Curriculum overview

Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all the best for 2025.

RE

The Aim of Religious Education at St Peter-in-Chains is to produce religiously literate children who have the knowledge, understanding and skills to think spiritually, ethically, theologically and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.

Our objectives as religious educators are:

• To develop children’s knowledge and understanding of God, Jesus his son and the Holy Spirit
• To develop an appreciation and awareness of this faith and how to live it
• To foster children’s spiritual and moral development
• To celebrate together as a community, through prayer, worship and liturgy
• To support the teaching of British values by fostering appropriate attitudes: respect for truth, respect for others, and to prepare the children for living in a multicultural, multi-faith society.

Our RE topics this half term are Celebrating and Gathering. We will work on how children celebrate different events in their lives and how the parish community gathers to celebrate together. Children will discuss how they feel when they come together with friends and family, and learn how the church community gathers to celebrate the Mass.

English

Comprehension, Word Reading and Writing

Comprehension

Children will learn to: 

• demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary;
• anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories;
• use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during role-play and in discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems.

Word Reading

Children will learn to: 

• say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs;
• read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending;
• read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.

Writing

Children will learn to: 

• write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed;
• spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters;
• write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

This half term in English, we will be doing shared reading and activities around our big books, which are: The Meanies, Look for me in this ABC, and It’s the weekend. We will also continue doing guided reading sessions, where the children will be encouraged to talk about the pictures, characters and sequence of events.

We will be commencing Little Wandle Phase 3, and have fun phonic activities every day. We will continue to work on our Phase 2 sounds, and we will practise segmenting and blending words to help us with our reading and writing. Please encourage and support your child to use their phonics when reading and writing at home, in order to consolidate what they have learnt at school.

The children have lots of opportunities to write and draw. We encourage children to form their letters correctly when writing. Please continue to support children in forming their letters correctly at home, according to the school’s handwriting policy.  We are also working on the correct use of capital letters, full stops and finger spaces when writing.

Communication and Language

Speaking, Listening, Attention and Understanding

Speaking

Children will learn to: 

• participate in small-group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary;
• offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate;
• express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.

Listening, Attention and Understanding

Children will learn to: 

• listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole-class discussions and small-group interactions;
• make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding;
• hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers.

The children will be encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas with their classmates. Children will be supported to speak in full sentences and use as much interesting vocabulary as possible. We encourage the children to develop their speaking skills through a wide range of activities across the curriculum, including storytelling, singing and role play. We support them in modelling language and using new vocabulary as they play. Our talk topics for this half term are: ‘Getting on and falling out’, and ‘Keeping safe and well’.

Mathematics

Number and Numerical Patterns

Number

Children will learn to: 

• have a deep understanding of numbers to 10, including the composition of each number;
• subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5;
• automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including doubling facts.

Numerical Patterns

Children will learn to: 

• verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system;
• compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity;
• explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.

Every day we have problem solving, reasoning and numeracy activities. We will continue to teach the children to recognise, say and use numbers in the correct order. The children will be exploring mathematical vocabulary such as more and less, tall and short, before and next etc. We will learn how to copy and make repeating patterns, make sets of different objects and discuss the methods used. We will be exploring and talking about 2D shapes and their properties. The children will start to learn basic practical adding and taking away, and we will encourage the children to explain their methods of calculation. Please take any opportunity to reinforce number recognition, counting and basic practical adding and taking away.

Understanding of the World

Past and Present, People, Culture and Communities, The Natural World

Past and Present

Children will learn to: 

• talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society;
• know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
• understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.

People, Culture and Communities

Children will learn to: 

• describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps;
• know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
• explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps.

The Natural World

Children will learn to: 

• explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants;
• know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
• understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.

Our topic this half term is Growth and Ourselves. We will be doing lots of fun and creative activities linked to themes on growing and our bodies. We will be talking about differences as we grow, naming main external body parts, learning about our 5 senses and playing lots of practical scientific games.

The children will continue to use ICT to support their literacy and numeracy skills as well as creative work. Children have enjoyed learning from websites such as BusyThings, topmarks, phonicsplay and cbbc.

Expressive Arts and Design

Creating with Materials and Being Imaginative and Expressive

Creating with Materials

Children will learn to: 

• safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function;
• share their creations, explaining the process they have used;
• make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.

Being Imaginative and Expressive

Children will learn to: 

• invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher;
• sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs;
• perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music.

As part of our ‘Ourselves’ topic we will be doing lots of creative artwork like making skeletons with straws and painting self-portraits.  We will also continue to enjoy messy play with playdough and shaving foam, and will also be doing some junk modelling.

Physical Development

Gross Motor Skills and Fine Motor Skills

Gross Motor Skills

Children will learn to: 

• negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others;
• demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;
• move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.

Fine Motor Skills

Children will learn to: 

• hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases;
• use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;
• begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.

We will continue to support children to develop their gross motor skills outdoors, through activities such as riding bikes and scooters, skipping and ball games. We will also continue to provide learning opportunities for developing fine motor skills, such as threading, using scissors, playdough activities and much more.

Children will participate in PE lessons led by specialist PE coach on Fridays. Please support your child in learning to put their jumpers, cardigans and coats on.

We will be encouraging children to further develop their fine motor skills through tactile activities with shaving foam and playdough, as well as through tasks involving threading and using tweezers. The children will be given lots of opportunities to write and draw, and we shall be encouraging them to form all the letters correctly. If you would like to help your child with letter formation please refer to the pre-school booklet you were given. Those children who are not quite ready for writing will practise fine motor control and mark making in a variety of media.

Personal, Social and Emotional

Self-Regulation, Managing Self and Building Relationships

Self-Regulation

Children will learn to: 

• show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others, and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly;
• set and work towards simple goals, being able to wait for what they want and control their immediate impulses when appropriate;
• give focused attention to what the teacher says, responding appropriately even when engaged in activity, and show an ability to follow instructions involving several ideas or actions.

Managing Self

Children will learn to: 

• be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge;
• explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly;
• manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding the importance of healthy food choices.

Building Relationships

Children will learn to: 

• work and play cooperatively and take turns with others;
• form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers;
• show sensitivity to their own needs and those of others.

We will continue to support the children in developing good relationships with their peers, as well as staff. We will encourage the children to talk about how they feel and we will teach them strategies that they can use to deal with various feelings.

Other Information

Children are provided with fresh fruit as a mid-morning snack and have access to water throughout the day. Please refill your child’s water bottle daily and make sure they remember to bring it to school.

We will use the online learning journal Tapestry to record your child’s learning journey and development in Reception. Remember that you access this from home at any time to look at photographs, videos and notes following your child’s time at school.

Please ensure that all uniform is clearly labelled with your child’s name. Children have constant access to their water bottle throughout the school day, so it is important to wash and refill your child’s bottle every day.

If you have any questions or queries, please feel free talk to us after school or arrange an appointment at your convenience.