In the Ready Steady Grow project your child will take part in practical activities to explore where food comes from. They will learn what seeds and plants need to grow and grow a variety of plants. They will explore what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, including eating fruit and vegetables, exercise and teeth brushing. They will find out about life on a farm and about baby animals.
Supporting your child at home
- Visit your local library and find books about farms to share.
- Make a shopping list together and go to the shops to buy the food.
- Grow some quick growing plants or make a cress head.
- Talk about healthy foods.
- Share and discuss the Did you know?
- Complete some of these Home learning tasks together
(Please refer to the Downloadable Resources Page for PDF copies of all highlighted/underlined documents)
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
Self-Regulation
The children will, identify and moderate their own feelings socially and emotionally. Think about the perspectives of others.
Managing Self
The children will learn how to effectively manage their own needs. In addition, they will be independent in meeting their own care needs.
Building Relationships
The pupils will start to see themselves as a valuable individual. Throughout this term they will confidently express their feelings and consider the feelings of others.
Example of this in Action:
Term 3 Jigsaw PSHE Topic
- In this Puzzle, children learn about their bodies, the names of some key parts as well as how to stay healthy. They will talk about food and how some foods are healthier than others. They will discuss the importance of sleep and what they can do to help themselves get to sleep. They will talk about hand washing and why it is important. The class will also discuss ‘stranger danger’ and what they should do if approached by someone they don’t know.
Term 4 Jigsaw PSHE Topic
- Children are introduced to the key relationships in their lives. They will learn about families and the different roles people can have in a family. They will explore the friendships they have and what makes a good friend. They will be introduced to simple strategies they can use to mend friendships. The children will also practice Jigsaw’s Calm Me and how they can use this when feeling upset or angry.
For more information regarding the knowledge and skills progression, please view the Jigsaw Knowledge Skills and Progression Document for ages 3-5.
Listening, Attention and Understanding
This term, the children will develop their ability to ask questions to find out more. Through play, they will begin to understand humor. The children will learn how Listen attentively in a variety of situations. They will be able to follow instructions using 2 steps or more.
Example of this in action:
- This term we plan to invite a parent and their baby to come into school to visit the children. Before the visit, we will ask the children to prepare questions to ask the parent. After the visit, we will go back to the questions and ask the children to answer them with their gathered information.
Speaking
The children will learn how to use talk to organize, sequence and clarify thinking. With support, they will be encouraged to introduce storyline or narrative into their play. Through a language rich environment, the children will use new vocabulary through the day.
Example of this in action:
- This term the children will be comparing toys from the past and present. They will all have to opportunity to bring a favourite teddy bear into the class. The children will learn that the first teddy bears were created as toys for children over 100 years ago. The children will be shown a variety of teddy bears from the past. They will be invited to describe the images and compare them with their bear. The children will be encouraged to talk about how their bear feels and what makes it special.
Gross Motor Skills
During our PE lessons, children will develop their basic gymnastic skills through the topic of 'animals and their habitats'. The children will explore basic movements, creating shapes, balances, and jumps and begin to develop rocking and rolling. They will show an awareness of space and how to use it safely and perform basic skills on both floor and apparatus. They will copy, create, remember and repeat short sequences. The children will begin to understand using levels and directions when traveling and balancing
To find out more, view our GetSet4PE Knowledge Organisers
Fine Motor Skills
The children will be encouraged to use a tripod grip when using mark making tools. In addition, the children will learn how to hold scissors correctly and cut along a curved line. The children will continue to participate in daily fine motor activities such as; threading small beads, using small pegs and manipulating a variety of malleable materials.
Example of this in action:
- The children will learn that in the past, people only had paintings and sculptures to show what people looked like and keep their images alive. They will understand that artists had the job of creating these works of art. The children will be Provided clay and shown how to roll it out, make shapes and draw in it. They will be offered mirrors, so they can see themselves and will be given the opportunity to make a clay tile of their face.
Comprehension
This term the children will be able to answer questions about a text that has been read to them. They will Begin to predict what might happen next in a story and seek familiar texts or stories to re-read in the book area. The children will begin to use modelled vocabulary during role play for example in the Small World and they will learn to retell or make up own stories using vocabulary that has been learnt. This term, the children will Identify non-fiction texts, remembering facts and information they have heard.
It is vital you continue to read a wide variety of books with your children at home. Please refer to our 'Ten top tips for reading to your child' document for more support.
Word Reading (RWI Phonics)
At this point in the year, children in reception should have secure knowledge of all Set 1 sounds including Set 1 diagraphs. The children will continue with their six-weekly phonics assessments and will be placed in appropriate groups based on their sound knowledge. Any children not working at the expected level will also receive additional 1:1 tutoring to secure their knowledge of all Set 1 sounds. At this point of the year, children will begin to segment and blend CVC and CVCC words such as; cat, map, ship, chip. They will also have some awareness of ‘red words’ – non-decodable words that need to be learnt by site.
For further information about the reading skills we will focus upon this term, please view “Potter’s Sequential Reading Curriculum” and EYFS and KS1 Phonics Overview
Writing
This term, the children will focus on forming lowercase letters and capital letters correctly. At Sandhurst Primary School we use cursive script. Please refer for ‘cursive script guide’ for more support. The children will begin to write short sentences with words with known sound- letter correspondences, using a capital letter and a full stop. During independent writing, the children will begin to use capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. The children will learn how to write CVC words and labels using taught sounds and be able to read sentences back to an adult. Towards the end of the term, the children will begin to spells some high frequency tricky words. Please see ‘Potter Class red words’ for a list of high frequency words covered in EYFS.
Following the White Rose Maths scheme, EYFS will cover three main phases of learning over the course of the spring term. As part of the White Rose Maths scheme, each phase is broken down into a series of small learning steps. Combined, these small learning steps then cover all the curriculum content your child needs to know in small related chunks.
This term’s small learning steps for each block
| Maths area of learning | Block | Small Learning Steps |
| Number | Alive in 5! | Introduce zero: The children will the number name zero and the numeral 0 can be used to represent this idea.
Comparing numbers to 5: Children continue to understand that when comparing numbers, one quantity can be more than, the same as or fewer than another quantity. Composition of 4 and 5: Children will continue to develop the understanding that all numbers are made up of smaller numbers. |
| Measure, shape and special thinking | Alive in 5! | Compare mass: Children will be encouraged to use the language of heavy, heavier than, heaviest, light, lighter than, lightest to compare items.
Compare capacity: Children will be encouraged to build on their understanding of full and empty to show half full, nearly full and nearly empty. |
| Number | Growing 6, 7, 8 | 6, 7, 8: The children will learn to represent 6, 7 and 8 in different ways and count the required number of objects from a larger group.
Making pairs: Children will begin to understand that a pair is two. Combining 2 groups: Children will begin to combine two groups to find how many altogether. |
| Measure, shape and special thinking | Growing 6, 7, 8 | Length, height and time: Children will begin by using language to describe length and height, e.g. the tree is tall, the pencil is short. Children will continue to order and sequence important times in their day and use language such as now before, later, soon, after, then and next to describe when events happen. |
| Number | Building 9&10 | 9&10: The children will continue to apply counting principles when counting to 9 and 10 (forwards and backwards). They will learn how to represent 9 and 10 in different ways.
Comparing numbers to 10: The children will continue to make comparisons by lining items up with 1-1 correspondence to compare them directly or by counting each set carefully and comparing their position in the counting order. Bonds to 10: The children will explore number bonds to 10 using real objects in different contexts. |
| Measure, shape and special thinking | Building 9&10 | 3-D shape: The children will naturally explore and manipulate 3-D shapes through their block play and modelling. Children will learn and explore all the different properties of 3-D shapes.
Patterns: The children will explore patterns which use items more than once in each repeat for example ABB, AAb, AABB and AABBB |
Past and Present
The children will learn how to compare and contrast characters from stories, including figures from the past.
Example of this in action:
- One of our class texts is ‘’Coming to England’’ by Floella Benjamin. Through this book the children will explore the Windrush Generation and how people’s lives in Trinidad are different from their own.
People, Cultures and Communities
Understand that some places are special to members of their community. Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate different times in different ways.
Example of this in action:
- During this term, the children will have the opportunity to explore Chinese culture and compare how it differs from their own. They will also learn about Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated.
The Natural World
Describe what they see, hear and feel whilst outside. Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them. Recognise some environments that are different to the one in which they live.
Example of this in action:
- The children will be provided with various fruits and vegetables for them to explore using their senses. They will be encouraged to look, smell, touch and taste the items. Time will be given for them to discuss their preferences as they explore the fruits and vegetables. Vocabulary will be introduced, such as rough, smooth, hairy, slimy, shiny, sweet, sour, juicy, crunchy, soft and hard.
Creating with Materials
The children will learn how to create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills. Throughout the term they will develop storylines in their pretend play.
Example of this in action:
- Through our class topic, the children will learn that in the past, people often needed to make their clothes or alter them by adding ribbons, beads or new buttons. The children will be shown how to make a simple pompom. They will be provided with old, plain T-shirts and a selection of beads, wool, buttons, fabric glue, needles and embroidery thread. Together, they will work as a group to transform the T-shirt using the resources. The children will be Supported to share their ideas and work as a group. When all the groups have transformed their T-shirts, they will participate in a fashion show to display the new designs.
Being Imaginative and Expressive
This term the children will explore singing in a group or on their own, increasingly matching the pitch and following the melody. In addition, they will explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups.
Example of this in action:
- Our Charanga music topic for term 3 is ‘Everyone’. The children will explore family, friends, people and music from around the world. Throughout the unit they will Explore high pitch and low pitch in the context of the songs.
- Our Charanga music topic for term 4 is ‘Our World’. The children will explore animals, jungle, minibeasts, night and day, sand and water, seaside, seasons, weather, sea and space. Throughout the unit they will use the starting note to explore melodic patterns using one or two notes.