Welcome to Polar Class
We hope you have all had a great summer and are as excited as we are about starting the new school year and this adventurous Autumn Term. We are thrilled to see so many familiar faces returning to school and we extend a very warm welcome to those parent(s)/carer(s) and children joining us for the first time this September. Starting school is such a special time; a time for new experiences, new friends and a step towards more independence for your child. We also understand that this may be a bit daunting for all of you. However, your child is about to begin a very exciting journey and we are looking forward to getting to know all our new families and welcome the children into our school family.
Polar Class
Our Reception class is called, ‘Polar’ after one of the nine biomes. Over the year, we will be learning about the polar regions of the world. This will include habitats, climates, life and hazards caused by global warming.
Religious Education
This half term our RE unit will focus on, ‘Creation’, under the title, ‘Who Made the Wonderful World? This unit will help the children to understand, what Christians believe about creation, the bible, the natural world, how each of us are unique and precious, thankfulness, the church and harvest festival.
Literacy
This term we will be looking at texts that relate to the topic, Magical Me’. We will be looking at the story, ‘The Colour Monster’. This will allow the children to find out about and discuss feelings. We will also be learning about strategies that help us with our emotions. We will also be looking at other text that allows us to explore ourselves, our families, where we are from, and people who help us. We will provide the children with a large selection of writing materials and paper. They will be encouraged to draw pictures of themselves, their friends or family. We will also be encouraging the children to label items, body parts and write up shopping lists and healthy menus.
Phonics
This term the children will be introduced to different phonemes (sounds). Once they have developed their knowledge of taught sounds, they will be taught to segment and blend enabling them to read and write ‘CVC’ words e.g., ‘sat’, ‘tip’, ‘pan’ etc.
Numeracy
In numeracy we will be focusing on, number (counting), matching (numbers, colours and shapes), sorting, measures including, weight (heavy/light), length (long/short), height (tall/short). We will also be creating and discussing patterns. A part of continuous maths will involve, counting, learning the days of the week and the months of the year.
Personal Social and Emotional Development
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) are the building blocks of future success in life. This term the children will focus on;
· Personal development (Being me) – how we come to understand who we are and what we can do, how we look after ourselves.
· Social development (Being social) – how we come to understand ourselves in relation to others, how we make friends, understand the rules of society and behave towards others.
· Emotional development (Having feelings) – how we come to understand our own and others’ feelings and develop our ability to ‘stand in someone else’s shoes’ and see things from their point of view, referred to as empathy.
Physical development
In physical development, we will be talking to the children about keeping healthy. This will involve creating healthy fruit salads and smoothies.
Gross Motor Skills
We will explore the importance of exercise and discuss the importance of being active. Children will be encouraged to notice the effect exercise has their body. We will be teaching the children a selection of active games that they can play together in a large space or outdoor area to help the children with their social skills. We will use music in dance, and to also provoke different emotions, such as Offenbach’s ‘Orpheus in The Underworld’ for feelings of excitement or ‘Adagio in G Minor’ by Albinoni for sadness.
Fine Motor Skills
There will be a big focus on developing the children’s fine motor skills. This will involve, holding a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing and use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery.
Understanding the World
In understanding the world, we will be introducing differences between people, places, food and cultures. We will encourage the children to explore the outdoor areas to search for objects of different colours, texture, shapes and sizes. As a part of our topic, ‘Magical Me’ the children will make comparisons in how they have changed from a baby to now. The children will also be talking about being part of their own family and the school family, learning about routines, boundaries and developing a shared set of class rules and expectations. They will be encouraged to think about why we have rules and what happens if we don’t.
Expressive art and design
Every day is an expressive day in Polar class. This term we will be learning a range of songs that relate to our bodies, such as ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ and ‘The Hokey Cokey’. We will also be using a variety of mediums such as, paint, collage materials; pastels and many more inspire some amazing artwork. As a part of our topic, we will also be creating self-portraits, which will involve looking at skin tone, eye colour and hair colour.
Communication and Language
Oracy is a very important part in learning throughout the school. This term we will share a range of stories to establish a love of reading and a value of books. The children will be introduced to ‘The Colour Monster’ and hear about how he struggled to sort out his feelings. Through focused attention to a different feeling each week, the children with gain the vocabulary and confidence to talk about their feelings. The children will be encouraged to listen, and value stories that are being read to them.
The children will be encouraged to anticipate events in the stories we share, make comments, and ask questions about the characters and plot. They will use expression and actions when joining in with stories and develop their own narratives using role-play, props, and puppets.
The children will take part in daily class circles and will listen to one another and respond with their thoughts. They will join in singing nursery rhymes and this will help them to hear the sounds and syllables in words to support preparation for early reading. We want to each child to gain confidence in asking and answering questions.