St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School
St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School

Reception

Curriculum Overview – Autumn

In September, the children start their journey here at St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School and spend time settling into our school life. They learn the classroom rules and routines and become familiar with the daily timetable and school environment.

In RE, they learn about Saint Ambrose Barlow and explore the first two branches of ‘Discerning Disciples’. The children learn about The Creation story, how to keep their body healthy, and emotional wellbeing in RSHE. Our topic, Identity and Belonging, encourages the children to explore their families and community, notice their similarities and differences with others, and think about what makes them unique. We read stories such as ‘Elmer’, ‘The Colour Monster’ and ‘In Every House on Every Street’ to support our learning of this topic.

Later in the term, we explore change, including seasonal changes, how humans grow and change, and how things in the past are different, including dinosaurs.

In Maths, the children learn to match and sort, compare and order numbers, create simple patterns, and explore time, 2D shape, and numbers up to five.

In Phonics and Literacy, the children learn the phase two grapheme-phoneme correspondences. They practice identifying initial, middle, and end sounds of words and begin to read and write simple CVC words, whilst developing correct letter formation. 

Spring

In Spring Term, the children explore the next two branches of ‘Discerning Disciples’ in RE. We learn about Jesus as a role model, relationships, and life online in RSHE. Our topic, ‘Let’s Go Exploring’, allows the children to discover and explore the world around them, learning about life in other countries and the wonders of space. To help us with our topic, we share stories such as, ‘The Journey Home from Grandpa’s’, ‘Whatever Next’ and ‘Rocket says Look Up!’

Later in the term, the children enjoy our Amazing Authors topic, focusing on well-known authors, such as Julia Donaldson, Michael Rosen, and Eric Carle.

In Maths, they develop their understanding of positional language, numbers to 10, and addition. They also practice measuring length, height and capacity.

In Phonics and Literacy, the children learn the phase 3 grapheme-phoneme correspondences, and they practice reading and writing words and phrases, consistent with their phonic knowledge. 

Summer

In the Summer Term, the children continue the topic ‘Let’s Go Exploring’ and learn about animals, plants, and minibeasts. We focus on the stories ‘On the Farm’, ‘The Very Tiny Seed’ and ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ to develop our understanding of this topic.

Later in the term, they also enjoy learning about people who help us. The children share stories of traditional tales, such as ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’, ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, and practice retelling stories in their own words.

In RE, they explore branch five and six of ‘Discerning Disciples’. We learn about keeping safe, religious understanding, and living in the community in RSHE.

During this term, the children begin their transition period in to Year 1, preparing them for the next stage of their learning.

In Maths, the children explore 3D shape, counting forwards and backwards, doubling, halving and sharing, odd and even numbers, volume and capacity, money, data, and simple word problems.

In Phonics and Literacy, the children practice writing simple sentences, with increasing confidence and independence. They continue to develop their skills and work towards achieving their Early Learning Goals.