Phonics:
Children in Foundation are thriving in phonics and are reading real words quickly. They are beginning to read alien words with greater accuracy and fluency. There are individuals who are now starting to write sentences and are being taught set 3 sounds. Please continue to listen to your child read at home and access the phonics home learning documents to strengthen their understanding so they continue to make progress.

Maths: 
This term we have been learning to count to 20. Children are challenged to recognise and write the numbers. They were also using different mathematical resources to represent a number between 1 – 20.

Understanding the World:
This half term we have started to learn all about animals. We have looked at animals that live on the farm and animals that we might have as pets. The children were excited when Mrs. Keenan brought her chickens into school for them to observe and talk about. Mr. Johnston also visited us with his dog Maggie, the children were able to ask him lots of questions about Maggie and how to care for her. We are going to compare animals that live in the UK with those that live in Africa later this half term as well as looking at animals that live in the sea.

Continuous Provision:
The children have had a Vet’s Clinic in the role play area where they have had the opportunity to reinforce their learning about animals and how to care for them. They have  also used play dough to model different animals and have made farm animal face masks using different collage materials.

Reading:
Our focus books for this half term were Stanley’s Stick and Splash, Anna Hibiscus!. After reading Stanley’s stick, the children used their imagination to think of different ways they could use their sticks. Pen, Pencil, walking stick, wand, and brush were some of the ways they used their sticks.

The children also enjoyed reading Splash, Anna Hibiscus. They listened to a beach-setting video without watching it and then used their imagination to draw a picture of what they thought could be on the cover page. Through the book talk, the children explored the setting and the characters and wrote a sentence about them. Next half term we will be reading about The Gruffalo and Biscuit Bear. 

Writing:
In English, the children have been writing about the story of Farmer Duck and have been using lots of their phonic sounds, including some special friends! They also had a go at using tricky words in their writing.

 

Next term, the children will be focusing more on how to extend sentences using ‘and’.