Blossom Class

Term 6

Welcome back to Term 6! We hope you all had a wonderful half-term break filled with fun, laughter and special family moments.

As we head into our final term of the school year, we have lots of exciting learning and activities planned. Although we're hoping for some sunshine, the weather can still be unpredictable, so please ensure your child brings a coat to school every day. We will continue to make the most of our outdoor learning opportunities and will be outside each day whatever the weather.

We look forward to another fantastic term together!

Class expectations:

Please ensure your child:

• Brings their reading book into school everyday
• Reads at least 3 times a week with a signature in reading records
• Has their PE kit in school everyday
• Wears the correct uniform

Please refer to school policies or ask about any of the above if you are unsure. 

English

This term, the children will continue their exciting Drawing Club adventures, using their phonics knowledge to write daily "code" sentences and develop their confidence as writers.

Reception children will focus on applying their phonics skills to write simple sentences, while Year 1 children will begin to extend their writing, add their own ideas and use punctuation more accurately.

We will be sharing a range of wonderful texts throughout the term, including:

• The Tiny Seed
• Jasper's Beanstalk
• The Storm Whale
• Night Pirates
• The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch
• Clean Up!
• Billy's Bucket

These stories will inspire discussion, creativity and a love of reading.

Handwriting

We will continue to use the Letter-join scheme to support the development of neat and accurate handwriting.

Our Year 1 children will focus on forming letters correctly, paying particular attention to ascenders (tall letters) and descenders (letters that go below the line). They will practise starting and finishing each letter in the correct place to build consistency and prepare for joined handwriting in the future.

Our Reception children will be developing correct letter formation alongside their phonics learning, practising how to form each new grapheme (letter) as they learn new sounds.

Regular practice will help children develop confidence, pencil control and pride in their written work.

Reading

Children will continue to bring home books that are matched to our phonics scheme. Reading regularly at home helps to reinforce the skills they are learning in school and builds confidence, fluency and enjoyment of reading.

We ask that children read at least three times each week. Re-reading familiar books helps children practise blending sounds, improve their fluency and begin to read with greater expression and understanding.

Please remember to sign your child's reading record each time you read together so that we can celebrate their efforts and keep track of their progress.

We also have weekly reading certificates and prizes to reward and encourage regular reading at home!

Maths

This term, our Reception children will continue to consolidate their understanding of counting and cardinality (knowing that the last number counted tells us how many there are) and ordinality (understanding the order of numbers, such as knowing that 4 comes before 5 and after 3).

Our Year 1 children will continue to build their confidence with numbers to 100. They will also explore money, learning to recognise coins and notes and solve simple practical problems, before moving on to time, including sequencing the days of the week and developing an understanding of telling the time.

Through practical activities, games and investigations, we will help children develop confidence and enjoyment in their mathematical learning.

Science

This term, the children will continue their exploration of the seasons, focusing on summer and observing the changes that occur in the weather and the natural world during this time of year.

Alongside this, we will continue our learning about plants, building on what we already know. Children will explore how plants grow and what they need to stay healthy, as well as observing changes over time.

Through hands-on investigations, outdoor learning and discussions, children will develop their curiosity and deepen their understanding of the natural world around them.

History

This term, the children will learn about the Great Fire of London, a very important event that happened a long time ago in 1666. We will find out how the fire started, how it spread through the city of London, and how people worked hard to put it out. The children will explore what houses were like in the past and compare them to homes today. Through stories, pictures and role play, they will begin to understand how this event changed London and why it is remembered today.

Art

This term, the children will be exploring malleable materials, focusing on clay. They will learn that clay is a material that can be shaped, squashed, rolled and changed in lots of different ways. The children will use their hands and simple tools to create different models and explore how the clay feels as they work with it. Through this hands-on experience, they will develop their fine motor skills, creativity and understanding of how materials can be changed.

Term 3

Happy new year and welcome back! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday filled love and laughter. The weather is chilly so please make sure you bring a warm coat to school everyday as we will be accessing outside for some of our learning each day.

Class expectations:

Please ensure your child:

• Brings their reading book into school everyday
• Reads at least 3 times a week with a signature in reading records
• Has their PE kit in school everyday
• Wears the correct uniform

Please refer to school policies or ask about any of the above if you are unsure. 

English

The children will continue their ‘Drawing Club’ adventures and use their learnt phonics to build sentences for their 'code' each day. The year 1s will start to extend their writing this term adding in their own ideas into their writing.

This term we will be sharing The Snow Thief, Jonty Gentoo, Penguin, Lost and Found, The Giant Arctic Jellyfish and Mama Panyas Pancakes. 

Handwriting

Year 1 children will continue to develop correct letter formation of ascenders (tall letters) and descenders (those that go below the line) making sure they are starting and finishing in the correct place. EYFS children will be focusing on the correct grapheme formation linked to each new letters/sounds they learn.

Reading

Children will continue to read books that are linked to our phonics scheme, so practising at home will help to embed your child’s learning. We ask that children read a minimum of three times a week (blending, fluency, expression) in order to develop familiarity with the story. Please sign your child’s reading record so we know that you have read.

We have weekly certificates and prizes for reading at home!

Maths

This term in Maths, the EYFS children will be further exploring subitising (seeing the quantity without counting) in increasingly complex arrangements. We then move onto consolidating counting and cardinality (understanding that the last number you count is how many there are) and ordinality (correctly sequencing number e.g to know that 4 comes before 5 and after 3 in the sequence of numbers).

The Y1 children will be developing their understanding of numbers within 20. They will look at one more and one less and use numberlines to compare these numbers.

Science

We will continue our exploration of the seasons, focusing on 'Winter'. Later in the term we will revisit materials recapping our knowledge so far and looking at the properties of different materials (thinking about why we use certain material for specific jobs).

Geography

We will be considering 'What goes on at an airport and train station?' The children will use world maps, atlases and globes. They will use simple compass directions and aerial photos to help to construct simple maps and name our nearest towns or cities. We will find train stations and airports on local area maps.

Art

We will be exploring what primary and secondary colours are and represent these on a colour wheel. The children will identify and experiment with warm and cool colours and finally paint a picture from observation using our new knowledge and skills.

Term 2

We hope that you all had a fun half term break! This term we start practising our Nativity! Please look out for your child's part and any clothes that they will need over the next couple of weeks.

English

The children will continue their ‘Drawing Club’ adventures. Each week we will focus on a story, traditional tale or animation and we will be developing our vocabulary knowledge and use our learnt phonics to build words for our 'code'.

This term we will be sharing The Best Diwali Ever, Elmer and the Rainbow, The Rainbow Flamingo, The day the Crayons Quit, Rainbow Hands, Mogs Christmas, The Christmas Nativity Tale.

Handwriting

Year 1 children will be learning to show correct letter formation of ascenders (tall letters) and descenders (those that go below the line) starting and finishing in the correct place. EYFS children will be focusing on the correct grapheme formation linked to each sound.

Maths

This term in Maths, the EYFS children will be exploring composition by focusing on the preliminary skills - the concept of ‘wholes’ and ‘parts’. By investigating their own bodies and familiar toys they will begin to understand that whole things are often made up of smaller parts and that a whole is, therefore, bigger than its parts.

The Y1 children will be learning to add and subtract within 10. This will lead into the children starting exploring number bonds and think about how these relate to addition and subtraction number sentences. To end the term the children will be naming and sorting 2D and 3D shapes and exploring patterns.

Science

We will be continuing our exploration of the seasons, building our own weather station and recording the daily weather. As we approach winter we will learn how animals prepare for the cold weather.

History

We will be considering what our grandparents and great grandparents childhoods were like. we will explore their toys and the games that they played when they were younger.

DT

We are going to explore 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods and design and make our own healthy sandwich.

Term 1

English

The children will be starting their ‘Drawing Club’ adventures soon! Each week we will focus on a story, traditional tale or animation and we will be developing our vocabulary knowledge, mark making skills and create our own characters and settings.

The Year 1 children will continue their Drawing Club journey and will be focusing on using finger spaces and capital letters consistently in their writing, as well as spotting them in our reading books. We are encouraging the children to re-read their writing and explain what they have written to the adults and children.

This term we will be sharing The Colour Monster, On Sudden Hill, Wolf Girl, Something Else, Pumpkin Soup, Funnybones and Meg and Mog.

The handwriting target for KS1, is to show correct letter formation: lower-case letters of the correct size in relation to one another, and starting and finishing in the correct place. EYFS children will be focusing on the correct grapheme formation linked to its sound.

Reading

EYFS children will be given their first 'reading' book soon. These are wordless books while the children are beginning their phonics journey. A wordless book allows children to increase their storytelling skills, expand vocabulary and begin to make predictions. Please enjoy sharing these with your children. How many stories can you make?

Year 1 children will continue to read our books that are linked to the phonics scheme, so practising at home will help to embed your child’s learning. We ask that children read a minimum of three times a week (blending, fluency, expression) in order to develop familiarity with the story. Please sign your child’s reading record so we know that you have read.

We have weekly certificates and prizes for reading at home!

Maths

This term in Maths, the EYFS children will be focusing on subitising (when you can how many there are in a small group of objects by 'just seeing' and knowing, without needing to count). We then move onto counting and understanding cardinality (understanding that the last number you count is how many there are) and ordinality (correctly sequencing number e.g to know that 4 comes before 5 and after 3 in the sequence of numbers).

Year 1s will begin the year focusing on numbers 1-10, comparing values and finding one more and one less. We will order numbers on a number track and begin to explore addition using part, whole models.

Science

We will learn about the names of our (seen) body parts and identify our 5 senses. Using our senses we will explore the natural world and towards the end of the term we will start our topic on Autumn focusing on how leaves change through the seasons.

Geography

We will be learning about the UK including the 4 countries and their capital cities. We will begin to explore maps and how we use them. Using this knowledge we will create our own maps of school and the local area in a variety of ways.

On the way!

On the way!