St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Admissions

Please log into Class Dojo in the event your child is not able to attend school due to self isolation, illness or school closure.

Click here to visit our Home Learning Zone for links to additional resources. 

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 are continuing to work through our ‘ReadWriteInc’ phonics scheme each morning; revising and learning new sounds and blending them together to make words- with a bit of help from Fred the Frog. We will also use our ‘Fred Fingers’ to spell; identifying the sounds and writing them down. Some children will continue to bring home ‘Blending Books’ so that they can practise those skills at home whilst others will be bringing ‘Ditty Sheets’- more information will follow with these.

During Term 1 the children were preparing for writing with their ‘Funky Fingers’ activities each morning; developing their fine motor skills through threading, pinching, placing and squeezing. Please continue with this at home with playdough, threading, and beads if you have them. In class, we will focus on writing posture, pencil control and letter formation; learning how to form letters correctly, using our ‘ReadWriteInc’ captions such as ‘Curl around the caterpillar’, ‘Maisie, mountain, mountain’ and ‘slither down the snake’.

Communication and Language remain a big focus; listening and responding, asking questions and expressing ideas and feelings.

Understanding the World

Our theme is ‘Wonderful World’ – we will be learning all about hot and cold regions of the world; the North and South Pole, deserts and jungles. We will ask questions such as ‘What is the weather like there?’, ‘Which animals live there?’, ‘What does it look like?’ and ‘How is it different to where we live?’. We will show our learning through talking, playing, drawing, writing and creating. 

Maths

Last term we gradually introduced the children to the numbers 1-10 through ‘Number Land’ - the place where numbers live. This gradual introduction gave children a deep understanding of number and place value. In Term 2 we use our knowledge to count, compare and combine numbers. We will practically manipulate numbers into ‘part-part-whole' (eg 3 + 5 makes 8) and use maths vocabulary such as more, fewer, same, equal. We use games and activities to teach Maths concepts- both indoors and outdoors. The children will develop their ability to represent numbers in different ways; both their own representation and using number shapes, ten frames, dice patterns.

R.E.

Our RE focus this term is ‘Getting to Know Jesus’. The children already know how much God loves them- so much that he sent his Son Jesus to show them how to be good and kind. This half term we will listen to stories from Jesus’ life to find out more about how he showed us God’s love and set us an example of how to be. The Prayer Bag will continue the rounds!

Physical Development

Children continue to enjoy their PE lessons on Thursdays and Fridays. In EYFS children learn and practise fundamental movement skills that are the building blocks for movement. These prepare children for later physical activities and sports alongside developing a lifelong habit of being physically active and healthy. Themed lessons incorporate activities that practise running, jumping, hopping, catching, throwing.

Expressive Art and Design

We focus on painting skills for our ‘Art’ this term; finger painting, painting on different surfaces; applying paint with a range of tools and experimenting with mixing colours. Our Music lessons begin with ‘The Cuckoo Polka’ as our inspiration. We will listen to bird songs; copying and echoing and will also learn to take turns, keep in time and move to the music. We then turn to an ‘Under the Sea’ theme which features Call and Response activities and learning the fundamentals of pitch using voices and instruments.

How can you help at home?  

A strong partnership between school and home is vital for your child’s education. Later this term, the children will start to bring home phonics materials that will enable you to support your children with their early reading.

In addition to this, please continue to read with your child; share as many stories as you can; read the same ones again and again; talk about what you are reading, what is going to happen next? Who’s your favourite character? We aim to develop in our youngest children a love of books and reading that will be life-long. We hope to enjoy another trip to the library and would encourage you all to pay a family visit too- a wonderful, free resource, full of fabulous books for you to enjoy together.

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

Library Visit

Class 1 had a lovely visit to Barnoldswick library to listen to some Christmas stories and share the enjoyment of reading!

Visit to Commercial Vehicle Museum

Class 1 visited the British Commercial Museum in Leyland . We had a lovely time looking at and talking about all the different types of vehicles; horse drawn buses; old fire trucks; double decker buses and even the Popemobile from John Paul II's 1984 UK visit!

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.