At John Hellins Primary School we learn through a range of stimulating projects. In Newton Class this term, our topic will be ‘Bright Lights, Big City’. The classroom environment has been transformed, inspired by city life and modes of transport. We foster independent learning by providing activities, rich in resources, making sure they are linked to our topic and the national curriculum. These activities include:

• Role play – An amazing London theatre – Lion King
• Maths area – updated regularly to provide continuous and an in-depth knowledge of counting and problem-solving.
• Craft and design.
• Small world – an area to re-tell and create stories.
• Reading area – Lots of exciting and enjoyable texts.
• Construction – opportunities to build and design.

These areas of learning with be enhanced regularly to challenge, engage and motivate the children.

Where possible, we will continue to use the outdoor provision to help develop the children’s creativity, problem-solving, independence and confidence. As a class, we will be learning about the Great Fire of London, different materials, the countries and cities of the United Kingdom and so much more!

We teach English through our project, with many opportunities for the children to write, develop their sentence formation, punctuation, spelling and handwriting. Our first text features ‘Beegu’. This is about a creature from another planet that crash lands on Earth, close to a city. We will be writing missing posters to help her parents locate her. Following that, we will be reading ‘Last tree in the City’.

Mathematics is also linked to our project where possible, and covers the curriculum for Year 1. We teach Maths in practical and exciting ways to deepen the children's understanding. This term we will be covering addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, shape and fractions. Please see the newsletter and planning below for more information.