Spring Term 1

This half term we focus on the question of 'How old is it?' and we will be looking at everyday objects and toys from the past. We will be investigating with a 'hands on' approach and look forward to creating our own class museum!

In Phonics we will begin to learn the letters and sounds within the Little Wandle scheme Phase 3. These include some common digraphs and trigraphs such as ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, er.
We will also investigate words with double letters and longer words. We continue to learn the 'tricky words' which are included at the front of your child's reading diary and will gain greater speed and accuracy when reading and writing simple words and phrases. Please help your child with reading or phonic practice on a daily basis at home for 5 mins and make a note in their reading diary - your help and support is very much appreciated and makes a huge difference to your child's progress. 

The key texts we are using this half term include

The Runaway Pancake

Old Bear

Little People Big Dreams -historical figure.

Dinosaur Roar!

In Literacy we will continue to focus on developing correct letter formation and will encourage your child to write their own simple phrases. We will write labels and captions for our museum exhibits and create a class guidebook for our museum. We will be investigating non-fiction texts to find out facts about objects and things from the past.

In developing our Communication and Language skills, we will ask questions and develop our 'good listening' skills even more.

In Mathematics we will be following the themes of Alive in 5! where we will consolidate our understanding of 0, compare numbers to 5, investigate the composition of numbers 4 and 5 and compare mass and capacity.

In Growing 6,7,8. We will investigate numbers 6,7,8 in depth, make pairs, combine 2 groups, look at length, height and time.

Our Religious Education learning will follow the topic of 'Galilee to Jerusalem' and we will hear about the visit of the Magi at Jesus' birth along with Bible stories of Jesus blessing the little children and the feeding of the 5000. We will also learn the 'Glory Be' prayer and think about Jesus asks us all to show love and care to everyone in our world.

Our Personal, Social and Emotional learning will focus on how to keep ourselves safe and how to ask for help from a trusted grown up. This is will be especially explored during national Safer Internet Day. We continue to learn about being a good friend and how to help others in need. We are also looking forward to working from the 'Healthy Heads' scheme which helps the children to investigate key skills such as 'resilience' and 'team work'.

Our Physical Development through PE sessions will follow the themes of Transport and Castles. We will explore moving in different ways, adjusting speed and direction as well as throwing and rolling a ball, climbing and jumping.

Our learning through Understanding the World will focus on the similarities and differences between now and the past through personal and family history as well as investigating historical figures.

The Expressive Arts and Design area of learning will focus on developing children's making skills using paper and tools such as scissors to create simple pop up pictures and moving images. Our music will follow a theme of 'Everyone!' where we will be learning new songs and using simple instruments to play along to a steady pulse.

As ever, our flexible curriculum allows us to follow the motivations and interests of the children and we will follow their lead and enthusiasms as they emerge!

Autumn 2

Autumn Term 2

In this busy half term we will focus on the key question of 'What makes me happy?' and begin to explore the various celebrations and festivals that bring us joy. We will investigate the similarities and differences between us and others, including comparing our own family traditions. We will also be exploring the range of emotions and feelings we have at special times.

Specific festivals we will look at will include; Bonfire night, Remembrance day, Diwali, Birthdays and Christmas.

These are the 'key texts' we will share in depth during this half term...

Penguin

Diwali

The Jolly Christmas Postman

The Gingerbread Man

The Night Before Christmas

In phonics we will continue our formal learning of Phase 2 sounds. The children will learn how to blend these sounds together so they can begin to decode simple words and phrases for themselves when reading aloud. Please continue to complete the phonics homework we send home each week and listen to your child read each day, making a note in the reading diary. Please also keep on reading stories and sharing the school library books with your child.

In literacy we will be learning to correctly form letters when writing with a good pencil grip. We will write Christmas lists, a letter to Santa and greetings cards.

In Mathematics we will be learning through the themes of 'circles and triangles', '1,2,3,4,5' and 'shapes with 4 sides'.

We will also weigh and measure ingredients to bake our own Gingerbread recipe.

Our Religious Education sessions will be built around the theme of 'Prophecy and Promise'. Children will learn that Mary was chosen by God to be Jesus' mother and that she travelled with Joseph to Bethlehem. They will know that Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger and that shepherds visited Him. We will also learn about how Advent is a time to get ready for Christmas and undertand that Jesus came for the whole world.

In our Physical Education learning the children take part in physical activities both inside and outside the classroom daily through our continuous provision and use of the outdoor learning area. This helps develop co-ordination and control both in small movements (e.g. holding a pencil and using tools such as scissors) as well as larger whole-body movements. In this half term we will develop a range of fundamental movement skills along the theme of 'How to catch a star'. We will also respond through movement to a range of nursery rhymes in dance.

In our learning in the area of Understanding the World we will explore the similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities and celebrations. As the weather turns colder we will also explore the outdoors, experiencing frost and snow - hopefully! Followed by warm hot chocolate inside...all cosy!

Our learning within Expressive Arts and Design will focus on making art and craft objects that express various celebrations. We will make clay diva lamps and experiment with paint and media to create Christmas art. In music, we will be learning new songs for our Christmas Nativity performance.

As ever, our flexible curriculum allows us to follow the motivations and interests of the children and we will follow their lead and enthusiasms as they emerge!

For a complete overview of the long term plan for the year please open the document at the bottom of this page for a summary of each half term.

  Autumn Term 1

Throughout Reception we follow the 'Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage' to shape our curriculum and learning experiences for children.

In Autumn term 1 we focus on the key question of 'Who am I?' and this involves learning about the children as individuals and their families. It covers making new friends and thinking about themselves and other children around the world. Settling into school routines and developing our personal and social skills is an especially important part of our learning in the first few weeks.

We celebrate Autumn and Harvest by exploring the school grounds to notice the changes in season, picking our school grown apples and making a crumble! Our visits to church also enable us to join in with simple acts of worship to thank God for our wonderful world and the fruits of the Harvest.

Reading and sharing books is a very important aspect of our learning and we have some key texts that we delve into in greater depth. These include,

Going to School

Lucy And Tom Go To School

When Grandad Was At School

Little Red Hen

Traditional Nursery Rhymes

My World, Your World.

We also organise a family visit to Poulton library after school where we can share a special book together and join the library if you haven't already got a library card. We really hope you can attend and details will be shared with you about the event in due course.

We begin the whole school approach to phonics through the 'Little Wandle' scheme. The children will learn the letter sounds within phase 2 and these are detailed in your child's reading diary. They include -s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,g,o,c,k,ck,e,u,r,h,b,f,l. We introduce how to 'blend' letter sounds into words when reading and also learn some 'tricky words' which do not follow the rules. Your child will most likely bring home a wordless reading book to begin with until they are confident in recognising and using the sounds taught. I plan to run a parents information evening about phonics and the early stages of learning to read and write. this will also detail how you can support your child at home to develop their literacy skills - look out for more details coming soon! 

In Mathematics we will be learning to...

Match, sort and compare.

Talk about measure and patterns.

Explore the numbers of '1,2,3 -It's me!'.

Our Religious Education sessions will be built around the theme of 'Creation and Covenant' where we explore God's beautiful world.  We will learn that God made each one of us as a unique person, He loves us and we are part of His family. We will experience how to look after people and the world around us. We will also learn the words and actions of the sign of the cross and some school prayers.

In our Physical Education learning the children take part in physical activities both inside and outside the classroom daily through our continuous provision and use of the outdoor learning area. This helps develop co-ordination and control both in small movements (e.g. holding a pencil and using tools such as scissors) as well as larger whole-body movements. Throughout the year children will develop fundamental movement skills of running, jumping, dancing, catching and throwing, hopping, skipping and climbing. We enjoy playing games and taking part in age-appropriate sports during our whole class PE time. In this first half term we will use the adventure playground area, balance bikes and develop our physical skills through a focus on the 'Elmer' story.

In our learning in the area of Understanding the World we will explore the school grounds and plant bulbs for spring time flowering. We will also talk about the important people in our lives and the special experiences we share together.

While developing knowledge and skills in the area of Expressive Arts and Design we will be making self portraits using different media. We will explore the mark making of Jackson Pollock and how nature is used in the art work of Andy Goldsworthy. In music, we will be singing nursery rhymes and following the theme of 'Me!'.

Our flexible curriculum allows us to follow the motivations and interests of the children and we will follow their lead and enthusiasms as they emerge!

For a complete overview of the long term plan for the year please open the document below for a summary of each half term.