This half term we are continuing to explore the story Grandad's Camper by Harry Woodgate.  This is a delightfully colourful story carrying a warm, positive message of inclusion and love, which we hope will broaden the horizons of our children about the diverse world we are a part of.  We will then move onto The Journey Home by Frann Preston-Gannon.  This beautifully illustrated book tells the poignant story of a group of animals who set out to look for new habitats. It is a powerful springboard into discussions about global warming, the environment and conservation, encouraging children to take care of the world in which we live.  This will also link with our science this half term where we are exploring living things and their habitats.

Children will bring home their Read, Write, Inc. reading book each week, which they will have already been rehearsing in school in their phonics sessions.  In Turtle Class we foster a love of reading and share books every day using our class reader. We also encourage children to explore our exciting and diverse book corner so that they have access to and experience of a wide range of high quality texts which they can choose for themselves, giving them time to share a book with friends or independently immerse themselves in a text, giving them a passport to countless adventures and worlds.

We follow the Read Write Inc. phonics programme, which gives children a flying start in learning to read and write.  Children are assessed regularly and grouped to meet their needs. We teach children the initial sounds, moving into reading 'special friends' such as ng and oo.  Then children are taught to decode and blend to develop their reading skills.  Reading is the key to opening the door to learning.

This half term we will be focusing on money and teaching the children to recognise the coins and notes in British money.  We will also be learning how to make amounts of money using different coins and how to find the correct change.  These are life skills that the children will need growing up.  We will then move on to exploring fractions, learning how to find fractions of shapes and fractions of amounts.

Geography

We are going to be learning about the weather in this country and in other countries and exploring the impact this has on the people that live there.  We will be looking at hot and cold places and drawing comparisons, broadening our horizons by learning what it is like in other countries around the world. We will also be developing our map skills.

This half term we will be learning about living things and their habitats. This will tie in beautifully with our English learning.  We will be learning the names of some of the plants and animals in different habitats and looking at how to identify and sort them.  We will be exploring why certain habitats are suitable for certain living things and exploring sources of food.

Our focus for this half term is why people have different views about the ideas of God.  We will be considering  why a member of at least one religious community might believe in God and thinking about why a person might not believe in God. We will be learning about what a member of a religious community might believe about God. We will be learning to make connections between people’s beliefs of right and wrong and their beliefs about God.

We will be learning about our bodies.  We will learn the scientific names for parts of the human body , including external genitalia.  We will also be learnign about how our bodies change as we get older.

Art:

We will be exploring printing this term.  We will be learning about the different materials you can use to print with and the different techniques you can use.  We will then use all of our new skills to produce our own original print.

DT:

We will be focusing on developing the life skills of cooking and food technology this term.  We will learn about the different food groups and how to make a healthy, balanced meal.  We will explore where food comes from.  We will use our new knowledge to design and prepare our own dishes.

We will be learning to perform actions to music and respond to musical signals and themes using movement. We will be exploring and creating rhythm patterns and learning how to use these to create a composition, writing down our compositions.

We will be having lessons with Mr Williams this half term, learning all about algorithms through the Beebots and Alex programming.  We will learn to debug problems and create simple programs. We will learn how to use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of a simple program.  We will learn how to create an algorithm to complete a task.We will be having lessons with Mr Williams this half term, learning all about algorithms through the Beebots and Alex programming.  We will learn to debug problems and create simple programs. We will learn how to use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of a simple program.  We will learn how to create an algorithm to complete a task.

We link a range of learning to our woodland sessions.  The children really enjoy their time in the woods (both learning and wild play time for exploring and following their own interests).  This is a fundamental opportunity for children to develop teamwork skills and build resilience through problem-solving.  It also teaches children about having respect for our environment.

Our woodland session is on a Friday afternoon. Please could children wear clothing suitable for the weather, as we are likely to be outside even if it is raining.  They will also need different shoes or wellies to wear in the woods.

Our PE days are Wednesday and Thursday this half term. Please ensure your child is wearing the full and correct PE kit on these days.  Could we please also ensure that children are not wearing earrings (where possible) on these days and that long hair is tied up.

In PE this half term we will be doing athletics with Mrs Morrell, developing our sprinting, jumping and throwing skills and techniques.  We will use these skills and techniques to complete an athletics carousel and prepare for Sports Day. We will also be doing cricket with a specialist coach. We will learn the rules of the game and how to play fairly.  We will learn how to track a rolling ball and collect it and how to field a ball. We will develop our batting and bowling skills and learn how to get a batter out.

Class Dojo is our main form of communication with parents. If you have not yet signed up for Class Dojo and would like to, please do not hesitate to come and see us.  We are more than happy to help if you are having difficulty in accessing this.  It's a great space where you can view photos, videos and information about all the amazing things that are happening in our classroom and around the school. It gives you the chance to see what your children have been learning in school each week, giving you the opportunity to talk to them at home about what they have been doing.

A home learning menu will be posted on Class Dojo at the beginning of each half term.  These activities are suggestions linked to the Discovery Learning focus for the half term, but you are free to explore other home learning opportunities with your child.

Please ensure your child’s clothing and belongings are clearly labelled.