Nursery

Autumn Term 1 

Vocabulary Focus

Literacy

Our first special books will be ‘Owl Babies’ and ‘A Little Bit Brave’. Through these stories we will explore the language and rhythm of the text. We will pay special attention to the emotions and feelings of the characters in the story and relate these to our own emotions and feelings.  We will be beginning to recognise familiar words and signs, such as our own names, the names of people who are special to us and our favourite shops and foods. We will play early phonic games which include listening to musical sounds, exploring rhyming words and tapping out simple beats and rhythms. In our provision we will be gaining control over writing and drawing tools, making pictures, lines, circles and crosses which have meaning to us and using our name cards to copy the letters from our names.

Children will:

• Enjoy sharing books with an adult. 
• Pay attention and respond to the pictures or the words. 
• Have favourite books and seek them out, to share with an adult, with another child, or to look at alone.

Vocabulary for story language – once upon a time, one sunny day, happily ever after, suddenly 

Time words – first of all, next, after that, finally, in the end

story, information, book, front cover, title, pages

Mathematics

We will learn lots of number songs and use equipment, toys and actions to support our counting skills. We will be counting groups of objects to 10 and counting out small groups of toys from a larger group. In Nursery we will play lots of games which will help us match and recognise numbers to 10. This will include musical numbers and dominoes. Through our provision, we will learn the names of everyday shapes and think about their properties, such as how many sides they have and if they have straight or curved edges. We will use food and cooking activities to explore everyday shapes. 

We will be covering these areas of learning in Mathematics over the term:

• Take part in finger rhymes with numbers.
• React to changes of amount in a group of up to three items.
• Compare amounts, saying ‘lots’, ‘more’ or ‘same’. 
• Develop countinglike behaviour, such as making sounds, pointing or saying some numbers in sequence. 
• We will be looking at the following White Rose blocks: 

-White Rose Block: Just like me!

-White Rose Block: It’s me, 1, 2, 3!

-White Rose Block: Light and Dark

Vocabulary  - number, count, zero, one, two, three……

Understand and use language of comparison e.g wider/narrower     longer/shorter     taller/shorter    widest/narrowest 

Order, next, forwards, backwards, more, less, fewer, altogether, equals, the same as

Vocabulary – talks about significant times of the day e.g. home time, lunchtime, snack time, bed time. Know the name of the days of the week and say them in order

Before, after, yesterday, today, tomorrow

PSED (Physical, Social, Emotional Development)

In Nursery we will be establishing friendships, talking with others and being friendly with the other children and grown-ups we know. We will develop rules for using and sharing the Nursery equipment, finding ways to share toys and make sure everyone gets a fair turn. Every day we will develop our independence in putting on our own coats ready for the changing Autumn weather outside with our teacher’s support. We will be trying to do up our zips and buttons. We will help the teachers with getting out and tidying away the toys and resources we play with.

We will be covering these areas of learning in PSED over the term:

• Begin to show ‘effortful control’. For example, waiting for a turn and resisting the strong impulse to grab what they want or push their way to the front.
• Be increasingly able to talk about and manage their emotions. 
• Develop friendships with other children.

Words for developing self-confidence and self-esteem – proud, going, to, can do, try, goal succeed, 

Vocabulary for working together and relationships – hello, please, play with, watch, copy, smile, build, make, feel, give, take, ask, tell, share

Positive adjectives – active, kind, thoughtful, friendly, careful, confident, creative, helpful, considerate, strong, quick, courageous, artistic, warm, musical, gentle, caring

Communication and Language

In our Nursery we will begin to listen and join in during circle times, we will listen carefully and follow instructions. We will sing lots of familiar action songs and also learn some new ones. Through the exciting activities around the nursery we will develop our confidence to speak with our friends and teachers. We will be introduced to a range of stories, such as ‘Dear Zoo’, ‘Brown Bear Brown Bear’, ‘Whatever Next’, and ‘Owl Babies’. There will be lots of toys and resources which will help us to become familiar with these tales and we will be encouraged to retell them ourselves.  We will be extending our vocabulary, learning and using lots of new words related to our topics. This will include extending our descriptive language and sentences e.g our ‘Brown Bear’ will become ‘a furry brown bear’ or ‘a soft furry brown bear who likes honey’. 

We will be covering these areas of learning in Communication and Language over the term:

• Make themselves understood, and can become frustrated when they can’t. 
• Start to say how they are feeling, using words as well as actions. 
• Start to develop conversation, often jumping from topic to topic. 
• Develop pretend play: ‘putting the baby to sleep’ or ‘driving the car to the shops’. 
• Towards their third birthday, can the child use around 300 words? These words include descriptive language. They include words for time (for example, ‘now’ and ‘later’), space (for example, ‘over there’) and function (for example, they can tell you a sponge is for washing). 
• Understand simple questions about ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’ (but generally not ‘why’).

Use an increasing range of vocabulary appropriately, understanding the meaning of new words

Use past, present and future tenses – in conversations with peers/adults about themselves and their experiences, activities, ideas and events

Understanding the World

In our Nursery will be digging our garden area over and planting bulbs ready for spring. We will look at the leaves and weather, observing the changes we see and feel. This will help us to develop an understanding of changes that occur over periods of time. We will explore the religious festivals celebrated by ourselves and our friends. We will begin to look at the similarities and differences between the celebrations and to understand why it is important to behave respectfully towards special objects and the beliefs and practices of others. 

We will be covering these areas of learning in Understanding of the World over the term: 

• Make connections between the features of their family and other families. 
• Notice differences between people. 
• Talk about what they see, using a wide vocabulary.

Vocabulary – today, yesterday, tomorrow, morning, afternoon, evening, last week, this week, next week, this morning

Old, new, then, now, past, future, before, after, birthday, next

Vocabulary for expressing feelings – happy, cheerful, glad, excited, joyful, sad, miserable, gloomy, angry, worried, anxious, frightened, scared, nervous

Physical Development

In our Nursery we will be learning how to use the climbing equipment safely. We will practice moving in different ways such as jumping, hopping on one foot and skipping. We will continue to develop our confidence on the climbing and balancing equipment. We will focus on holding and manipulating a range of tools such as pens, pencils, rolling pins, dough cutters and paint brushes to make marks, pictures and letters. We will be using scissors to cut and make snips in paper, and we will practice cutting straight and zig-zag lines. Our teachers will help us to practice our self-care skills, making sure we put our aprons on when we play in the water, washing our hands and putting our dirty tissues in the bin.

We will be covering these areas of learning in Physical Development over the term: 

• Spin, roll and independently use ropes and swings (for example, tyre swings). 
• Sit on a push-along wheeled toy, use a scooter or ride a tricycle. 
• Show an increasing desire to be independent, such as wanting to feed themselves and dress or undress. 
• Learn to use the toilet with help, and then independently.

Vocabulary – language of movement linked to body parts and how they move

Vocabulary linked to foods and food groups at the snack table, body parts, exercise and effects on the body, dressing skills, 

Expressive Arts and Design

In Nursery we will be developing independence in the art area, this will include making textured paint to create different effects, putting on our own aprons, writing our names on our work and washing our hands when we are finished. There will be lots of bright colours as we make glittering Divas for Diwali and shiny stars for Christmas. When we play we will use role-play and small world to extend our imaginations, acting out our own experiences like cooking dinner or feeding the baby. We will also make up our own exciting stories such as superheroes rescuing people or animals eating grass.

We will be covering these areas of learning in Expressive Arts and Design over the term: 

• Express ideas and feelings through making marks, and sometimes give a meaning to the marks they make. 
• Enjoy and take part in action songs, such as ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. 
• Explore different materials, using all their senses to investigate them. 
• Manipulate and play with different materials. 
• Use their imagination as they consider what they can do with different materials. 
• Make simple models which express their ideas. 

Vocabulary – join, assemble, construct, model, build, design, screwing, building, balancing, threading, slotting, structure, model, tall, taller, tallest, big small

Vocabulary for designing and making – recycled, paper, cardboard, plastic, foil, polystyrene, natural, man-made, waterproof, construct, build, assemble, join, plan, design, structure, thick thin