🌸 Summer 1 Term 

Welcome to our Summer 1 term in EYFS! This half-term is full of exciting learning experiences as we continue to explore, create, and grow together. 

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This half term, our learning will centre around the theme of Growing, where children will explore how living things develop and change over time. We will observe and learn about the life cycles of caterpillars, tadpoles and flowers, encouraging curiosity about the natural world and how to care for living things.

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In PSHE (Jigsaw – Relationships), children will be introduced to the key relationships in their lives. They will learn about different types of families and the important roles people play within them. We will also explore friendships, focusing on what makes a good friend and how we can show kindness, respect and care for others.

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As part of RE, we will be thinking about the question: “Which places are special and why?” Children will have opportunities to reflect on places that are meaningful to them and others, developing respect for different beliefs and experiences.

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In Physical Development, we will continue to build overall body strength, balance, coordination and agility through regular use of our outdoor play equipment. As part of their physical aspect of the curriculum children will also begin to develop the foundations of a handwriting style that is fast, accurate and efficient. Alongside this, we will focus on improving fine motor skills, helping children to confidently and safely use a range of tools such as pencils, paintbrushes, scissors, knives, forks and spoons.

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As part of our literacy learning this half term, we will be exploring a range of high-quality texts, including I’m in Charge!, Hugless Douglas and The Journey, to inspire and develop the children’s love of reading. Through these stories, we will build comprehension skills, expand vocabulary and deepen enjoyment of books. We will also be explicitly teaching new vocabulary from these texts to support children’s understanding and use of language.

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We will continue to recap Level 3 phonics to ensure secure understanding, while beginning to focus on Level 4. In Level 4 (following the Twinkl Phonics scheme), children consolidate their knowledge of previously learned sounds and focus on blending and segmenting longer words, including those with adjacent consonants (e.g. CVCC and CCVC words). This stage supports children in becoming more fluent and confident readers and writers.

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This half term, we will be learning a range of poems from our Poetry Basket, including I Have a Little Frog, Five Little Peas, Monkey Babies, Dance, Pitter Patter and If I Were So Very Small. These poems will support the development of children’s literacy skills, including rhythm, rhyme, language development and confidence in speaking and performing.

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In Mathematics this half term, our focus will be on shape. Children will learn to recognise and name a range of 3D shapes and begin to explore their properties. We will also investigate how 2D shapes can be found within 3D shapes, as well as identifying 3D shapes in the environment around us. These activities will help to develop children’s spatial awareness, mathematical language and understanding of the world.

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In Understanding the World this half term, children will explore the roles people play within our community, both now and in the past. They will learn to name and describe familiar people such as police officers, firefighters, doctors and dentists, developing an understanding of how these roles help us. We will also focus on respect, recognising that some places are special to different members of our community, and encouraging children to talk about and ask questions about their local area, including features such as houses, farms, shops and churches. Children will have opportunities to explore their local environment by talking to others, looking at photographs and visiting nearby places. We will also introduce simple mapping skills, using pictures and photos to identify and place key landmarks, as well as drawing information from a simple map during our local area walk. Alongside this, children will develop their understanding of the natural world by learning about the key features of life cycles of plants and animals.

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We are looking forward to a busy and exciting half term, full of new experiences and opportunities for the children to explore, discover and grow. Thank you for your continued support—we look forward to sharing the children’s learning with you.