Welcome to Caterpillar Class

Hello!

We are the Caterpillars and we hope that you enjoy sharing our journey with us here on our class page. We are a fun loving, lively and affectionate bunch of Reception and Year 1 pupils who enjoy being busy and learning new things. We learn best when taught in a sensory and hands on way and that's what our teacher and support staff do best!

Each half term we will focus and learn about different topics within our subjects, our first topic is Ourselves. This is perfect for us to continue finding out about ourselves as individuals but it's also great for our teachers to get to know us too and for us to develop relationships with our classmates. 

Our second topic after the half term break is 'Traditional Tales' so look out for lots of cross curricular work related to 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff', 'Goldilocks' and ' The Gingerbread Man'. And of course it'll begin to look a lot like Christmas! 

We will also continue to expand our communication through a mixture of verbal language, PECS and signing. What a fantastic time we are going to have!!

Keep checking back to see pictures of all the amazing things we are doing here in The Rowan Tree. 

Love The Caterpillar Class xx

Here are some of things we will be doing this half term:

• Literacy

The books we will be sharing in class this half term will be 'The Toys Party', 'Head to Toe' and 'Part of the Party' sensory props, puppets and food will be used to encourage the children to engage with the stories. We also have lots of books in our reading corner and will read on a one-to-one basis with the class staff throughout the week.

• Maths

We will use maths resources and fun activities to help the children to develop their maths skills.

• Physical Development

Each week have a P.E. session each week, in this we will be working on improving our coordination, balance and jumping skills, as well as, rolling, throwing and catching balls.

• Understanding the World

Using our  topic we will be looking at Ourselves, the parts of our bodies and the things we like or don't like. We will be making faces from different cooking ingredients each week!

• Communication and Language

We will be looking at the ways in which we communicate and introducing objects of reference, pictures, signalong signs and Pecs where appropriate.

• Personal, Social and emotional Development

This half term we will be looking at developing our skills in sharing and playing alongside our class mates. We will also be learning our class routine and learning with our class mates in a group. 

• Expressive Arts and Design

We will continue with our theme of Ourselves and use our bodies to complete some amazing art work. Hand prints and footprints will be part of our Art work, as well as, using different materials.

General Information

Home School Dairies

We ask families and carers to return the home / school diary each day, as this will enable the class staff to provide comments and information about your child’s day in school. If there are particular things you wish to be informed about, please speak with the class teacher.

Individual Education Plans (IEP’s)

These set out the priority educational targets that your child is working on for the term. IEPs are updated each term and sent home. If there is anything that you would particularly like us to working on please just let us know.

Reading Books

All children and young people are encouraged to engage in reading and develop a love of stories. We have a wide range of reading books, sensory books and big books to support the learning styles and levels for each child. Every Friday, your child will receive a new reading book. Please encourage your child to engage with the characters and stories and fill in the reading record to let your child's class staff know how the have gotten on.

Magic Moment Books

Your child will also be sent home with a Magic Moments Book. This is an exciting way to share all the wonderful things that your child does at home. Its also a way to record any special moments, anything that your child does for the first time and anything that they enjoy doing. We would also love it if you could send the book back in at the end of a half term or after a holiday so that we could share your child's amazing achievements.

Snack and Cookery Money

We kindly request that you send in £2 a week. This will go towards snack, cookery ingredients and sensory items (we use a lot of these) that we use each week.