This term, in the Nest we will be focusing on a range of activities, supporting your child's learning and development:

• APDR based activities – these will be taken from the children’s individual plans. 
• Cooking  – this will take place on a Wednesday.
• Thrive - each week, we will continue to work on our individual Thrive plans. The majority of our work this half term is based on "Feeling Safe". Our targets include continuing to develop trusting relationships with adults, managing small changes when we are appropriately prepared and to relax when we meet new people when we have a supportive adult alongside us. Activities we will take part in will include listening to stories together, joining in repeated parts of stories, following and understanding routines and giving each other compliments. 

Curriculum work

This will be based on the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum.

In Science, we will focus our learning on "Animals and Their Needs". We will start by naming some common animals, whilst considering that there are many different types of animal. We will find out that some animals live in water, some live on land and that some fly in the sky. We will learn that scientists group animals according to their features. We will move on to think about grouping animals according to their features and by what they eat. We will learn about different pets and the needs of these animals and conclude our science learning by describing an animal using scientific words.

In History, we will focus our learning on "Discovering History". We will start by finding out that the past is all the things that have already happened, that history tells us stories from the past and that people who study the past are called historians. We will find out that family trees show us how people are related and that The Royal Family Tree shows us who was the King or Queen in the past. We will think about how we can find out about what happened in the past and what archaeologists do. We will conclude our learning by thinking about what life was like in the past where we live.

In Design Technology, we will focus our learning on cooking jam tarts and mince pies.  We will consider the following vocabulary and their definitions: 

Seasons - Four different times a year with different types of weather.

Recipe  - A set of instructions. 

Preserve - When you treat food to keep it from decomposing. 

Cook - A process of heating ingredients. 

Raw - When food is not cooked. 

In RE, we will be learning about our big question "Why is learning to do good deeds so important to Jewish people?"

We will find out that:

• Mitzvah is the Jewish word for good deed or action. It is something God asks all Jews to do.
• Jews believe it is a mitzvah (good deed) to: help others in need, to welcome others to give money to help other people and to care for the world.
• Mitzvahs make a Jewish person feel like they belong. 

Nest Routine

• Arrive at the Nest – settling in time and calming activities 
• Sensory Circuits – we will go outside for this and will complete our circuits based on sequencing and calming activities
• Breakfast and a good opportunity for the children to share their news and help with jobs in the classroom.
• Most of the rest of the morning will be based on adult tasks (based on the above activities) /independent learning time/breaks. There will be snack time.
• Singing, Story and Lunch time prayer
• Lunch - eaten in the Nest 
• Outside to play 
• Afternoon registration
• Sensory Circuits – this will be the same circuit as the morning.
• Most of the rest of the afternoon will be based on adult tasks (based on the above activities) /independent time/breaks.
• End of day singing, story and prayer.

Some children will be on part time timetables or transitioning to other classes. We will discuss this with you.

Expectations 

• Children need to read as much as possible at home. This should be at least three times a week. 
• Children will be expected to take part in adult based tasks. 
• Snacks – if you want to send your child with a snack, they will only need one healthy snack a day. We do have fruit for the children in the Nest. 
• Drink Bottles – please only send water.