Spring Term 2 2022
A warm welcome back to you all. We hope you had a lovely half-term break.
Our topic for this half term is ‘Traditional tales’ which will include a range of stories such as The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and Little Red, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Three Billy Goats Gruff to name but a few!
Throughout the half term, we will be ensuring that our core value ‘to be generous to others’ is embedded at every opportunity.
Religious Education
Sorrow and Joy – children will learn about the significance of Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Easter, that Jesus learnt to forgive and to reflect on ways that we can forgive, be kind and generous and help others.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Children will be supported to continue to initiate conversations and listen to others. They will have lots of opportunities to explain their knowledge and understanding and ask appropriate questions to further their learning. Children will be encouraged to become independent learners, expressing preferences and ideas through their own choices as well as learning the important skill of compromising when necessary.
Communication and Language
Children will explore different traditional tales and become acquainted with its story language and repeated phrases. A big emphasis will be to verbally retell stories through re-enacting prior to writing them down on paper. Children will be encouraged to introduce storylines and narratives into their own play. Children will take part in ‘helicopter’ stories to promote confidence and speaking skills as they express and share their ideas.
Literacy
Children will begin to recognise and join in with predictable phrases in stories such as ‘I will huff and I will puff’ and think about other words and phrases that characters might be saying. They will sequence stories in order to retell and act them out, exploring the different characters and settings through ‘hot-seating’ opportunities. In phonics, we will continue learning Phase 3 sounds and recap Phase 2 sounds daily. Children will continue to read words and simple sentences and build up a vocabulary influenced by stories.
Physical Development
Children will continue to develop their fine motor skills becoming more confident at using a pencil effectively and showing an interest in writing. They will also continue to develop their gross motor skills moving in different ways by running, jumping, skipping, hopping etc. This half term we will explore keeping healthy and foods that can help us stay fit and well. Children will have opportunities to have fun cooking recipes from traditional tales.
Mathematics
Children will continue to recognise numerals to 20 and gain a deeper understanding of what makes 10, eg. number bonds to 10. Children will explore money, counting out the Giant’s coins from Jack and the Beanstalk and continue to recognise the value of different coins. We will explore size, comparing the difference in size of the three bears in Goldilocks as well as the Giant. Children will develop their knowledge of 3D shapes, understanding them as a solid and exploring their different properties.
Understanding the World
Children will explore different settings in stories as well as discussing and imagining new environments. We will talk about different animals and their habitats and explore materials, for example through the story of the Three Little Pigs and the different homes they built.
Expressive Arts and Design
Children will be encouraged to act out traditional stories and their own stories, thinking about their body language and gestures in relation to different characters. They will use objects as musical instruments to help them think about characters actions through sound.
Things to remember
Please continue to hear your child read every day.
Junk modelling is always wanted.
Please email if you have any queries or questions.
We are hoping to have a trip this half term and will keep you informed.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Mrs Anthony, Miss Oakley and the Early Years Team
Spring Term 1 2022
Our topic for this half term is “Transport” which will include exploring different types of transport and places around the world. Children will make their very own travel agency to help them to remember key topic vocabulary as well as having fun at the same time!
Our core value for this half term is to learn to forgive. We will be encouraging the children to listen to each other and to recognise that we can all make mistakes but the act of forgiveness is key to a happy world.
RE
Following on from our learning about God’s family, we will be looking at Jesus’s early life. Children will begin to understand that Jesus chose friends to help him and the importance of the love they shared. They will also learn about the many miracles Jesus performed curing the sick.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
We will support children to continue to maintain friendships and forge new ones which will include initiating conversations and listening to others. There will be opportunities for children to explain their knowledge and understanding and ask appropriate questions. We will be encouraging children to make their own choices in order to express their preferences and ideas. Children will help put out large equipment outside and design the way it’s set out.
Communication and Language
This term children will develop their understanding, responding to a variety of instructions. We will also be focusing on rhyming strings and developing children’s vocabulary associated with transport.
Literacy
Children will continue to read and write words and simple sentences remembering our three important rules; capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. Children will explore the differences between fiction and non-fiction books and discuss their preferences. We will move on to Phase 3 sounds and recap Phase 2 sounds daily, along with reading and writing our tricky words. The tricky word song on YouTube is great! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R087lYrRpgY)
Physical Development
Children will continue to gain confidence at using a pencil effectively and will be encouraged to show an interest in writing independently. In our outside areas we will continue to provide opportunities for the children to travel under, over and through large balancing and climbing equipment. We will also be thinking about road safety, travelling on trains and keeping safe.
Mathematics
In maths children will we be focusing on counting objects and finding one more or one less. We will be hunting for numbers around our learning environment and continue to recognise numerals to 20. Children will develop their knowledge of 3D shapes, understanding them as a solid and exploring their different properties. We will explore the value of coins and put it into practical use in our travel agency. To develop our knowledge on time, we will be thinking about and estimating lengths of journeys to particular places.
Understanding the World (UTW)
Children will be exploring the difference in settings, in relation to different countries and places. We will talk about the different transportations, the way they work and the materials they are made from. Children will continue to use the interactive whiteboard.
Expressive Arts
Children will be encouraged to design, build and make different modes of transport. Children will have the opportunity to construct with a purpose in mind. We will continue to have a large junk modelling area outside and lots of construction materials. They will be encouraged to select tools needed to shape, assemble and join materials together.
Things to remember
Book bags need to be brought into school everyday (their reading record book and reading scheme book must be inside). Your child will be heard read at least once a week.
Please ensure all uniform and water bottles are clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Many thanks for your continued support and we look forward to another fab half-term.
The Early Years Team
Autumn 1 Term 2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
We all hope you had a lovely summer and that the children are happy and enjoying being in their new Reception class. We look forward to building a great partnership with you and your child.
This term our topic is “We Are Unique”. We will be focusing on getting to know your child and settling them into a new environment.
Religious Education
Our core value for this half-term is “Dear Jesus, help me to care for others.”
We will be embedding this core value throughout our curriculum which is outlined below. Children will explore how our world was created and ways to care about God’s creatures and each other.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
We will start this half term by learning about feelings and behaviours. We will discuss different emotions together and model how to manage feelings. Children will be encouraged to share resources with their peers and develop friendships with others. They will be building their confidence when speaking in small groups and during whole class learning. Children will become familiar with the daily routine and expectations.
Communication and Language
Children will be supported to develop their listening and attention skills and follow simple instructions. There will be lots of opportunities for children to share opinions, ideas and personal interests. We will be reading and listening to lots of stories, developing our imaginations and extending children’s vocabulary.
Literacy
Throughout the school day children will become familiar with recognising and writing their own names. We will explore rhyming strings through stories and songs. There will be activities to encourage hearing and saying initial sounds in words and children will be introduced to the letters s,a,t,p,i,n. Children will be encouraged to give meaning to the marks they make.
Physical Development
Using the indoor and outdoor space, children will gain spatial awareness of themselves and others. They will become independent at personal hygiene and putting on their coats, cardigans etc. Children will be encouraged to use the correct pencil grip and gain control when using mark making implements.
We have a wide range of apparatus which will enable children to explore different ways of moving and travelling with control and confidence.
Mathematics
We will be having great fun exploring numbers, counting in sequences and recognising numerals. With different resources we will use objects to count reliably and use the correct numeral to represent a given amount. Thinking about mathematical vocabulary we will expand the children’s knowledge of shape and use shapes to create different patterns and models.
Understanding the World (UTW)
In our UTW area in the classroom, children will be able to freely explore different materials and develop knowledge about their senses. They will begin to gain an understanding about the difference in family customs and traditions. They will expand their vocabulary about different homes and create simple maps of their own journey to school.
Expressive Arts
Whilst getting messy and using a range of materials children will create their own representations of people and objects familiar to them. They will choose particular colours for a desired purpose. They will have the opportunities to explore a range of different roleplay areas and create their own play areas alongside and with other children. Children will participate in whole class music lessons learning new songs and actions.
Ways to help your child learn
Reading
From the 20th of September onwards, your child will bring home two books. One book will be a reading scheme book chosen by their teacher for them to read to you. The second book will be a sharing book that they have chosen from our book corner. Please encourage your child to read to you daily. Please could you then write a short comment in their reading record journal or sign your name to show that they have read. Sharing books together is a great way to develop a love of reading!
Writing
Encouraging your child to write their own name independently (first letter to be a capital and subsequent letters should be lowercase) and recognise letters from their name when they see them in the local environment would be fantastic.
Number
Identifying numbers in the local environment such as door numbers, numbers on buses and counting different objects will really support their knowledge of number. Singing number songs is also a fun thing to do together and greatly beneficial.
Giving your child opportunities to become more independent such as dressing and undressing themselves so they can practice buttons, zips etc, pouring drinks of water, using a knife and fork to cut their food at mealtimes and washing their hands after going to the toilet and before mealtimes.
Things to remember
Book bags need to be brought into school everyday and your child will be heard reading at least once a week.
It would be really helpful if all uniform could be clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Please can you email Miss Oakley / Mrs Anthony a family photo to go on our class family tree or bring a photo into school.
Contact details
Mrs Anthony: janthony@swcps.lewisham.sch.uk
Miss Oakley: doakley@swcps.lewisham.sch.uk
Many thanks,
The Early Years Team