Reception have made a fantastic start to the Spring Term and the children have settled in very well. 

Reception Class Teacher - Mrs Brotherton and Miss Mullins  Learning Support Officer - Mrs Sally Harris

Reception Class Teacher - Mrs Parker and Learning Support Officer - Mr Levy

• January - Determination and Perseverance

• February - Honesty and Trust 

• March - Learning and Effort

This term we will continue to follow our Literacy curriculum which is a book-based approach utilising high-quality texts to foster a love of stories. The stories we will be focusing on are  'I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato' and 'The Extraordinary Gardener'. 

This term will have a larger focus on reading and writing skills. Children will be expected to read and write simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) and tricky words that can not be sounded out. Children have also begun to read their individual reading books or practice their sounds and words with an adult weekly at home; the beginning of an exciting reading journey! The children will begin to focus on forming letters that are consistently sized and correctly orientated. Children are also learning to write initial sounds, CVC words and then use their phonic and word knowledge to write extended phrases.   

Children will continue using incidental Welsh through our daily activities and Helpwr Heddiw sessions.  Children will be encouraged to respond and ask questions through stories, songs and rhymes.  Children will also celebrate St. David's Day by participating in 'Welsh Week' and take part in Welsh based activities to celebrate the Eisteddfod and St. David's Day.

During mathematics, children will continue to deepen their understanding of number concepts. They will begin to read, write, compare and order numbers to 20.  We will begin to use ten frames in our counting and encourage the children to visualise what they can see and what is missing. We will also be using dice, counters and number blocks. We will continue to explore different mathematical concepts through stories, songs and rhymes. They will explore numbers and concepts through day to day activities and play. This term we will continue to think about addition and subtraction, adding and subtracting 1 from numbers to 10 using a variety of equipment. We will use 'Numicon', loose parts, pegs and ten frames.

Children will listen to and continue to use and respond to mathematical language and key vocabulary. We will continue to use sentence stems and a variety of mathematical language e.g. '.... is bigger than', '.... is smaller than', '..... is fewer than', '.....larger than'.  We will explore non standard measures including size, height, length, distance. 

Children will continue to explore 'Numicon' shapes and investigate these in their play and structured activities. They will recognise and name 2D and 3D shapes in their environment and play with shapes by making models and pictures.

This term our unit of work will enable pupils to explore the movement of living and non-living things. Pupils will explore the characteristics of living and non-living things and understand that movement is a vital part of this. We will continue to prioritise our practical health and well-being sessions, concentrating on understanding how our bodies move and the impact of movement on our physical and mental health. We will continue to take our learning outside to provide endless opportunities for exploration, experimentation and contextual learning whilst strengthening a connection to nature. These lessons, can help develop teamwork, resilience and improve a child's mental health and well-being.  Our literacy books, will naturally lead a discussion on healthy eating and the importance of nature for our well-being. 

Our unit title for this term is ‘Our Wonderful World’. During our other areas of learning experiences, we will learn about living and non-living things. Children will go on a walk around the school to explore what is living and what is non-living. We will explore animal environments and habitats. Children will look at images of themselves as babies and toddlers and observe and discuss how they have changed. Children will then match animals to their infants and notice how they change and grow. Children will begin to explore non-living things and how forces work to create push, pull, floating and sinking. For Expressive Arts, we will create collages, learn songs, paint pictures and create murals.

• Please ensure children’s water bottles have water in them and not squash.  Bottles need to be clearly labelled with their names. 

• PE will continue to be on a Wednesday afternoon and children will need to wear their PE kit to school on their PE day. 

• Please ensure all clothing is clearly labelled, including gloves, hats and scarves as children continue to bring these in during the colder weather. 

• We have a fruit snack in the afternoon, so if you wish your child to have a fruit snack, please send in a small tub, with fruit cut up and prepared. Please do not send in whole grapes.

• We do have some children in school with a nut allergy, we aim to be a nut free school so please do not send in sandwiches or snacks that contain peanut products.  

• Please ensure that you keep us informed of any updated allergies and medical information. 

• Any questions please feel free to speak to staff in the mornings or afternoons, alternatively,  email the school ask account - ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk

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.