Welcome to the Summer Term in Nursery!

This term, our overarching concept is making connections and in nursery, we will be focussing on 'Traditional Tales'. Throughout this term, we will challenge ourselves to investigate a variety of traditional stories and see if we can make any connections between them. We will look at lots of different ways that traditional tales can be told; books, plays, films, cartoons, ballet etc. We will role-play and challenge ourselves to retell the stories that we are focussing on.

This term, the children will continue to learn sounds during our phonics time. In small groups they will learn individual sounds, words beginning with that sound and how to form the letter. They will also continue to blend simple sounds together and begin their reading journey. The children will also develop their fine motor skills through varied activities in the provision in the classroom; both adult led and child led. The children will also develop their fine motor skills through varied activities. They will be writing in sand, glitter, shaving foam plus use pencils and crayons. The children will be encouraged to use letters and initial sounds in their writing and begin to write from left to right.

Language and Literacy skills are developed throughout all sessions and activities within the day. Children are encouraged to discuss and describe their feelings, activities and ideas. Clear speech is modelled and vocabulary is extended through all of our tasks. Stories and poems will be shared and enjoyed daily while some books will be focused to enhance our learning. We will be focusing on books like, 'The Three Little Pigs', 'The Elves & the Shoemaker', 'Billy Goats Gruff' and 'The Gingerbread Man'.

Mathematics is used as part of all of our daily routines and we will be consolidating all of our previous learning. The children are immersed in number activities from discussing how many children in school to focused maths activities. Children will be given opportunities to explore all aspects of maths from number to pattern, shape and data. They will be encouraged to understand the concept of numbers and extend their mathematical vocabulary.

We will use numicon to allow the children to explore numbers and counting. Children recite up to 10 and beyond both forwards and backwards using songs and rhymes that they recognise, They will be encouraged to start counting from various starting points. Children will be encouraged to compare and order numbers up to 10/20. When counting they will use one-to-one correspondence to help them count up to ten. The children will be encouraged to make marks to represent numbers in their play and to record collections. They will be shown the correct numerals for amounts and encouraged to try and form these numbers. In their play and activities the children will begin to use the concept of ‘one more’ and ‘one less’. Within their role play the children will have opportunities to explore money and coins and 'pay' for items. They will be encouraged to investigate patterns, copy, patterns, repeat and make their own patterns.

This term, we will explore how characters are feeling in the stories we read and discuss how we feel. We will explore construction, challenging ourselves to create houses for ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and bridges for ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff’. We will be challenged to measure and mix ingredients to make our own gingerbread playdough. We will role-play as shoemakers and design our own shoes. We will also continue to develop our physical skills and prepare for our first Sports Day.

The Nursery class will be provided with various opportunities to use role-play to explore their feelings and be encouraged to empathise with how their peers may be feeling. We also have a Thrive Practitioner based in the school that may work one to one or in small groups with some children. These sessions are designed to help children learn to manage their feelings and teach them strategies that will help promote their learning at school. More information on Thrive is available on our website.

Please ensure children bring water bottles with their name clearly labelled on every day and that they contain water and not squash.

Please could all parents ensure that they regularly update their child's spare clothes bag to ensure there are clothes should an accident occur.

We have a number of children in school with a nut allergy. We strive to be a nut free school so please do not send in nut products in packed lunches.

PE is on Friday afternoons, children will need to wear their PE kit to school on a Friday.

Don't forget to download our School App via the Play or App stores - The School App will provide you with up to date information about activities and events at Oldcastle Primary School. Please look out for our weekly newsletter issued via The School App and available on our website on a Friday afternoon. The newsletter contains all forthcoming diary dates for the school.