Reception – Year 1 Summer 2 Curriculum Information

Growing in the Garden…

In Summer 2 we are sharing books linked to things that grow in the garden as part of our reading curriculum.

Our ‘Big Question’ is ‘What are our favourite fruits and vegetables?’ We will be finding out about many types of fruits and vegetables,  and observing plants as they grow.

This term we begin by reading a poem called ‘Chocolate Cake’ by Michael Rosen. We are using this poem as a stimulus for making a chocolate cake in a mug. Who loves chocolate cake? Do you? Michael Rosen does, it is his favourite treat! The poem is amazingly funny and full of funny noises and superb descriptive vocabulary. In our English lessons we will follow instructions and write our own to ‘make a chocolate cake in a cup!’

In the book ‘Oliver’s Fruit Salad’ by Vivian French Oliver, the main character really doesn’t like fruit. However, with the help of his grandfather he changes his mind. Oliver’s grandfather grows his own fruit and together, they make a yummy fruit salad. As we share the book, we will learn about the fruits in the healthy fruit salad using our senses to explore tastes, textures and smells!

In the next book we meet Oliver and his grandfather again in ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’ by Vivian French. While staying at his grandfather’s Oliver tells him he will only eat chips! His grandfather, who grows his own vegetables explains to Oliver how he will have to find potatoes if he wants to have chips. As he searches for potatoes, he discovers many vegetables along the way. As we learn about the many vegetables with Oliver and his grandfather, we will find out which are our favourites. In Art we will also be creative with some vegetables using them to print and make patterns.    

The next book is ‘The Tiny Seed’ by Eric Carle. We follow the adventure of a tiny seed as we learn about the life cycle of a flower. The tiny seed travels with bigger seeds showing strength and perseverance as it goes on its journey to becoming a flower. In Science we will be learning about what a plant needs to grow well and label the parts of a plant.

Another story is ‘Jack and the Jelly Beanstalk’ by Rachel Mortimer. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, the giant smells ... jellybeans! When Jack sells his cow for jellybeans the adventure up in the clouds begins… We will be growing our own ‘beanstalks.’ I wonder whose will grow the tallest?

Our final story is ‘Mad About Minibeasts’ by Giles Andreae. As the topic continues…Growing in the Garden’ we find out about minibeasts! This book is full of rhymes and facts about creepy crawlies and it will inspire us to create our own ‘who am I?’ poems.

Looking forward to another exciting term.

Reception – Year 1 Summer 1 Curriculum Information

Trains, Planes and things that go!

In Summer 1 we are sharing books linked to different types of transport as part of our reading curriculum – Trains, Planes and things that go!

Our ‘Big Question’ is ‘How does our class get to school?’ We will be finding out about all the different ways we travel to school!

We begin by reading a book called ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen. The family are so excited to go on a walk and we will go on a journey with them! They squish through the grass, splash through the water, squelch through the mud, stumble through the forest, swirl through the snowstorm, tiptoe through the cave and see a bear. In the small world we will create the journey. In our English lessons we will retell the journey the family go on, then use our imagination to innovate the story and travel in different ways.

In the book ‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus’ the bus driver takes a break, and an unlikely volunteer steps in to drive. Oh no, it’s a pigeon! We will explore the different emotions the pigeon feels trying to get into the driver’s seat! Will the pigeon get to drive?

The next book is ‘Oi! Get off our Train’ by John Burningham. In this story a boy becomes an engine driver in his dreams. In your dreams, where anything can happen, what would you like to drive? The boy is joined on his journey by animals that are endangered, we will find out about them and how we need to take care of animals on our planet.

Another story is ‘The Train Ride.’ The rhythm and the rhyme of this book takes us on a train journey. We will go on our own imaginary journey. We will make tickets and get on the train. What might we see as we look out of the windows? The story will help us to generate ideas and go on our own train journey.

In the next story we travel on a boat in ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers. When a lost penguin appears at the door what will happen? What would you do? The boy in the story travels by boat to the   South Pole to take the penguin home. Teamwork and resilience is needed as they make their way through a storm, what an adventure!

Our final story is ‘Violet the Pilot.’ In science we will be finding out about different materials and in this story, Violet uses a variety of materials to make her own inventions and machines that fly. This story is an inspiration, bringing out the inventors in us all. Making us believe we really can achieve anything!

Looking forward to another exciting term.

Reception – Year 1 Spring 2 Curriculum Information

Blast Off!

In Spring 2 we are sharing books linked to space and aliens as part of our reading curriculum - Blast Off!

Our ‘Big Question’ is ‘What are the parts of a rocket?’ We will be finding out about parts of the rocket and so much more!

We begin by reading a book called ‘Whatever Next!’ by Jill Murphy. The main character Baby Bear makes a rocket and goes to the moon and back, all before bath time! Baby Bear’s imagination take us on an amazing journey. He makes friends along the way and has a picnic on the moon. I think I need to look in the cupboard under the stairs to see what I can find! Do you have anything at home you can use to make your own rocket? Where could you go? In our English lessons we will retell Baby Bears journey, then use our imagination and creativity to go on our own journey.

In the book ‘Zoom, Rocket, Zoom!’ it takes us on an adventure to the moon and into outer space. On each page we explore different space crafts. We will learn the names of space vehicles and so many more exciting ‘space’ words! This will inspire us to design and create our own rockets to blast into space!

The next book is ‘The way back home’ by Oliver Jeffers. In this story a boy gets stuck on the moon. He is alone and afraid, until he is joined by a Martian. They work together ‘teamwork’ generating ideas to get them home. Alongside the story we will explore different emotions and feelings that we have and how we sometimes need to persevere to overcome things.

Another story is ‘The Man on The Moon (A day in the life of Bob)’ by Simon Bartram. Bob has a special job, he looks after the moon. He travels to the moon in his fantastic rocket. Bob is proud of his job, I think he will inspire us all! Would you like to be an astronaut? Part of our learning will be thinking about the job we want when we are grown up.   

Our final story is ‘Aliens in Underpants Save the World’ by Claire Freedman. The aliens are on a mission to save the world. Will their love of underpants help them to save the day! In science we will research and learn facts about Earth, the Moon and other planets. To infinity and beyond

Looking forward to another exciting term.

See you soon!

Year 6 Spring 1 Curriculum Information

In the Spring Term, year 6 will have the wonderful opportunity to read and explore the book ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ by the former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo.  This book is centred round an eleven year old boy called Michael, who sails around the world with his parents and his beloved dog Stella Artois. This much – loved adventure story, has everything from shipwreck, survival to of course rescue.  

Throughout the term, we will use this book to explore important values such as relationships and to understand the importance of both family and friendship.  Through studying the actions of the characters and how they behave towards each other, we will explore our school value of ‘honesty’ and how it is very important to do the right thing.  The value of ‘teamwork’ will also be explored as we look at how Michael and Kensuke work together to survive on the island that they have both been stranded on.

As the book’s plot focuses around the topic of the sea, the children will continue to build on their previous geography skills and will identify and locate the seven seas of the world and develop their knowledge of using four figure co-ordinates to locate features on a map. In Science, they will learn about the wonderful and fascinating creatures and plants that live beneath the oceans and how fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the world millions of years ago.  Whilst learning about the world’s greatest oceans, we will be asking ourselves – How are they the same? How are they different?  In Geography, the children will also learn about the human and physical features of different countries in which Michael and his family sail too.  In design and technology, the children will continue to work on the school value of ‘team work’ as they endeavour to build a vessel which will need to be able to float and hold a certain weight.  They will also be involved in investigating how the size of the sails affects the movement of the vessels.    The children will also have a wonderful opportunity to develop their painting skills in art as they create water colour paintings of stormy seascapes in the style of JMW Turner.   

We have many more things planned this half-term, which we cannot wait to share with you.  Year sixes are now looking forward to answering our big question, ‘What makes our neighbouring waters so unpredictable and fascinating?’  Let the adventure begin!

Reception - Year 1 Autumn 2 curriculum information

Night and Day

Here we go again! For the second part of the autumn term we are finding out about ‘Night and Day’ and our ‘Big Question’ is ‘Does Everything Sleep at Night.’

We begin by reading a book called ‘Owl Babies’ written by Martin Waddell. In the book three baby owls are waiting for their mummy to return home from hunting. As we understand how the owls are feeling we will develop a sense of compassion, one of our school values. The book weaves in many facts about Owls. We learn about what they look like, where they live, what they eat and when they wake up! They are brave little owls looking after each other! It is a truly inspirational book.

We will also be reading a book called ‘Funybones’ by Janet and Allan Ahlburg. It tells the story of three skeletons who go on an adventure in the night. They want to scare someone, but everyone is asleep! The repetition of the language in the story is captivating. It develops our superpowers of communication, wanting to join in! In addition, this story makes links with our science curriculum as we find out about, name and label human and animal parts.

Another book we will be sharing is ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’ by Jill Tomlinson. An endearing story about a barn owl called Plop, who is like every other barn owl in every way except he does not like the dark! His mum sends him down from their nest to learn how amazing the dark really is. How the dark can be fun, exciting and magical! We will show curiosity and self-belief, some of our school values as we find out about the dark in different ways and as Plop’s confidence grows. The story also links to our history curriculum, finding out about Guy Fawkes as Plop sees fireworks for the first time!

Continuing with a night-time theme we will be reading ‘Peace at Last,’ another engaging book. The story is about Mr Bear and how he spends the night trying to find somewhere comfortable to sleep. When he finally does it is time to wake up!

Finally, we will read a book called ‘One Special Night’ by Claire Freedman. This story gives an insight into winter weather part of our science curriculum. It takes place on a winter’s night and one star burns brighter than all the rest. It turns out to be a “special star” and animals in the story go on a special journey to get to the star. It really is one very special night! 

Reception - Year 1 Autumn 1 Curriculum Information

Super Duper You!

To start the Autumn term, we will be reading a book called ‘Super Duper You’ by Sophy Henn. The story explores how we grow and change. As we turn each page, we realise how amazing and special we all are! We will be finding out about ourselves and make links to our big question ‘Who am I and who are my family?’

We will also be reading a book called ‘George’s Dragon goes to School’ by Claire Freedman.’ The story is about a boy called George and his school are having a ‘bring a pet to school’ week. George is so excited as he hopes to win the ‘best pet trophy.’ However, George’s dragon Sparky is so clumsy things do not go to plan! But all ends well as Sparky saves the day with his kindness and bravery!

The next book is an old favourite ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears.’ We will retell the story through drama and puppets bringing it to life. We meet the bear family and alongside this will explore our own families, sharing how we care and lookout for each other. We will talk about everyone in our families and all the wonderful things we love to do together!

Our final book is ‘Grandad’s Island’ by Benji Davies. This book has beautiful detailed illustrations and sensitively shares and weaves in the special relationship Syd has with his grandad. Syd can visit grandad’s house any time he likes through a gate at the bottom of his garden, how magical!

Alongside our books we have many more things planned this half term. They include a whole class family tea with cakes and squash at school; a shared occasion we can all prepare and take part in. Then in our beautiful Forest School we will create leaf crowns, footprints and handprints, using them to explore ourselves and the world around us. We have so much to look forward to!