Spring

During our Spring term we are very excited to have a farmer and some of his farm animals visit us at school. Here we will be able to ask the farmer lots of questions about the animals and find out lots of information them. We will learn facts about them, how to look after them and we will be able to stroke or hold some of the smaller animals. During our Spring topic we will be continuing looking at how the weather is changing, and we will be planting different vegetables in the growing boxes in our outdoor classroom. Each of the children will also plant their own sunflower to take home.

The children have already learnt about Ramadan. We will ask the children to recall information they remember. Some of the things the children learnt about were how it is a religious festival celebrated by Muslim people, that lasts for 29 or 30 days. They will know that during this time Muslim people will go more often to the mosque to pray, read the Qur’an more regularly, do good deeds and fast during daylight hours. The children will be able to talk about the five pillars of Islam which are the five things you must remember to be a good Muslim

1. Shahada: Faith

2. Salat: Prayer, five times a day

3. Zakat: Charity

4. Sawm: Fasting

5. Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca

The celebration that happens after Ramadan is Eid al-Fitr. We will be learning it is an important celebration that happens at the end of Ramadan. Eid al-Fitr means ‘The Festival of Breaking the Fast’. The children will learn that Muslim people celebrate the end of fasting and thank Allah for helping them to be strong enough to fast.  The children will learn about the different traditions that take place such as decorating their homes, praying, sharing special meals and giving gifts.

After this the children will learn about what happens at Passover and Easter. We will talk about the celebration Pascha which is where Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, that comes from the Jewish festival of Passover. Jesus was sharing a Passover meal with his disciples on the day before he died. The children will learn that Easter is known as a moveable feast, because the date changes each year and it’s all because of the moon! Easter Sunday always falls on the first Sunday following the full moon on or after 21st March. We will talk about different Christian traditions and talk about the children’s experiences of how they celebrate Easter.

During the spring topic the children will look at two Artists, Georgia O’Keefe where they will learn about her as an artist and draw the sunflowers they have grown and Carl Faberge who designed eggs using intricate designs and gemstones. Once we have looked at the artist the children will use a variety of media to create their own.

Chinese New Year

We will be learning about the traditions of Chinese New Year and the zodiac story of how each year is named after a different animal. The children will have a Chinese restaurant set up for them to role play different scenarios, they will create lanterns which is thought to bring good fortune, they will explore Chinese letters and trace different symbols. The children will make their own money envelopes, create a card for a family member and learn what Chinese zodiac animal they are depending on when they were born.  

People who help us

Our next topic will be focusing on people who help us. We will be exploring the jobs of a doctor, nurse, firefighter, police officer and dentist.

When learning about doctors and nurses we will talk about their different roles, where they work, the different uniforms they wear, when might you need them and safety around medicines. When learning about police officers and fire fighters we will learn about their job role, the vehicles they drive, the equipment they need and use, where you will find them and how they can help you.

When learning about a dentist we will talk about when and why we visit the dentist, what a dentist does, how we look after our teeth and gums, how to clean our teeth properly and which foods are good for teeth and which foods aren’t if eaten too much. There will be a variety of books for the children to access to retrieve information and a role play area set up to reenact scenarios of going to the dentist.

To finish our topic on people who help us we will have the community officer come in and talk to the children about her job role and the children will get the opportunity to ask questions and try on different uniforms. Also, some fire fighters will come to school with their fire engine where the children will get a chance to sit in it, ask questions and learn about their job first hand from the fire fighters themselves.

Winter

We have been learning about the season Winter. We have spoke about what we like to do when it is winter, the clothes we need to wear and hope that it snows so we can build snowman and have a snowball fight.

We are learning about what changes we will see moving from Autumn into Winter. We looked at a place called Antarctica. It is the world’s windiest, coldest, iciest continent. We learnt about the animals you will see there and did an ice experiment. First we felt the ice and spoke about how it melts from a solid to a liquid and then we tested 4 bowls of ice to see which would melt the quickest. We used sand, baking soda, sugar and salt to melt the ice.

Christmas

As you can imagine, this is one of the children's favourite topics!!  We learn about the true meaning of Christmas linked to Christian's beliefs.  The children listen to the Nativity story and make links from this Christian bible story to the things they see at Christmas time e.g. star/angel on tree, why Christians give presents etc. all linked to the Nativity. We discuss how this story comes from a long, long time ago and why Mary travelled on a donkey rather than in a car or taxi! We look at the story, 'Dear Santa' and get the children to retell it and then add in some new presents to their own story.  The children performed ‘Our Happy Christmas Nativity’ where they practised and said lines, performed dance routines and sang several songs relating to Christmas.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is a time for reflection, honoring those who have sacrificed for our freedom and values. This is also an opportunity to share our school values of respect, kindness, and community. During this topic we explain that Remembrance Day is about thinking of those who have helped make our world a better place. We will create poppies and through this the children learn that poppies are a way to remember and thank those who protected our future. The poppies will then be displayed around the school. We will also talk about and hold a two-minute silence and share with the children that this is a tradition of Remembrance Day. To further help the children to learn about Remembrance Day we set up a trench experience, so they could imagine what it was like for a soldier in the First World War. The children had the opportunity to experience how the trenches may have smelt, the noises that might have been heard, the sights seen and a little of what it was like to be in a trench. This experience helped the children to understand how the soldiers may have felt and what it was like for them. The children enjoyed the experience, and it really supported their understanding.

Firework Night

We learnt about the History of firework night and know that it can also be called bonfire night. The children will learn about Guy Fawkes and what he tried to do to the Houses of Parliament. During this the children will also listen to videos of fireworks and describe the sounds they can hear and what they look like. The children will also learn about how to keep themselves safe and animals around fireworks.

Harvest

We are learning what happens during the festival 'harvest'. We will talk about when you harvest you pick fruit from the trees and you dig up and pick vegetables from the land. Harvest festival is a celebration of food grown on land. We talk about how lucky we are to have food and that some people do not have any food and are starving. We explain the food collected during the harvest festival will be shared and given to people who do not have money to buy food. 

To celebrate harvest we sing songs, pray and decorate our school with baskets of fruit and food. We are learning 2 songs ‘Mr Scarecrow’ who scares birds away so they don’t eat the seeds that the food grows from and 'Big Red Combine Harvester’ that is a machine that cuts the wheat and other plants so they can be eaten.' to celebrate the 'Harvest Festival'.  

Diwali

To celebrate Diwali we have learnt it's the festival of light, the different traditions that take place and the story of Rama and Sita. In the story diva lamps were lighted to guide Rama and Sita home. We also made our own diva lamps. First we molded the clay into the desired shape ensuring there was enough space in the middle to fit a tea light. We then pushed gems or beads into the clay before it dried. We noticed when we first used the clay it was cold, soft and wet but after we left the clay to dry it turned light grey in colour and became firm. We explored this festival in many ways by creating Rangoli patterns, making Diva Lamps and learning about the Rangoli artist Ranbir Kaur.

Autumn

We have been learning all about the season Autumn. We have felt and described different autumnal objects such as leaves, pine cones, acorns and conkers. 

We are learning about what changes happen in Autumn. We have looked at the weather becoming colder, how the leaves have changed colour and have fallen from the trees. We have spoken about how some animals hibernate and what they do to get themselves ready for hibernation.

All about me

Our first topic is all about me. We learn all about each others families, which family members live in our house and how all families are different. We look and name the features of our faces and using mirrors and creative materials the children create their own self portraits.