LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THIS HALF TERM:

Our main focus during the Spring term will be Understanding of the World which defines science history and geography. The theme for our learning will be winter. The children will be given many opportunities to discover more about the surrounding environment, through first-hand experiences. Young children learn best from activities that are open-ended and allow for exploration. Being dressed appropriately will allow us to explore a frosty, icy or snowy day.

We will be taking part in the RSPB Big Schools Birdwatch, which will link nicely with how birds and animals survive the winter.

We will be finding out about cold places in the world, making comparisons between the landscape and life there and where we live. This will also lend itself to finding out about the impact of climate change on the environment and wildlife.

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Children will continue to develop sharing and turn taking skills over the coming weeks. They will also be encouraged to negotiate with each other when playing, being supported by an adult when necessary.

Developing self-regulation to deal with emotions, behaving appropriately within boundaries and understanding that our actions and words can sometimes affect others, are skills which are supported through modelled behaviour, stories and most importantly through discussions and explanations. This then support individuals with learning how to manage and resolve their own difficulties.

Children will continue to be empowered to be independent to make informed choices and decisions.

COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE

As we explore the surrounding environment, children will be encouraged to talk about what they can see, what is happening and make links in their learning. We will continue to develop attention and listening skills in small and whole class group situations.

LITERACY

Daily phonics sessions will continue, where we will learn, revisit and review letters and their phonetic sound. Children will develop and consolidate skills for reading, by learning how to segment and blend words. I will continue to inform you of our phonics focus each week via the weekly newsletter, along with support material for you to practice at home.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This term we will be focusing on strengthening upper body strength and stability. These muscles are important for enabling us to move our arms and legs freely with precision and control. In turn, this develops fine motor skills for good pencil grip and control. There will be a bigger emphasis on developing the correct pencil grip, to then begin to draw and write our names.

MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

We will explore shapes in greater depth, looking at basic flat 2d shapes and introducing 3D shapes. We will learn 2D shape names and the properties of these shapes. Children will develop their ability to talk about shapes using terms such as sides, corners etc.

In numbers and counting we will be finding out the composition of a number, beginning to discover the many ways that a number can be made e.g this week we have been looking at the composition of 3. We found out that 3 can be made up of 3 and 0, 2 and 1, 1, 1 and 1. Though practical experiences, children can have fun with numbers, whilst gaining a deeper understanding of what a number is.