Core Skills Analysis
English: Phonics, Reading and Writing
Francis practised Read Write Inc. sounds, Jolly Phonics, word searches, tracing, handwriting, and independent name writing. He read and retold stories including Handa’s Surprise, I Am Kipper, The Three Little Pigs, and Bumpus Jumpus Dinosaur Rumpus, answering questions about characters, actions, settings, and events. He wrote story-related vocabulary such as “hen,” “hut,” “banana,” and “pineapple,” and ordered pictures to retell Handa’s Surprise. These activities strengthened phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, sequencing, sentence writing, and confidence as an early reader.
Mathematics
Francis counted fruit, recorded numbers from 2 to 10, compared images using more, less, and the same, and ordered fruit from smallest to biggest. He explored time by considering journeys around the world and displaying zoo talk times on an analogue clock, and he compared motorway and non-motorway journeys using distance and duration. He identified British coins and designed the front and back of a £20 note, while supermarket activities introduced prices and shopping decisions. These experiences developed counting, ordering, comparison, time, money, measurement, and practical problem-solving.
Science
Francis studied the frog life cycle, planted flowers, compared pinecones by size and texture, and discussed observations from Life on Our Planet and Absurd Planet. He learned about milk and healthy teeth, personal hygiene, bandage use, and how teeth and gums are cared for during a dentist visit. He also discussed radio frequency and identified everyday examples such as mobile radios, walkie-talkies, television remote controls, and observed how tyres and flooring were fitted. These activities developed observation, classification, health education, materials awareness, simple technology understanding, and curiosity about living and physical worlds.
Geography, History and the Wider World
Francis explored places and landmarks through trips to Edinburgh, London, Beamish, Chester Zoo, farms, beaches, parks, and museums. He identified transport methods for travelling around the world and considered how different vehicles affected travel time and distance, while aeroplane spotting connected transport learning to his local environment. Visits to Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Bridge, and the River Thames introduced landmarks, heritage, buildings, and communities. Designing a zoo, making building collages, and creating a park picture also encouraged him to represent places through maps, plans, and artwork.
Art, Design and Fine-Motor Development
Francis drew insects, fruit, story scenes, zoo maps, buildings, parks, and space equipment, and coloured Scotland’s Kelpies, Sonic, Stitch, and other subjects. He cut and pasted story pictures, made Christmas chains, created reindeer food, decorated pancake crafts, painted a Stitch plaster figure, and made charm bracelets for donation. Building a house from books helped him notice triangles, rectangles, and squares, while handwriting, tracing, colouring, cutting, and bracelet-making developed coordination and control. His work showed that he used creative activities to communicate ideas, practise precision, and connect art with stories and real places.
Physical Development, Health and Independence
Francis took swimming lessons, attended boxing, played football, used a scooter, joined outdoor play, and participated in yoga-ball activities and adventure parks. He learned practical self-care and household skills, including washing, applying cream, brushing his hair, folding clothes, loading and unloading the dishwasher, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning, and making a sandwich. He discussed seatbelt safety, healthy teeth, manners, personal hygiene, and the safe purpose of bandages. These experiences supported movement, coordination, safety awareness, self-management, and increasing independence.
Personal, Social, Emotional and Religious Education
Francis explored feelings by choosing happy or sad faces for fruits he liked or disliked and completed Valentine’s activities by writing the names of people he loved. Through role play with superheroes, toys, and scenarios involving adoption and homelessness, he explored protection, caring, belonging, and empathy. Sunday school and church activities introduced biblical stories, characters, verses, and moral ideas including kindness, honesty, courage, responsibility, and helping others. Beavers, Boys Brigade, emergency-services activities, and community visits also connected learning with teamwork, service, respect, and the roles people play in society.
Music, Drama and Communication
Francis sang nursery rhymes, number songs, phonics songs, and listened to Jack Hartman, Maple Leaf Learning, Curious Kids, and other children’s programmes. He used role play with superheroes, dinosaurs, toys, costumes, and a cardboard spaceship to invent situations and communicate ideas. He listened to stories and podcasts, answered quiz questions, and joined conversations with workmen about flooring materials and with adults about transport, tools, and emergency services. These activities supported listening, speaking, imaginative expression, turn-taking, vocabulary, and purposeful communication.
Tips
Tips: Create a “World Travel Day” in which Francis chooses a destination, draws a route, selects transport, estimates travel time, and compares the journey with another vehicle. Make a story basket for Handa’s Surprise or another favourite book, using fruit, animal pictures, and simple sentence cards so he can retell the story in order and write one sentence for each scene. Extend science learning by planting seeds, photographing changes, and making a dated frog or plant life-cycle wheel. Use a pretend zoo or supermarket to practise reading signs, writing prices, giving change, telling the time, and speaking politely to customers.
Book Recommendations
- Handa's Surprise by Eileen Browne: A colourful story supporting fruit vocabulary, counting, sequencing, animals, prediction, and retelling.
- What the Ladybird Heard Next by Julia Donaldson: A humorous farm adventure that develops listening, rhyme, character recognition, and comprehension.
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone: A traditional tale that supports sequencing, descriptive vocabulary, repeated language, and dramatic retelling.
Learning Standards
- English National Curriculum – English programmes of study, Year 1 and Year 2: phonics and decoding, reading common exception words, developing fluency, answering questions, predicting, sequencing events, retelling stories, handwriting, spelling, vocabulary, and sentence writing.
- Mathematics National Curriculum – KS1: counting, reading and writing numbers to 20 and beyond, comparing and ordering numbers, addition and subtraction, money, measurement, time, shape, position, and interpreting practical information.
- Science National Curriculum – KS1: observing plants and animals, describing life cycles and growth, identifying materials and their uses, noticing seasonal change, and learning about healthy living and the human body.
- Geography National Curriculum – KS1: identifying places, landmarks, transport, routes, distance, local environments, maps, plans, and simple geographical representations.
- History National Curriculum – KS1: learning about significant places, castles, museums, royalty, local heritage, and changes in transport and buildings.
- Art and Design National Curriculum – KS1: drawing, colouring, painting, cutting, collage, craft, pattern, shape, model-making, and communicating ideas through visual work.
- Physical Education National Curriculum – KS1: swimming, running, jumping, balancing, coordination, games, gymnastics-style movement, and developing confidence in physical activity.
- Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education: health, hygiene, safety, manners, independence, money awareness, relationships, empathy, responsibility, and participation in community activities.
Try This Next
- Make a transport-times worksheet: match aeroplane, boat, car, walking, and rocket journeys with days, weeks, months, or years.
- Create a Handa’s Surprise sequencing quiz using six picture cards and ask, “What happened first, next, and last?”
- Design a zoo ticket worksheet with child and adult prices, opening times, and three simple addition questions.
- Draw and label the frog life cycle or plant growth stages using arrows and key vocabulary.