Explorers 1: Take a Look at a Book/ Our Community, Our Story

This term, the children in Explorers 1 will be exploring a wide variety of carefully selected books as we continue to develop a love of reading, storytelling and sharing stories together. Through traditional tales, picture books, rhymes, information books and stories about people and places, the children will have opportunities to listen, talk, ask questions, make predictions and share their own ideas and experiences.

Each book will be chosen to support different areas of learning and development while encouraging curiosity and imagination. The children will take part in enjoyable, hands-on activities inspired by the stories they encounter. These may include:

• Creating artwork and models using a range of materials

• Dressing up and acting out familiar stories

• Using puppets and small-world figures to retell events

• Exploring songs, rhymes, movement and music

• Taking part in simple counting, matching, sorting and problem-solving activities

• Investigating natural and everyday objects connected to a story

• Talking about characters, settings, feelings and events

• Creating their own stories, pictures, maps and marks

These experiences will help the children to develop their communication, early literacy, numeracy, creativity, confidence and ability to work alongside others. They will also learn to handle books carefully, recognise that print carries meaning and understand that stories can be told in many different ways.

Our reading and storytelling activities will be linked to the whole-school topic, “Our Community, Our Story”. Through this topic, the children will begin to learn more about their village and the wider local area. We will explore what makes our community special, including its people, buildings, natural environment, traditions and stories. The children will be encouraged to notice familiar places, talk about where they live and share what they already know about their local area.

Our practical learning experiences may include:

• Going on supervised walks around the village to look for important buildings, signs, landmarks and natural features

• Listening carefully for sounds in our local environment

• Looking at photographs and simple maps of the village

• Creating a large class map using photographs, drawings and models

• Building familiar places with blocks, construction materials or recycled resources

• Setting up role-play areas based on places in the community, such as a shop, café, post office, library or doctor’s surgery

• Meeting or learning about people who help within our community

• Exploring local plants, wildlife, seasons and weather

• Comparing photographs of the village from the past and present

• Sharing family stories, local memories and favourite places

• Learning simple Welsh words and phrases connected to our community and surroundings

These activities will help the children develop a strong sense of belonging and encourage them to appreciate the people, places and stories around them. Their questions and interests will help guide our learning, giving them an important role in deciding what we explore next.

Families are an important part of this topic, and we would be delighted if you could support your child by talking about your local area at home. You might look at family photographs, point out familiar places during a walk, visit the local library, share a favourite story or talk about people who help in the community. If you have any photographs, memories, interesting local stories or ideas that could enrich our learning, we would love to hear from you.

We are looking forward to exploring, discovering and celebrating “Our Community, Our Story” together.