Our artist for the first half term is  

Courtney Mattison

Courtney Mattison is an American artist involved in marine biology and ceramics. She hand-crafts sculptural installations inspired by coral reefs and climate change, that are exhibited in art museums and building lobbies around the world.

“Art can bring the beauty and peril of coral reefs above the surface and into view and can inspire us to protect the ocean.”

After half term we will look at the work of:

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol is considered one of the most important American artists of the second half of the 20th century

Music

We will be listening to:

Vivaldi's Four seasons

“There are no words, it’s only music there.”

After half term we will be listening to:

Claude Debussy

“There is nothing more musical than a sunset.” 

Children will also explore how they can use their voice and bodies to make sounds, experiment with tempo and dynamic when playing instruments, identify sounds in the environment and differentiate between them.

Understanding the world

The children will gain knowledge and remember the names and features of sea creatures (jellyfish, hermit crab, octopus, turtle), understand the effect of pollution on the natural world and gain knowledge about which materials float and sink and explain why. They will gain knowledge and remember similarities and differences between contrasting environments such as villages, cities, the countryside and the coast.

The children will gain knowledge and remember some similarities and differences between boats in the past and now.

In R.E the children will gain knowledge and remember that people belong to range of different faiths (Christians, Muslims, Hindus) and how people are welcomed into those groups (Baptisms, Raksha Bandhan, Aqiqah)

After half term:

The children will gain knowledge and remember the names and features of minibeasts (ladybird, spiders, worms, wasps, bees, ant, snail, slug) and compare ocean and woodland habitats (Derbyshire and the Great Barrier Reef). The children will gain knowledge and remember how rainbows are formed, exploring how to make our own rainbows. The children will gain knowledge and remember which materials are attracted to a magnet.

The children will gain knowledge and remember about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society.

In R.E the children will gain knowledge and remember the story that Christians tell about how God created the world.

Our inspirational scientists are: 

Sarah Roberts - “We cannot protect an individual species, without protecting an entire ecosystem.”

(kindness)

Rachel Carson - “The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.”

(hope)

Support at home...

Here are some useful websites if you would like to practise any skills at home.

www.phonicsplay.co.uk

www.topmarks.co.uk

www.ictgames.com

Literacy

Phonics

We use the Twinkl scheme to teach phonics. We will continue working on level/phase 3 and continue to learn more complex graphemes using two (digraph) or three (trigraph) letters. We will then move onto level/phase 4 which focuses on consolidating what children have already learned, helping them to blend more complex words.

Children will continue to learn how words can be broken down into individual sounds called phonemes, which can be represented in written English using letters or groups of letters called graphemes. Children will develop independence when segmenting words into phonemes for spelling. 

Reading

Children will continue to recognise letters/digraphs and identify their sounds. They will develop fluency through their recognition of high frequency and 'tricky' words. 

We will share books on a daily basis, discussing the main events and characters. 

Children will bring home their phonics book and listening book. Please support your child with reading as often as you can. 

Writing

We will continue to develop the formation of letters using correct orientation. Please see the document below showing the rhymes we use to support letter formation. 

We will continue to work on writing short captions and sentences using our knowledge of tricky words and our segmenting skills. 

Here are some great links to support your child with their phonics skills at home:

First Phonics (doorwayonline.org.uk) There are options to make it easier/more difficult. 

PhonicsPlay - Resources

Mathematics

The children will gain knowledge and remember how to represent, order and count numbers beyond 10, as well as adding and subtracting numbers.

The children will gain knowledge and remember 2D and 3D shapes, identify shapes within the environment and explore repeating patterns. 

We will be continue to learn counting rhymes and songs.

Physical development

In our P.E sessions we will be working on:

Counter balance/Coordination

Children will develop and apply their ball skills and counter balance with a partner through focused thematic stories, songs and games.

After half term:

Coordination

Children will develop and apply their sending and receiving and reaction and response through focused thematic stories, songs and games.

Our inspirational sportspeople are:

Our amazing outdoor area gives us lots of opportunities to develop our gross motor skills.

We will develop our scissor skills and handwriting skills. Please continue to support your child by encouraging them to write at home. Tracing, colouring and cutting activities are all great ways to improve fine motor skills.

We have been busy...