Topic
This first half term we will be learning all about Antarctica and the Arctic, with a focus on penguins and their habitat. The children will be using The Blue Penguin, by Petr Horacek, as a key text to inspire their writing and free play.
We will also be looking at celebrations and traditions including Chinese New Year and Valentines Day before half term.
After half term, we will be following the wonderful Bog Baby by Jeanne Willis and using it to develop descriptive writing and writing instructions to care for our own bog baby. We will also be working on collages of the bog baby using a variety of materials.
Reading
Your children had a fantastic first term making lots of progress with their reading and are now in their new phonics groups. Please do continue to encourage their reading at home – reading their book / ditty sheet on multiple occasions each week to increase fluency.
We will continue to read stories to the children every day, to develop a reading for pleasure culture – please continue to share story books at home as it is a fantastic way to develop vocabulary and understanding.
Maths
This term we will be looking at composition of numbers to 10 – with addition and subtraction facts as the key focus. This includes building rapid fluency in knowing number facts for each of the numbers 5-10.
Continuing to play board games at home is a fantastic way to build numeracy skills and jigsaws are a fantastic special awareness tool.
PE – physical
We have started the term with our Gymnastics unit of work – with balances, methods of travelling and core skills to be developed over the term. We will follow this with exploring dance and making the most of our enjoyment of movement and music.
The children will continue to work on fine motor skills, particularly with handwriting development over the term (letter formation and size). We will also be creating clay animals, using a variety of tools, and much of the children’s self-led learning using tools such as scissors and tweezers and manipulation.
Understanding the World
Each week we continue to cover PSHE and RE topics including Dreams & Goals and Healthy Me in PSHE and Celebrations from different religions in RE.
We will be looking at comparing contrasting environments through our work on Antarctica and animals which live in the North and South Pole. We will also be exploring the concept of freezing, melting and conditions which impact both processes.
Visits and visitors
We are really excited to be heading to Birdland for our first trip of the year – this will really help develop the children’s understanding of animals and their habitats (as well as dinosaurs – which is a Birdland bonus!)
We are planning to visit the Cheltenham Library before Easter so that all children have a chance to explore and become members (if not already).
We would also like to ask any parents who might be willing and able, to come in and share something of your own background, language, culture or religion. It only needs to be short – teaching the children a song, how to count to 10 or a story. The more the merrier – so please do let your class teacher know if you can help!
As ever, please do get in touch if you have any questions regarding your child’s learning so we can work together to ensure your child is thriving.
Many thanks
Reception Team