Welcome back to all our families. Hopefully, you have had a wonderful Easter with family and friends, full of fun and laughter and we look forward to hearing all about it.
Our topic this term is 'What happened to the....'. During this topic we will be exploring Farm to Fork and insects and animals in Spring 1 and dinosaurs, space and children's choice in Spring 2.
We will be exploring our topic through each of our areas of learning and we will be providing parents with a newsletter on Class Dojo, showing our story of the month, text of the week, rhyme/song of the week, activities we will be doing and key vocabulary. This will give parents/carers the information they need to support their child further at home.
Class Dojo: At St Botolphs we have started using class Dojo as a positive behaviour system, rewarding children for their amazing work. You will be able to see the points they earn and children will be able to redeem their points for prizes. We will also use Class Dojo to keep parents updated with different events happening at school and any exciting things that are happening in class. Parents can also contact the class teachers directly with any questions they have.
Tapestry: We will still be using Tapestry to show parents/ carers what the children have been doing that week in more detail during maths. Please check this on a regular basis and when your child does wonderful things at home, you can post photographs or short videos on Tapestry for the teachers to see and comment on.
Our core Christian values for the term will be Relationships in the first part of the term and then Reflection in the second half of Summer term. We will explore these themes in our class worships.
PE: Our PE day will be a Tuesday but as always, please make sure your child's PE kit is brought in on a Monday and we will make sure it is sent home on a Friday. Please make sure that both indoor and outdoor PE kits are provided as where we do PE will be dependant on the weather.
Areas of Learning
Personal, Social and Emotion Development: We will be exploring and sharing different emotions during our circle time sessions each week. We will be exploring mindfulness techniques. During our PSHE sessions we will be exploring the topics "Being my Best" and "Growing and Changing".
Communication and Language: We will be practicing asking different styles of questions such as, how, why, who, what and when and understanding what a question is. We will be working towards following two part instructions from an adult. We will again take part in circle time sessions where we share our own thoughts on our different PSHE topics. These will form part of our PSHE weekly sessions.
Physical Development: The first part of this area of learning is gross motor skills, these are all the big movements such as climbing, negotiating space and ball skills. The children will practise most of these movements outside. This will now form part of outdoor PE as the weather improves. The second part of this area is fine motor skills. We will participate in a daily Dough Disco session to develop muscle control in the fingers we use for writing. Pencil control is one of our top priories at this time year, the children need to practice this constantly.
Literacy: This area involves everything from listening and enjoying stories to recognising letters to writing letters and words. We will have key stories throughout the term that we will be looking, as well as a different rhyme or song each week. At this age the performance is the key element. Children will be expected to be able to not only recite their song/rhyme but understand the words and sentences within each one. The children will be focusing on writing sentences independently and using their phonic knowledge in order to do this.
Read, Write Inc: In our daily sessions, we learn new sounds and words, revisit old ones and practise our blending and segmenting skills. Read, Write Inc is based on practising what the children already know. It is a celebration, an opportunity for them to shine at home with their adult. We also practise writing letters and words daily. You can help by completing daily practise of new sounds and/or words at home.
Maths: In Reception, maths is taught through White Rose Maths. This scheme is all about supporting children and their understanding of numbers through using physical resources. Even though recognising numbers in an important aspect of maths, the key element in our new curriculum is learning about what makes a number and number, ie. three is three objects or one and two objects together. We will also give the children opportunities to learn about time, capacity and the comparison between different sizes. This term we will be focusing on the understanding and composition of the numbers above 10, adding and subtracting small and larger numbers, learning number bond to 10, understanding and naming doubles and exploring sharing equally.
Understanding the World: This area is very knowledge based. We will be learning about history, geography, science and Religious Education. This term we will be exploring growing and changing, healthy eating, caring for animals and how animals can make food for us. We will also be exploring dinosaurs, space and the world around us.
As part of our topic we will be creating and labelling our own flowers, growing cress seeds and exploring what cress needs to grow. We will be going on a trip to the farm! We will be making healthy fruit kebabs and exploring different artists who draw landscapes. In Summer 2 we will be exploring maps and what they are used for, dinosaurs, dinosaur fossils, dinosaur skeletons and space!
Expressive Arts and Design: This area explores music, songs, role play, construction, anything that involves creativity and imagination. We will be providing the children with lots of different opportunities to use their own ideas to create their own picture, structure or a whole new world. We will be creating cards, dinosaur skeletons, making dinosaur fossils, painting like an artist and exploring singing and dancing as a way of learning about our new topic.
How you can help at home...
Homework: Homework will be sent home on a weekly basis. This will be letter formation sheets, number work, reading books.
Our topics: What happened to the... - To support your child in this topic please could you discuss and point out any flowers, their names and the different parts of the flowers. Also, pointing out any animals and how they help to produce food. Ask your child to support you in any cooking of healthy foods, growing your own plants at home in the garden.
British Weather: Please remember that the British weather does not always stay the same. If the weather is sunny on a morning, it does not mean the weather will always stay this way. If the weather is sunny, please send your child in a sun hat and apply sun cream before school when applicable. If the weather is cold, please send hats, scarves and gloves with names in. Please name any clothes or accessories that are sent to school to avoid any confusion or loss.
Your support in sending your child to school on time and regularly is vital to ensure that they receive the best quality education they can.
We are looking forward to a fantastic term together! If you have any questions about anything this term, either come in and see us or please use Class Dojo and we will get back to your as soon as we can.
We are wondering where our journey will take us this term. Exciting times ahead!
Miss Kaye and the Reception Team