St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

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If you wish to know further information relating to the curriculum in Class 1 please do not hesitate to speak to Miss Naylor, class teacher, via Class Dojo.

Literacy (speaking, listening, reading, writing)

The children continue to work hard on their daily phonics- using our ReadWriteInc programme to learn how to read and write. The children are regularly assessed and regrouped so might be working with a different group of children and/or a different teacher this half term- this ensures that they are all working at a level where they feel both comfortable and challenged.

Now that the children have a good grasp of phonics and letter formation, writing becomes a firm focus in Term 3- we encourage children to write at every opportunity- lists, cards, instructions, labels, messages and notes- both in guided sessions and throughout our indoor and outdoor provision. At this stage we just want the children to enjoy using their phonics and knowledge of tricky ‘red’ words to have a go. Spelling at this stage has to be phonetically plausible rather than correct- every effort at independent writing is celebrated.

Understanding the World

Our class theme is ‘We are Growing’ and we will be sharing some wonderful books including ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’ and Eric Carle’s ‘A Tiny Seed’. The children will be planting their own seeds; beans, peas, pumpkins and sunflowers- and observing them as they turn into little seedlings! Once the frosty mornings are gone we will be planting these seedlings out in our garden. This leads nicely into learning all about ‘Minibeasts’- the children will enjoy some outdoor investigation and observation- looking for and describing ‘minibeasts’ and thinking about the sorts of habitats they like best. We will think about which minibeasts we might welcome to our vegetable patch, and which we might not. . . We will read stories about bees, ladybirds and worms.

Maths

We will extend the children’s understanding of number into numbers up to 20. We will introduce them, in a simple way, to the idea that teen numbers are a group of 10 plus another number. Addition and subtraction are explored and understanding developed through practical application.  We will record and represent numbers too, continuing to practise our written formation of numbers to master those tricky ones that are often reversed – 3, 7, 5! You can support your child’s learning at home by counting day to day for example:- count as you climb the stairs, count backwards as you come down, count how many things you pick up when tidying up. Develop the counting beyond 10 to 20, some of those teen numbers are tricky to say! In shape, space and measure we will compare amounts and use the right vocabulary to describe- eg heavier, lighter, longer, shorter. . . 

R.E. 

 Our RE focus this term is ‘New Life’. Before the holidays the children learnt the key events of the Easter Story. We now focus upon the events that followed the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day; how He appeared to Mary Magdalene and then to His friends before going back to His Father in heaven.  

Physical Development

As the weather improves the children will use the outdoor area of our classroom and access the activities set up to develop them physically.

In our PE lessons we work on developing our fundamental movement skills of running, hopping, jumping, throwing and catching. We will challenge the children to develop more coordination and control of their bodies in movement; for example, ‘When my arms are doing this what are my legs doing? Can I move parts of the body in sequence and to specific goals?’

How can you help at home?  

 As we move into this final term- the message remains the same. Reading, reading, reading! All the children now have ReadWriteInc reading books or ditties that they bring home each week to read and/or re-read (very important to develop fluency and confidence). Try to listen to your child every day- it will come as no surprise that there is a very strong correlation between parental engagement with reading and reading progress. On the days when they are a bit tired- share the book- ‘you read a page, I’ll read a page’ or get a favourite teddy to ‘read’ every other page. They could read to grandparents, childminders, older brothers and sisters or even to you and a baby brother or sister to show off their new skills. Try different times of day- as soon as they get home with a drink and a biscuit, snuggled up in bed or even at breakfast time. Please continue to read to your child too; share as many stories as you can; read them in your home language; read the same ones again and again; talk about what you are reading, what is going to happen next? Share non-fiction books too- about trains, different countries, dinosaurs, favourite animals. . .

Towards the end of this term we will begin to prepare the children for their transition to Year 1 There will be more information about this after half term.

EYFS – Home/School Learning Opportunities to Promote Communication and Language. The PDF below contains suggestions for activities to help with communication and language skills for reception children. 

EAL ( English as an additional language) RESOURCES for parents

The Nativity

It has been wonderful to watch our younger pupils in their performance of 'The Nativity'. They were amazing and have brought so much joy to those watching.

Library visit

Class 1 had a lovely visit to Barnoldswick library and listened to some special stories.

Stay and Play

 Some our families came for Stay & Play in Class 1. It was so lovely to share experiences in class including some exploring outdoors on this lovely frosty morning!

Long Term Planning

Planning

Please find below an outline of the topics covered in your child's class. 

If you wish to know further information relating to the curriculum in Class 1 please do not hesitate to speak to Miss Naylor, the class teacher.