PLEASE SEE THE ‘HOME LEARNING’ PAGE TO SEE MORE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AT HOME
‘Who are the people in our past and present?’
This term our enquiry question is “Who are the people in our past and present?” We began the term by exploring fictional superheroes and thinking about the qualities that make someone a hero. We have now moved on to learning about real-life heroes, such as police officers, firefighters and doctors, and the important roles they play in keeping us safe and helping others.
It is an exciting term as we explore what these real-life superheroes do today and how their roles, uniforms and equipment have changed over time. We are also hoping to welcome visits from the police and fire service, giving the children valuable real-life experiences and a chance to learn directly from the people who help our community every day.
At Stoke Bishop we follow a programme called Mastering number. The children really enjoy the materials that we use to teach the programme, especially the number blocks aspect.
Mastering Number starts by building on the children previous experiences of number from home and Pre School.
During Term 2 there is a focus on:
- the ‘fiveness of 5’ using one hand and the die pattern for 5.
- comparing sets and using mathematical language, such as, more than, fewer than, an equal number.
- exploring the concept of ‘whole’ and ‘part’.
- the composition of 3, 4 and 5.
- practice object counting skills.
- match numerals to quantities within 10.
- verbal counting beyond 20.
In addition, continuous provision is available for the children during independent ‘explorer time’. This is where the children can develop their mathematical skills independently through their play, for example playing games, solving maths problems and exploring capacity, weight and time in the outside garden.
We use Unlocking Letters and Sounds which was validated by the DfE in December 2021. We begin teaching phonics in the first few weeks of term 1 in Reception and children make rapid progress in their reading journey. Children begin to learn the main sounds heard in the English Language and how they can be represented, as well as learning ‘Common Exception’ words for Phases 2, 3 and 4.
Term 3
In Term 3 and 4, the children will be completing Phase 3 Mastery. Phase 3 Mastery gives all children the opportunity to develop a deep understanding and competence in the phase. Revisiting GPCs taught in this phase and asking children to retrieve previously taught knowledge will support their retention of sounds and common exception words. Phase 3 Mastery also further builds the children’s understanding, allows teachers to address any common misconceptions and further develops children’s fluency and automaticity when using these sounds.
We will be revisiting the GPCs in the same order as phase 3, so please refer to the previous videos and Phase 3 sound mat to support at home. With home learning this term, we will be focusing on reading words with digraphs and trigraphs in and writing words.
Reading books
As part of the phonic programme, we use regular assessment to help children keep up with the pace and provide additional support where necessary. Through this regular assessment we send home books that are matched to your child’s phonic ability. To start with the children will be sent home with a picture book to discuss. Some children will now be receiving books with words. We are only giving out books with words to children that can blend and know the sounds that are in the book. Do not panic, if your child does not have a book with words. We continue to work on learning and blending the sounds together daily.
Useful documents to help your child with their reading and writing.
More information about our phonic scheme can be found on the website under curriculum – phonics.
As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.