This year you are lucky enough to have Mrs Stephani (M-W) and Mrs Lindop (W-Fr) as your child's class teachers, and Miss Walton as your child's teaching assistant, full time in Nursery.

 

This year we are extremely fortunate with our pd curriculum. Although Stretch and Grow has now finished, the children will enjoy cosmic yoga in the classroom. We will also begin some multi- o skills practise for sports day.

We will be doing forest school every Wednesday so please send your child in with the appropriate clothing. come - waterproofs, wellies and layers during the winter months. 

It is important that your child builds up a love of books and reading for pleasure! 

Every Monday your child will be given a new library book when their previous one is returned. This book is to enjoy together throughout the week and over the weekend. 

Our text for this half-term is : What the Ladybird Heard

Homework will be set on a Tuesday through our online learning platform, Tapestry. You can search for this through the app store or via an email login. 

All homework should be completed by the following Monday and Mrs Stephani and Mrs Lindop will check and respond to this within that time.  Some homework will involve an activity through the app, and other homework challenges will be a practical challenge for you to complete with your child. 

Big Question: What can you spot through a magnifying glass?

During Spring 2, children will explore the minibeasts topic  through stories, songs, role play and hands-on experiences. The key text will be What the Ladybird Heard, supported by a range of fiction and non-fiction texts including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Mad about Minibeasts and Ten Little Minibeasts.

Children will learn about the use of magnifying glass minibeasts, bug hotels, where they might be found and how to care for living things.

Special Experiences

• Wow Start: Minibeast Hunt

• Fantastic Finish: Trip to the farm / minibeast visitors/class caterpillars

• Additional Learning Opportunities:

  • World Book Day

  • Forest school stay and play session

  • Celebrating Mother's Day

  • Learning about Easter

  • Learning about Eid.

  • Farm visit linked to Spring 2

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children will:

To begin to solve conflict using different social stories.

To be able to name things that we can use to help us to calm down when we feel angry.

 

To become more independent, using zips to fasten our coats and persevering with challenges.

To select and use resources with a goal in mind.

To talk about feelings, referring to characters in our stories to support this understanding.

To continue to learn about differences and similarities in relation to likes/dislikes and religion - Easter.

Communication and Language

Children will:

To be able to talk in the past tense when sharing weekend and holiday news.

To be able to talk in the future tense when talking about plans and future learning.

To be able to listen and engage in a range of songs.

To be able to talk about what we use our ears, eyes, mouth and hands for in relation to the 5 senses.

To ask and begin to understand what questions - what did we do yesterday? What are you having for tea tonight?

To ask and begin to understand why questions - why does the worm live underground? What do some people celebrate Easter?

To build up a range of vocabulary related to our topic.

Physical Development

Children will:

To be able to balance on two points confidently and one point with practice.

To build up the skills to balance on a bike and push using the pedals.

To learn how to skip.

To begin to develop the skill of zipping up our coats.

To  practice throwing and catching using a range of ball sizes.

To develop our hand and eye coordination through activities such as threading.

To begin to learn some boundaries and get involved with active team games.

To continue to develop fine motor skills through dough disco, ribbon dancing, mark making, threading and daily funky finger activities. 

Literacy

Children will:

To continue to develop an understanding of how to handle books, that print has a purpose and it goes from left to right.

To continue to sequence familiar stories.

To give meaning to different marks and try to copy different shapes.

To match and spot some initial sounds that are of significance.

To practice recognising and writing their name using a name card.

To draw pictures with a purpose in mind - life cycle, minibeasts.

To join in with daily phonics and instrumental sounds.

Mathematics

Children will:

To develop an understanding of size, using the words big, small, long and short.

To compare objects of different sizes.

To learn all about the number 5.

To recognise and count numbers to 5.

To count 1:1 correspondence with objects to 5.

To practice recognising and creating with shapes.

To solve real-life problems with numbers to 5.

 

Understanding the World

Children will:

To build up an awareness of the life cycle of a butterfly and talk about the life cycle of a chick and frog

To share care and concern for living things in the environment.

To observe the effects of Spring, go on a Spring walk around the grounds.

To learn about and name some baby animals.

To explore the environment, looking for minibeasts.

To learn about Easter and why this is celebrated.

Expressive Arts and Design

Children will:

Explore a range of musical instruments and the sounds they make

Join in with familiar songs and begin to pitch match

Use role play areas, including the vet surgery, to act out experiences

Create animal habitats using a range of materials

Express ideas and feelings through art, music, movement and imaginative play

Take part in collaborative artwork with peers

To make marks to a range of different types of music.

To explore colour mixing using the prime colours.

To create different minibeasts using a range of media.

To use an object to represent something else in play.

To use loose parts to create a minibeast.

To get creative with some Easter arts and craft activities.