We are looking forward to meeting you all for parents evening in the next couple of weeks. If you have not made your appointment yet please book online by Thursday 20th November.
Inset day
Please note that school is closed on Monday 24th November for an INSET day.
Playdough ingredients
We are often making playdough for the children to use in our provision and we would be ever so grateful if you are able to donate any of the following playdough ingredients such as:
Flour
Salt
Food colouring
Cream of Tartar
Our learning next week:
Topic: Night and Day
This week we will be continuing our learning about night time and day time. We will learn about nocturnal animals and what we can see at night time compared to the day time and will talk about our routines during the day and night.
Drawing Club: This week in Drawing Club we will be listening to the story, “The Leaf Thief” The children will be drawing the characters in the story, talking about and the setting of the story and then going on an adventure! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘abundant, ‘searching, ‘unclear’, ‘cascading’ ‘puzzled’ and ‘wandering’.
Maths: In Maths this week we will be learning about the composition of the numbers 2 and 3 and we will also be learning about the shapes – circles and triangles and their properties.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be learning the grapheme and digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound) z, qu and ch. We will also learn how to read words with ‘s’ at the end. The tricky words we will learn are, go, no, to, into and we will continue to recognise these tricky words: and, has, his and her. The children will also be learning to read short phrases and will be using their segmenting skills to help them when writing short words such as back and sun.
PSHE: In PSHE this week, we will be learning about families. We will share our ideas on what we think is different and similar between our families.
RE: In RE this week we will be learning about the Christmas story and how this is a special celebrations for Christians.
PE: In PE we will be learning how to travel safely around a space showing consideration of others. The children will be taught to change their direction to avoid others and to look for spaces they can move to.
Week beginning 10th November 2025.
Woodland Walk: Woodland Walk
Night time woodland walk – Wednesday 12th November. Please start your walk at the Junior school playground where you will be asked to sign in, when you complete the walk please leave via the Junior playground gate where you will be asked to sign out. Please remember to bring a torch (this can be on your phone) and to wear appropriate footwear. Unfortunately the walk is not suitable for buggies.
Day time woodland walk in classes – Thursday 13th November. Please ensure your child brings a coat and has wellington boots at school that we can change into for our walk. If you are able to spend some time in the morning helping with walking the children to the Junior woodlands please do speak to your child’s class teacher, we would be very grateful of the additional support!
Finch and Owl Classes will be walking from 9.00-10.15am
Robin and Wren will be walking from 10.15-11.30am
Odd Socks Day 10th November /Anti Bullying Week 10th -15th November
On Monday 10th November we ask that children wear odd socks to mark the start of this year’s Anti-Bullying Week (No donation is required). Odd Socks Day encourages us to express ourselves and celebrate our individuality and what makes us unique. During this year’s Anti-Bullying Week, we are encouraging the children to use their ‘power for good’ encouraging the children to use their powers to make a positive impact. Thank you for your support with these special events.
Children in Need: This year, we are supporting Children in Need on Friday 14th November. Your donations make a real difference and just a small contribution can change the lives of children. For a donation of £1 or more, pupil parliament have asked that all staff and children wear their own bright coloured clothes and if possible, something spotty, to support Children in Need. Please bring your donation with you on the day and hand it to your class teacher, or we are offering the opportunity to go cashless and donate via Scopay.
PE
Please can we remind you that our PE lessons will now be on a Monday. Please ensure all jewellery is removed for PE.
Playdough ingredients
Thank you so much for your kind donations. We are often making playdough for the children to use in our provision and we would be ever so grateful if you are able to donate any of the following playdough ingredients such as:
Flour
Salt
Food colouring
Cream of Tartar
Our learning next week:
Topic: Autumn
This week is a busy week for us at school! We will be learning about Remembrance Day and the significance of Poppies. We will also be continuing our learning about Autumn and changes we notice during Autumn. In addition to this, we will be busy with lots of learning about Anti-Bullying week with odd socks day on Monday and Children in Need on Friday.
Drawing Club: This week in Drawing Club we will be watching an animation all about Autumn. The children will be drawing the characters in the animation, talking about and the setting of the animation and then going on an adventure! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘hibernate’, ‘migrate, ‘nippy’, ‘forage’ ‘rustle’ and ‘russet’.
Maths: In Maths this week we will be learning about more and less. The children will be learning that as we count, each number is one more than the number before and when we count back, each number is one less than the previous number. We will also be comparing quantities and amounts using the language of ‘more’ and ‘less’.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be learning the digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound) v, w, x and y. We will be learning to read the tricky words: and, has, his and her. We will continue to revise the tricky words, the, put, pull and full. The children will also be learning to read short phrases and will be using their segmenting skills to help them when writing short words such as hug and rock.
RE: In RE this week, we will be learning about birthdays and how each person has a birthday where our birthday marks the day we were born on and that this is a day that can be celebrated.
PSHE: In PSHE this week, we will be discussing Anti-Bullying Week and how important it is to be kind and show respect to one another.
PE: In PE we will be continuing to explore different ways of travelling.
Week beginning 3rd November 2025
Noticeboard
Sculpture Week - 4th November 2025.
This year our whole school sculpture week starts on 4th November 2025. For our sculpture week in Reception, we will be learning all about the work of the sculptor, Louise Nevelson. The children will all make their own sculpture and this year we are using ‘lost or broken items’ to use for our sculptures.
We would like every child to bring a named shoebox in with some items that you have at home which are missing pieces and are ready to be thrown away or recycled.
Please see the photo for an idea of what we would like the children to bring in. Items can include, lego pieces, puzzle pieces, counters, game items, construction items or broken craft items.
Please can these be brought into school by Friday 24th October so that the children can start making their sculptures when we start school after half term.
Noticeboard:
Half term
We have had the most wonderful first half term and would like to wish you all a lovely and restful break. The children have all worked so incredibly hard and should feel very proud of their achievements this half term. Thank you for all of your support. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 3rd November.
Phonics over the half term
We have assessed your children on their Phonics knowledge based on our learning from this first half term. Please see your child's reading record diary for any graphemes they need to continue to practise recognising.
We hope you have found our weekly Phonics cards and tricky words helpful at home. Please do continue to share these flashcards with your child over the holiday and play lots of sound games such as - "can you put your c-oa-t on? Can you see a r-e-d car?" If you are out for a walk ask your child what graphemes they can see around them and can they tell you the first sound in different words?
Woodland Walk
Night time woodland walk – Wednesday 12th November. Please start your walk at the Junior school playground where you will be asked to sign in, when you complete the walk please leave via the Junior playground gate where you will be asked to sign out. Please remember to bring a torch (this can be on your phone) and to wear appropriate footwear. Unfortunately the walk is not suitable for buggies.
Day time woodland walk in classes – Thursday 13th November. Please ensure your child brings a coat and has wellington boots at school that we can change into for our walk. If you are able to spend some time in the morning helping with walking the children to the Junior woodlands please do speak to your child’s class teacher, we would be very grateful of the additional support! Here are the times for our walk:
Finch and Owl - 9.00-10.15am
Robin and Wren - 10.15-11.30am
Playdough ingredients
We are often making playdough for the children to use in our provision and we would be ever so grateful if you are able to donate any of the following playdough ingredients such as:
Flour
Salt
Food colouring
Cream of Tartar
Reading books:
Please can we ask that reading records and books are kept away from water bottles and brought into school every day. Please see this link below about reading wordless books with your child:
https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/#tabnametabBooksComingHome
Sculpture Week after half term
We are still in need of shoe boxes and items you do not need any more that you do not mind being glued down and painted for our sculpture week after half term.
Our learning for the week beginning 4th November 2025:
Topic: Autumn / Sculpture week
When we return to school we will be learning all about the season of Autumn and changes we see in our natural world. We will also be learning about the sculptor Louise Nevelson and will be creating our own shoebox sculptures!
Drawing Club: This week in Drawing Club, we will be listening to the story, “Christopher Pumpkin” The children will be drawing the characters in the story, talking about and the setting of the story and then going on an adventure! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘celebration’, ‘hair raising’, ‘cheerful', ‘surprise’ ‘distasteful’ and ‘terrified’.
Maths: In Maths this week we will be learning about at the composition of numbers 1,2 and 3 and will be exploring different representations of these numbers. We will also continue to develop our subitising skills where we do not count items but instead look at what we see and how we see it:
“I can see some gems. I can see 4 and 1, I know that 4 and 1 makes 5” or “I can see 3 and 2, that makes 5 as well!”
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be learning the digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound) ff, ll, ss and the grapheme j. We will be learning to read the tricky words: put, pull, full and as. We will continue to revise the tricky words, is, the and I. The children will also be learning to read short phrases and will be using their segmenting skills to help them when writing short words such as ten and sock.
RE: In RE this week, we will be learning about birthdays. We will share how each person has a day they were born on and how this is referred to as their birthday. We will also find out how this is a day that can be celebrated.
PSHE: In PSHE this week, we will be discussing activities that we are good at and thinking about how everyone is good at different activities. The vocabulary we will be teaching the children during this lesson includes ‘proud’, ‘happy’ and ‘special’.
PE: We will be continuing to learn how to travel safely and in a variety of ways when exploring different climbing equipment during our climbing zone times.
Week beginning 20th October 2025.
Noticeboard:
Yogurt pots
We are still collecting yogurt pots for an exciting PSHE activity! If you have any empty yogurt pots please do send them into school.
Counting sticks
If you go out for an Autumn walk this weekend please could you encourage your child to find a stick to bring to school? We will be decorating them and using them as our magic counting sticks!
Reading books:
Please can we ask that reading records and books are kept away from water bottles and brought into school every day. Please see this link below about reading wordless books with your child:
https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/#tabnametabBooksComingHome
Playdough ingredients
We are often making playdough for the children to use in our provision and we would be ever so grateful if you are able to donate any of the following playdough ingredients such as:
Flour
Salt
Food colouring
Cream of Tartar
Sculpture Week after half term
We are still in need of shoe boxes and items which you do not mind being painted and glued for our sculpture week after half term.
Our learning this week:
Topic: People Who Help Us
Next week we are continuing our learning theme all about people who help us. We will be finding out about the jobs people do at school to help us.
Drawing Club: This week in Drawing Club we will be watching a short animation of "Fireman Sam”. The children will be drawing the characters of the firefighters, talking about and drawing a picture of the setting to the animation and then going on an adventure with the animation! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘disaster’, ‘team’, 'mishap', fire brigade and ‘emergency’.
Maths: In Maths this week we will be learning about finding amounts which are more or less than a given amount. The children will also be using their skills of subitising where they will be encouraged to look at amounts of items up to 5 and to say what they see and how they see it.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be revising the graphemes, which we have been learning throughout this term. The tricky words we will be continuing to read and recognise are, is, the and I. The children will continue to practice their blending skills to support them when sounding out words and reading.
RE: In RE this week, we will be learning about how different people belong to different communities (e.g. church, synagogue or mosque) and how some people may not belong to faith or religion. We will talk about how everyone is different and that is what makes us all special and unique.
PSHE: In PSHE this week, we will be learning about the word ‘responsibility’ and what it means to have responsibilities.
PE: We will be continuing to learn how to travel safely and in a variety of ways when exploring different climbing equipment during our climbing zone times.
Week beginning 13th October 2025
Topic: People Who Help Us
Our topic for the next two weeks is all about people who help us at school and within our local community. We are very lucky to have a visit from a police officer and nurse next week where we will find out about how they help people!
Our learning next week:
Topic: In our topic lesson we will be learning about people who help us at school and finding out how they help us.
Drawing club: This week we will be reading the story "Funnybones". The children will be drawing the characters of the skeletons, talking about and drawing a picture of the setting to the story and then going on an adventure with the story! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘dark’, ‘cheeky', 'cellar', 'frighten' and 'bumped'.
Maths: In Maths this week we will be learning all about mass and capacity. We will be using scales to help us when identifying heavy and light items and will be exploring the capacity of containers by exploring how many items they can hold.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be learning the graphemes f and l. We will then be revising some of the graphemes we have learnt to date. The tricky words we will continue to be learning to read are the, is and I. The children will learn how to form each of the above graphemes and will continue to practice their blending skills to support them when sounding out words to read and when spelling words to write.
PSHE: In PSHE this week we will be learning about the importance of why it is good to be kind and have gentle hands.
RE: In RE we will be learning about belonging. We will talk about the ways in which we know that we belong to Earlswood school.
PE: We will be continuing to learn how to travel safely and in a variety of ways when exploring different climbing equipment during our climbing zone times.
Feeling Good Week 6th-10 October
As part of our ongoing work to promote positive mental health, we are taking part in Feeling Good Week. Goslings, Ducklings and children in Year R-6 are invited to wear their own clothes on Monday 6th October to celebrate the start of this ‘feel good’ week. Goslings and Chicks are invited to wear their own clothes on Friday 10th October to celebrate World Mental Health Day.
Reception children are also invited to bring a small soft toy for a ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ on Friday 10th October to celebrate World Mental Health Day.
Reading books:
We are going to begin our reading sessions next week with the children. When your child brings their books home please do read and share these books with your children every day and record a comment in your child's reading record. We ask that reading records and books are kept away from water bottles and brought into school every day. Please see this link below about reading wordless books with your child:
https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/#tabnametabBooksComingHome
Yogurt pots
We are planning a very exciting PSHE lesson where we will be learning all about our responsibilities. As part of this, we would love as many empty yogurt pots that you have at home. Please send these into school with your child by 20th October 2025.
Our learning next week:
Topic: As part of our topic learning this week we will be learning about our families. If you have not already done so, please upload a family photo onto Tapestry or email one to infoinfants@earlswood.surrey.sch.uk
Drawing Club: This week we will be reading the story "Owl Babies". The children will be drawing the characters of the owls, talking about and drawing a picture of the setting to the story and then going on an adventure with the story as we have to think about ways the owls keep themselves busy while waiting for Mummy Owl to return. The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘brave, ‘lost, wish, silent and worried.
Maths: In Maths this week, we will be continuing our learning using our comparison skills to talk about differences we notice between items. We will be focusing on comparing the quantities of items using the language of ‘more’ and ‘less’. We will also be comparing the capacity and height of different containers and items. The language we will be using is as heavy, light, full, empty, short, tall and long.
Phonics: This week in Phonics, we will be learning how to pronounce the phonemes and recognise the graphemes, u, r, h and b. The tricky word we will be learning to read is the and the children will continue to revise the tricky words is and I. The children will learn how to form each of the above graphemes and will continue to practice their blending skills to support them when sounding out words and reading.
PSHE: As part of Feel Good Week we will be learning about our emotions and how we share these using our facial expressions.
PE: We will be continuing to learn how to travel safely and in a variety of ways when exploring different climbing equipment during our climbing zone times. Our PE day is on a Monday. Please ensure all earrings are removed on this day.
RE: In RE this week we will be talking about and learning how babies are welcomed into their families. We will encourage the children to think about times they have experienced welcoming a new baby and how they might send cards or give presents.
Week beginning 29th September 2025.
Natural Autumn items
If you go out for an Autumn walk this weekend we would love as many conkers, leaves and acorns to be brought into school for our learning activities next week. Thank you! J
Learning detectives
The children are all enjoying being chosen to be a learning detective on each day. Two children get this opportunity every day in each class and when your child is a learning detective they are tasked with the challenge to look for great learners throughout the day. Their focus will be based on our learning behaviours – resilient learners, independent learners, collaborative learners, reflective learners and motivated learners.
Our learning this week:
Topic: This week we are learning all about our feelings. We will be talking about our Zones of Regulation and thinking about how we can help ourselves to regulate when our emotions become a little overwhelming. The children will also be given the challenge to sort emotions into groups and will listen to stories about different emotions throughout the week.
Drawing Club: This week we will be learning the nursery rhyme "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". The children will be drawing the character of the star, talking about and drawing a picture of the setting to the nursery rhyme and then going on an adventure with the nursery rhyme as the star goes on adventure into space and we have to imagine what we think the star might see on its journey! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘twinkle’, ‘wondering’, 'overhead', 'night' and 'star'.
Maths: In Maths this week, we will be learning all about matching, sorting and comparing items. The children will be encouraged to think about how they could sort a selection of items such as by colour or size.
Phonics: In Phonics this week, the children will be learning the sounds c, k, ck and e. We will be learning the phonemes - how to pronounce each sound and will be identifying items with each sound at the start. The children will also be learning how to form each grapheme using a phrase to support them when writing. In addition to this, the children will be learning to segment sounds in words and blend them together to hear and read the whole word. The tricky words we will be learning to read are, is and I.
PSHE: In PSHE this week the children will be learning about how to work alongside others and will be encouraged to think about how their friends might feel at different points throughout the day. We will learn the phrase, “Sharing is Caring” and will talk about this and how we feel when someone shares.
RE: In RE this week we will be thinking about what makes people around us special and unique.
PE: We will be learning how to travel safely and in a variety of ways when exploring different climbing equipment during our climbing zone times. Our PE day is on a Monday. Please ensure all earrings are removed on this day.
Week beginning 22nd September 2025
Welcome to Reception parent meeting 17.9.25.
Thankyou to everyone who was able to join our meeting this week. The presentation has now been uploaded onto our noticeboard. We hope you find the information helpful, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask your child's class teacher.
PE: Our PE day is a Monday. Please can all earrings and jewellery be removed for safety reasons on a Monday.
Uniform: Due to the active nature of Reception we ask that only black joggers, leggings or shorts are worn at school with a white polo shirt, black trainers and a school jumper or cardigan. Please note, skirts, skorts and dresses are not part of our Reception uniform policy.
Water bottles: Please can we remind you that squash or juice is not allowed in your children’s water bottles. As part of our healthy school’s status we ask for the bottles to only contain water.
Family photos
Thank you so much if you have already sent a family photo into school. We would still love one family photo of every child with members of their family which we will print and make into a family book for each class. If you are able to, please either upload your photo to Tapestry or send the photo to our school office: infoinfants@earlswood.surrey.sch.uk with your child's class name in the subject of the email.
Baby Photos
As part of our RE learning we would also be very grateful if you could send in a photo of when your child was a baby which we will share as a class and use to support our learning about how we are all different.
Our learning this week:
Drawing Club: The children will be focusing on the nursery rhyme Row Row Row your Boat. We will be drawing the character of the mouse, talking about and drawing a picture of the setting to the nursery rhyme and then going on an adventure with the nursery rhyme as the mouse hears a new animal trying to climb up the clock! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, ‘gently’, 'merry', 'dream', 'row' and 'oar'.
Maths: This week in Maths, the children will be learning about sorting items by colour or size and matching items to find groups of the same items.
Phonics: In Phonics this week, the children will be learning the sounds m, d, g and o. We will be learning the phoneme - how to pronounce each sound and will be identifying items with each sound at the start. The children will also be learning how to form each grapheme using a phrase to support them when writing. In addition to this, the children will be learning to segment sounds in words and blend them together to hear and say the whole word.
Topic: In our topic lesson we will be learning about who we are, the friends we have made and what makes us special.
PSHE: In PSHE this week we will be learning about how we can begin to manage our feelings and will be linking this learning to our green zone of regulation where we feel calm and ready to learn.
RE: We will be thinking and learning about what makes the people around us special and unique.
PE: We will be learning how to travel safely and in a variety of ways when exploring different climbing equipment during our climbing zone times. Our PE day is on a Monday. Please ensure all earrings are removed on this day.
Week beginning 15th September 2025
The children have been superstars at starting school and we have all enjoyed our first full days in Reception! All of the children have settled so incredibly well and are already wonderful at remembering the daily routines such as where their water bottles, reading diaries, bags and coats go. This week, we will be continuing to settle the children into their new classes and will be encouraging them to build and make new friendships with others in their classes and partner classes.
New parent meeting – A day in the life of Reception.
Next Wednesday 17th September we have a meeting giving you some more information all about the day in the life of Reception. The meeting will be in the Learning Hub next to the Nursery and will be from 2-3pm.
Family photos
We would love one family photo of every child with members of their family which we will print and make into a family book for each class. If you are able to, please either upload your photo to Tapestry or send the photo to our school office: infoinfants@earlswood.surrey.sch.uk with your child's class name in the subject of the email.
Baby Photos
As part of our RE learning next week we would also be very grateful if you could send in a photo of when your child was a baby which we will share as a class and use to support our learning about how we are all different.
Reading Diaries
This week, we have sent your child's reading diary home. Please do comment on any text your child shares or reads with you at home such as non-fiction books, story books or comics. We check the reading diaries every day so if you have a message for your child’s teacher please do write it in their diary.
Sharing story books
In order to promote a true love of reading we will be encouraging the children to select a picture book to share at home with you. These will be available every day for the children and they will be able to choose a new book once they have returned their current one.
Our learning this week:
Drawing Club: The children will be focusing on the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock. We will be drawing the character of the mouse, talking about and drawing a picture of the setting to the nursery rhyme and then going on an adventure with the nursery rhyme as the mouse hears a new animal trying to climb up the clock! The vocabulary we will be learning as part of Drawing Club is, 'clock', 'struck', 'panic', 'tick tock' and 'run'.
Maths: This week in Maths, the children will be counting actions such as 3 claps, 4 jumps and 5 hops. The children will also be singing lots of counting songs up to 5, such as 5 Currant Buns in a Baker's Shop and Five Speckled Frogs. We will also introduce the concept of sorting items into groups.
Phonics: In Phonics this week, the children will be learning the sounds t, p, i and n. We will be learning the phoneme - how to pronounce each sound and will be identifying items with each sound at the start. The children will also be learning how to form each grapheme using a phrase to support them when writing. In addition to this, the children will be learning to segment sounds in words and blend them together to hear and say the whole word.
Topic: In our topic lesson we will be learning about our feelings and emotions. We will be linking this learning to our zones of regulation and will talk about the feelings of happiness, anger, sadness and how we feel at times when we might be scared.
PSHE: In PSHE this week we will be encouraging the children to develop their confidence when sharing ideas in front of their class. We will be focusing on how we all have similarities and differences and how these qualities make us all unique.
RE: We will be thinking and learning about what makes us all special and will be encouraging the children to share their differences and learning how being different makes us all special.
PE: We will be learning how to travel safely and in a variety of ways when exploring different climbing equipment during our climbing zone times.
Week beginning 8th September 2025
Welcome to Reception!
Welcome to all our new children and families starting Reception at Earlswood! It has been lovely meeting the children and yourselves during the school visits and we hope that you have enjoyed them too.
We are looking forward to welcoming the children on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th September for their half day sessions. Children are to wear their school uniform and bring a water bottle. The children will not be having lunch at school on these days. The morning sessions are 9am-11:30am and the afternoon sessions are 12:30-3pm. These sessions have already been assigned. If you are unsure of your session time please contact the school.
Thursday 11th September will be the children's first full day of school. They will be having lunch at school, please let us know of any dietary requirements if you have not done so already.
Please see the uniform policy here: Uniform
Every day the children need to bring a named:
- Water bottle
- Sun hat
- Water proof coat
- Spare clothes (these can be kept on their peg)
Sun cream needs to be applied before the children come to school.
Our learning this week
Phonics: In Phonics children will be learning to read and write. The children will be learning to recognise and write the graphemes s and a. We will also be practicing our oral blending skills where we sound talk words and phrases to the children such as, "t-a-p your head"
Maths: The children will be singing lots of number songs and counting forwards and backwards to 5.