In terms 3 and 4 we will be building on the skills the children have already developed and supporting them to:

• Develop their phonological awareness to be able to complete a rhyming string, begin to use sound buttons to identify how many sounds are in a word and supply words with the same initial sound.

• Recognise all taught phase 2 and phase 3 sounds, including some digraphs.

• Re-read phonetically decodable books to build up their confidence in word reading, their fluency and their understanding and enjoyment.

• Blend sounds into words, so that they can read short words made up of known letter– sound correspondences.

• Read simple sentences containing known letter sound correspondences containing 1 or 2 common exception words.

Through our phonic scheme children will develop the skills to use sound buttons to identify sounds in a word as well as supplying words with the same initial sound. Children will recognise all taught phase 2 sounds as well as developing knowledge of their diagraphs and trigraphs. Children will continue to develop the skill of blending sounds into words so that they can read short words made up of known letter-sound correspondences. To enhance their reading further, and develop their fluency, children will develop the skill of reading simple sentences and common exception words. Children will be taking books home as they continue to learn to read and re-read phonetically decodable books to build up their confidence in word reading, their fluency and their understanding and enjoyment.

In terms 3 and 4 we will be building on the skills the children have already developed and supporting them to:

• Write short sentences with words with known sound- letter correspondences, using a capital letter and a full stop.

• Begin to use capital letters, finger spaces and full stops in independent writing.

• Develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient. Begin to use tripod grip. (Physical Development)

Building on from the handwriting skills they have developed in terms 1 and 2, children will be using their phonic knowledge to help them write short sentences learning to use a capital letter and full stop. Children will begin to use finger spaces in their writing. Through our weekly writing activities children will develop the foundations of handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient and they will begin to use tripod grip. We will continue to follow the Monster Phonics handwriting scheme to ensure letter formation is consistent. Writing activities will include writing a list of things to take to space, labelling pictures of space, writing about the moon and the planets. In term 4 writing activities will include wiring about castles, knights and dragons.

In terms 3 and 4 we will be building on the skills the children have already developed and supporting them to:

• Answer questions about a text that has been read to them.

• Begin to predict what might happen next in a story.

• Begin to use modelled vocabulary during role play for example in the Small World. 

• Seek familiar texts or stories to re-read in the book area.

• Request favourite stories and poems.

The classroom is well stocked with an attractive collection of carefully-chosen quality literature and nonfiction books to interest boys and girls, care is taken to ensure that the individual child's interests are taken into consideration.

The children are read to daily at several timetabled opportunities from quality literature including authors such as Julia Donaldson, Oliver Jeffers, Janet and Allan Ahlberg,  Eric Carle and Judith Kerr. We have a story of the week so we can develop comprehension and this story links to our topic. For our topic 'Space' we will read stories such as:

• Whatever Next, Jill Murphy

• Meet The Planets. Caryl Hart

• Moon, Britta Teekentrup

• How To Catch A Star, Oliver Jeffers

• Here We Are, Oliver Jeffers

• The Way Back Home, Oliver Jeffers

• The King Of Space, Jonny Duddle

In addition to this, we will read stories which link to the winter season such as:

• Robins Winter Song, Suzanne Barton.

• Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak

• The Very Long Sleep, Polly Noakes

• Animals in Winter, Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder

• Hibernation, Tori Kosara

• What Can you see in Winter?

We will also read the story 'The Great Race' by Christopher Corr so we can learn about Chinese New Year.

During Term 4 our Topic is 'Castles and Knights'. We will read stories which link to our topic such as:

• Jack and The Beanstalk, Anna Milbourne

• George And The Dragon, Christopher Wormell

• The Castle The King Built, Rebecca Colby

• The Very Last Castle, Travis Jonker

• The Knight Who Wouldn't Fight, Helen Docherty

• George, The Dragon And The Princess, Christopher Wormell

Our learning will be further enhanced with our ‘knight school training day’.

In terms 1 and 2 the children learnt:

Term 1 – s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss

Term 2 – j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, th(v), ng, oo (long), ar

In terms 3 and 4 we will be building on the phonic knowledge and skills the children have already developed and enhancing learning further, learning the sounds:

Term 3 - oo (u), ow, ee, ur, ai, or

Term 4 - oa, er, igh, air, oi, ear, ure