Welcome back to summer term in school!  Our theme for this half-term is ‘What a Wonderful World’; we will celebrate and appreciate the wonder of the natural world and understand our role in protecting and preserving the beauty of our planet.  As ever, our learning will take place indoors and outdoors so wellies and wetsuits will definitely be required!  To begin this new term, we would like to thank all our families who joined in with the Spring ‘bucket list challenge’ over the Easter break, the children are always hugely excited to share their emails/photos of their outdoor adventures so take a look at the photos on our Reception class page on the school website! 

Understanding the World

We will commemorate Earth Day events which began on 22 April and will celebrate Outdoor Classroom Day on 19 May.  These events will give the children opportunities to discover some of the ways that they can make a difference in protecting our planet.  We will plant wildflowers in Forest School to increase biodiversity, use recycled materials for some eco-crafting, go on a litter pick to tidy up our outdoor environment, go bug hunting and observe the seasonal changes that occur as spring moves into summer.  We hope our families will enjoy getting involved with ‘spreading a little sunshine’ in the environment when we send home our ‘Sunflower Challenge’ home learning activity too!

Our curiosity, love and respect for the animal kingdom will develop further when we enjoy some close encounters with some exotic and prehistoric creatures!  Huge thanks to Prezley’s dad for arranging a very special dinosaur experience for us next week and we will also welcome ‘Dylan’s Reptiles’ later this half-term too.  This session will offer us an opportunity to develop our self-confidence by handling and holding animals that we may be fearful of and hopefully eradicate any fears of the amphibian/reptile world!  Details for Dylan’s visit to follow in a separate letter.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

Mental Health Awareness Week takes place during 9-15 May.  We hope to develop the children’s appreciation for the immense benefits that being outdoors and connecting with nature can have for their own mental health and supporting others to feel less alone too.  We will be outside as much as possible, enjoying peaceful moments engaging our senses with the world through meditation and mindfulness sessions and sharing poems, books and stories aimed at enabling us to be still and enjoy the moment.  We will also celebrate some special dates this half term including the Queen’s Jubilee and our school’s 25^th Anniversary on Dedication Day. In RE, we will cover the themes of ‘Good News’ and ‘Friends’; the Friendship Fairy will visit to help us develop an understanding of this important Christian value.

Literacy

We will focus on the work of the author Eric Carle and will introduce the children to his many stories, non-fiction books and poems celebrating the natural world.  The children will have opportunities to re-tell the stories using words, pictures, music and writing and perhaps use them as a stimulus for making their own books related to the topic.  We will recognise non-fiction texts as information books and use them to find out new things to answer questions about how and why things happen in the natural world. The children will read and write their own captions, labels and instructions and learn how to use diagrams, photographs, the contents page and index as tools to gain further information.

We have recently begun a new rotation of phonic teaching groups.  As the children have be familiar with their reading books in school and at home, your child will bring home the same books over 3 (or more) days, depending on the progress the group makes.  Please send their small zippy reading wallet into school each day, to ensure it is changed at the right time.

Communication and Language

We will share a collection of nature-themed stories every day, developing comprehension skills by recalling and recounting significant events that we experience, incorporating increasing detail to engage the listener.  You can help develop comprehension skills by asking ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘why’ and ‘how?’ after sharing stories and books together. These questions can really support this aspect of learning.

Mathematics

We will build numbers beyond 10, identifying numbers to 20.  The children will begin to see that numbers are made of full 10s and part of the next 10, eg 14 is one full ten and four.  We will locate bigger numbers on tracks and 100 squares, practising counting on/back from different starting points.  Developing calculation skills, we will introduce the ‘First, Then, Now’ structure to create addition and subtraction stories in meaningful contexts. The topic of ‘Measures’ will be explored via practical activities as we explore growing.  The children will have opportunities to compare, measure, estimate and record the length, weight, mass, shape and size of various objects (including themselves) and will develop related mathematical vocabulary. Throughout this half-term, the children will also become familiar with the concept of the passage of time and understand the units of time; days of the week, months of the year, morning, afternoon and night time. 

Expressive Arts & Design

Using recycled and natural materials, we will create a range of eco-crafts, including musical instruments, fairy homes, sun catchers, planters or wherever the children’s imagination takes them!  We will look at the natural artwork of Andy Goldsworthy and attempt to recreate some pieces of transient art using natural resources outside.  In Forest School, we will use sticks, flower petals and leaves to make nature paintbrushes, create fairy potions and print with natural dyes on fabric.  The children will be encouraged to talk about what they have made and discuss and evaluate their own artwork.

Physical Development

We are excited to begin ‘Balanceability’ Learn to Cycle sessions this half-term.  The programme is designed to help children gain the confidence and skills required to ride a pedal bike independently, getting them off to the best start in cycling and supporting their balance and coordination. All equipment and safety gear is provided, so your child does not need to bring their bike into school.  Further details about this to follow, but if your child can already ride a two-wheeled bike confidently, please let us know. 

Sports Day is scheduled to take place in mid-May, date to be confirmed.  Your child will need to have a pair of pumps/trainers (that fit) in their PE bag, please send a pair into school if we do not have them already.  It would also be helpful to check that any new items of summer uniform or school shoes are also clearly labelled to aid the children’s independence in looking after their own belongings and reduce the stress for everyone when things get lost!

We are amazed that this will be the final term of the children’s first year at school!  As ever, we can’t thank you enough for your continued support and encouragement.