This term, our Year 1 and Year 2 pupils are stepping into the magical history of the circus through our exciting circus topic. Inspired by the story Nell and the Circus of Dreams, the children will explore imaginative storytelling, creativity, and hands-on discovery across the curriculum.

In English, pupils will develop their narrative writing skills by retelling and innovating on the story. They will focus on creating their own characters, describing settings, and building simple story structures. Alongside this, children will practise writing for different purposes by creating labels, captions, and eye-catching circus posters, helping them understand how writing can inform and persuade.

In history, the children will learn about the origins of the circus. They will explore how circuses have changed over time and compare traditional performances with modern-day shows, developing an understanding of the past in an engaging way.

Our art lessons will link to the work of Wassily Kandinsky, where pupils will experiment with colour, shape, and pattern to recreate artwork through painting. This will encourage them to express themselves creatively while learning about a significant artist.

In science, children will investigate and explore a variety of everyday materials. They will experiment with how materials can be used and focusing on textures, strength and flexibility then applying this knowledge to explore why certain materials are used for specific things in their life.

The PE lesson will focus on net and wall skills as well as a circus dance topic, using a variety of movements the children will learn throughout the topic.

In PSHE, the children will be looking at families and relationships, including the importance of getting on well with others and how to support eachother with friendship problems.

In RE, we will explore how different religions answer 'What is God's job?' This topic looks like what religions believe about a God through stories and scriptures.

The children will learn about pitch, rhythm and pulse during music sessions using musical instruments, body percussion and singing.

Please read the knowledge organisers below to explore what the children will be learning this half term!