Reception News

1. Garden International School Reception News Curriculum Letter Term 2, 2011-12 IPC Topics: Clothes and Changes Diary Dates Term 1 was a busy time for your child, as they settled into Reception, made new friends and joined in with a wide range of activities. We are sure that Term 2 will be just as exciting and stimulating! This term our topics are Clothes, and Changes. Our Literacy and Maths objectives will be integrated into these themes, where possible. Communication, Language and Literacy We will maintain a strong focus on speaking, listening and role play to encourage your child to become a confident language user. Children will continue to learn about a range of rhymes, poems, stories and non-fiction texts. They will learn about elements of stories such as main characters and sequence of events and begin to retell narratives in a variety of ways. Children will be encouraged to build on their developing phonic knowledge to hear, read and write the first, middle and end sound in simple words. Some children will also begin to learn consonant diagraphs (ch, sh, th and ng) and vowel diagraphs such as; ai, ee, igh, oa, oo. Your child will continue to learn to read and spell one or two tricky words each week e.g. was, are, her all and said. Your child will write for a range of different purposes and will be encouraged to form simple sentences. Some children will begin to use punctuation Mathematical Development Through the daily routines children will count reliably and compare quantities using more or less. They will be exposed to larger numbers, beyond ten. Children will be given the opportunity to order numbers. They will learn to estimate how many objects they can see before counting them. Children will use some of the vocabulary involved in addition and subtraction. They will understand that addition involves combining 2 groups of objects and that subtraction means taking away from a group of objects. The children will be exposed to a range of strategies for addition and subtraction, including some mental recall of number bonds. Children will have the opportunity to measure quantities and time during our changes topics. They will sequence events and use ordinal numbers. PE This term each class will have at least three P.E. activities a week. Over the whole term each child will access activities linked to Playground Games, Gymnastics, Music and Movement, Ball Skills & Parachute Games. Two of these activities require a change of clothes- a P.E. t-shirt, shorts and suitable footwear- Gymnastics and Move To Learn. A note from your class teacher will tell you on which days your child needs to wear their P.E. kit to school and have a school uniform to change into. Please ensure all clothes are clearly named. Reminder The ‘Changes’ topic offers many opportunities for your child to cook and explore changing states making play dough and adding water to cornflour. To reflect this, we would ask if parents could contribute RM20 towards cooking costs. We appreciate all your support in this matter and hopefully you will get to taste your children's creations!! Start of the school day: School gates and doors are open at 8.10am with the class registers being taken at 8.25am. Please support our eagerness to start lessons by ensuring your child is at school by this time.

2. Changes During the second half of the term we will be looking at ‘Changes’. This is a science based topic where the children will take on the role of scientists. The overall idea is that weuse all our 5 senses to explore and find out about the world around us. Children will investigate how heating and cooling changes objects. They will observe what happens to two objects when they are mixed together. Also they will consider how plants and animals change as they grow We plan to hold a class Science Show at the end of the term. Parents will be invited into the classroom and the children will have the opportunity to show you what they have leant. Clothes Our first topic this term is ‘Clothes’. Children will investigate the different reasons why people wear clothes They will look at different types of clothes such as: uniforms, dress up clothes, protective clothes, clothes for different celebrations and clothes for different types of weather. They will decide what clothes they would wear in different situations and climates. We will explore the materials used to make clothes and discover where clothes are made and where the different materials come from. Children will also have the opportunity to design outfits for particular purposes. Shout out The children love it when parents can be involved and so do the teachers! If you would be available to contribute a skill, read with children, help with activities or offer a hand for class events, please let us know. Parents may also help in another class if it is more appropriate. Last term, we were very lucky to have so many parents donate their time and effort in EYC. It allowed us to offer a wider and more exciting range of activities to the children. Thank you for all your support! One person’s rubbish is another’s treasure… Please remember us if you are having a Spring clean at home—we collect toys, dress ups and household items for our role play areas!