This half term we will:

• Take part in small group activities such as planting seeds, drawing maps of the playground and building animal habitats, where they follow instructions, complete tasks independently and develop confidence to try new challenges.

• Work collaboratively to create maps of the school environment and build large-scale models (e.g. habitats), sharing ideas, taking turns and listening to others.

• Engage in outdoor learning experiences, including a spring walk and local area exploration, where they learn to follow rules, stay safe and understand expectations beyond the classroom.

• Develop independence and perseverance through hands-on challenges, such as caring for growing plants over time and improving their models and constructions.

• Use language to describe journeys around school and solve problems together, negotiating roles and resolving conflicts during shared activities.

• Take part in role play linked to the community, where they practise cooperation and develop an understanding of real-life situations.

• Reflect on their learning during “Then and Now” discussions, talking about what they have achieved, what has changed and how they can improve their work.

• Show care and responsibility by looking after plants and the outdoor environment, developing a sense of pride in nurturing living things.

• Explore different environments during “Around the World” learning, working together to compare places, share ideas and respond to the thoughts and feelings of others.

End of Spring Term Checkpoint

Self-Regulation

• Can label and talk about own and others’ emotions.

• Responds well to more complex instructions in smaller groups, but can need visual reminders in larger groups.

• Completes set challenges/tasks independently.

• Is able to talk about ways that skills can be improved and to demonstrate pride in achievements.

Manages self

• More confident to tackle new challenges and with encouragement will keep going.

• Follows school and class rules and can talk about their importance.

• Knows some ways to keep healthy.

Building Relationships

• Can cooperate with others, listening and sharing some ideas and will listen to advice about how to solve disagreements.

• Uses words to solve conflicts.

• Takes turns in group activities.

• Identifies how others feel and responds appropriately.

This half term we will:

• Take part in short whole-class teaching sessions, where they learn to listen carefully, switch attention between activities and respond to questions about topics such as seasonal change, maps, animals and the wider world.

• Follow multi-step instructions during practical activities such as planting seeds, creating maps and building habitats, developing their ability to listen, remember and act on what they have heard.

• Engage in group discussions about their local environment, describing journeys around school and responding to questions with relevant comments and ideas.

• Listen to and reflect on stories, non-fiction texts and Assemblies, recalling key themes and linking them to their learning about the world, communities and caring for others.

• Develop their speaking skills through collaborative activities, such as building animal habitats and creating maps, where they share ideas, plan together and explain their thinking.

• Take part in role play linked to real-life experiences, including garden centres, animal habitats and community settings, using talk to develop narratives and express ideas.

• Use newly introduced vocabulary, such as habitat, map, journey, predator, camouflage and environment, within their play and discussions, supported by adults who model and extend language.

• Explore and compare different environments, including rainforests, deserts and polar regions, using talk to describe, explain and make connections between their own experiences and the wider world.

End of Spring Term Checkpoint

Listening, Attention and Understanding

• Can switch attention from one task to another.

• Follows complex instructions.

• Responds to discussion with comments and questions.

• Is able to listen in whole school Collective Worship and recall some of the themes and comments at a later stage.

Speaking

• Enjoys being part of conversations and discussions and uses new vocabulary in context.

• Uses talk in different ways, in imaginative play, to develop thinking, to collaborate and plan with others and to express ideas.

This half term we will:

• Take part in map-making and drawing activities, where they sit at a table, use pencils with increasing control and begin to form shapes and simple representations of their environment.

• Develop fine motor control through planting seeds and gardening activities, using tools such as trowels, watering cans and pots to scoop, pour and handle materials carefully.

• Use scissors during creative and topic-based tasks, such as cutting out plants, animals and materials for habitats or models, developing their ability to cut around more complex shapes.

• Strengthen hand muscles through continuous provision, including construction, malleable materials and small world play linked to habitats, plants and communities.

• Engage in outdoor physical activities, including transporting materials, digging, building habitats and creating large-scale maps using chalk and loose parts.

• Develop balance and coordination while moving across outdoor equipment, including climbing, balancing and travelling safely in the outdoor environment.

• Take part in jumping, climbing and movement activities, supporting strength, control and coordination.

• Build confidence in their physical abilities through active outdoor exploration, learning to take risks safely and use equipment with increasing control.

Reading 

• Listen to and discuss stories and non-fiction texts linked to the topic, including books about growing, animals, and habitats, developing their understanding of story structure.

• Retell and make up their own stories, using topic-specific vocabulary such as seed, habitat, predator, route, camouflage, and practise using new words in context.

• Identify non-fiction texts, recognising labels, captions, photographs, and recalling key facts from them, for example when observing plants, mapping the school, or exploring animal habitats.

• Blend 25 single letter sounds and digraphs to read CVC words, using their phonic knowledge to decode independently in topic-related contexts (e.g., labeling plants, animals, or maps).

• Progress to reading Red Ditty books with confidence, applying phonics to decode words and recalling content accurately.

• Read Red words: the, I, my independently within stories, captions, and writing activities.

Writing 

• Apply their phonics knowledge to writing activities, including labeling plants, animals, maps, and habitats; writing CVC words, captions, and short sentences.

• Develop letter formation and handwriting skills, using a tripod grip for pencils, writing lower-case letters accurately, and beginning to use upper-case letters correctly.

• Use talk to plan, collaborate, and explain their ideas before writing, including in role play, map-making, planting journals, and observation recordings.

• Begin to write simple sentences, using finger spaces between words and re-reading their writing to check it makes sense.

• Share their writing with adults, reading sentences back aloud and talking about what they have written with increasing confidence.

Phonics - Read, Write, Inc.

• Read all 25 Set 1 single- letter sounds. 

• Read 6 digraphs.

• Blend sounds to read words.

• Read short Ditty stories.

• Read Red Ditty stories.

End of Spring Term Checkpoint

Comprehension

• Has a good understanding of story structure and can retell and make up own stories using vocabulary that has been learnt.

• Identifies non-fiction texts, remembering facts.

Word Reading

• Blend 25 single letter sounds and some words with digraphs to read cvc words.

• Read Red Ditty books.

• Read Red words: the I my

Writing

• Writes most lower case letters correctly using a tripod grip.

• Writes some upper case letters correctly.

• Writes cvc words and labels using Set 1 phonemes.

• Spells some Red words: the I no of my he for

• Write captions.

• Is starting to write short sentences.

• Uses finger spacing between words.

• Reads sentences back to an adult.

Counting, Ordinality & Cardinality

• Rolling dice and counting the dots to find the total.

• Using fingers to show numbers and match the same number on each hand.

• Counting collections of objects like blocks, buttons, or gems.

• Building Numberblocks from cubes and counting how many blocks make each Numberblock.

• Ordering objects or Numberblocks by quantity.

• Recognising numbers ‘at a glance’ (subitising) when parts are equal.

• Counting objects in the playground or classroom and matching them to numerals.

Comparison

• Spotting when 2 sets of objects have the same number or a different number.

• Comparing dots on dice and deciding which set has more, fewer, or the same.

• Looking at Numberblocks to notice which has more blocks.

• Comparing objects in trays, discussing which is bigger, smaller, more or less.

• Matching finger patterns to dice or cubes to check equality.

• Sorting and comparing objects by size, colour, or shape.

Composition

• Exploring doubles using dice, fingers, or cubes (2 equal parts).

• Saying sentences like: “___ is made of ___ and ___; ___ and ___ make ___.”

• Arranging objects to show doubles (e.g., 2 and 2, 3 and 3).

• Building Numberblocks and spotting doubles within them.

• Identifying the whole when 2 equal parts are combined (up to 10).

• Predicting the whole of a double without counting.

• Investigating which numbers can be made as doubles and connecting this to even numbers.

• Exploring different ways to arrange the same double.

Shape, Space & Measure

• Sorting objects into shapes and containers (triangles, circles, rectangles).

• Using words like top, bottom, side, and next to when placing objects.

• Sorting objects by size or function (big/small, tall/short, heavy/light).

• Building towers with cubes and comparing heights.

• Arranging Numberblocks in 2 columns to notice flat tops of even numbers.

• Comparing natural objects by length, shape, or weight outdoors.

• Exploring symmetry in patterns, such as butterfly wings, dice, and doubles arrangements.

End of Spring Term Checkpoint

Number

• Developing sense of numbers beyond 5 and can subitise to 6.

• Confidently talks about the different ways that numbers can be made to 5 and is now applying this knowledge to numbers to 10.

• Links subtraction facts to composition of numbers to 5.

• Recalls some double facts to 10.

Numerical Patterns

• Can count beyond 10 and is starting to recognise the pattern of the counting system to help count beyond 10.

• Recognises patterns within number.

Shape, space and measure

• Uses mathematical language to compare and talk about shape and size.

This half term we will:

Past and Present

• Explore “Then and Now” activities, comparing toys, tools, and objects from the past with those used today, talking about how things were different.

• Retell simple stories about past events, linking discussion to changes in the environment, plants, and animals over time.

People, Culture and Communities

• Investigate their local environment, creating maps of the school grounds, identifying key features, and describing journeys around the school.

• Participate in role play and model-making activities linked to the community, including exploring the features of a Christian church and understanding how the school is connected to local churches.

• Compare their local environment with other places, including rainforests, deserts, and polar regions, noticing similarities and differences.

The Natural World

• Take part in planting and growing activities, learning about the features of different plants and observing changes over time.

• Explore animals and habitats, comparing animals, learning their features, and using language such as camouflage, predator, nocturnal, diurnal in context.

• Develop curiosity and general knowledge through hands-on experiences and observations, noticing how plants and animals are the same or different and how they adapt to their environments.

End of Spring Term Checkpoint

Past and Present

• Talks about significant historical events and how things were different in the past.

People Culture and Communities

• Has a wider understanding of the wider world and draws comparisons between own local environment and other places.

• Looks at, and makes maps, of local environment.

• Describes a journey within the local environment.

• Talks about some features of a Christian Church and knows that the school is connected to the churches in the local area.

Natural World

• Has a good general knowledge about living things and the natural world and can describe features of different plants and animals recognising when they are the same and different.

• Understands and uses some language related to animals, e.g. camouflage, predator, nocturnal, diurnal.

This half term we will:

Creating with Materials

• Explore mixing colours and combining materials to create textured artwork inspired by plants, flowers, and animals they observe outdoors.

• Use a variety of tools and equipment for planting, map-making, habitat construction, and model-making, selecting the most appropriate materials to achieve their intended effect.

• Plan designs before starting, such as creating a class map, building a habitat, or designing a garden, and then reflect on how to improve or adjust their work.

• Develop skills in cutting, sticking, painting, and assembling, experimenting with different techniques to achieve desired results.

Being Imaginative and Expressive

• Use the instruments to explore sounds and rhythms linked to the topic, e.g., creating “springtime” soundscapes or animal-inspired music.

• Compose their own music, both individually and collaboratively, reflecting on ideas and using instruments to express concepts like growth, movement, or seasons.

• Engage in role play and storytelling, collecting and arranging resources to create imaginative storylines about growing, animals, and community life.

• Collaborate with peers to develop narratives in outdoor and indoor provision areas, such as animal habitats, gardens, or mini-community settings.

End of Spring Term Checkpoint

Creating with materials

• Uses different techniques and materials to achieve the desired effect and can talk about what has been created.

• Mixes colours to produce different shades and combines materials to create different textures.

• Is beginning to plan a design before starting.

• Uses a range of tools and equipment and selects the most appropriate tool or joining material for the job.

Being imaginative and expressive

• Plays a range of percussion instruments and glockenspiel.

• Uses instruments to compose own music.

• Along with others, collects resources to develop own role play storylines.