Welcome to F1!

This year the F1 team is Michelle Martin and Louise Radwan.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The children will be learning the classroom rules and routines and understanding why they are important. During circle time and free flow, we will encourage the  children to talk about their feelings using words like ‘happy’, ‘sad’ ‘angry’ or ‘worried’ and  also begin to understand how others might be feeling. 

In literacy, we will be learning the names of different parts of a book, such as; the title, front cover, back cover and author. We will read a variety of picture books each week and encourage the children to talk about the pictures and make predictions about what they think will happen next. We will start the term reading “The Owl Babies” by Martin Waddell. This story is about three owlets that wake up one night to find their mother has gone and feel worried about her absence. The owlets are delighted when she returns. This story is very reassuring for the children, particularly at the beginning of the school year. In phonics, we will be developing our pre-reading skills by using our ears to listen to different sounds in the environment, we will play lots of musical instruments and learn the names of them.

In mathematics, the children will be learning to recite and order numbers 1-5. We will sing a variety of number songs, such as; ‘5 little speckled frogs’, ‘5 Currant buns’ and ‘5 little ducks’. The children will be encouraged to show their understanding by using ‘finger numbers’ and be given opportunities to develop their counting skills by using a variety of loose parts such as pine cones and shells.

Understanding the World – During the Autumn term, we will learn about two religious festivals, Diwali which is celebrated by Hindu’s and Christmas which is celebrated by christians. The children will continue to develop positive attitudes about the differences between people, this is on-going and will be achieved through the use of role play,  dressing up, music, cultural stories, cooking and photographs of the children with their families displayed in the classroom. 

Expressive Arts & Design – It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. This term the children will explore a variety of materials freely, in order to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make. They will have lots of opportunities to explore different textures such as soil, sand, play dough and cornflour. We will explore colour and colour mixing using a variety of paint.

The children will have opportunities to develop their gross motor skills by balancing, riding scooters and trikes. They will learn to throw and catch a ball and bean bag. Daily, the children will have opportunities to use one handed tools and equipment, for example using scissors and working towards holding pens and pencils with a controlled grip. 

We are so excited about this year, we have lots of exciting books to read, friendships to make and lots of fun exploring in our outdoor environment!