Mayfield Primary SchoolEARLY YEARS: AUTUMN TERM
OUR EARLY YEARS DURING AUTUMN TERM
OUR CORE INTENTION IN ACTION
AUTUMN TERM THEMES: I WONDER...IF MY FAMILY IS LIKE YOURS. I WONDER...WHAT CHANGES IN AUTUMN. I WONDER...WHERE LIGHT COMES FROM. I WONDER...WHY PEOPLE GIVE GIFTS.
An 'I Wonder' Autumn Summary
I Wonder... gives us the chance to explore several different themes during our first term at school. Much of our work is planned on a much shorter term basis with ideas and prompts from the children and being guided by their starting points and interests and, importantly, building provision that reflects the baseline for our young learners, however we still have some I wonder statements to explore within this. Equally, although we have our separate areas of learning in the Early Years Framework, we have a curriculum that ensures that this first year creates opportunities for all subjects to begin their journey of progress (all of which appear within the Early Years curriculum just under different headings in many ways). It is important for us to be the first in a seven year journey rather than a one-off year.
In addition to our ongoing opportunities within our stripped back provision, our children have been creating self portraits during their Artwork and we have been exploring colours as well - in particular Autumnal colours. Our 3-D work has involved us making Diva Lamps during our study of Diwali in the second half of Autumn Term. The children completed their first ever structure by creating different buildings that represented their homes and the places that are important to them during Design & Technology.
We have been learning and singing nursery rhymes and Christmas songs together during Music and have enjoyed performing our children's first nativity 'We're Going On A Baby Hunt'. Our gross motor work has focused upon introducing our Fundamental Skills programme in Physical Education. We have been striking and fielding with a large ball and during gymnastics we have been practising squats and the 'sit to stand' technique.
Our knowledge and understanding of the world Science studies focused upon taking a look at the immediate natural world around us and finding evidence of changes during our Autumnal walks and observations. We talked about changes that happen to materials at this time of year and we have begun to discuss light and where it comes from. Our History work came through discussions about the children's own life-story and their family history. We looked at the ways in which they have changed and the changes that have taken place in their lifetime. We looked at the children's immediate locality and community during our Geography based time. We have aimed to make this work as practical as possible. Let's get out there and explore! We have also been talking about why people give each other gifts at Christmas and what this means. We have talked about other times of the year when people might give gifts and how this can mean different things to them. This has been our Religious Education focus this term.
We have developing our fine motor skills in many different ways and areas this term and we have been finger drawing and using early painting tools on the IPads as our introduction to Computing work. During our first PSHE & Relationships work, we have obviously taking a major focus upon how meet new people and make new friends by participating, talking and sharing. We have also looked at how we can become more confident at working on our own and what makes each of us, and our families, special.
Our work in Mathematics this term has been all about numbers and shapes. Matching, sorting, comparing and exploring patterns and sequences have been important ways we have been doing this. We have talked about size and length and begun comparing these this term. Obviously, we have been working very hard with our phonics this term. This happens each and every morning and in every opportunity throughout the day. Mark making and name writing have been regular parts of our English work as well. We have also enjoyed listening and responding to a wide range of books which have provided ideas and stimulus for the children to use and develop throughout the day.
