This half term, Swallowtail’s topic is ‘Transport’ where we will be concentrating on the different types of transport in the UK and around the world! We will also focus on learning about some forms of transport you wouldn’t normally use or know about such as sailing, Concorde and space travel. During the first week, we will introduce the topic of ‘Transport’ and gauge what types of transport the children already know about. We will also be returning to the RDA in Epsom for horse-riding sessions on Thursday mornings this term as well as Walton-on-the-Hill football pitch and Priory park for football sessions on a Wednesday. We are also continuing to go on community visits on Tuesday afternoons to visit places which relate to our topic of ‘Transport’.

In the second week, we will be learning about the forms of transport we can use to get to school as well as ones we would like to take to and from school. The class will be doing some writing on this in English and taking part in some special transport-themed attention circles. Then in the third week, we will continue learning about different types of transport and thinking of ones that we haven’t used/been on. The class will have to use their imaginations to think of these as well as their knowledge of news articles from Newsround to think of examples, such as Katy Perry going into space in a rocket recently.

In the fourth week, we will be looking at local transport links near to us and researching about them using maps to work out a route to get from A to B using trains, buses, taxis and even planes that we can find in our local areas. We will also be discussing the impact of the overuse of transport in the environment throughout the third and fourth weeks. Moreover, in the fifth and final week of the half-term, we will be using our knowledge and what we have learnt about transport to make decisions on our favourite types of transport and give reasons why. During this fifth and final week, the whole school will be visiting the miniature railway in Leatherhead and the class will love riding the trains! A great community visit that links with our topic of ‘Transport’!

In our maths lessons, Swallowtail Class will be continuing their work on number in their groups and they will be focusing on addition and subtraction or place value and counting to 5 as part of their numeracy work. In their English sessions, some children are continuing with some 1:1 reading sessions, as well as continuing to better their writing in our Phonics sessions using tricky words. Some will be focusing on the use of full stops, capital letters and speech marks in the appropriate places. Additionally, other children will be focusing on using eye gaze, expression with their partners as well as communicating with a peer to pass an object to one another.

For PE this term, Swallowtail Class will start taking part in sessions based around volleyball. Some children will be continuing with their Akademi Dance sessions that are always very exciting with Anusha on a Wednesday! The children will also be learning through the Jigsaw PSHE sessions in class which mix different songs, discussion points and games to make for a fun and interactive lesson. Our topic for PSHE this term is ‘Relationships’. Additionally, the class will be cooking different foods in cooking sessions on a Monday, including cakes and some transport-based delicacies too!

In Science, the class will be focusing on physics and how light can generate and make shadows and silhouettes. Some of the children will be looking at how different instruments can make different sounds and whether they can identify an instrument just from hearing the sound. The children will love making some transport-based crafts in making including trains, planes, engines and transport scenes for our display board in the classroom.

Lastly, Swallowtail Class will be looking forward to continuing our learning in World Views (where their focus will be Buddhism). Music, topic and attention circles this term which will be mostly based on our topic of ‘Transport’.

Alex and John