Class 1 Newsletter Spring Term
Welcome back to school! We hope that you all had a relaxing break, and we wish you all a Hapy 2025. wishing you all a Happy 2025. We would like to say a big thankyou to you all for your generous Christmas gifts. They were much appreciated. The children have made a great start to the term and are continuing to develop and grow into more independent learners.
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 lesson, the children will continue to develop their use of capital letters, full stops, and question marks. They will also be using adjectives and conjunctions.
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).
In Maths, we will be learning about, sorting, and organising 2D and 3D shapes, exploring patterns and describing turns and positions. We will also be learning about multiplication and division, focusing on counting in steps of 2s, 10s and 5s and making arrays, doubles, and equal groups. Later, we will be learning about fractions including recognising, naming, and finding halves and quarters of an object, shape, or quantity. We will also be learning about time including using specific language, sequencing events, and telling the time to the hour and half past the hour.
In Science, we will be identifying and naming a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. We will also be learning about carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. After half term, we will be learning on the human body, focusing on identifying and naming many body parts and linking some of these body parts to our five senses. We will also be discussing and observing the seasonal changes as we move from winter into spring.
Our Geography topic will explore the countries of the UK, which will include their capital cities, and the key features and characteristics of the countries. We will also be exploring hot and cold countries.
In History, we will be learning about the changes to nursing over the years, focusing on the important historical figures of Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole and Edith Cavell.
In RE we will be learning about Judaism, particularly exploring Shabbat. We will learn what it is, how it is observed, and different items used within the day. After half term, we will be learning about the significance of the cross to Christians in the lead up to Easter.
In Music, we will be looking at and learning a variety of songs in the Blues, Baroque, Latin, Funk, and Folk styles. We will continue to develop our understanding of pulse, rhythm, and pitch.
In DT, our Food Technology topic will focus on learning about preparing fruit and vegetables including washing, peeling, and chopping. We will be using these techniques to design and make our own fruit salad. Our DT topic will also link with instruction writing in English.
In our Art topic, we will be exploring hot and cold colours and experimenting with texture and patterns linking this to the artist Wassily Kandinsky.
In Computing, we will be focusing on coding by solving problems by using programmable toys.
In PSHE, we will be focusing on belonging to a community, media literacy, digital resilience, 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 will continue to be on a Wednesday and every other Friday. We will be focusing on target games and dance this half term, and invasion games and yoga after half term.
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. 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.
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 including Maths and English.
This half 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. The children will be regularly re-assessed but please bear in mind that their spellings will be based on the use of learnt spellings, not just consistent high scores in their tests.
We will continue to attend Forest School every other Friday – please see the dates below. Please may I remind you to lift share where possible and to minimise traffic/disruption around Mr Cook’s house. Children will need to arrive at 9.15am and be collected at 11.30am before being changed and returned to school. Please make sure the children are wrapped up warm in non-school clothes.
Friday 10th January Friday 24th January Friday 7th February
Friday 28th February Friday 14th March Friday 28th March
Thank you for your continued support. Please do not hesitate to contact us via the school office if you have any questions.
Best wishes
Miss Battrick and Mrs Yildiz
