For our last term, we have lots of exciting learning to look forward to. Starting off with our amazing trip to Johnsons of Old Hurst Zoo. 
Communication and Language 
The children will learn to retell the story of The Princess and the Pea. They will talk to each other about the trip to the zoo and to recount the day trip. We will focus on talking in the past tense correctly.( I saw, I went, I liked, We had. It was)
Vocabulary: animals, visit, zoo, saw, wemt. was, were, fairy tale,

Literacy
This half term, our focus book will be The Princess and the Pea.  The children will learn this story using actions and the story map.  At the end, they will write their own story. We will read lots of other versions and compare them. 
Our Read Write Inc sessions for phonics based reading will continue each morning. 
In our writing areas, the children will have word mats with vocabulary linked to animals and plants. The children will write fact files about the different animals that they see at the zoo. In preparation for our zoo trip, we will find out about alligators, pumas, lions, meerkats and bears so that the children have prior knowledge before they see these animals in real life. 
At other times, the children will practise singing the alphabet and writing the alphabet in order as well as writing animal, food alphabets. 
Vocabulary: habitat, carnivore, herbivore, diet, enclosure, protect, fairytale, princess, castle, king, queen. 

Physical Development
In our PE sessions, we will practise a variety of activities that encourage children to explore movement and control with a ball. These activities help develop hand-eye coordination, gross motor skills, and spatial awareness. Children learn to throw, catch, kick, roll, bounce, and dribble,
With rolling, the children will roll the ball around their body or to a partner or to a target which support control and co-ordination. When dribbling the ball, the children will dribble and bounce the ball with their hands and feet focusing on maintaining control and moving the ball in different directions. 
Vocabulary: throw, roll, bounce, around, behind, under, over, along, catch, goal, target, aim, shoot, dribble, pass.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development
In our circle times this half term, we will look at ‘Managing self- my well-being. This includes lots of areas that we have covered over the year: yoga and relaxation, looking after ourselves, being a safe pedestrian, eating healthily and a rainbow of food. 
Vocabulary: relaxation, healthy, unhealthy, pedestrian, safety, calm, happy, emotion
Mathematics
Firstly, we will look at patterns. Children will copy and continue patterns. Then create their own pattern rules. Along with their construction, children will replicate and build constructions. They will learn how to describe positions and give instructions to others to replicate their buildings. 
The next unit is called ‘Map it out’. We will explore mapping and then the children will create their own maps of familiar places. At playtimes, we will often set out clues and maps for the children to follow and find treasure. 
Vocabulary: repeat, continue, next, after, before, first, then, map, direction, left, right, forward, backwards, under, next to, over. 

Understanding the World
We will grow some more plants. Following on from the sunflowers and beans that we grew, we will plant and write plant diaries. Looking closely again at the changes, talking about the changes and the parts of the plant. 
Previously, children explored a range of animals and their habitats. We have also talked about minibeasts. Now we will take this further as we read non-fiction texts and explore minibeasts in more detail. We will look at the features of these creatures and notice similarities and differences between them. As children go on an animal hunt, we will encourage them to draw on previous knowledge to suggest which animals live in certain habitats. Children will use their maths mark-making skills to record the animals they see on their hunt.
On our zoo trip, the children will look at the fact files and photos for each animal. This tells them where in the world they are from, their habitat, diet and measurements. 
The children will take photos and draw pictures of the animals. They will be able to take these back to school to use in writing recounts of their day at the zoo. 
Vocabulary: roots, leaves, stem, flower, pollen, antennae, legs, habitat, diet, river, mountain, bridge, herbivore, carnivore. 

Religion and Worldviews
Our Kapow topic is ‘What is Special about the World?’ We will look at where some people believe the world came from. Why we should look after the world and ways that we can care for the world. We will also look at The Easter Story. 
 Vocabulary: special, World, Earth, extinct, recycle, endangered, protect.
Computing
The learning that the children will be doing in their maths sessions will support their learning in computing. Our unit is ‘Data Handling’
Linking this with our animals topic. The children will group the animals through questions for example, Does it have wings?, Does it have four legs?, Does it live in the sea? With the yes/np answers the children can have an introduction to data handling. We will also use information about the children, their favourite animals, favourite foods or colours. They will then be able to put this information into tables and pictograms. 
Vocabulary: pictogram, graph, table, popular, favourite, most, least, information, amounts. 

Expressive Arts and Design
The children will draw and paint animals as well as observational drawings of plants and trees outside. 
With the abundance of daisies, we will use these to create pictures. Using the clay, the children will make animals and paint these when they dry. 
Vocabulary:   clay, paint, mould, attach, 

In preparation for the children moving into Year 1. We will be going in to the Year 1 classroom several times a week for stories with myself and the Year 1 teachers.  We will also practise going in through their classroom door so that the children know where to go. This is important so that they know they will all go together in to their new class and that it will be similar to what they already know with similar routines, resources and expectations. 

USEFUL WEBSITES
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zf44jxs/videos/1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm
http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/