Cygnet Class

Class Teacher: Mrs Gabrielle Manzi

Teaching Assistants: Mrs Julia Cunningham, Miss Emily Steer and Miss Evie Byrne

Welcome to Cygnet Class

Question: where can you…..?
  • discover, explore, imagine
  • build a pirate ship and sail across the Arctic ocean
  • hunt for fossils, buried treasure or both
  • escape the hot lava of an active volcano
  • dig, plant, grow and cook
  • travel to the moon in a homemade space ship
  • paint everyday, if you want to
  • dance freely, sing loudly
  • become a scientist or superhero, mathematician or engineer
…and, of course, learn to read and write your first words…….
Answer: in Cygnet class! – where children explore what it is like to be grown-up, and where grown-ups remember what it was like to be a child.

Cygnet Class is where our youngest children begin their time with us. The children in this class are in Reception. In Cygnet Class there is a mixture of play based learning and more formal teacher led learning. A particular favourite of the week is the Welly Walk, where the children go off site around the village and local area learning about their surroundings. Children in Cygnet class have daily phonics lessons and lots and lots of stories. They have many opportunities to explore their learning through hands-on experiences.

 

Summer Term 2026

What will we be learning about this term?

We will all be learning how to read and write through our daily phonics and writing lessons. Children will be consolidating their phase 3 knowledge before moving into phase 4 where they will learn how to decode and write words with adjacent consonants. We will continue to learn how to read and spell common exception words.  We will also be working hard on our handwriting. Please ask your child to read their school reading book to you at least three times all the way through and try to read everyday if possible, as this will ensure that your child builds confidence and fluency.

Click on the link below to find out how to help your child with their reading:

reading with your child GM 2025

We have two topics during the summer term: Castles and Splash! Our Castles topic will give us chance to learn about what castles are for and who used to live in them. Our Splash topic is all about water: the water cycle, why water is so important, what we use water for and where we find water on planet Earth.

In Science we will learn all about animals including humans. We will also learn about seasonal changes and what  happens in the natural world during Summer.

In English we will be having fun in our writing and story telling with Drawing Club. We will also learn about the key ingredients for a good story and how to plan and write one of our own.

In Maths we will be learning how to partition numbers to 10 in different ways and how to count to 20, then 100! We will also learn how to spot a pattern in numbers and sequences. We will practise learning how to share different amounts of objects fairly and which numbers are odd and which are even.

REC Maths KO

In Design Technology  will be learning how to make a fruit smoothie. We will learn how to work safely in woodworking lessons. We are also continuing our sewing skills and this term we will design and make a felt stuffed toy.

In Art we will learn about the Artist William Morris. We will focus on different methods of printing and how to use natural materials to make our art.

In RE we will learn all about the Creation Story and all about some of the important stories from the Bible.

Don’t forget to send your child in with a named PE kit and wellington boots for wet welly walks. Children will also need a complete set of named spare clothes too, just in case of accidents! They will also need a named swimming costume and towel for our swimming lessons which will begin as soon as it is warm enough.

Useful Documents and information:

Please find the powerpoint from Mrs Manzi’s presentation to parents about the Early Years Foundation Stage attached for you to look at at your leisure.

EYFS Parent Workshop 2025

Here is the link to the Foundation Stage phonics presentation:

phonics parent workshop 2025

Here is the link to the handwriting website which has lots of ideas to help you support the development of gross and fine motor skills in preparation for handwriting. https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/parents.html

Here are a few things you can do to support your child’s learning at home:

Maths
  • Watch Number blocks together and talk about the maths you see

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/joinin/numberblocks-help-your-child-with-maths

  • Play board games using a dice- this helps your child to practise subitising (seeing a number of objects without having to count them) and turn taking.
  • Practise reading and writing numerals
  • Count together – up to 100 and beyond
  • Sing number songs like Five little Ducks (BBC School radio has lots of number rhymes)
  • Make different patterns using everyday objects
  • Talk about the shapes you see in the environment
  • Cook together – follow a recipe and weigh the ingredients
  • Teach them to tell the time – o’clock and half-past the hour
  • Say the days of the week and months of the year together
English
  • Sing lots of nursery rhymes (BBC School radio will help) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06kbsbz
  • Read lots and lots of stories together
  • Collect a few objects and make up stories together using the objects
  • Practise writing the letters of the alphabet
  • Support your child to practise writing their name
  • Make shopping lists together – either writing or drawing the things you need