Spring 2025

Welcome back Reception!

Mrs Whittall and Mrs Campbell are excited to welcome you back to St Mary’s. This term we have some exciting topics and experiences in store. We look forward to a fantastic term.

General information

• Please tie up long hair.
• Please have a bottle of water at school everyday. This can be refilled as necessary.
• Reading diaries will be checked on a Friday. Please ensure your child has read at least 3 times.
• All school uniform should be named.
• A full PE kit should be in school at all times.

PE will be outside whenever possible so please account for this when sending in your child's PE kit.

 Our Aims

We offer a curriculum rich in wonder and memorable experiences. We provide a stimulating environment that provides exciting opportunities, promotes challenge, exploration, adventure and a real love of learning.
It is our intent that all children develop physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally in an environment which values all cultures, communities and people. We aim for our children to be confident and independent, to believe in themselves and interact positively with others.
Play is an integral part of learning. A mix of adult directed and uninterrupted child-initiated play ensures the best outcomes for pupils.
Warm and positive relationships between staff and children, consistent routines and strong relationships with parents are key.

Our Christian Values

During the Spring Term, our Christian values are Respect and Courage.

"Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the King." 1 Peter 2:17

 

 

 

Reading

This half term we will begin phase 3 of the Little Wandle scheme.

We will use the Little Wandle scheme of work for our Phonics lessons and to develop reading and spelling strategies. Our we daily routine will include phonics and reading sessions.

Your child will continue to bring home a ‘Phonics Reader’ and a ‘Love of Reading’ book. Regular reading at home is essential and we ask that you read the ‘Phonics Reader’ book with your child, at least 3 times per week. We suggest that you question your child regularly about the book they are reading to develop a deeper understanding of a range of texts, to develop new vocabulary and to strengthen writing skills.

Our class books for this half-term include ‘Naughty Bus’ and ‘Six Dinner Sid.’

 

                                                                                 

                         

 

Writing

We will continue to focus on our fine motor skills in order to prepare our hands for writing. We will start to think about and plan what we are going to write and consider what letters will be used to do this. We will continue to develop our pencil control to support handwriting and will be writing words and captions using our phonics.

 

 

 

Maths

As mathematicians, the children will learn through concrete experiences moving onto pictorial and abstract methods as their confidence builds. They will also be expected to use their learning to reason about maths and solve problems. 

During the spring term, pupils will continue to develop their subitising and counting skills and explore in detail, numbers 5,6,7 and 8. We will be exploring positional language and looking at size, length, weight, mass and capacity.

 

 

 

Understanding of the World

People Culture and Communities

This half term we will be focusing on different occupations and considering how people provide support and contribute to society. We will also be looking at Lunar New Year.

Natural world

We will be studying the change in seasons and exploring everyday materials using our senses. Taking inspiration from our focus text ‘Naughty Bus,’ we will be looking at different landmarks and making and plotting simple maps.

 

Past and Present

We will be looking at influential figures from the past such as Florence Nightingale and Neil Armstrong and finding out about how their historical role in society has influenced present time.

 

RE

For RE we will use the Questful RE planning. This half term we will explore different places of worship.

Justice and Responsibility

As we continue to live our lives and act out the teachings of Jesus, we will continue to focus on justice and responsibility and will challenge big questions.

PE

Our PE will concentrate on dance, gymnastics and net games to develop our bat and ball skills.

 

Art and DT

As artists, we will be influenced by the work of Claude Monet to produce our own artwork using natural resources and other media.

                                  

PSHE

In PSHE, we will follow the Heartsmart scheme and introducing the Heartsmart principle of ‘Too much selfie isn’t healthy!’. We will be guided by Boris, the Heartsmart mascot and learning about the importance of loving ourselves and thinking of others.

Music

As musicians, we will be using Charanga to explore different music genres and new terminology. This half term we will focus on the topic ‘Everyone.’

We will also be learning lots of new songs and rhymes.

 

Possible trips & visitors

We are hoping to have visitors from different professions in to talk to us about their jobs and plan to visit Halton Lea library.