Maple – Reception
The reception year is the final year of the foundation stage. The foundation stage year is about well planned play activities to develop all areas of the curriculum. There is a balance of teacher and child initiated activities. There are set times of the day where the children are involved in planned activities to develop the early learning goals, they are then given the opportunity to develop these independently during child initiated supported play. Much of the planned activities are linked to the key topic for the half term.
We start the year with the topic, Do you want to be friends? This is a superb way to start the year opening up the children’s curiosity, imagination, knowledge and understanding about themselves and relationships with others. The children will be exploring and investigating their new environment, both inside and out, and they will begin to find out about their new friends and their interests as we continue to get to know each other.
The children will be looking at how they have changed and will look at similarities and differences between themselves and others. They will be identifying their own individual strengths, including what makes them special and unique, and the children will also be encouraged to ask questions and explore their five senses through a variety of activities. Throughout their experiences as part of a small or large group, children will begin to develop good relationships when working together, through the use of turn taking and sharing ideas and they will begin to develop their thinking skills.
During the year you will also see how we plan and develop activities linked to the interests of the children in the class, this helps to inspire and encourages the children to learn as we develop their own interests and ideas. Below you will find a copy of the thematic learning opportunities we plan to cover for your child.
Homework is also always being prepared to engage everyone lifelong learning together, so please look out for your family activities each week.
Spring Learning Journey - Why do Zebras have stripes?
Hamjambo! Why do zebras have stripes? Where do lions live? It’s time to discover amazing Africa and the wild animals that live there. This half term, we’ll be visited by an African dance or music group who will teach us to dance, sing and play instruments. We’ll learn where Africa is and what the landscapes, people and wildlife are like across this stunning continent. Who are the Maasai? What is camouflage? Where is the Serengeti? Let’s find out! We’ll learn about what school is like for African children, use our senses to explore a ‘market stall’ of African foods and make African-style pancakes to fill with delicious ingredients. We’ll use our imaginations to explore African animals, record animal noises and write our own call and response songs. Using sticks, we’ll make African-themed marks in soggy soil, and create an African landscape using sand, rocks, gravel and driftwood. In mathematics, we’ll count and estimate animal numbers and in literacy, use labels and captions to identify animal traits. Then we’ll get creative, tapping out syllables on drums as we talk and trying our hand at African printing. At the end of the project, we’ll make a book out of the photos we’ve taken. Then we’ll write a funny story about wild animals in unusual settings and play in the wild outdoors, pretending to be our favourite African beasts.