Expressive Arts and Design Children will have the opportunity to explore the garden centre role play area, having access to a variety of costumes and props, as well as the home corner. Construction materials will be available in the indoor and outdoor environment for children to build a range of models – as well as small and large junk modelling. Continuous provisions will also be available for children to express themselves through a variety of media including art resources, musical instruments and songs. Literacy As a class we will read a variety of texts including the Enormous Turnip and Jack and the Bean Stalk which link to our topic. We will use actions to retell the story before writing our own sentences about them. Stick puppets, role play masks and sequencing cards are available to help children become familiar with the story. Children have the opportunity to read a variety of texts in our different reading areas. Children can also access the writing table which has a variety of writing tools and resources for different purposes. Understanding the world This term Reception will be learning about healthy eating and growing our own foods. Children will have the opportunity to grow things in our garden. Children will also observe how chicks develop and grow when they hatch from an egg. Children will learn how to take care of living things and will learn about animals and their young. We will develop an understanding of making our own sensible food choices for a healthy lifestyle through the change4life scheme, contributing to the British Value of Individual Liberty. Communication and Language Children will have regular opportunities to speak about their own ideas and experiences at the front of class, in groups, family groups and individually with peers and adults. Reception are continuing to develop their phonic knowledge and skills through daily phonic sessions and phonics songs. We follow the phonics bug programme and are currently working on phase 2 and 3 phonics to develop their reading and writing skills. Personal, Social and Emotional Development Children will demonstrate friendly behaviour and show how they have grown in confidence within the classroom during self-initiated play opportunities. They will develop relationships with class teachers during family group time and focus activities. Children will be encouraged to develop skills based on building learning power, for example, being resilient, resourceful, reflective and reciprocal. We will continue to instil the values of mutual respect and democracy by ensuring children have the opportunity to make decisions collectively and show respect when listening to others - sharing their thoughts and opinions. Physical Development Children will have access to our outdoor area to practice gross motor skills such as climbing, jumping, balancing, hopping and riding bikes. Fine motor provisions will also be available to support pencil control and the development of writing, such as threading and weaving. We will also be having a go at a variety of sports and athletic games to tie in with the 2016 Olympics. RE We will be looking at the season of Easter and of Pentecost. We will attend mass in church and whole school reflection assemblies. We will continue to say our daily school prayers, and also begin to have a daily prayer focus of something to thank God for. Children have the opportunity to write prayers at home with their families using our prayer bag, contributing to the British value of Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Mathematics We will be revisiting counting skills 1-20 and beyond, shape and doubling and halving. We will be looking at different timescales – days of the week, months and years, as well as introducing hours, minutes and seconds to help learn o’clock times. We will also begin to look at counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. Linked to our topic, we will be measuring plants that we have grown – how tall are they? Visits and Opportunities Living Eggs will be arriving to school for us to watch the lifecycle of a chick. Reception will also be visiting the farm to explore some of the foods we eat. Other opportunities will include the summer enterprise, sports day and transitioning to Year 1.