Curriculum overview

We warmly welcome you to Chestnut Class and are really looking forward to getting to know you all. Please watch this welcome slideshow to get a glimpse of all the exciting activities we will be doing.

RE

Our first RE topic in Reception is ‘Myself’. Children will be doing lots of work about themselves and their family, we will also be teaching them our school mission statement and daily prayers.

Literacy

For the first half term, we will be doing lots of fun and creative activities around Nursery Rhymes. We will begin shared reading every day from a big book or nursery rhyme, and the children will begin to focus on key words. We will also begin some individual reading sessions in which the children will be encouraged to talk about the pictures, characters and sequence of events.

We shall be doing sound work on Letters and Sounds phase one, and will have fun phonic activities every day. If you would like some ideas of what you may do at home, please find a link at the bottom of the page. All 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.

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.

Communication and Language

All 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. Our talk topics for this half term are ‘New Beginnings’ and ‘Being a Good Learner’.

Mathematics

Every day we will be doing problem solving, reasoning and numeracy activities. This will include encouraging the children to recognise, say and use numbers in the correct order, copy and make their own repeating patterns, making sets of different objects and discussing the methods that they have used. We will also explore and talk about 2D shapes and their properties. Please practise number recognition, counting and basic practical adding and taking away with your child at home.

Understanding of the World

As autumn has begun we are learning lots about this season. We have encouraged the children to bring in autumn leaves, conkers and acorns for our autumn table. We will also be doing lots of creative work around autumn, such as leaf printing and rubbings.

Expressive Arts and Design

This half term we will be exploring many painting techniques such as printing, marble painting, blow painting etc. Children will also be given the opportunity to use different creative materials and tools such as crayons, chalks and scissors to create their artwork.

Physical Development

In the first half term of reception we encourage the children to become more independent, by learning to put on their shoes, jumpers and cardigans on, and as it gets colder, their coats. We facilitate them to develop their gross motor skills outdoors, through activities such as riding bikes and scooters, skipping and ball games. We provide learning oppurtunities for developing fine motor skills as well, such as threading, using scissors, playdough activities and much more.

Personal, Social and Emotional

We will be encouraging the children to make new friendships within the class and will be playing name games and friendship games to support them with this. We will also be helping the children to familiarise themselves with the rules of the classroom and our school. The children are provided with fresh fruit as a mid-morning snack. Please help us to encourage them to eat this. We like children to have constant access to water. On their first day of school your child will be given a water bottle to keep in class. Please refill this daily and make sure they remember to bring it to school.