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Bottesford Infant School

Tall Oaks From Little Acorns Grow

ORANGE

Welcome to the Orange class page!

The class teacher in Orange class is Miss Parker and the Teaching Assistant is Mrs Bell.

Mrs Arrand, Mrs Holmes and Mrs White support and help us too!

Our PE days are Monday and Friday; please send your child's PE kit in on a Monday and we will send it home on a Friday.

We give out homework books on a Friday and collect them in on a Wednesday.

Our reading books will be changed on a Wednesday. Our library day is Thursday where we visit the school library and change our chosen book.

Please follow our Twitter page @Miss_N_Parker for more exciting updates!

Our whole school theme for the Spring term is 'Bottesford on Tour' and our essential question is 'What is life like on the other side of the world?'.

Our immersive classroom has been transformed into Australia complete with Bondi Beach, Uluru, Sydney, the Outback, the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. Each week we will learn about a different place before comparing life in Australia to life in the United Kingdom. We will make links with Australia and have already received some drawings from children at a school in Croydon, New South Wales. As a result of the devastating fires that have destroyed parts of Australia in recent months we also plan to raise funds throughout the project. Our exhibition will take place on Thursday 26^th March at 2.00pm… all will be revealed soon!

If you have any questions or would like to speak to a member of staff in Orange class please find us at the end of the school day. Alternatively, our learning mentor Mrs Holmes is available on the playground in the mornings.

The Early Years Foundation Stage has 7 areas of learning.

Here is what we will be covering in the Spring term:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

We will be learning and playing in lots of different ways, including independently, with a partner and in a group. When working independently we will make choices about how and where we would like to learn. We will be playing turn taking and small circle games, following rules. We will complete the Jigsaw pieces ‘Dreams and Goals’ and ‘Healthy Me’. We will develop our problem solving and negotiation skills, as well as our understanding of the school values. We will present with confidence when being filmed for our exhibition… more details to follow!

Communication and Language

We will complete listening activities/games and circle times to develop our listening skills. We will orally retell stories and events with actions, act out familiar stories and create our own stories using story maps to develop our language and vocabulary. We will develop our understanding of stories and ability to answer questions during Guided Reading and class story times. We will speak with confidence during exhibition preparation.

Physical Development

We will be continuing to develop our control and co-ordination in a range of movements during time in our classroom and outdoor area, PE and playtimes. We will take care of our personal hygiene including washing hands, toileting, dressing and undressing for PE and getting own coat on and off. We will be beginning to learn the cursive script during Handwriting sessions. We will continue to develop our awareness of the importance of health and exercise. We will move to music and follow the Primary Steps in PE scheme of work throughout. We will take part in a Bottesford Colour Run and Cricket taster session with ‘All Stars’; we will also take part in the Get Ahead ‘It’s catching’ challenge.

Literacy

We will further develop our reading and writing skills in our daily Read Write Inc. lesson, as well as Guided Reading and Guided Writing sessions, applying our phonic knowledge and tricky red words throughout. We will continue to develop our ability to answer questions about characters/events and make predictions in Guided Reading and class story times, as well as our understanding of fiction and non-fiction. We will write sentences using finger spaces and full stops. We will celebrate World Book Day and all receive the book ‘The Cave’ after an exciting book session in school.

Mathematics

We will be learning about addition and subtraction and using our skills to solve simple mathematical problems. We will learn about doubling, halving and sharing, as well as, time, money and shape. We will learn how to count in 10’s, 5’s and 2’s as well as number facts; we will apply these skills when counting and solving problems. We will order numbers in lots of different ways.

Understanding the World

As part of our project we will learn about life in Australia and compare that to our life in the UK. In particular, we will learn about Sydney, Bondi Beach, Uluru, the Outback, the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. We will also learn about the devastating fires in Australia and how we can help. We will make links with schools in Australia and use technology to connect with them in different ways. We will celebrate Australia Day, Safer Internet Day and Chinese New Year. We will learn about aboriginal art and music through a Didgeridoo and Art workshop. We will talk about time and seasonal differences around the world and use technology in lots of different ways, including filming for our exhibition and reading apps during Guided Reading time.

Expressive Arts and Design

We will learn about aboriginal art and music through a Didgeridoo and Art workshop; we will also make our own didgeridoos using aboriginal art techniques. We will use collage and Critique to create Sydney Opera House and kangaroo pieces of art. We will act out experiences in our play in role-play areas such as the Airport and Bondi Beach. We will move to music and learn songs throughout the project.

Key books for the term ahead include Over in Australia, Living in Australia, There’s an Ouch in my Pouch!, Diary of a Wombat, Possum and Wattle, Are we there yet?, Joey the Kangaroo and Gilbert the Hero. We will also read lots of non-fiction books linking to our project.