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 and potions in the outdoor classroom.

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.

This term 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.

As we get ready for Christmas 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 read 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 our first term, we focus on establishing school routines, building relationships and settling in.

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 ‘The Proudest Blue’ by Ibtihaj Muhammad. In this story it’s Faizah’s first day at school, and it’s her older sisters first day of hijab. Her sister’s hijab is made of a blue fabric, like the colour of the sky and the sea. In this story we find out about the close bond between Faizah and her sister. The book sends a message about how we all need to be proud of ourselves and of our beliefs.

Another book we share is ‘Sulwe’ by Lupita Nyong'o. In this story we are taken on a magical journey into the night sky. This book is full of ‘self-belief’, a value we share at The Grove, as we learn about the importance of believing in ourselves and our beauty.

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!