Welcome to Magpies 

Class Teacher - Miss Fox

LSP - Mrs Bell and Miss Di-Vito

email:     class.magpies@burnttree.sandwell.sch.uk

Summer Term

Our learning

Communication and Language (C&L)

In Reception, children will be exposed to a range of new vocabulary that links to our topics, taught sessions and throughout their independent play and exploration. Children will be challenged to use and apply new vocabulary throughout the day and when talking about what they have been learning. Children will develop their thinking and listening skills through stories, class discussions and group activities. They will use well-formed sentences when communicating their ideas and thoughts and will begin to ask questions.  Children will be exposed to a range of different stories, poems, rhymes, songs and non-fiction books.

Personal, Social, Emotional Development (PSED)

Throughout the year, children will build relationships with their peers and adults. They will learn how to take turns and share with others, as well as showing an understanding of other people's wants and needs. Children will learn how to express their feelings and gain an understanding of the feelings of others. Through this, they will learn about the perspectives of others and how to form positive relationships and friendships. Children will learn how to manage their own needs, including getting changed independently, putting their coats on and washing their hands.

Physical Development (PD)

Children will develop both their fine and gross motor skills throughout their time in Reception. Children will be shown how to hold a pencil correctly using a tripod grip and how to form letters and numbers correctly. They will learn how to use tools competently, including using scissors to cut.

Throughout their continuous provision and taught PE sessions, children will learn the skills to develop body strength, co-ordination, balance and agility. They will develop ball skills including throwing, catching, kicking ,passing, batting and aiming. 

They will learn about how to live a healthy lifestyle through their diet and daily exercise.  

Literacy

At Burnt Tree, we follow Read, Write, Inc. Children are assessed every half-term and put into groups that match their phonic knowledge. During phonics, children are taught sounds, how to blend and segment words, and will begin to read story books. Children will then take a phonics book to read at home that matches their phonics ability.

In addition to their phonics lessons, children will complete writing linked to the termly topic and will be encouraged to read and write throughout the school day and during their continuous provision. Each class has a book corner where children are able to read for pleasure throughout the day. Children also have access to our Early Years library, where they can take a book of choice home to share with their parents/guardians.

Maths

At Burnt Tree, we follow the maths scheme White Rose Maths. In Reception, we focus on developing a secure understanding of numbers to 10, as well as exploring capacity, time, shapes, measurement, pattern and positional language. We enhance our continuous provision to enable children to apply their learning to a range of different contexts during their play. 

Understanding the World (UW)

Each half-term, we focus on the current season and the world around us. We learn about the seasonal changes and how the natural world has changed, as well as links to the people who help us, mini-beasts, animals, planting and growing, celebrations and transport and travel. Through this it allows us to make links between our current and prior learning and enables us to explore the similarities and differences of the seasons and the world around us. Throughout the year, we learn about lots of different celebrations, cultures and religions and celebrate the diversity of our school. 

Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)

Children will develop their artistic and cultural awareness through their creativity and imagination. They will explore and play with a range of media and materials, including collage, junk modelling, painting, drawing and using natural objects. 

Children will listen to and learn songs from different cultures, as well as nursery rhymes and songs that relate to our topics. 

Through taught music sessions, children will learn how to match pitch, follow a melody, keep a steady beat, tap rhythms and respond to changes in sound. 

Children will take part in The Nativity performance as well as learning Spring/Easter songs for their Easter bonnet parade. In addition, children will learn songs at the end of the year to perform at their graduation. 

Look what we have been doing...

Summer term

During the summer term we have been learning about lots of different things - come and take a look!

 

Stickman Scarecrow

We entered the Forge Mill Farm scarecrow competition. We love Julia Donaldson books and one of our favourites is Stickman! We made him out of recycled materials.

Butterflies

It was so exciting seeing our caterpillars build their cocoons and watch them evolve into butterflies. We loved releasing them into the world, and they even let us hold them!

Searching for signs of summer

We have been exploring our outdoor environment to look for signs of summer. We used our senses to find out what we could see, smell, hear and touch. 

Planting

We have been planting lots of different plants, herbs and fruits in our garden. We have learnt how to look after them and we are really enjoying watching them grow!

Chicks

We have been so lucky to have chick eggs in the Early Years this half-term. We were so excited to watch them hatch and learn about how to look after them. We make sure they are kept warm, have food and water and that they have a nice bed to sleep in. We cannot believe how much they have grown!