Our main theme in Acorn class is 'Heroes and Adventurers'. We will be learning about the astronaut Valentina Tereshkova who travelled solo in space. We will discover what astronauts do in space, how they get there and what they wear. We will have space themed tuff trays, create pictures of space and planets, make 3D rockets and astronaut puppets and go off on journeys to space in our space station role play area.

We will learn about Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay who climbed Mount Everest. We will look at different mountain ranges, including the Alps, Andes and Himalayas, and use atlases to help us in our discoveries. We will create mountain ranges, camping role play sites and write lists of what we would need if we were to climb a mountain.

We will learn about Ernest Shakleton and his team who explored very cold places on his ship called Endurance. We will learn about how their adventure went! We will explore ice and boats in the water tray. 

We will learn about a brave lady called Malala Yousafzai, who fought for her education. We will discuss the wonderful things we get to do at school. We will create friendship cards and pictures and friendship bracelets. We will discuss the story Malala wrote called 'Malala’s Magic Pencil'.

We will look at the different heroes we have in our local community and create 'thank you' cards and pictures for them.

In Literacy, we will be exploring our core text 'Supertato'. We will be exploring the characters and creating pictures of them. We will create our own Superhero masks, create vegetable faces and explore vegetable printing. 

Our 2 core rhymes this half term are 'How To Be A Superhero' and '5 Little Firefighters'. Copies of these rhymes will be sent home for children to share with their families. We will be singing these songs during circle times.

In Phonics we will be using different sounds- with our voices, with our hands and feet and with instruments. Through a variety of activities and games we will be working on identifying rhyming words, working on alliteration and oral blending and segmenting. 

In Maths we will be working on counting through rhymes, matching props to numbers up to 5, matching numerals to different quantities up to 5, show fingers up to 5, count out objects and making marks to represent quantities. We will be working on patterns, creating ABAB patterns, with outdoor resources and with beads. The children will be encouraged to notice errors in patterns and sequence events. We will work on comparison; comparing different objects, making the same sets, recognising attributes of objects and sort objects into types. 

In Art we will be looking closely at the statue of Ernest Shackleton at the Royal Geographic Society. We will be discussing the materials that it has been made from and creating our own versions. 

In Design Technology we will be looking at different buildings, the materials used to build them, what a designer is and what their job involves. The children will be designing their own building and then creating it out of recycled materials. As they design and make they will think about what is on the outside and on the inside. 

To help the children develop their personal and social skills we will be encouraging them to become more confident in social situations and encouraging them to develop friendships during play. We will talk about feelings and encourage children to talk with others to solve conflicts and find solutions. We will encourage the children to remember rules without adult input. The children will continue to be encouraged to be independent in meeting their own care needs.

To help the children with their physical development we will provide push-along wheeled toys, scooters and bikes. The children will be supported to develop their kicking, throwing and catching skills with different resources such as balls, hoops and bean bags. We will encourage children to remember sequences and patterns of movement relating to music and rhythm. We will encourage scissor and pencil control through various activities and provide a range of resources for children to build with.