Spring 1

Big Question - How are the Arctic and Antarctica different? 
 

Our topic this half term is Poles Apart. We will be exploring where polar bears live and how it is different to where penguins live.

In phonics we will be starting phase. The sounds this half term are ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, er.  The tricky words we will be learning this half term are: was, you, they, my, by, all, are, sure, pure. 
please continue to read at home with your child, at least 3 a week. 

First week and healthy inside and out day

We returned to school having had lots of snow.  Our first day back we read the book The Dot as part of our healthy inside and out day.  We looked at our growth mindset characters including Captain Challenge, Professor Perseverance, Inspector Independence and Major Mistake. The children had a go at creating their own dot art work and discussed any barrier they may have faced. The rest of this week the big freeze came upon us and we explored the ice and snow developing our understanding and knowledge of the world. This was a great hook into our new topic and our first book The problem with Penguins.

Autumn 2 

Big Question - What do we celebrate? 

Our topic this half term is called what do we celebration and we will be learning about many different festivals and celebrations including Bonfire Night, Diwali, Birthdays and Christmas.

In Phonics the graphemes that we will be learning in this half term are:

e u r h b f ff l ll ss

following the Little Wandle Phonics Scheme 

Please help your child consolidate these at home by reading the words in your reading record book and sharing their reading book. 
Thank you :)

In our first week back after the October half term break, we welcomed the children back with our Healthy Inside and Out Day. We learnt the new skill of making our own sandwich which we enjoyed as an afternoon snack. We also enjoyed learning about Bonfire Night and exploring our new tricyles and parachute in our outside area. 

As part of our learning we have looked at lots of different celebrations and explored theses in our areas of provision. The children have been developing their independence skills and continuing to build on their friendships. We even had some very cold days in November exploring how ice melts and what helps it. 

Christmas Week 

We have had great fun celebrating Christmas. This has included our nativity, carol concert, party, making decorations with our year 6 buddies and lots of in class activities. 

Autumn 1

Big Question - How can we make friends?

First Weeks in Reception 
Our first few weeks in Reception have been great. It has been lovely to get to know each other, make new friends and explore our learning areas. The outside area has been very popular as the children explore and develop their gross motor skills. 

English 

In English we have been reading lots of books including You Choose and Ready, Steady Mo. We have been experimenting mark making and learning our new phonemes and graphemes. 

The graphemes we are learning in this first half term are:

s a t p i n d g o c k ck e u r h b

Please consolidate these at home along with sharing their reading books. 

Thank you. 

Maths

In maths we have been looking at numbers 1-5. We have been subitising (using our fast eyes) and that we can make a number in different ways e.g. 

1 and 1 and another 1 makes 3

3 and 1 makes 4. 
 

In expressive, art and design (EAD) we have been colour mixing and experimenting with different paintbrushes and medias. This all helps to support our fine motor skills. 

Outdoor Learning 

We aim to get outside no matter the weather. We have been developing our gross motor skills through cycling, climbing and balancing. Our mud kitchen provokes great conversations, turn taking and develops the children’s imagination. Our water area extends their maths knowledge looking at capacity and volume.