Spring Term 1 Knowledge Organisers

Spring Term 2 Knowledge Organisers

Summer Term 1 Knowledge Organisers

Autumn 1

Children have had a lovely first week back, enjoying the sunshine and exploring all the areas of provision.  

Exploring our School

We have been reading the story, ‘Pete the Cat- Rocking in my School Shoes’. We have been having lots of fun rocking in our own new school shoes and exploring the school environment. We sang the song from the story as we walked around the classrooms, meeting staff and children!

18/09/23 All About Me

Children have enjoyed creating self-portraits using a variety of media. We have been talking about what we look like and celebrating our differences. God made us all different and unique, that’s what makes us all so special!

Colour Monster

Children have enjoyed talking about feelings and emotions. We’ve explored how we can tell how someone is feeling by looking at their facial expressions and body language. We have really enjoyed using the Colour Monster story to link feelings to colours and explore this though role-play and art activities. 

Well-being Treat
Children had a lovely well-being treat at ‘The Hub’ with Miss Byrne and Miss Jones. This linked perfectly to our PSHE lesson all about ‘what makes us feel happy’. Miss Byrne read the wonderful story, ‘The Hug’ whilst we drank hot chocolate and shared snack together.

21/09/23 International day of Peace

Children enjoyed celebrating international day of Peace through a daily prayer and liturgy session. We placed our finger prints onto a dove template to symbolise how we can all share Jesus’ peace in our day to day lives. We talked about how a smile brings peace and quoted Mother Teresa, “Every time you smile at someone it’s an action of love, a gift to a person, a beautiful thing. Peace begins with a smile.”  

^{Repetitive Patterns}

^{Children enjoyed creating patterns using natural materials.} 

Homes and Houses

Children have been exploring different types of houses from around the world including igloos, mud houses, boats and houses on stilts. We have been talking about homes around our local area including terraced, semi-detached, detached, bungalow, caravan and flats. Children have been exploring the features of houses and representing this through 2D and 3D artwork. We have also been talking about the different rooms and what objects you would find in them!

Black History Month

We have been reading lots of story books celebrating diversity and inclusion. We’ve been talking about how God made us all different. Children have enjoyed learning about kente cloth, how it is made and what different colours symbolise. We made our own version by weaving strips of coloured paper that we have decorated with patterns. We also used paint to print patterns on bright paper backed onto black card. We have been learning about historical African jewellery and made our own inspired by the beaded necklaces of the Samburu Tribe. 

Autumn 2

31/10/23 Pumpkin Still Life

Children enjoyed using oil pastels and drawing pencils to capture their own representation of various sized pumpkins. They enjoyed scooping out the insides of the pumpkins and drawing what it looked like. Fantastic artwork!

Five Little Pumpkins

Children enjoyed exploring ‘Five Little Pumpkin’ rhyme using props and actions. They also enjoyed making their own play dough pumpkins and finger print pumpkins!

Spooky Spider Cakes

Children enjoyed making spooktacular spider cakes and eating them for snack!🕷️🕸️

Firework Safety and Chocolate Treats

Children have been learning about bonfire night and talking about firework safety. They also enjoyed making some delicious chocolate apples! We are all looking forward to Bonfire night this Sunday! 🎇🎆

Let’s get Creative 🎃🐈‍⬛🕸️🦇 
Children have had lots of fun whilst also strengthening their fine finger muscles! They have been hammering golf tees into pumpkins, painting cats, weaving wool to create spider webs and sponge painting bat pictures! They also had fun building a path for a rolling pumpkin activity! 

1/11/23 One More

Children have been using the rhyme ‘Five Little Elephants went out to Play’ to learn ‘one more’ to 5. We used a five frame and coloured counters to show one more and some children scribed a number sentence. 

Diwali

We have been learning about Diwali- The Festival of Light. We have learnt about ‘mehndi’- a body art tradition where intricate patterns are drawn onto the hands and arms. We made clay divas, decorated with coloured sequins and beads. In Hindu tradition, the lighting of a Diya is an important part of prayer and it signifies purity, goodness, good luck and power. Children also made Rangoli patterns using shapes. Rangoli is an art of decoration drawn on the floor or entrances of homes and is thought to bring good luck and welcome guests. 

Fireworks

Children have talked about Bonfire night and all the sounds, smells, colours and shapes they experienced.  We also talked about the use of sparklers and fireworks used in the festival of Diwali. Children created their own bonfire using material, sticks and twigs. They made crackling and popping sounds as they threw twigs onto the fire. They made edible sparklers using breadsticks and chocolate fingers covered in sprinkles. Children had lots of fun dancing to Diwali music and making firework shapes and sounds as they moved! They also created their own firework art using paint and glitter. 🎆🎇

Remembrance Day

We watched ‘Poppies’, a CBeebies animation, which was followed by a one minute silence. We remembered all the soldiers and families affected by war.  Children painted poppy pictures and also made poppy biscuits for snack. 

Hedgehogs 

Children have enjoyed learning about hedgehogs and how they hibernate during the winter months. We made our own dens using leaves and sticks. Children enjoyed making their own hedgehogs using play dough and craft materials. 

Wedding Celebration

Children had a great time role-playing a wedding ceremony linked to our book of the week, ‘The Scarecrows Wedding’.

Tree Decorating 

Children enjoyed decorating our class Christmas Tree. 

Spring Term 1- Amazing Animals

Children have enjoyed learning about penguins and how they live primarily in the southern hemisphere. Children located Antarctica on a map and read non-fiction texts to find out lots of interesting facts! We found out that emperor penguins are the largest of all the penguins at around 45 inches tall! Penguins can’t fly yet they have flipper like wings which help them to swim and slide across the ice. The male emperor penguin keeps the egg on its feet and covers it with a skin fold to keep it warm until it is ready to hatch. Children enjoyed waddling like penguins by placing a balloon between their legs as they walked! We took part in lots of crafts, counting and story based activities to further our knowledge. 🐧

12/01/24 Science Experiment 

Today we explored whether blubber does keep penguins warm in the Antarctic. We placed both hands into bowls of ice- one hand was protected by a layer of fat (3 tubs of lard!) Children noticed that this hand didn’t get cold! 

Owls 

We have been reading, ‘Owl Babies’ and ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’. Owls have claws called talons to help them catch food. They can turn their head as far as 270 degrees! A group of owls is called a parliament. An owls feathers provide excellent camouflage against tree bark or rocky surfaces. This helps them to stay undetected from predators and potential prey. 

We’re Going on a Lion Hunt

Children enjoyed retelling the story using a sensory walk!

ROARING Lions!

Children have enjoyed learning lots of facts about lions from non-fiction texts. We have learnt that a group of lions is called a ‘pride’. A lions ROAR can be heard up to 5 miles away! Most male lions grow impressive manes the older they get. These manes grow up to 16cm long and are a sign of dominance. Lions can eat up to 40kg of meat in a single meal - around a quarter of their body weight! 

Their tongues have sharp-pointed rasps, called papillae, which are used to scrape meat off the bones. 🦁

Chinese New Year

Children enjoyed learning about Chinese New Year. We made red and gold lanterns as these colours symbolise good luck and wealth. We also enjoyed learning about the ‘Great Race’ story and exploring the Year of the Dragon. We made our own representations of dragons and also enjoyed sensory play, role-playing serving noodles. 

Planet Earth

Children have enjoyed learning all about our wonderful planet! We have explored this through songs, stories, photographs, sensory walks and art. We have been looking at how we can help keep save our planet by reusing, reducing and recycling! We worked together to sort materials into cardboard, plastic, metal and glass. 

Science Experiment 
Children had a great time making their own ‘Moon Craters’. First, we watched internet clips of asteroid explosions on the moon. Then we made our own  ‘moon’ by mixing flour and chocolate powder into a tray before levelling it out to create a smooth surface. Children stood by the tray and dropped their chosen pebble or ball into the mixture. We noticed that the bigger the pebble, the greater the impact and indentation. Some children chose a smaller pebble which made a light impression. Some children stood on a chair to drop their pebble. We noticed that the higher the drop, the greater the impact and deeper the crater. 🌟🚀

Still Life Paintings

Children enjoyed painting daffodil pictures to celebrate St. David’s day. We talked about daffodils as a sign that Spring time is on the way!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🌼

World Book Day

Children enjoyed sharing stories with Year 3 and 4 children in the Hall. They entered a competition to design a book cover. The lucky winner got to choose a book from our school vending machine!

Moon

Children have enjoyed learning about  Earth’s only natural satellite- the Moon. The Moon’s surface is rocky and covered with craters. Children enjoyed creating their own textured moon paintings using flour mixed with paint and circular prints to represent the craters.  We learnt about Neil Armstrong who was the first man to walk on the moon during the NASA Apollo 11 mission on 20th July 1969. 

Rockets Galore!

Children have had so much fun creating both 2D rocket pictures and 3D rocket models using junk materials! We have been looking at images of real space crafts and using our imagination to design our own. We have been reading lots of space themed books including ‘Whatever Next’ and have enjoyed having our own picnic on the moon! We have also been learning songs to sing as we countdown and blast off into space! 

Science Experiment- Blast Off!

Children enjoyed investigating how to launch a vinegar and bicarbonate of soda rocket!

Planting Flowers

Children enjoyed planting pansies in our garden area.