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Nursery

Hello, Nursery! I am Miss Wood, your class teacher. I am passionate about teaching in Nursery as the children love to learn and are curious and enthusiastic about everything. Every day brings something new and exciting, as well as challenges and opportunities to grow. Very often I experience things for the first time with the children, such as discovering nature, reading stories, or creating art. I cannot wait to see what this year in Nursery has in store for us.

What We're Learning This Half Term

Our learning this half-term will centre around the question: What can grow?

Communication and Language Development

Communication and language development in the early years are critical components of a child's overall growth and future success. Effective communication and language skills serve as the foundation for cognitive, social, and emotional development. During this term, we will be centering our learning around the question "What can grow?".

Physical Development

Physical Development in the early years is a vital component of a child's holistic development. It encompasses a range of activities and experiences that promote physical fitness, motor skills, and overall well-being.

To develop these skills we will be encouraging the children to:

  • Use one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips in paper with scissors.
  • Begin to take part in some group activities, which they may make up for themselves, or in teams.
  • Show a preference for a dominant hand.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Developing PSED in the early years is vital for building a strong foundation for a child's future success in school and in life. By nurturing their personal, social, and emotional development, we help children develop the skills and attitudes that contribute to their overall well-being and positive relationships with others. We aim to support this skill development by encouraging children to play with one or more other children and extending and elaborating play ideas, as well as, developing appropriate ways of being assertive.

Literacy

Promoting literacy in the early years is essential for setting the stage for reading and writing success in school and beyond. By fostering a love of books and language, providing meaningful literacy experiences, and tailoring instruction to each child's needs, we can help children develop strong literacy skills and a lifelong passion for reading and learning. This half-term we will do this by learning the nursery rhymes 'Five little speckle frogs', 'Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary' and 'The Pancake Song'. We will also explore some texts such as 'The Hugry Caterpillar' and 'The Tiny Seed'. We will be developing their phonological awareness, so that they can:

  • Spot and suggest rhymes
  •  Count or clap syllables in a word
  •  Recognise words with the same initial sound
  • Understand 'why?' questions
  • Enjoy listening to longer stories and being able to remember what happened
  • Continue to participate in our daily RWI Phonic lessons

Some key questions we will look at include:

  • Have the seasons changed?
  • How have the caterpillars changed?
  • What do we think will happen next?
  • How can we look after our plants?
  • Do plants need sunlight to grow?

Maths

Fostering mathematics in the early years is crucial for building a strong mathematical foundation and fostering a love for math. By providing a rich and engaging mathematical environment, offering opportunities for exploration and problem-solving, and tailoring instruction to children's developmental levels, we can help them develop essential mathematical skills and confidence in their abilities.

During the beginning of the Spring-Term, in maths, we will be developing our knowledge and understanding of number and numerical patterns. Over the half-term, we will focus on exploring and understanding numbers 4, 5, and 6. 

We will do this by:

  • Counting to 4, 5 then 6
  • Finding 4, 5 and 6 objects
  • Looking at the position of 4, 5 and 6 on a number line
  • Exploring Numicon 4, 5 and 6
  • Using dice
  • Representing 4, 5 and 6 on a frame
  • Exploring a square - 4 sides shape (including in the environment)
  • Exploring actions e.g. 4 hops, 5 jumps, 6 claps etc
  • Matching numeral to quantity

Understanding the world

Understanding the World in the early years helps children develop a broad range of knowledge and skills that are essential for their overall development. It fosters a sense of curiosity, empathy, and a connection to the world around them, which are valuable attributes for lifelong learning and citizenship.

During this half-term, we will:

  • Continue developing positive attitudes about the differences between people
  • Begin to make sense of their own life story and family's history
  • Look at the life cycle of a human - order the events from a baby to an adult
  • Understand the key features of the life cycle of a plant and an animal
  • Introduce the life cycle of a butterfly, begin the butterfy garden and set the caterpillars into their habitat
  • Reviewing life cycle of butterfly and observe changes in butterfly garden
  • Begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things
  • Plant seeds and care for growing plants
  • Experiment - do all plants need sunlight? Put some seeds in different places with different amounts of sunlight. Predict - what will happen?
  • Talk about what they say, using a wide vocabulary

Expressive Arts ad Design

Expressive Art and Design in the early years is crucial for promoting creativity, self-expression, and imaginative thinking. It allows children to explore and communicate their feelings and ideas in diverse ways, fostering a lifelong love of art and creative expression.

This half-term we will:

  • Remember and sing entire songs - We will learn and perform pancake day song
  • Show different emotions in their drawings and paintings, like happiness, sadness, fear etc
  • Introduce Kandinsky artist and focus on his use of lines and circles. We will identify the different colours in his trees
  • Recap previous colour mixing learning to create a colour wheel - discuss which colours make us feel different emotions and then use these to paint Kandinsky trees
  • Draw/paint with increasing complexity and detail, such as representing a face with a circle and including details
  • Join different materials and explore different textures - Using clay to create flower prints using Spring flowers

We're looking forward to a terrific half-term filled with learning, exploration, and adventure.

 

 

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