Class 1 Newsletter Spring Term
Welcome back to school, I hope you have had a relaxing Christmas break. We would like to say a huge thank you to you all for your generous Christmas gifts, they were much appreciated.
Class One have made a great start to the term and are continuing to develop into independent learners.
English
In English, we will continue to work on developing confident independent reading, correct letter formation and simple sentence structure. We will be learning how to write instructions, focusing on using imperative verbs (bossy verbs), writing in chronological order and how to write a list of ingredients. Lessons will be very practical where children will be doing some cooking activities.
Through their English lessons children will continue to develop their use of capital letters, full stops and question marks. They will also be using adjectives and conjunctions.
Phonics
In phonics, we will be continuing to learn our phase 5 digraphs and moving onto alternative pronunciations of many graphemes (letters that denote a sound) and alternative spellings for certain phonemes (sounds).
Maths
In Maths, we will consolidate place value, addition and subtraction with numbers 1-20 before moving onto numbers 1-50. We will focus on 2-digit numbers and tens and ones along with counting, ordering and comparing numbers. This will progress to counting in multiples of 2, 5 and 10. Further on, class 1 will be introduced to the units of measure for length, mass and weight.
Science
In science, we will also learn about seasonal changes. We will discuss the changes that occur across the four seasons, observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies. After half term, we will learn about the human body. We will focus on identifying and naming many body parts and linking some of these body parts to their 5 senses.
Geography
Our Geography topic will explore the countries of the UK. This will include their capitals and key features and characteristics of the countries. We will also be exploring hot and cold countries.
History
Our history topic sees us journey from the past to the present looking at the changes to nursing over the years. We will give particular attention to Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole and Edith Cavell. They were significant figures of their time, immensely improving the nursing profession.
RE
In RE we will be learning about Judaism specifically exploring Shabbat. We will learn what it is, how it is observed, and different items used within the day. We will also be learning about the significance of the cross to Christians in the lead up to Easter.
Music
We will be looking at a variety of songs in the Blues, Baroque, Latin, Funk and Folk styles. Songs include, Into the Groove, How Blue can You Get by B.B King and Let the Bright Seriphim by Handel. We shall continue to develop our understanding of pulse, rhythm, and pitch.
DT
We will be covering a food technology topic this half term learning about preparing fruit and vegetables, this will involve tasting and trying techniques like washing, peeling, and chopping. We will be using these techniques to design and make our own fruit salad. DT will also be linking with instruction writing in English.
Art
In our art topic will be exploring hot and cold colours and experimenting with texture and patterns linking this to the artist Wassily Kandinsky.
Computing
In computing we will be “TV chefs” using video apps to film each other discussing the steps of a recipe which will link to our English lessons.
In the second half term, the children will use Book Creator to create a multimedia eBook about what they enjoy and have achieved.
PSHE
This term we will focus on belonging to a community, media literacy and digital resilience and money and work. This will include learning about inclusion and belonging; sameness and difference, challenging gender stereotypes, learning how to make good viewing choices and the value of money.
PE
PE will be on a Monday and Wednesday for this half term. In PE we will be doing invasion and target games.
Reading
Please continue to encourage your child to develop a love of reading by providing as many opportunities as possible for your child to read to you, ideally this should be daily. Please use their reading diaries to record their reading at home and provide a comment where relevant as this helps us to support them further during school time.
Homework
One piece of homework will continue to be set on a Friday and will be due in the following Wednesday.
Homework is set to provide further practice and to consolidate phonics learning from the week. Later in the term new subjects will be introduced to children’s homework e.g maths, English.
Spelling
This term the children will begin to have spellings set. These are based on assessment undertaken at school and will be set on a Friday and tested the following Friday. Tests will be taken in the back of their home spelling book so please try to ensure that this is in school on Friday-it can stay at home the rest of the week. Groups will be regularly re-evaluated but please bear in mind that this will also be based on the application/use of learnt spellings not just consistent high scores in their tests.
Forest School
We will continue to attend Forest School this term, please see the dates below for this half term. Please may I remind you to lift share where possible and to minimise traffic/disruption around Mr Cook’s house by parking on the verge along the road. Children will need to arrive at 9.20 and be collected at 11.30 before being changed and returned to school. Please make sure the children are wrapped up warm!
12th January
26th January
9th February
1st March
15th March
Thank you for your continued support. Please do not hesitate to contact us via the school office or over the fence at the end of the day should you have any queries.
Best wishes
Miss Battrick and Mrs Camp