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 will be decorated in red, white and blue. There will also be famous landmarks around the room for the children to explore, along with a range of books.

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:

• Maths area – updated regularly to provide continuous and in-depth knowledge of counting, number recognition and problem solving.
• Small world – an area to re-tell or 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, create curiosity 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, famous buildings from around the world, where the UK is located and the seas and oceans that surround it and much more!

We teach English through our project, with many opportunities for the children to write, developing their sentence formation, punctuation, spelling and hand writing. Our first text is ‘Beegu’ where the children will be writing letters and creating a book review.

Mathematics is also linked to our project where possible, and covers the national 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 to 50, length and height and volume and weight. Please see the newsletter and planning for more information.