Curriculum Outline

Reception Term 2
Welcome to Reception! We are very pleased to welcome
you and your child to the new term. This document aims to
provide an indication of the areas of the curriculum that it
is expected the children in Reception will be studying this
term.

Dear Parents,
I would like to welcome everybody back to this exciting new school term. We had a
fantastic first term in Reception. All of the children have settled into the school
routine, and have made good progress, particularly in their language, communication
and social skills.
This letter will give you a brief overview of what the children will be learning in
Term 2, as well as providing some important information such as dates for events,
which will allow you to begin to plan your schedule for the next few months.
Throughout this next term we will cover two topics:
(1) Minibeasts
(2) Gardens and Growing
Through these topics the children will develop a variety of different skills in all seven
areas of learning according to the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. There is
nothing that makes a topic more realistic than real life experiences, so we are
planning some school trips in 2015, which we are really looking forward to. More
information on this will follow during the term.
We are very lucky to have specialist teachers in our school who offer lessons in
specialist subjects. We shall continue to have Physical Education taught by
Miss Serra; Music with Mrs Gale, and Miss Lemes for Portuguese.
Please have a look at the descriptions below for some examples of the opportunities
and activities that will be available this term.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

We have already started to form some good friendships in Reception. This term, we will be focusing
on building positive relationships with both children and adults in our class. We will be continuing to
learn how to play cooperatively, solve conflicts and manage our feelings and behaviour through
discussion, games and role play. This will often be taught through circle time sessions where we will
also explore a range of themes, for example: How can I manage my feelings?, What makes us
special?, How can I solve problems? We will be focusing on becoming more independent. In the last
term, we launched our class jobs and we will be continuing with these in order to promote working
together to create a happy, clean and fun learning environment.

Physical Development
The children will be learning about basic hygiene and how to keep themselves healthy. The children
will brush their teeth independently after lunch and will be supported to dress themselves, use the
toilet independently and eat a range of healthy snacks that are provided every morning.
Children will be learning how to hold mark making equipment effectively for drawing and writing.
They will also be supported to use tools and equipment, such as scissors and climbing apparatus,
competently and safely.

Communication and Language

We have a language-rich environment in Reception and the children will be continuing to learn new
vocabulary and developing their sentence structures to become confident and effective
communicators. This term, there will be a particular focus on developing our listening and attention
skills by completing challenges around the classroom. Each day, children will be expected to complete
at least five challenges in different areas of the curriculum. Wizzy Wizard, our class puppet, will be
keeping close eye on the children and at the end of each day, the children will have the opportunity
to share and celebrate the challenges they have completed.
Literacy
The children will have phonics lessons every day where they will be developing their knowledge of
letters and sounds. They will begin by recapping the sounds that they know and applying this
knowledge by identifying initial sounds in words, blending two or three sounds together for reading
and attempting to spell more complex words. When the children have developed a secure knowledge
of letters and sounds, they will begin to receive sight words. These are a list of the most common
words in the English language, some of which can be sounded out e.g. mum and some of which are
called tricky words as they cannot be sounded out phonetically e.g. the and said.
There will be a focus on letter formations this term. The children will be learning how to form
letters correctly and match sounds to letter shapes to give them the freedom to use the sounds
that know in their writing. As the children become ready, we will begin to introduce the use of
Capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.
Maths
The children will be recapping their knowledge of simple 2D shapes and will begin to learn about 3D
shapes. They will have access to a range of puzzles, games and adult- focused activities which will
support them to create and continue patterns and sort objects by shape, size or colour.
The children will be learning to count to at least 10 confidently and use their knowledge of number
to complete simple addition and subtraction number sentences. Children will be recapping how to
write numbers too.
Understanding the World
The children will be learning about a variety of topics this term:
Minibeasts: This topic will provide the children with opportunities to learn to identify a range of
minibeasts and discover some interesting creepy-crawly facts. They will go on minibeast hunts and
learn about the similarities and differences in the minibeasts that they find. They will be learning to
answer questions such as Why does the honeybee have wings? Why is the ladybird brightly coloured
with spots?

Gardens and Growing: This topic will provide the children with opportunities to get stuck in to nature
and explore the different plants, insects and animals that can be found in the garden. The children
will learn about different plants, what plants need in order to grow and how to care for plants. The
children will even have the opportunity to grow their own plants. This topic will also give the children
the opportunity to learn about recycling and looking after our school, local and the wider
environment.
Expressive Arts and Design
The children will be learning a range of songs both for fun and to aid them with their learning,
including phonics, maths and topic songs, as well as some familiar nursery rhymes. They will be
learning to complete observational drawings, exploring food artwork and using recyclable
materials to create models. They will also be developing their imaginative skills through role play
and storytelling.
SPECIALIST LESSONS
Portuguese
During term two, Reception children will explore three different topics within Portuguese
lessons: Seasons of the year, Food around the world and Storytelling. For PFL (Portuguese
as a Foreign Language) children, we will be focusing on basic vocabulary and language skills
to enhance communication in Portuguese. For Brazilian children and foreigners who speak
Portuguese, they will cover objectives taken from the Brazilian National Curriculum (MEC),
which includes exploring more sophisticated vocabulary and encourages children to
participate in discussions, which will involve expressing ideas and opinions related to the topic.
More details on their weekly topics can be found in our Portuguese Blog:
(http://portuguesecj.weebly.com/)
Physical Education
Swimming - Children will have the opportunity to start building confidence in a swimming pool,
become aware of safety measures and how important they are, learn personal survival techniques,
learn travelling techniques with the use of water wings and play simple games.
Gymnastics Children will be developing basic gymnastics skills with and without the use of
apparatus. They will investigate movement, stillness and how to use space safely. Different ways
of travelling over, under and along apparatus will also be covered.
Music
The children will be learning about the world through music. They will be exploring different insects
and different kinds of weather. They will be learning how to add percussion instruments to different
kinds of music. They will also be learning how to put music and whole body movements together.

I am sure that we will have a very productive and positive academic year and Miss
Budiski and I are very much looking forward to our second term!

Here are some important dates for your diary:

January
19th Term 2 begins
26th ASAs Begin
February
13th Carnival House Competition
16th 18th School Closed (Carnival)
23rd Swimming Begins
March
6th Non-Uniform Day Topsy Turvy
9th 13th March Assessment Week
21st International Day at WL Campus
23rd - Parent / Teacher Consultations Week
April
2nd Last Day of Term 2, School Finishes at 12pm
I would like to thank you in advance for your continued support, and for your time
and effort in supporting the children in all areas of their learning. It has been
lovely watching all of the children enjoy the variety of activities offered in
Reception.
Please feel free to contact me by email with any comments or questions you may
have. If you would like to meet with me then simply email me to schedule a meeting.
Yours sincerely,
Miss. Alaina Packer
alaina.packer@britishcollegebrazil.org