Class Newsletter
Class 1 Newsletter January 2017
Happy New Year! The children have settled back in to Year 1, quickly earning the final class stars to enable them to have a session riding bikes in the playground.
Thank you so much for all the kind gifts and kind wishes at Christmas.
Here are some of the things that we will be learning this term.
| English | In English we will be developing our skills by reading and writing fantasy stories based on a pirate theme. We will be learning how to plan and write stories with a beginning, middle and end. We will be concentrating on using well chosen describing words to make our writing more exciting.
We will continue to develop our phonic skills, looking at how different sounds are written in different ways, whilst practicing and applying our existing knowledge within our writing. We will be learning how to join our writing, focusing on how to lead in and out of letters. The children will continue to bring home reading books, please read as frequently as you can with your child and write in their record book so I know how they have got on. We have our new weekly reading challenge where children will be rewarded with certificates if they manage to read at home every night. |
| Maths | In Maths we are continuing to develop our confidence within number, practicing adding and subtraction with numbers to 20 and beyond. We will be using our skills of counting in 10’s to help us to find the total value of coins and will begin to use the terms ‘tens’ and ‘ones’ when developing our understanding of place value.
We are learning to tell the time on analogue clocks and show the time by correctly placing the hands on a clock face. We will start to use directional and positional language. We will be becoming more familiar at using a number line to add and subtract numbers. |
| Science | In Science we are identifying and naming a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock. We will begin to look at why certain materials are used to make specific objects. We will be thinking about how strong the materials are and whether they float or sink. We will be designing and completing simple experiments to test materials and will record our results in different ways.
We will continue to think about the changes in seasons. |
| Topic
History/
Geography |
In our topic about Pirates and Islands we will show that we can recognize and name the countries and their capital cities in the United Kingdom. We will design our own treasure island, beginning to use symbols and keys on our maps. We will start to use and record compass directions. We will start to learn about some famous Pirates from the past and will think about the different parts of a Pirate Ship.
During the second half of the Spring term we will be looking at how transport has changed over time. |
| Music | In Music we will be developing our skills to play musical instruments in different ways. We will learn how to record our music by using digital media and we will create musical scores. |
| Art | In Art we will be using our sketch books to practice designing our own Pirate. We will look at how the sea is represented in art, mixing different shades of blue and making patterns in water. |
| DT | Ship Ahoy! We will be making our own pirate ships out of recycled materials and learning how to join materials together. |
| PE | On Wednesdays, we will be learning how to use balance within dance, working individually and in small groups to perform movements to music.
Mr. Snelling will continue teaching class 1 games skills on a Thursday afternoon. |
| Computing | We will continue to become more independent on the computers, thinking carefully about how to keep safe on the computers. |
| RE | This term we will be thinking about new life, discussing how different religions believe the world began, the plant and human cycle. |
| PSHE | We will be concentrating on our emotions, learning to recognize how we feel and how to manage our feelings. |
Please note, we will not be doing Forest School this term.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to approach me at the end of the school day.
Mrs. Langan, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Carline and Mrs. Abrahams
If you have internet access at home, these are really useful websites to support your child’s learning;
www.letters-and-sounds.com www.twinkl.co.uk http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/
Class 1 Newsletter Autumn Term 2016
Welcome back to the new school year. I hope that you have had a lovely Summer break and that the children are feeling refreshed ready for a busy few weeks ahead. All of the children have settled in well to Year 1 and they are enjoying the new routines and challenges.
We are delighted to welcome Charlie Upton to our class and Mrs. Abrahams, who will be working in our class on a Friday morning.
The children are already becoming more independent, I am very impressed by the confidence that they have shown coming into the classroom in the morning. I am trying to encourage the children to develop their organizational skills by asking them to hand in their Friday Folders and Reading Books when they need to be changed.
Our topic this half term is about Ourselves, Our School and Our Playground.
The children will be introduced to the Primary Curriculum initially through play activities, although the lessons will become more structured as the term progresses.
The children’s learning will be divided into different subjects;
| English | In year 1 we aim for the children to be confident and independent readers. The children will increase their phonic knowledge to include blends. Blends are not individual letter sounds, but letters which make a new sound when they are together.We will be learning; oo (book) oo (moon), ee, ai, oi, oy, er, ar, ur, or, th, ch, sh, ng, ow, ou, igh, air, ure, ear and ir which we find inside words. ‘Book’ for example, will have 3 sounds.; b-oo-k. The children already know the individual letter sounds so they need to recognise that two ‘o’s make an ‘oo’ sound. The children will be encouraged to use these skills to enable them to write independently.Reading Books will be changed frequently, thank you for using the Reading Journal to let me know how your child has read at home. It is really important that the children read as much as possible, in class they are encouraged to read with their classmates, with their Year 4 buddies, in groups and individually with Mrs. Thomas and myself. It would be lovely if there were any parents or grandparents who would be able to spare a couple of hours to come in to school to hear the children read, please speak to me if this is possible. |
| Maths | This term we are looking at counting and ordering numbers to twenty and beyond, adding small numbers together and subtracting or ‘taking away’, exploring 2D shapes and their names, real number problems, organizing data and information, and supermarket shopping. |
| Science | We will be finding out about different types of birds and plants, and learning about the changes in seasons. We will think about ourselves, focusing on our senses. |
| Topic History and Geography | In our topic work we will be thinking about making simple maps and using language to describe the position of objects. We will look at photographs of the school grounds and try to spot things that have changed or stayed the same. |
| Music | In group we will be singing traditional songs, adding percussion, performing and evaluating our work. |
| Art | In art we will be thinking about different shapes and colours. learning how to fit shapes together to form pictures and how to mix colours. |
| DT | The children will concentrate upon the skill of joining materials together. The will look at the equipment that we have in the school playground and begin to develop ideas about how they could improve their playground area. |
| PE | Gymnastic skills will take place with myself on Wednesdays and Fridays, whilst Mr. Snelling will teaching class 1 games skills on a Thursday afternoon. Please make sure your child has the correct PE kit on those and days. Can I remind you that the children are now encouraged to wear trainers rather than plimsolls, as these are more suitable for outdoor P.E. (Velcro rather than laces.)Please make sure that all uniform is clearly named. |
| Computing | We will be learning how to use digital media to capture images. |
| RE | This term we will be thinking about Special Places. |
| PSHE | Making a Positive Contribution and being Good Citizens |
| Homework and Spellings | Homework will be set on a Thursday and should be returned to school by the following Wednesday. It will be linked to work that we have done or will be doing in class.Next week, I will start to send home a few words for the children to learn how to spell. Please practice spelling these words with your child both by saying the sounds that you can hear and writing down the words. Please return their spelling book on Wednesdays, as the children will have a quick ‘Quiz’. Initially, the words will be quite simple to give the children confidence to learn spellings. |
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to approach me at the end of the school day.
Once again, a warm welcome to class 1.
Mrs. Langan, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Carline and Mrs. Abrahams.
If you have internet access at home, these are really useful websites to support your child’s learning;
www.letters-and-sounds.com www.twinkl.co.uk http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/
Dates for your Diary
September 21st Meet the Teacher evening 7.00 and 7.30 Class 1
October 3rd Friendship Week
October 3rd- 7th Book Fair
October 18th Parents Evening 5.00-7.00
October 20th Parents Evening 3.30-5.00
October 21st INSET day
December 7th Tray Day
December 14th KS1 Dress Rehearsal AM
December 15th KS1 Performance PM
