Through this topic we will be learning about the creatures who live in the sea, sun and water safety and about water pollution.  There will be opportunities to use non fiction books and the internet to find out information.

We will be exploring the following texts:

Communication and Language

Through this topic children will continue to develop their imaginative language and the ability to explain and justify their thoughts.  There will be the opportunity for pupil to consider what it would be like to be a pirate or stranded at sea. We will explore new language such as ‘desert’, ‘cannon’, ‘paradise’, ‘pollution’ and the name of some less well-known sea creatures. Our questioning skills will be developed further when we consider what pollution is, what impact it has, and how we can try to help to reduce this, as well as when drawing similarities and differences between England and the Caribbean Islands when we read 'Rocket Says Clean Up!'.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Our children will consider how the Octonauts demonstrate good team work and how this can be applied to our classroom.  When reading ‘Rainbow Fish’ we will think about how we can be a good friend to others.  This topic allows us to consider what is precious to us- for pirates it’s treasure, for Rainbow Fish it’s his scales, but what is important to us?  The children will demonstrate their understanding of ‘respect’ when we learn about pollution in the ocean.  We will be spending time discussing and taking part in transition activities to allow for a smooth transition into Year 1.

Physical Development

In P.E. we will focus on developing our understanding and skills to complete the variety of activities that we will take part in on Sports Day.  Our children will become more confident in controlling a computer mouse when using the computer program ‘Paint’ to produce their own underwater world.  In our provision there will be opportunities for children to continue to strength their fingers, such as making sea creatures out of pipe cleaners and beads.  They will be able to develop their core strength when using the large construction outside to make boats and submarines.

Literacy

We will continue to develop our skills in using non fiction books to find out information, with pupils confidently using contents and index pages independently. Once we have studied the story ‘Billy’s Bucket’ the children will develop their own ‘bucket book’ where they will be able to use language similar to that in the text to produce their own piece of creative writing.

We will continue to embed the sounds learnt throughout the year.  The children will be given daily opportunities to read and write words with adjacent consonants, such as dragon and swinging.  Pupils will be writing for extended amounts of time, using captions and sentences to record information and their ideas. One-to-one reading and 'tricky words' will still be focused on daily.

Through our provision Pupils will be given opportunities to apply their literacy skills.  They may produce a poster to encourage people not to pollute our seas or to show how to stay safe in the sun or by the water.  Some may decide to make their own treasure map, sea shantie or write a letter to the Octonauts.

Maths

This half term we will be starting with subtraction, using practical resources to help up such as pebbles and 10 frames. After that we will be focusing on shape, identifying these and making new shapes and pictures using these. The children will be identifying doubling numbers by playing various games using dice and dominoes. They will then use their knowledge to learn to share quantities of objects by taking part in a teddy bears picnic. After that the children will identify the pattern in odd and even numbers and this will be available for them to practice in their rainbow time. Towards the end of the half term the children will be consolidating everything they have been taught and practiced through fun mathematical games.  

Understanding the World

Pupils will gain a better understanding of the creatures that inhabit our oceans.  They will learn what water pollution is and why it is a problem for sea creatures.  Pupils will learn about different ways of recycling. When reading 'Rocket says Clean Up!' not only will our children think about pollition, but also use this text to learn more about life on Caribbean islands.  They will look at climate, landscape, and the different fruit that grows in these countries compared to England.  Pupils will also consider how to keep themselves safe when near or in water and when in the sun.  There will be the opportunity for our children to experiment with objects that float and sink, drawing conclusions as to why this might be.  We will think back to our map work earlier in the year and use our previous knowledge to make our own treasure maps.  

Expressive Arts and Design

There will be many opportunities for pupils to develop their creative skills throughout this topic.  We will use the ‘paint’ programme to produce our own underwater pictures. The children will need to think about the properties of different materials to produce their own boat or submarine. There will be the opportunity for pupils to use various materials to produce models of sea creatures.  Pupils will work together to make a collage of our underwater world.  The children will be encouraged to reflect upon their work, thinking about what has worked well and what could be changed or improved upon.

What you can do at home to support your child 

Please continue to read books you may have at home with your child, as well as the school library and reading books that are sent home.  The children are doing fantatsically with their reading.  Can your child spot the digraphs and trigraphs within the word before they sound it out and blend it?

Please continue to help your child to learn to read and spell their ‘Key/Tricky’ words. 

It would be really beneficial for your child to continue to practise their number bonds to 5 and then to 10 at home, as well as doubling numbers to 5.  Some work will come home based on this.