School Year 2020 - 2021

Merton Infant School

Year R Curriculum Newsletter

Autumn 1

Healthy Me

Welcome to Merton Infant School, we hope you all had a fantastic summer and are ready for a busy and exciting half term.  We are looking forward to getting to know you and welcoming you into our Merton Family!

Please make sure your children have a labelled P.E. kit, including a white T-shirt, blue or black shorts and plimsolls or trainers in school. It will be sent at the end of the half term to be washed. Our topic this half term is ‘Healthy Me.’

Physical Development

• Obstacle course – running, skipping, hopping and jumping.
• Developing core stability and balance.
   
  Maths

• Counting, recognising, ordering and writing numbers to 6 and beyond. 
• Sorting activities based on length and height.
• Naming and recognising 2D shapes.
• We will be learning number rhymes and using number names in other familiar contexts. 
• You can help your child at home by doing the maths homework pack every half term.
   
  Expressive Arts and Design

• Self-portraits using pencils, pastels and paints.    
• Music focus -  Timbre - Exploring and responding to a range of body and environmental sounds.
• Bamboo Tamboo taught by specialist teacher on Tuesday afternoons.

Literacy

• Practising writing skills through Wiggle Time, dough gym and hand control activities.
• Writing their names.
• Begin to learn letter sounds.
• Share and take an interest in books.
• Speaking about themselves and their interests. 
• Help your child by sharing their reading book and by practising their key words and sounds at home.
   
  Understanding the World

• Naming and labelling parts of the body.
• Thinking about how people change as they get older.

Merton Mission

• Do it: Visit the supermarket and try a new fruit or vegetable.
• Make it: Trace your hand and decorate it. Bring into school for a display by October 23rd.
• Read it: Bring in a book about being healthy to share with the class.

We will be screening your children’s language skills using the Language Link programme.  We will feed back to you at the first parents’ evening in October.

Learning Values

M – Motivation: To feel part of a class.

E – Excellence: To follow the new classroom rules.

R – Respect: To share the new classroom with others.

T – Team Work: To work together to settle in.

O – Opportunity: To learn new art techniques

N – Never Give Up: To take on the challenge of moving from nursery school.

Mrs Wisken                    Mrs Estlea   YR Leader                         Miss Fellhauer                     

Deputy Headteacher      Music Curriculum Manager                    History/Geography Curriculum Manager

School Year 2019 - 2020

Curriculum Newsletters for translation

Merton Infant School

Year R Curriculum Newsletter

Summer 1

Let’s Grow!

We can’t wait to see everyone again and hope you all kept healthy and safe during the school closures! Our next topic is Let’s Grow! We will be learning about gardening and minibeasts. We will be launching our topic with a visitor from a gardener and landing our topic with watching caterpillars turn into butterflies and releasing them into the wild.

Please make sure your child has a labelled P.E. kit, including a white T-shirt, blue or black shorts and plimsolls or trainers, in school every day.

Physical Development

• Gymnastics
• Athletics in preparation for Sports Day
   
  Maths

• Counting in 2s, 5s and 10s
• Adding and subtracting
• Doubling numbers
• Identifying and describing shapes
• Measuring in different ways
• Reading and drawing o’ clocks
• Using a number line to add and subtract
• Days of the week
   

Symmetry

Literacy

• Completing rhyming strings
• Finding rhyming words in books
• Writing lists
• Writing sentences
• Learning Phase 3 digraphs
• Reading Julia Donaldson books
• Writing about the lifecycle of a butterfly
   
  Please continue to help your child by sharing their reading book and by practising their key words and sounds at home daily
   
  Expressive Arts and Design

• Music theme is ‘Stories” which focuses on timbre
• Bubble wrap art
• Fruit and vegetable printing
• Watercolour and pastel spider web
• Pastel Butterflies
   
  Understanding the World

• Finding out about different fruits and vegetables
• Caring for minibeasts in the classroom and outside
• Learning about carnivorous plants
• Growing a variety of plants
• Growing a grass head
• Learning about healthy foods and having a balanced diet
• Learning Values
• M – Motivation: learn about caring for the environment
• E – Excellence: to share what we have learnt with visitors to our classrooms
• R – Respect: to care for our minibeasts in school and outside
• T – Teamwork: to work together in relay races for sports day
  O – Opportunities: to watch caterpillars turn into butterflies
• N – Never Give Up: to keep trying when learning new sports such as javelin and discus

Merton Mission

• Do it: Grow a sunflower at home
• Make it: Make a salad using different types of fresh produce
• Read it: Read rhyming books and bring your favourite one into school

                                                                    Mrs Estlea   & Miss Fellhauer

Merton Infant School

Year R Curriculum Newsletter

Spring 2

Under the Sea

We hope you have had a great break and are ready for a busy half-term! We will be launching our new topic ‘Under the Sea’ by introducing our “class pets”. We will be listening to lots of stories about sea animals and learning facts about the oceans. At the end of the topic the children will have a beach day!

Please make sure your child has a labelled P.E. kit, including a white T-shirt, blue or black shorts and plimsolls or trainers, in school every day.

Physical Development

• Football with a specialist teacher
• Fine Motor skills activities
   
  Maths

• Estimating
• Counting and ordering numbers to 20
• 2D and 3D shapes
• Patterns
• Addition and subtraction
• Measuring length, weight, capacity
• Counting in 2s, 5s & 10s
• Recognising and using 1p, 2p, 5p & 10p coins
   
  Literacy

• To label a fish
• To write words using phase 3 sounds
• To create a persuasive poster
• To make an old map
• To follow a recipe
• To learn Phase 3 sounds
• To practise writing their name using the correct formation.
   
  Please continue to help your child by sharing their reading book and by practising their key words and sounds at home daily
   
  Expressive Arts and Design

• Music theme is ‘Going Places” which focuses on pitch and timbre
• Making clay starfish
• Rainbow fish painting
• Step by step drawings
• Newspaper sharks
   
  Understanding the World

• Examining a real fish
• Animal habitats
• The Great Barrier Reef and water pollution
• Map skills
• Famous explorer James Cook and travelling by boat
• Water safety
• Cooking fish cakes

Learning Values

M – Motivation: learn about caring for the environment

E – Excellence: to apply new phonic sounds to their reading

R – Respect: to make a persuasive poster to stop water pollution

T – Teamwork: to work as a team during football lessons
O – Opportunities: to cook and make fishcakes

N – Never Give Up: to keep trying when learning something new

Merton Mission

• Do it: Visit an aquarium or the seaside 
• Make it: Make a sparkly rainbow fish mask to bring in to school
• Read it: Go to the library and read a book about the sea
   
       Mrs Estlea   YR Leader                                              Miss Fellhauer

        Music Curriculum Manager                            History/Geography Curriculum Manager