At John Hellins Primary School, we learn through a range of stimulating projects. In Newton Class this term, our topic will be ‘All About Me’. The classroom environment is special and unique: each child’s photo is proudly hung in frames from the ceiling, and activities are created to build children’s problem-solving skills and teamwork. 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 section, where children will get to dress up as different jobs.
• Maths area – Updated regularly to provide continuous and in-depth knowledge of counting and problem solving.
• Craft and design.
• Small world – An area to re-tell and create stories.
• Reading corner – With a range of challenging and enjoyable texts.
• Construction – Opportunities to build and design.
• Writing station – This will always link to the topic and provide the children with the opportunity to write for pleasure.

These areas of learning will 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 what can and cannot be recycled, how to use technology safely and respectfully, and identify different types of weather patterns that affect the UK.

We teach English through our project, with many opportunities for the children to write, developing their sentence formation, punctuation, spelling and handwriting. Our first text features ‘Only One You’, where we will be writing sentences about why we are all special and unique. Following that, we will be reading ‘All About Families’. We will be learning about family life and how families can be different in their own special ways.

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 place value, addition and subtraction, and shape. Please see the newsletter and planning below for more information.