Spring Terms 1 and 2 (2022- 2023)

What busy spring terms Reception have had! Our topics were ‘Donaldson’s Delights!’ and ‘Minibeasts’.

Literacy in the Early Years

In literacy each week, the children have been introduced to a range of high quality texts.

 

In Spring 1, the children explored the texts by Julia Donaldson:

  •          Tiddler
  •          What the Ladybird Heard
  •          The Smartest Giant in Town
  •          The Gruffalo
  •          The Gruffalo’s Child
  •          Room on the Broom
  •          Monkey Puzzle

In Spring 2, the children explored texts such as:

  •          The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
  •          The Bad Tempered Ladybird by Eric Carle

 

Throughout the literacy sessions, Reception have developed a variety of writing skills such as:

  •          Identifying, reading and writing rhyming words
  •          Identifying different parts of books, such as the title, blurb, author and illustrator
  •          Describing characters
  •          Writing a sensory poem
  •          Writing WANTED and MISSING posters
  •          Writing letters
  •          Writing recipes and instructions
  •          Sequencing stories
  •          Writing a menu
  •          Writing fact files

Maths in the Early Years

Reception have worked so hard, developing their number knowledge through practical and written work. Throughout the spring terms the children have learned to subtise numbers up to 5, as well as exploring the numbers 2 - 8 through partitioning numbers, combining groups including the empty set, subtracting including taking away zero, finding one more and one less of numbers and finding hidden numbers when calculating within numbers between 5 and 8.

Reception have also begun to compare numbers and groups by identifying groups and numbers that are the same and identifying more in groups or numbers that identifying less in groups or numbers. The children have also learned to order consecutive and non-consecutive numbers from smallest to largest!

Understanding the World

Throughout the spring terms, the children have enjoyed being scientists, geographers, historians and artists. Reception learned all about the polar bears and how climate change was having a massive impact on them becoming more extinct. The children discussed how we could try to protect our world, making links to CST, including the polar bears and want to set up a fundraising event in the summer. The children have also been learning about the changing seasons. They have enjoyed going on seasonal walks around the school field, identifying signs of spring and talking about similarities and differences to the other seasons. During this time, the children have observed and discussed wildlife and birds that they have found. Reception particularly enjoyed making food for the birds and love watching them fly around our outdoor area, settling to eat the seed balls the children had made them.

Reception really enjoyed making the Gruffalo Crumble and developed good skills such as holding and using a knife correctly and taking turns. Using Eric Carle’s technique, the children wanted to decorate their own mini-beasts, in the style of Eric Carle! The children worked so hard on this and produced beautiful pieces of work.