Foundation Stage Unit & KS1

Welcome to Spring Term 2025

‘Taking a journey…..to polar regions, to a castle’

Happy New Year. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break.  We are looking forward to another exciting  term of learning and a variety of experiences.  We have some trips and different events planned for the year ahead and more information about these will follow in due course.

In all that we do, we aim to build Relationships, be Respectful, be Resilient, be Resourceful and be Reflective; these values are also reflected in all areas of our learning and we regularly refer back to them. Every Friday, three children will be chosen and we will celebrate the learning that they have done throughout the week. The reasons will also reflect our school values and how this has been reflected in the children’s learning.

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 ‘Taking a journey…..to polar regions, to a castle’. The younger children will be learning  about the polar regions and penguins in the first half of the term. In  the second half,  they will be learning about castles and who lives in them. They will also continue to learn about different festivals, including the Chinese New Year.

In Key Stage One, we will be learning about the polar regions this half term  and castles in the second half of the term.   More details are shown below.

In English, we will begin by looking at the story ‘Lost and Found’. Through this text, the children will write their own story but will be focusing on using conjunctions and speech in their writing.  They will also learn about penguins and write their own fact files about them.  During the second half of the term, the children will learn about poetry through the book ‘Tell me a Dragon’ by Jackie Morris. They will also explore the text ‘George and the Dragon’. We will also explore other texts to support the children in developing their writing skills, as well as  encourage them to apply the various grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting content taught.

In Maths, the children will be learning about 2D and 3D shapes, multiplication and division. They will also be extending their understanding of the numbers up to 100, as well as begin to learn about fractions. The children will also continue to practice their number bonds to 10, 20 and 100.

‘Everyday Materials’ and ‘Plants’, make up our topics in Science this term. Pupils will learn about the different materials that are used to make objects. They will learn their names, be able to identify the properties of these materials and then perform investigations to find out more about the properties.  The children will learn the names of different wild and garden flowers. They will be able to tell the difference between a deciduous and evergreen tree. By the end of the unit, the children will also have learnt about the structure of a common tree and flower.

In our History topic we will be learning about the history of castles and in particular Launceston Castle. They will also learn about some of the Kings and Queens of England. Through this work, they will learn about the impact that Launceston Castle had on the local area.

In Design Technology we will be learning about structures. the children will then use this learning to design, make and evaluate a Motte and Bailey castle. Through this unit they will also be learning different joining techniques.

In Geography, the children will be learning about the different polar regions. Within the topic,  they will learn about where they are in the world and what it is like there. The children will also learn about the animals that live there. They will also develop their geographical skills by using compass directions and reading simple maps.

Our Art work this term will focus on painting. We will be taking inspiration from the artist  ‘Anne Atkinson’ and use this to create landscape pictures of the local area. They will also be developing their understanding of primary and secondary colours, as well as looking at how they can change the tone of the colour.

For Computing, the children will be learning about algorithms and using this to programme a robot and then debug any programs that may not work. During the second half of the term, they will learn about statistics and how to use a computing program to create and interpret pictograms.

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

Madam Clark will continue to teach the children French on a Wednesday  afternoon where links are 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: ‘How do Muslims live’  and ‘Why does Easter matter to Christians?’ will be taught and explored. Within RSE (relationships and sex education) we will be exploring ‘keeping safe’, as well as ‘rights and respects’. 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.  On a Friday, the children will be having a session with Mrs Matthews. During these sessions they will be learning about Computing and Gym. 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 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 day 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 for KS1 & Reception children will continue to be set via Class Dojo and is set on a Friday. It is often better to do a little but often.   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.   Once the children have completed RWI they will be able to access Reading Buddies which is an online reading system.   Spellings will continue to be set and will be phonics related words or  common exception words.  All Reception and KS1 children will be using MathSeeds 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, Miss Hutt and Miss May