Prep 1 Curriculum Brief

To develop Comprehension and Composition skills we will use a variety of material to examine plot, time and sequential relationships in stories. We will discuss familiar themes and link them to the children’s own experiences. Our Grammar work will examine plurals and ‘ed’ endings in the past tense. Punctuation will focus on capital letters, commas, full stops, exclamation and question marks. The phonics work we will continue in our groups with R.W.I at a higher level. We will focus on long and short vowel sounds which will be reinforced and taught through reading the story and learning and spelling the tricky words. Each week they will be asked to learn a set of spellings for a test which will be based on the grapheme they have been learning that week. We will be continuing to learn cursive handwriting (joined up) starting with the lead in and exit formation which will later become joined. In their reading, the children will continue to follow the Oxford Reading Tree at an appropriate level to them.

We will begin this term by revising the number sequences and place value, addition and subtraction. We will then apply these skills learned to money and time. Later in the term we will work on fractions, shape, measurement, positional language and direction.

Our overarching topic is Animals including humans which is broken down into Animal life cycles and Habitats. We will learn about what humans and animals need to be healthy. We will find out how exercise makes the heart work harder and find out about food groups and healthy eating. We will investigate the difference between alive and not alive. We will observe habitats and find out about food chains.

During this term, we will study land and water as the children investigate the continents and oceans by using their atlas and research skills. Our learning shall also hone in their mapwork skills as they gain an understanding of the use of direction in geography, using left and right and compass directions to instruct and follow. They shall begin to use the 4 and 8-point compass on a map. The children will also gain skills to understand O/S maps, being able to identify simple symbols and abbreviations.

Our topic this term is Ancient Egyptians.
● What do we know about Egypt today – where is it in relation to us?
● What did the Egyptians leave behind i.s Pyramids.
● Life of the Pharaohs – Tutankhamun and Howard Carter’s discovery.
● Farming and the River Nile.
● The Egyptian way of life, religion and stories.

This term we will look at being part of God’s family and the importance of caring for each other. We will learn about The Creation of God’s world which will lead us to Harvest. The final part of the term is exploring the Christmas story and the birth of Jesus.

This term our core topic is Families and Friendships. We will be exploring the following areas:
● Being a good friend
● Getting on with others
● My special people
● Let’s all be happy!
● An act of kindness

This term the classes will create pieces inspired by Aboriginal Art. They will continue to develop their pattern work, colour theory , work with a range of media and continue to use their sketch book to record and develop their ideas.

Duration, Rhythm and Pulse – using their singing voices, children will learn about duration, rhythm and pulse, by exploring the sounds they can make. They will learn more about musical notation and build on their knowledge of rhythms by creating their rhythmic patterns own using crotchets, quavers and rests. They will begin to learn how to write rhythms using traditional notation.
During the second part of the term, we will be preparing for the Nativity.

Due to the exploratory and ‘spontaneous’ approach in this subject, we will often go off in different directions depending on the ideas and interest of the children. And so the formal lesson plans are often deviated from to preserve a flexibility and originality of approach.  New projects often ‘evolve’ from the children’s ideas in the sessions and it is an important part of the approach and style in this subject  to maintain this flexibility and spontaneity.  This generates a feeling with the children that they are going on a ‘journey’ in this subject each term. The formal lesson plans are only intended to be used as a basis and guide to the type of work and projects that are covered and are not intended to be rigidly adhered to.

Weeks 1 and 2 – Sliding vehicle designs with reciprocating movement. The children will be involved in designing and making a vehicle to slide on a 30cm modelling card track.
Weeks 3, 4 and 5 – Hydraulic designs using syringes and plastic tubing to create reciprocal movement. Materials used: syringes, PVC tubing, blockwood, laser plywood, modelling card and modelling foam.
Weeks 6 and 7 – ‘Structure Sculpture’ designs using laser plywood, blockwood, dowelling and modelling foam.
Weeks 8 and 9 – Designs incorporating revolving movement using card engineering and the children’s themes for artwork and ideas.

This term pupils will continue to develop their Word Processing skills to create work that they can save, retrieve and print. They will also be selecting images and using text to create a piece of work in conjunction with another subject. They will learn about algorithms and de-bugging and put these into practice using floor robots.

This term we will be building on self confidence leading onto working together in pairs on various activities. Later in the term we will further develop creativity and role play and begin to introduce elements of performing with confidence and voice projection.

P.E: Controlled movement, spatial awareness and large ball catching skills.
Games: Tag-Rugby. Simple handling and non-contact activities. Skills will be introduced through a collection of set tasks and drills. These will be put into practice using small side games, which require pupils to work together in a 1.v.1, 2.v.2 or 3.v.3 situations.