Our Fabulous start to Learning in Lower School

Our Aims • To give you some snapshots of what your children are doing in school with us each day. Increase your understanding of the Early Years Curriculum and Y1 curriculum. Give you some hints and tips for things you can do at home. • Ease any worries you may have. Give you a chance to get to know us a little more.

Early Years Curriculum •being willing to try •exploring and finding out •building on past experiences Active Learning •being involved and concentrating •keep trying •developing a growth mindset Creating & Thinking Critically • having their own ideas • making links Playing & Exploring

Year 1 Curriculum Soft start Phonics Guided Reading English Mental maths Maths Art/DT/History/Music/Geography/RE/Science/PE Year 1 Transition at Smallberry Green: Accessing a Year 1 Curriculum whilst engaging in many of the ‘hands-on’ activities enjoyed in Early Years

Our Curriculum based around Key Texts Nursery Reception Year 1 Me, myself and I Let’s Celebrate Harvest, Fireworks, Building a Sleigh, making elf eers etc Inside Out Everyday Superheroes Police crime scene Visitors in Superheroes Traditional Tales Down on the Farm Cooking/planting Wish you were here I’m the king of the castle Hampton Court Once upon a time Fairy tales and Fairy tales with a twist Into the Woods A long time ago Dinosaurs Mini-beasts Under the Sea Aquarium trip Lay a little egg

Progression Pass the shaky eggs around. Make a loud sound. Pass them around without making any noise. Can you hear anything? Find initial sounds in foam. Can you say the phoneme and write it down on your clipboard? Can you find an object in the foam that begins with that phoneme and try to write it down too? You are all superheroes. Put on your capes. You are going to travel to different countries. Can you guess which country the clues come from? Can you locate the countries on a map?

What matters at Smallberry Green? Talking, sharing, challenge, community, ambition, caring, fun and creativity. Why because children who are engaged and see purpose in what they are doing are more effective learners. Building great learners and having a great learning ‘mindset’! Our children can take this with them on their journey throughout life. Successful global citizens.

Role play area Children to write thank you letters to the clinic What do you notice? What learning opportunities does this create for your children? How would it look in Nursery and Reception? Speaking and listening (on the phone, taking appointments), measuring milk, medicine and babies, writing appointments, clock, identifying numbers on the telephone etc. Children to write thank you letters to the clinic Children to map where the patients live Compare modern and olden methods Measure and graph numbers of patients How could this opportunity be extended for Y1 children?

Pre-Cursive Handwriting

Home learning at Smallberry Green Traditional homework is scientifically proven to have very little impact on pupils learning Research says that home learning which has the most impact on learning is practising basic skills through repetition and giving children ownership over what they are doing. Home-learning projects Letter sounds Reading Number bonds/Mathletics

What can you do at home? Read to your child and listen to your child read Encourage drawing, colouring, dot-to-dots, play-dough, plasticine, cutting, crafts, whisking, threading etc to develop fine-motor. Go on adventures and take risks! Eg PARKS!! (Bushy Park, Princess Diana Memorial Gardens, Boston Manor Park, Richmond Park, Ravenscourt Park, Lammas Park, St Pauls Recreation Ground, Warpole Park, Gunnersbury Park, Kew Gardens etc) Cook, shop, read number plates, ordering numbers, identify bus numbers etc. Read football magazines, dinosaur books, animal books, street signs etc Write thank you cards, make birthday cards, shopping lists, postcards etc. Give your child a reason to write! Pretend play eg vets, shop, restaurant etc. Encourage independence eg zipping up coat, getting dressed, using the toilet and cutting own food.

Priorities for this year Attendance and punctuality Support and challenge for all Presentation and pride Taking care of things including handwriting. Extra curricular provision – clubs Have fun, enjoy time with friends and make excellent progress!

Thank you! You have curious, enthusiastic, well-mannered children and we are really enjoying getting to know them. Please help to contribute to Learning Journeys by sending in messages, and photos to our email address earlyyears@smallberrygreen.hounslow.sch.uk. We’d love to hear more about your child’s amazing achievements out of school.