Foundation Stage Unit & KS1

Welcome to the Foundation Stage Unit & KS1 (Age 2- 7)

Autumn Term 2025

Welcome to Autumn Term 2025

‘Going on a Journey!’

Welcome back to a new and exciting  school year.

 

Curriculum

We carefully plan the curriculum to suit the learning needs of all our pupils and make them excited to learn. Where possible, the curriculum areas are linked to provide context to their learning and allow them to delve deeper into the topic.

Our topic this term is ‘Going on a Journey’. The younger children will be learning  all about themselves  in the first half of the term and in the second half,  they will be learning about ‘People Who Help Us”.

In Key Stage One, we will be learning about ‘The Great Fire of London’ and materials  this half term  and ‘Seasonal Changes’ and human and physical features of the local area life  in the second half of the term.   More details are shown below.

In English, we will begin by looking at the story of ‘The Colour Monster’, followed by ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and ‘The GIngerbread Man’. The children will complete various writing outcomes  such as story writing, character descriptions, poetry and letter writing. Throughout the term, we will explore other texts to develop our writing skills and encourage pupils to apply the various grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting content taught.

‘Materials’ makes up our topics in Science this term. Pupils will start by exploring different materials, identifying what they are and then comparing the suitability of a variety of everyday materials for particular uses. They will also find out how the shapes of  solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

In our History topic we will be learning about ‘The Great Fire of London’. We will consider the key events which led up to the fire and also how this impacted on the lives of the people in London. The children will also be comparing firefighters now and then. What is the same? What is different?

In Design Technology we will be looking at structures. The children will evaluate different structures and then design and make their own model of a house which will belong to one of the pigs from the story ‘The Three Little Pigs’.

In Geography, we will be exploring the physical and human features of our local area. The children will also be thinking about those that they see on their journey to school.

In  Art we will focus on secondary colours and how they are made. During this unit of work, the children will be learning about Monet and Pete McKee. This knowledge will then be used to create paintings and collages based on the themes of Autumn and Harvest.

For Computing, the children will be exploring and learning about technology. They will be able to explain what technology is, the types of technology that we find in the classroom and how they help us.

In Music, each unit adapts an integrated approach where games, elements of music (pulse, rhythm, pitch etc.), singing and playing instruments are all linked.

The children will continue to learn French on a Wednesday afternoon and links will be  made to class topics and texts as well as basic French words and phrases.

In our Religion World Views, we continue to follow units within the Devon Agreed Syllabus. The units: ‘Who do Christians say made the World’ and ‘Why does Christmas matter to Christians’ will be taught and explored this term.  Within RSE (relationships and sex education) will be exploring the topics ‘Me and My Relationships’ and ‘Valuing Difference’. To start with we will be exploring different feelings and rules. We will then be learning about people who are special to us and how they make us feel. These topics will be taught through the Coram Life Education SCARF resources, who have a useful family page on their website if you would like to know more.

PE is planned for a Wednesday afternoon. However, it is always useful if the children have their PE Kits in school for the whole week.   For the second half term, the children will have WildTribe. – dates will follow in the school newsletter. Please can children bring in:

-Waterproofs to go over school uniform. If they don’t have waterproofs, please bring in a long sleeve top and trousers (not jeans).
– Wellie boots (in a carrier bag in case they get muddy)
– A coat (separate to normal coat if possible as they often get wet and or muddy).

You might also like to pack hat, scarf, gloves and perhaps spare socks in case theirs get wet but this is not a requirement.

Please make sure you keep up to date with our school newsletter to ensure you don’t miss anything.  Please send your child with their water bottle every day labelled with their name and in anticipation for the weather worsening, please ensure children bring a coat, hat and gloves on colder days.

You are welcome to send pictures through Class Dojo, to share your child’s achievements from home. These contribute to your child’s assessment and are a vital part of the progress your child will make.

Reading Books

“Reading is the gateway for children that makes all other learning possible” – Barack Obama. A sentiment we share across the Federation and one we want to nurture in our children.

Preschool- they are welcome to change their library books every week  and are able to access a large variety of books within the classroom on a daily basis.

Reception, Year One and Two- The development of reading is of utmost importance.  Please remember to bring in your reading books and diaries every day. The children need to read 5 times a week and the reading record needs to signed by an adult.

Pupils will have daily opportunities to read through Read Write Inc and have access to our class book area where they can explore a wide variety of genres. Children who are no longer on the Read Write Inc programme,  will have daily opportunities to read and develop their comprehension skills; we use VIPERS (Vocabulary, Inference, Predict, Explain, Retrieve and Summarise). Please support your children’s learning by regularly engaging with stories and books at home; this can be listening to them read, reading to them or discussing what they have read. Please remember to bring in your reading books and diaries every day. The children need to read 5 times a week and the reading record needs to signed by an adult.

Home learning;

Home learning for KS1 & Reception children will continue to be set  on a Friday.  Please continue to read with your child 5 times a week as we have seen great improvements when this is done consistently. Remember, the reading does not need to be the whole book but a page will still benefit. You could also each read a sentence each or read one and repeat it until they feel fluent in their reading.   Spellings will continue to be set and will be phonics related words or  common exception words.  All Reception and KS1 children will be using DoodleMaths for homework. The children also have access to NumBots and we advise this to be used three times a week for around ten minutes each time.

The children’s well-being is of paramount important to us and as a school we aim to create a happy, healthy environment for all. If you have any worries or questions, please do not hesitate in coming to see me. Please email the school office if you have any urgent concerns to ensure we receive it straight away.

Miss Gee, Mrs Rose. Miss Hutt and Miss Dannan