Dear Parents/Carers
Welcome back to school. We hope you are all keeping safe and well and enjoyed a well-earned rest and quality time with your families over the Summer holidays. It is lovely to be back and we would like to share a big, warm welcome to all our new children as well as Mrs Condon (our trainee teaching assistant), who have joined us in class 1 and have settled in to their new class and school. We are so pleased with all the children in Class 1 for being so welcoming to their new friends. We are very proud of them and are really looking forward to a fun and exciting year together!
During this term we will focus on the themes of ‘Why am I special? and ‘Who is Mackenzie Thorpe?’ We will be learning from the National Curriculum areas for Year 1 and Year 2.
EYFS children will be learning through the New Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum in the following areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development (Self-regulation, managing self and building relationships), Communication and language (Speaking, listening and attention), Literacy (Comprehension, word reading and writing), Physical development (Gross and fine motor skills), Mathematics (Number and numerical patterns), Understanding the World (Past, present, people, culture, communities and the natural world) and Expressive Arts and Design (Creating with materials, being imaginative and expressive).
‘English’ and ‘EYFS Communication, language and literacy’ opportunities will enable children to listen to and follow instructions to complete different tasks and follow routines. They will have daily opportunities to listen to and share a range of class stories, non-fiction texts and poems enabling comprehension skills to develop. Through sharing different texts, we will focus on links with other areas of the curriculum in Science, History and Geography. Speaking and listening skills will be developed through interactions with adults and peers through role play, discovery boxes, new vocabulary and group question times. Reading will be developed through daily phonics activities, learning common and tricky words and spellings. Writing opportunities will focus on handwriting formations, grammar and punctuation of sentences and will link to topic areas for Y1 and 2. In EYFS, gross and fine motor skills and writing will be developed through using a range of mark making equipment,
In ‘Mathematics’, children will be learning how to develop their own ideas and solve problems through the areas of investigating numbers, finding patterns, solving calculation problems and exploring relationships between addition and subtraction. They will be learning how to ‘convince’ each other what they know in maths. New vocabulary will be learnt and skills will be developed using ‘hands on’ resources, drawings, pictures and photographs. Children will be recording maths pictorially and in written form. They will learn to select the resources they need and build independence through handling objects when solving problems and demonstrating how they can record their knowledge to share with other children and adults. In EYFS, children will learn through stories and rhymes as well as role play and ‘real life’ problem solving activities to develop number and numerical patterns. During this term they will focus on representation, comparison and composition to mastery level of numbers to 5 and make links with the world around them.
Through ‘DT/Art’ and ‘EYFS Expressive arts and design’ the focus will be on ‘Self-portraits’ will be exploring paintings by local artists, in particular, Mackenzie Thorp. They will have opportunities to develop their own art ideas, through drawing and painting – using various materials, colour, line, pattern, texture, shape, form and space. We will explore and compare different artists’ work with our own. Through music, they will be using voices expressively and creatively singing songs, chants and rhymes and will listen to a range of high-quality live and recorded music to develop their concentration and understanding. Through stories there will be opportunities to play tuned and untuned instruments.
Through ‘SEAL themes and PSED’, we will be finding out about ‘new beginnings’ and ‘getting on and falling out’ -how we learn from mistakes to develop our self-esteem, independence and confidence and form positive relationships with our peers. Activities in RE will include experiences and learning about which times and places are special and why? Children will be able to reflect through sharing feelings, emotions, stories, gifts, special food and role play activities.
‘Science/Geography/History/ICT/EYFS ‘Understanding the world’
During this term we will focus on the theme of ‘Why am I special?’ Children will be identifying, naming, describing, comparing various animals and exploring their own senses in various ways. They will find out what keeps us healthy and safe including looking after our teeth, keeping clean, exercise, sleep, eating and drinking. They will be asking and answering questions including looking for patterns, making observations and performing fair tests in scientific activities. They will be making comparisons linked to seasonal changes of Autumn and Winter. Geographical skills will be developed through using fieldwork and observational skills and looking at key human and physical features of the environment. They will be identifying weather patterns and seasons in the local area and UK. Historical skills will link to ‘changes over time within living memory’ comparing similarities and differences between different families, looking at family trees then and now. Children will learn about staying safe when using computers in ICT.
Through ‘PE’ and ‘EYFS Physical development’, children will practise and develop fine motor skills using various mark making equipment and tools. Gross motor skills are developed during PE sessions and during activities in the outdoor areas and at Forest School where we will investigate the environment around us. We will explore invasion games and multi skills building up stamina running, jumping, throwing, catching and team work. Through dance, we will perform different movement patterns.
Reminders
- Book bags come in to school and home every day.
- PE days are Tuesday and Friday. Wear outdoor PE kits on these days.
- Water bottles come in to school and home every day.
We look forward to a busy and exciting term.
Mrs Hainsworth, Mr Clark, Mrs Gudger, Mrs Allen and Mrs Condon.