Mrs Richards, Mrs Starkey, Miss Davies, Mrs Cemereh

WELCOME TO Summer 1

Hope you have all enjoyed your Easter break.

SPRING INTO LIFE...

is the the title of our topic for this half term.

We are looking forward to learning about our beautiful season of Spring , starting with a Spring walk and spotting any signs of Spring.

We will be be looking closely at Spring flowers, blossom trees and learning about life cycles. Do you know any animals that lay eggs? Let's find out!  Our role play is going to be a farm shop and a vets. We will be learning lots about 'farm life' what is grown on one and the animals that live there. Do you know the names of their babies? Let's find out!

In Literacy we are continuing to develop our phonological awareness and learning to spot words that rhyme and start with the same letter. Look out for our 'rhyme of the week'. We will be learning to blend sounds together to hear a word.We will keep practicing writing our name and developing a pencil grip. 

In Maths we are learning about positional language, counting objects, recognising numbers, size, making patterns and talking about shape.

Our Role Play Areas are The Vets, where we will be learning how to look after our pets and other animals. The Farm Shop, where we will be using real money to buy real potatoes, carrots and other dairy products. We will get to know which foods are healthy. The Theatre, where we can show off our singng, dancing and acting skills. The Building Site, which looks just like the one we pass on Hunter Road on the way to school.  

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN LEARNING THIS TERM!

INTENT, IMPLEMENTATION and IMPACT

Intent: Why do we teach what we teach?

At St Mary's Nursery we place great value on the development of children as individuals and providing them with the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to prepare them for the challenges in Year Reception, Key Stage One and beyond. Our aim in the EYFS is to build strong foundations rooted in academic success as well as moral and spiritual development, so that ultimately our pupils can go on to be active citizens of society as well as happy, curious life-long learners. 

Our curriculum is designed to help our children gain the knowledge, skills and understanding they require for success through the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning (Play and Exploration, Active Learning and Creative and Critical Thinking).

Implementation: How do we teach what we teach?

Our children learn through a balance of child-initiated and adult-directed activities.  The timetable is carefully structured so that children have rigorous directed teaching in number and phonics everyday with regular circle time sessions to focus on PSED. These sessions are followed by group work where children work with a member of staff who can systematically check for understanding, identify and respond to misconceptions quickly and provide real-time verbal feedback which results in a strong impact on the acquisition of new learning.  Our children are provided with plenty of time to engage in ‘exploration’ throughout the variety of experiences planned to engage and challenge them. The curriculum is planned for both inside and outside

Impact: How do we know what children have learnt and how well they have learnt it?

Our curriculum meets the needs of all our children since all staff spend time looking at and evaluating how children are learning. This is achieved through talking to children, looking at their work, observing their learning experiences and analysing data and progress. Evidence of a child’s learning is kept in paper ‘learning journals’.