Previous School Year (2019-20)

Autumn Term 2: 2019

In this half term our 'Topic was Space'. Pre-schoolers love to look up. The moon is a favourite object for many little ones, its bright face changing all the time. Just standing outside under the night sky and quietly observing together will trigger an instinctual knowing in your child. They will know the stars are farther away and the moon is closer. The phases of the moon will not escape your child’s notice. Spend some time finding an explanation you both understand. You may be surprised. For now it is enough to know we have a vital relationship with the Sun and that we live on a planet we’ve named Earth. We read books such as Whatever Next, Man on the Moon and Winnie the Witch in Space. We used these books to explore how to walk like an astronaut, how to write a space diary and live in space as well as inspiration for our Art work.

Later on in the term looked at Christmas. We celebrated a range of festivals throughout the year and then we looked at the story of Christmas and the birth of Christ. We learned about how we celebrate this wonderful time and a variety of different Christmas traditions, such as why we have Christmas trees and stockings.

We also prepared for our Christmas Nativity play with Reception.

Autumn Term 1: 2019

Our topic in this half term was ‘All about me’. We looked at similarities and differences between each other such as our height, interests, clothes, faces and how our emotions make us feel about the world around us.

We want the children to be self-aware as we feel that this is an important skill to have. Self awareness is the ability to tune into your own feelings, thoughts and actions. Self awareness doesn’t develop all at once. It happens over time. The process begins when children start to recognise and name their emotions, strengths, likes and dislikes.

A positive sense of identity is crucial to the development of self esteem and confidence. A healthy sense of identity also helps children to be more open to people from other backgrounds because they are less likely to fear differences between them.

We observed the change in the seasons – the change in colour and look of the leaves, and their covering of the ground. This included a walk in the school grounds to collect leaf samples and create drawings / pictures in the classroom. We talked about the change in the weather.

This half term included learning about Divali, the Festival of Light. We looked at dot mandala paintings and even coloured in some Rangoli patterns with coloured sand!

St Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School

Previous School Year (2019-20)