Mayfield Primary SchoolEarly Years: Autumn Term
THE FIRST STEPS ON THE JOURNEY: AUTUMN IN EARLY YEARS
OUR CORE INTENTION IN ACTION
Take a look at the page below, including our curriculum project information posters, and download copies at the base of the page. Our year overview is also available to download below.
Please click here for our Phonics: Resources page for the latest practical support for learning at home.
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I Dream Of Being... starts with a theme all about 'Me & My Family' with a big question asking What Makes Me Special? It is a great way to welcome our children to their setting with a theme that focuses upon what is special and important about themselves and those they love. Our core texts draw upon these questions through texts such as My Family & Other Families by Richard & Lewis Edwards-Middleton. Texts play a vital role in our time together and we read aloud books with a sense of family and chronology this term including Starting School by Janet and Allan Ahlberg and Dear Daddy by Philippe Dupasqier amongst many others. We also love Memory Bottles by Beth Shoshan and My Great Grandpa by Martin Waddell.
We move into a celebrations theme during the second half-term between Halloween and Christmas. We call this 'Glitter & Sparkles'. It means we can introduce, capture and share a season of celebration and events for so many cultures and beliefs. Our core texts highlight some of these: The Best Diwali Ever by Sonali Shah and Funny Bones by Allan Ahlberg. We read aloud and share Snow Bear by Piers Harper and Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll & Jan Pienkowski and take a look at texts related to other festivals including The Chinese Dragon which is a collection of tales.
Our phonics session take place every morning across the term, starting the day with our pacy sessions with children grouped to meet their starting point need and point of learning. We match, sort and compare in Mathematics. Focus upon patterns. Study circles and triangles and shapes with four sides and consider the numbers 1-5. We introduce simple body parts, our senses and healthy eating during My Body and compare the seasons of Autumn and Winter and its many changes during Light & Dark. Our Geographical understanding of the world centres upon our school environment, where we live and our journey to school. We later name some different countries where celebrations take place and discuss and compare the environments that we see. Our historical understanding of the world leans heavily towards our main themes with a focus upon our families and our homes to gain a sense of chronology and age through our current life experiences. We also like to show awareness of Remembrance Day and how and why we celebrate/share and highlight it. As we mentioned before, our celebrations theme leans towards Religious Education this includes the importance of light in Hindu festivals and why people say thank you at harvest time.
We draw self portraits and pictures of family members, before looking at patterns in art through the work of Alma Thomas. We then look at shapes in artwork. We introduce paintings by famous artists such as Kandinsky and Matisse. We continue to explore our expressive arts and design skills by creating opportunities to fold, bend, scrunch, rip etc... within continuous provision before thinking about making representations of their homes in both 2D and 3D form. Later in the term we use clay to recreate Diva Lamps and design and make products linked to other celebrations including a Christmas Wreath using natural materials. Our Music is all about singing this term. We focus upon nursery rhymes and Christmas songs during the term in our dedicated music time with our subject leader: Mrs Rickwood.
During our opportunities to introduce and learn about ICT in class through continuous provision, we explore different toys and group them according to different criteria buttons/switches etc... We talk about and share different devices, label them and know their uses in our work together during the term.
Our Physical Education focuses upon co-ordination, kicking and controlling as key elements and we develop that co-ordination and balance in our dance sessions.
Our PSHE introduces what respect and responsibility means through what we model, share, highlight and read. We also use our Autumn Walks as chance to talk about happy healthy brains and feelings.
