Year R - Owl Class ​​

Welcome to Owl Class

Class Teacher: Mrs Peachey-Smith

Teaching Assistant: Miss Esson

We also have a wonderful team of support staff who will be working with your children: Miss Oliver, Mrs Woods, Miss Walsh and Miss Gauden.

 

EYFS – Term 4 Curriculum Overview

Food Glorious Food!

This term in Reception, our learning is centred around the theme “Food Glorious Food!” Through carefully chosen, high-quality texts, the children will explore food, culture, community and seasonal change. Our curriculum is play-based, language-rich and carefully sequenced to ensure children build knowledge and skills across all seven areas of learning.

📚 Key Texts This Term

We will be reading and exploring the following books:

• Faruq and the Wiri Wiri 

• Mama Panya’s Pancakes

 

• Off to the Market 

• Papa’s Butter Chicken

• That’s MY Flower

• Hello Spring

These texts will support our learning in Literacy, Understanding the World and Communication and Language, while broadening children’s vocabulary and cultural awareness.

📖 Literacy

Alongside our daily phonics sessions, we will use our key texts — Faruq and the Wiri Wiri, Mama Panya’s Pancakes, Off to the Market, Papa’s Butter Chicken, That’s MY Flower and Hello Spring — within Greg Bottrill’s Drawing Club approach. Through Drawing Club, children immerse themselves in the story world, develop rich vocabulary and generate imaginative ideas before transferring these into mark-making and writing.

This approach allows children to rehearse and apply their phonics skills in a purposeful and engaging way. We will focus on securing CVC word writing, building simple captions and beginning to construct short sentences linked to the characters and events in our stories. Adults will model sentence structure, capital letters, finger spaces and full stops, supporting children to build confidence and independence in their writing.

Through high-quality texts, structured phonics teaching and Drawing Club sessions, we aim to develop enthusiastic readers and writers who can confidently apply their developing knowledge of sounds within meaningful contexts.

 

                    Phonics – Weekly Breakdown (Twinkl Level 3)

• Week 1 – Introduce j, v, w, x  
• Week 2 – Introduce y, z, zz, qu, ch  and tricky words he, she
• Week 3 – Introduce sh, th (think), th (that), ng and tricky words we, me, be
• Week 4 – Introduce ai, ee and tricky word was
• Week 5 – Introduce igh, oa and tricky word my
• Week 6 - Introduce oo (long), oo (short), ar and tricky word you

Daily phonics sessions follow the structure of revisit, teach, practise and apply to ensure secure learning.

This short video is very helpful to watch as it will show you the sound and action for each of the Level 3 sounds your child is going to learn:

Click here for a video of Level 3 sounds

🔢 Mathematics

In Maths, we continue to follow the NCETM Mastering Number programme, focusing on Weeks 16–20. The aim is to develop secure number sense, fluency and flexibility with number through carefully sequenced teaching and practical exploration.

Week 16

• Explore the composition of numbers to 8
• Identify smaller numbers within larger numbers
• Represent number bonds using practical resources
• Understand that numbers can be made in different ways

Week 17

• Strengthen automatic recall of number bonds within 5
• Apply bonds knowledge within numbers to 8
• Compare quantities using language such as more than, fewer than, equal to
• Recognise equal and unequal groups

Week 18

• Explore doubling as two equal parts
• Investigate doubles using practical equipment
• Notice and talk about doubles patterns
• Explain mathematical thinking clearly

Week 19

• Secure understanding of the counting sequence to 8
• Explore the ‘staircase’ pattern when ordering numbers
• Identify one more and one less within 8
• Order and compare numbers confidently

Week 20 

• Consolidate composition, comparison and doubles
• Apply understanding in practical problem-solving
• Explore mass and capacity through hands-on investigation
• Use precise mathematical language in discussion and play

 

🗣 Communication and Language

Children will join in with repeated refrains in stories, listen carefully during discussions and respond appropriately to others. They will practise recalling events in the correct sequence and introducing narratives into imaginative play.

❤️ Personal, Social and Emotional Development

We will continue to support children in developing independence, resilience and emotional regulation. Children are encouraged to keep themselves and others safe, understand the importance of hygiene such as handwashing and persevere when faced with challenge.

🏃 Physical Development

Children will refine gross motor skills by travelling confidently under, over and through equipment and practising safe landing and balance. Fine motor development will focus on controlled mark-making and strengthening the muscles needed for writing.

🌍 Understanding the World

As we move into Spring, children will observe seasonal changes and discuss how environments differ from their own. Through our food-based theme, they will explore cultures and traditions from around the world.

🎨 Expressive Arts and Design

Children will experiment with colour mixing and texture in art, and use instruments and role play to create imaginative storylines within their play.

                                                           

Forest School - Tuesday

 

 Your child will need to come to school in their Forest School kit for these sessions, with their school uniform in their bag to change into. Please provide them with old clothes, water proofs and some wellington boots or snow boots. With the weather changing, please ensure your child has clothes that are warm and waterproof, because the weather is always unpredictable. 

P.E. - Thursday

 Please make sure that your child wears their P.E. kit to school Thursday mornings. This should include shorts, a t-shirt and plimsolls/trainers. They are able to wear their P.E. kits for the rest of the day.

How you can help at home

• Read with your child at least three times a week. Every week on Friday, your child's books will be changed. Please sign the reading record so that you can let us know how they are getting on with their reading at home and so that we can keep track of what books have been read. 
• Practise the phonic sounds we have been learning in class.
• Talk to them about school routines, such as putting their things in their lockers, lunch times, eating, register and tidying up.
• Use the curriculum newsletter to discuss their current learning and encourage them to incorporate what they have been learning into their everyday routines. 
• Explore their interests through play.

Thank you for your support. If you ever have any concerns or questions then please don't hesitate to contact me. I am at the classroom door before and after school or alternatively, you can email me on ClassDojo.

The Term 4 knowledge organiser below will help you to know more about what your child will be learning this term. 

Please click here to access extra phonics, reading and spelling resources.

Please click here to access links to other useful home learning resources published online.

If you are unsure of any log in details please contact the teacher through Class Dojo or email office@pilgrims-way.kent.sch.uk