This term we will be learning about growing and changing in the context of plants.  We begin with diamond poems about a beanstalk. We will also be looking at the stories Jack and the beanstalk and the enormous turnip. As part of the learning, we will be planting our own beans and watching them grow and change.  We will be opening our own flower shop as part of our imaginative play and will have lots of opportunities for the children to respond to the stories in their learning.

PSED - There are going to be lots of play opportunities for children to play co-operatively taking turns with others. They speak confidently in a familiar group. They identify what proud feels like and times where we feel proud. They talk about their and others behaviour and its consequences to know that some behaviour is unacceptable. They talk about how they and others show feelings.

Physical – They play lots of throwing, catching and control games. Children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe.

Fine motor skills:

They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing – Sewing plants and flowers, planting seeds.

Gross Motor Skills:

Children crawl, negotiate space, climb over / under obstacles. Children make dens and traps to catch jack / the giant.

Communication, Language and Literacy - Children develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events. children can write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. Children develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events. Children write simple sentences that can be read by themselves and others

Reading - Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read. Below is a range of books that we will be using this half term;

The magical bean poem

Jack and the beanstalk

The enormous turnip  

Writing - Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

Phonics - Children will be learning phonics daily. We will be focusing on phases 2 & 3.

Number - They recognise, create and describe patterns. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. Children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number.

Shape, Space and Measure - Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

Creative Learning - Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role play and stories.

RE - We will be looking at a range of different stories from the Bible. The children will know about similarities and differences between themselves and others.  

Knowledge and Understanding of the world - Children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur and talk about changes. 

Forest Friday- The children will be exploring the outdoor area and learning how to look after plants, animals and our outdoor environment. We will be planting in our outdoor area and the children will also visit the school pond to make observations of the wildlife around them.