Reception Summer 1 Curriculum Information

Welcome to the first part of the summer term. We have more fantastic books to share this term. The books are linked to our English lessons, our class reading times and our learning linked to ‘Knowledge and Understanding of the World.’

We have our trip to Bowthorpe Farm during the second week. Farmer George takes us around his farm, introducing us to his animals and their babies, machines and the surrounding crops. We are sharing a book about a farm called ‘A Year on Adam's Farm’ by Adam Henson. This links to previous learning about the seasons as we go on a journey with Adam on his farm. This interactive book is packed full of information about life on a farm, the origins of food and amazing facts about farm animals. We continue to develop our geography skills as we learn about farming in our local area.

One of our English books is ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen. The family in this story put on their wellies and set off on an amazing adventure. Each page is full of rhythm and repetition encouraging us to join in with enthusiasm and actions. The story makes links with our school value ‘curiosity’ as the family explore and find things out as they travel through the swishy, swashy grass, the squelchy mud and the swirling snowstorm.

Another book is ‘David Attenborough -Little People Big Dreams’ by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Mikyo Noh. We are so proud to have him as our class name. David Attenborough is an inspiration, he cares so much for our planet, animals, and their natural habitats. We find out about his extraordinary life as a conservationist and the impact he has made on our planet. We will reflect on more of our school values, self-belief and respect, as we learn about how David informs us about our planet and how we need to look after it. Learning about David Attenborough’s life we develop our history skills as we understand the past through people’s lives.

We share another book that will make us think about how we can help to look after our planet called ‘Clean Up’ by Nathan Bryon. The main character Rocket visits her grandparents and is shocked by the pollution that's spoiling the ocean and putting sea life at risk. As a class we will discuss the importance of looking after our oceans. Understanding the impact of pollution and how we can make a difference! Discussing rubbish, plastics, recycling… This links to another school value – responsibility and how we are in charge of the choices we make. It also develops our scientific knowledge as we discuss how we care for the natural world around us.

Our next English book is ‘If Sharks Disappeared’ by Lily Williams. In this non-fiction book we find out what the oceans would be like without sharks! The information we gather will help us to write our own report and explain why we need sharks to help keep our oceans healthy. This book will help us to understand what is happening in our oceans and what we need to do!

As we learn about growing and planting, we read the book ‘The Tiny Seed’ by Eric Carl. In this book we find out about plants, growing and life cycles. This story takes us on the journey of a seed, showing us how the seed travels before it lands and grow into a beautiful flower. Here again we have opportunities to develop science skills as we learn about plants and growing.

Another book we read with a growing theme is ‘Jack and the Beanstalk by Richard Walker. This is a retelling of a traditional tale; the children will love joining in with the repetition. Watching with amazement as magic beans grow into a magical beanstalk. In class we will grow our own beanstalks as we learn about what happens to a seed when it grows and what a plant needs to grow.

Our next book is called ‘Nature’s Tiny Miracle: The Bee – journey of a bee from plant to plant’ by Patricia Hegarty. The illustrations in this book are magical! As we turn the pages we follow the journey of a bee from flower to flower, learning about pollination the life of a bee. We have so many wonderful insects on our planet!

This half term we will share poems by Michael Rosen from his book of ‘Nonsense Poems.’ Poems full of silliness to enjoy and recite together. Leaning about poetry and adding expression and actions as we perform some of the poems.  

In May will visit Melton Vineyard and Storehouse to find out how they support our local community. As part of our class community pledge, we are aiming to collect food donations that we can take to Storehouse when we visit. We are looking forward to helping to community.

Finally, our class book is ‘The Fox and the Ghost King’ by Michael Morpurgo. This book is about a family of foxes who love to watch their favourite football team who keep losing! Daddy Fox finds the ghost of a king buried underneath a car park. The ghost king wishes to be free needing the help of the foxes. In exchange for his freedom the foxes get their wish. Together we go on a journey full of hopes and dreams!

Looking forward to sharing so many amazing books!

Reception Spring 2 Curriculum Information

Welcome to the second part of the spring term. We have even more amazing books to share from our ‘reading curriculum.’ The books are linked to our English lessons, our class reading times and our learning linked to ‘Understanding of the World.’

Our English book this term is: ‘All Aboard the London Bus.’ by Patricia Toht. We go on a bus tour of London with a family and explore many landmarks. We learn all about the sights of London through poetry and rhyme. Through drama we will go on our own tour, give our own tickets to the bus driver, stopping at each landmark as we celebrate London and recite poems. This is a great way to develop our geography skills.

Another book that enriches our curriculum is ‘King Charles (Little People, BIG DREAMS) by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. King Charles knew he had a big job to do, becoming our King! As a young man, he was interested in the environment. and wanted to make a difference. Charles established organisations such as The Prince’s Trust, this is a charity that strives to improve the lives of young people across the UK. King Charles shares many of our school values including responsibility and courage as he faces the challenges as our King.  This boo will encourage the children to think about living in Britain and British Values.

Alongside learning about Kings and Queens we are finding out about important people in our community. We are arranging visits from our local Fire Service and Dentist. We also plan to visit Melton Vineyard and Storehouse to find out how they support our local community. As part of our class community pledge, we are aiming to collect food donations that we can take to Storehouse when we visit.  We are looking forward to helping to community.

As we continue to learn about London we will read ‘Paddington and the Grand Tour’ by Michael Bond. What a bear Paddington is! He is full of courage and self-belief - two of our school values. In this book we go on a day out in London, revisiting landmarks from our previous book. Paddington sets off for the day to see the sights of London and he ends up leading the tour!    

This half term we leave winter behind and learn all about spring. We share the book ‘Hello Spring’ by Jo Lindley. This is a magical book about friendship, feelings and the seasons. As we explore the seasons spring finally arrives! Self-belief one of our school values is shared as we learn about the signs of spring in ‘Understanding of the World.’

Our class read is ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ by Roald Dahl. This is an exciting story; George creates a magic medicine to give to his grumpy grandma. What will he put into his potion? What will happen to grandma? In the outdoor classroom we make some of our own potions…Hubble Bubble here we go!

So many wonderful books linked to history and geography which we can’t wait to share this half term!

Reception Spring 1 Curriculum Information

Welcome to the first part of the spring term, our theme is ‘Adventures!’ We will be reading books linked to our English lessons, to our whole class reading times and in curriculum learning ‘Understanding the World.’

We begin with a book in English called ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak. This story is about a boy named Max. Max loves to dress up and has a ‘wild’ imagination where amazing things happen. We will discuss our school values of ‘courage’ and ‘compassion’ as we follow Max as he meets the ‘wild things.’ They admire Max and he becomes the king of the ‘wild things.’ We will use this story as a stimulus to create our own ‘wild adventures!’  

Our next book ‘Tree -Seasons Come, Seasons Go’ by Patricia Hegarty links with ‘Understanding of the World’ as we learn about the seasons. In this book we are invited by an owl to explore and learn about the seasons. The detailed artwork captures the life cycle of a tree as it changes through the spring, summer autumn and winter. We will explore the seasons in our school environment as we go on a ‘Winter Walk’ using our senses to find signs of Winter!

Another book helping us to learn about the world around us is ‘Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story’ by Sean Taylor. This is an enchanting book that explores an adventure shared by a child and their grandma. It is winter and many animals have hibernated! In this fascinating book we can see under the ground as we take a sneaky peak at the animals that are hibernating! With this book we will explore another or our school values ‘curiosity’ as we learn facts about hibernation.

Our poetry book this half term is ‘Poems Out Loud’ by Laurie Stansfield & Various Poets. Poems to share and enjoy together as we learn about a variety of poems by different poets. We will recite favourite our poems and perform them together.

As we continue with our theme ‘adventures’, we explore space and our planet Earth in our learning about ‘The Natural World.’ In the book ‘Look Up’ by Nathan Bryon we meet the character Rocket, she loves science and space and wants to be an astronaut! This story is inspirational, and you just won’t be able to stop yourself from looking up at the stars and wanting to know more!

Another book linked to ‘Space’ is ‘Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth’ by Oliver Jeffers. This book explores our planet and the world we live in. Helping us to understand the wonders of the Earth, how it is changing and how we need to care for it.

Our next English book is ‘How to Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers. This story is about a boy who is fascinated by stars and decides to catch one of his own! Like the boy in the story, we will talk about our dreams and aspirations alongside our school value ‘self-belief.’ If we believe we can make our dreams come true!

Finally, our class book ‘The Night Gardener’ by Terry Fan is enchanting. The main character William and his town are transformed by a mysterious night gardener. Trees are sculptured into owls and much, much more. As we turn each page, we see the town change as the illustrations bring the story to life with colour and detail.

This term we have additional books from the Learning Library about ‘Seasons and the Weather.’ There are fiction and non-fiction books adding knowledge and information to our learning.

Looking forward to sharing so many amazing books!

Reception Autumn 2 Curriculum Information

Welcome to the second part of the autumn term. In English we begin with a unit on poetry, a list poem about ‘Fireworks. As we generate words to describe the sounds and colours of an array of fireworks, we will create our own class poem.

Another book we share is ‘Meg and Mog’ by Helen Nicoll. In this book we follow the magical adventures of Meg, a witch, and her black cat, Mog, as they make spells and create potions! In this book Meg goes to a Halloween party with all of her friends. However, it doesn’t go to plan…BANG! Meg's spells haven’t worked, what will happen next? We will use our imagination to create our own spells in the role play area.

Our next book is ‘The Best Diwali Ever’ by Sonali Shah. In this enchanting book we find out how Arianna plans to make this the best Diwali ever! As we eagerly read each page, we find out about what Diwali is and how it is celebrated. This will be part of our Diwali afternoon along with singing, dancing and making many sparkly decorations.

In English our next story is ‘Jack and the Jelly Beanstalk’ by Rachael Mortimer. This is a traditional tale with a twist! Jack and his mum are heart-broken when they have to sell Daisy their cow. On his way home Jack is drawn into a the most amazing, sweet shop and is mesmerised by a jar of glittering, magical jellybeans. After spending all his money, he takes them home! We think about our school values of courage and curiosity as Jack takes us on an adventure in the clouds as the jellybeans grow into a gigantic jelly beanstalk.     

In our class ‘Project Box’ from the learning library we have many books to share linked to all our learning themes this term! Many of the books are about different types of transport supporting our learning in ‘Understanding of the World.’

Another book we share is a story called ‘Emma Jane's Aeroplane’ by Katie Haworth. Emma Jane jets off in her aeroplane as she visits many cities of the world. She meets different animals who join her and help her save the day! A book full of courage and curiosity, two of our school values.

Our next book about transport is ‘The Cat, The Mouse and the Runaway Train’ by Peter Bently. A rhyming book full of adventure between a cat and a mouse. A steam train that takes us on a wonderful journey as we learn about modern day transport and transport in the past.

This term in maths we are finding out about numbers to 5 and learning about the different representations. Finding 1 more and 1 less and the composition of numbers 1-5. We are exploring shapes, including circles, triangles, and shapes with 4 sides. We identify and name them and find the shapes in the environment.  

Our class reading sessions include lots of traditional tales. These include ‘Little Red and the Hungry Lion’ by Alex T. Smith a variation on Little Red Riding Hood. As we think about our school values of self-belief and perseverance, Little Red outwits the lion as she meets giraffes, crocodiles and monkeys. In ‘Cinderella’ by Chloe Perkins the story is set in Mexico, with amazing, colourful illustrations capturing our imaginations.

We have two ‘Design and Technology’ days. Our unit is about structures and making junk models. We learn about various types of joins, using a combination of materials and joining techniques in their junk models.

The children will take part in their first ‘Nativity.’ Dressing up, singing songs and celebrating the birth of baby Jesus. We have lots of ‘sparkle and shine’ as we make decorations for our ‘Christmas Bazaar. We also make decorations for our school Christmas tree and these are displayed at the church. Such and exciting time of the year!

We have many books to share and experiences to share this term so much to look forward to!

Reception Autumn 1 Curriculum Information

Welcome to the Autumn term! We have lots of books to share as you start your first term in school. We begin the year reading books linked to ‘Our Amazing Bodies.’ During your first term, we focus on establishing school routines, building relationships and settling into our classroom.

We begin with the book ‘Super Duper You!’ by Sophy Henn. This book is a rhyming picture book with delightful illustrations. We explore how amazing we all are and the aspirations we have as we grow up. The book makes links to our school value ‘self-belief’, as we talk about what we would love to do now and in the future!

As we learn about our amazing bodies, we read a book called ‘Funnybones’ by Allan and Janet Ahlberg. We learn about parts of the body, how we move about and about skeletons. We go on a journey with a family of skeletons as they go on a night-time adventure. This story is funny, full of repetition and you just have to join in!

In English we are reading a book called ‘Perfectly Norman’ by Tom Percival. Norman is just like other children until one day to his amazement he grows a pair wings! This is an inspirational book about self-belief and being proud of who you are. In the creative area we will make pictures using a variety of collage materials to create our own wings!

As we learn about our incredible ‘senses’ we share the book ‘Listen’ by Gabi Snyder. In this book we tune in on one of the five senses ‘hearing’ and we follow a girl through her school day. She listens to noisy sounds…quiet sounds in the world around her. In class activities linked to ‘The Natural World’ we will explore and ask questions about all our senses.

In the book ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ by Susanna Davidson we find out about the family of bears. In our learning about ‘Past and Present’ we talk about members of our family and people in the community. We will retell this story to each other in our outdoor classroom as we pretend to be the bears or Goldilocks.

The next book we read in English is ‘Everybody Counts’ by Kristin Roskifte. We use this book as a stimulus to make our own fact files. We will be counting and counting…as we find out about our body, our emotions and all the things we love to do! As we turn each page, we discover how we are all so amazing and how we all count!

Another book we read is called ‘George Webster This is Me!’ by George Webster. This book is full of self-belief and courage, values we share at The Grove, as it celebrates who we are! This inspirational story explores emotions, families, friendship and the memories we make as we believe in ourselves.

We have many more things planned this half term including visits fire fighters, police… as we learn about ‘People who help us.’ Please let us know if you would like to come into school and talk to the class about your job.

Finally, our class novel this term is ‘The Owl who was afraid of the Dark’ by Jill Tomlinson. This book oozes so many of our school values…courage, curiosity, compassion and perseverance as Plop the Owl overcomes his fear of the dark. Mrs Barn Owl sends Plop out from his nest hole to find out about all kinds of dark and he realises that dark really is super!

Looking forward to sharing many wonderful books this term!