St Paul's Catholic Primary School

Can you retell the story using actions?

• Jack climbs the beanstalk (climbing actions)
• The beanstalk grows (stretch tall)
• The giant stomps (loud steps)

Talk prompts:

• “How did the beanstalk change?”
• “How did Jack feel at the start? How did he feel at the end?”

 

Writing Activity 

 

 

• Make a tiny pile of items and a giant pile.
• Ask your child to:
  • Count each pile.
  • Say which has more and which has fewer.
  • “If the tiny pile grows, what happens?”

 

 

Growing and Changing

• Can you draw a picture of yourself now?
• Then, draw yourself as a grown‑up (on the same page or another piece of paper). Think about what do you want to be when you are older?
• Can you write a simple sentence about each picture:
  • I am 5.
  • I will be big.
  • I can run.

 

Make a “Growing” Nature Artwork

• Collect natural items from the garden or on a short walk (leaves, sticks, stones).
• Ask your child to create a picture showing something growing — a flower, tree, or creature.
• They can arrange the items on the floor/table (no glue needed!).

Talk prompts:

• “What did your plant/creature look like at the start?”
• “How did it change?”

 

Saint Paul is special because he loved Jesus very much and wanted everyone to know about God’s love.

He travelled to lots of places to tell people how to be kind, how to work together, and how to love others.

Even when things were hard, Saint Paul kept going and didn’t give up. He showed us that we can always try our best and help others every day.

 

 

At St Paul’s, our Reception children are learning to be intentional. This means helping children to understand that their actions matter.

We encourage them to:

We are learning that God wants everyone to have what they need —
food, clothes, a home, school, and help when they are poorly.

Some people have these things, but some people don’t.

Jesus asks us to be kind, share, and help others
so everyone can feel safe and cared for.

During our Baptism topic, the children learn that Baptism is a special celebration that welcomes someone into God’s Family.
They explore important symbols such as water, a special name (Christian name), and the Baptismal candle, which reminds us that Jesus is our Light. The children enjoy simple role‑play of a Baptism and talk about how we are all part of God’s family.

• Lent is a time to try to be more like Jesus. 
• We think about our choices and try to make loving ones. 
• We use our gifts and talents to help others. 
• Lent is a time to pray, say sorry, and try again. 

• Palm Sunday – Jesus is welcomed with palms.
• The Last Supper – Jesus shares a special meal with his friends. 
• Good Friday – Jesus dies on the cross, showing his love for everyone. 

Children explore these stories through simple role‑play, art and prayer.

Children will read with an adult in school every week, giving them regular opportunities to practise their skills and develop fluency. Their reading books will be changed weekly, allowing them to enjoy a new text at home while continuing to revisit familiar books to build confidence.

We encourage families to read together as often as possible—little and often makes a big difference!

This half term, our learning will be centred around the traditional tale Jack and the Beanstalk. Children will explore the story through puppets, role‑play, small‑world areas, and repeated story retelling, helping them build confidence with sequencing events and using key story language.

In writing, children will focus on caption writing, using simple, meaningful labels such as “Jack climbs,” “big bean,” or “tall beanstalk.” These activities support early sentence building and encourage children to hear and record initial and final sounds. They will also take part in shared retelling sessions, where they create simple sentences about what happens in the story and talk about the characters, settings, and main events.

Later in the term, children will learn to write simple instructions on how to grow cress, using clear steps supported by pictures and key vocabulary. Through practical planting sessions, they will explore time words such as first, next, then, and finally, helping them understand how instructions work and why order is important.

Across all activities, children will continue developing their phonics knowledge, practising letter formation, and building the confidence to write independently with increasing accuracy.

 

This half term, children will explore early measurement through practical activities. They will compare length, height and distance, using words such as longer, shorter, taller and further. They will also investigate weight, using real objects to talk about heavy and light. Alongside this, children will use tens frames to build a secure understanding of number and continue making and repeating simple patterns using colours, shapes and everyday items. These hands‑on sessions help children develop mathematical language, reasoning and confidence through play.

This half term, children will explore the theme of Growing and Changing. They will learn how plants, animals and humans grow over time, comparing life cycles and noticing simple changes in living things. Through hands‑on activities such as planting seeds, observing nature, and exploring outdoor environments, children will develop their curiosity about how things grow and what they need to survive. We will also look at how animals change as they grow, helping children build an early understanding of growth, change and the natural world.

This half term in Art, children will explore lines in drawing and mark‑making. They will experiment with straight, curved, zig‑zag and wavy lines using different tools and materials.