Beech Class Newsletters

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Dear Parents,

Welcome back, I hope everybody had a great half term break. This term we are beginning an exciting new topic – Rolling Through the Stone Age! We will learn history skills and will be using these to find out about past lives and compare them with how we live now. Alongside this, we will be enjoying the natural environment through our science enquiries and our art and design projects.

Some of the key texts we will be using for our learning are:

The learning map attached to this newsletter outlines the areas we will be looking at and some of the work we will be doing in teacher-focussed activities and group work. We are also placing an emphasis on continuing to learn times tables through maths sessions and at home.

Transition

During this term, we will be spending lots of time talking about our transitions to new classes in September and making relationships with peers and staff.

During the first few weeks of term, Year 1 will be joining with Reception children to do a series of Forest School sessions on Wednesday afternoons, so that they can begin to get to know the new members of their class for September. As the term goes on, there will be a series of class swaps and meetings with new teachers so that the children are happy and confident about their changes in September. If you have any questions regarding transition, please come and see us.

Phonics Screening

During the week of the 10 June, Year 1 children will be completing the Government’s statutory Phonics Screen Check. If Year 2 children did not meet the expected standard at the end of last year, they will also be completing this check. These checks will be carried out by the class teacher in a calm environment on a 1:1 basis. The expected score will be announced by the Government once all children have completed the check and results will be included as part of your child’s end of year report.

Home Learning

Reading	Please read with your child at least three times a week, even if it is just for 5 minutes. When reading with your child, please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the reading record book.   During reading sessions, please discuss the story with your child and ask them questions about what they are reading. These questions will help to develop their understanding of what they are reading as comprehension and discussion are key reading skills in Year 1 and 2. Books can be changed at the trolley in the learning zone at any time. Don’t forget that every child who reads three times in a week gets a special entry into the prize draw to win a book in the Friday Celebration Assemblies.
Spellings and homework	Thank you for your continued support with homework. This really is a great way for you to consolidate learning in class and a chance for you to share in your child’s learning. Spellings will be given out each week – Please practise these words with your child at home in their spelling book. These will then be tested on a Thursday in school and scores will be written in the book at the end of the week for you to see.
Maths	Please can children continue to learn their times tables at home. Year 1 children should be learning 10x, 2x and 5x tables When secure with the 2x, 5x and 10x tables, children should be moving onto 3x and 4x tables BBC Bitesize website has links to times tables songs that children can learn. Purple Mash Times Tables Games Search for ‘speed tests’ and then choose the one that you would like to practise.

Useful Websites to Support Learning

• www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/stone-age
• www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z34djxs
• timetravellerkids.co.uk/time-travel/stone-age

 Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bag each day.
• Can the children please always have a coat in school as the weather can be unpredictable.
• Our PE days are Tuesdays and Fridays but PE kits should be in all week.

 Key Questions

• Can you recite your x2, x5, x10 times tables?
• How did people get food in the Stone Age?
• Where did they live?
• How did they keep warm?
• What did Stone Age people wear?
• When was the Stone Age?

We hope you all have lovely last term supporting the children in their learning and can see how much they have learnt already. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to us if you have any questions,

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Winchester and Mrs Pattenden

Learning Map

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

We hope you all had a lovely Easter break! This term we are beginning an exciting new topic- Famous Faces. We will be using this topic to explore lots of famous people from the past and comparing them with famous people today!

The learning map attached to this newsletter outlines the areas we will be looking at and some of the work we will be doing in teacher focussed activities and group work. We are also placing an emphasis on joining our handwriting and spelling the Common Exception Words.

Year 1’s will be practising using their phonics to read a range of real and nonsense words in preparation for the Phonics Screening Check which will take place during the week of 10^th June next term.

Year 2s will be working on consolidating their skills from across the whole year and we will be assessing them on how much they have retained J

Some of the people we will be looking at in our topic are:

Do your children recognise any of them?

Home Learning Task

Pick a famous person from the past or present and write a fact file about them. There is a template attached to this letter but if you prefer you could use PowerPoint or use your own design – we look forward to learning about your chosen person. Please return these to school by the end of term.

Reading	Please read with your child at least three times a week, even if it is just for 5 minutes. When reading with your child, please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the reading record book. During reading sessions, please discuss the story with your child and ask them questions about what they are reading. These questions will help to develop their understanding of what they are reading as comprehension and discussion are key reading skills in Year 1 and 2. Books can be changed in the learning zone at any time. Don’t forget that every child who reads three times in a week gets a special entry into the prize draw to win a book in the Friday Celebration Assemblies.
Spellings and homework	Thank you for your continued support with homework. This really is a great way for you to consolidate learning in class and a chance for you to share in your child’s learning. Spelling challenges will be given out each week – Please practise these words with your child at home in their spelling book. These will then be tested on a Friday in school and scores will be written in the book at the end of the week for you to see.
Maths	Please can children continue to learn their times tables at home. Year 1 children should be learning 10x, 2x and 5x tables When secure with the 2x, 5x and 10x tables, children should be moving onto 3x and 4x tables BBC Bitesize website has links to times tables songs that children can learn. Purple Mash Times Tables Games. Search for ‘speed tests’ and then choose the one that you would like to practise. MyMaths can be used at home for the children to explore and practise skills from class work whenever they choose.

Useful Websites

• www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/quizzes/blue-planet-big-blue
• www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/yes-no-yeti?phase=4
• www.nasa.gov/kidsclub

Questions to Ask Your Child

• Who are the famous people in our topic?
• Would you like to be famous? What would you be famous for?
• Look at the time periods that our famous people lived in: How are the lives of our famous people different?

Quick Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bag each day.
• The children must always have a coat in school as the weather can be unpredictable.
• Our PE days are some Tuesdays, and Fridays but PE kits should be in all week.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Winchester

Leaning Map

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter including home learning questions

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year!  We hope you all had a great Christmas! This term we are beginning an exciting new topic – Who’s in the Book? We will be using Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book’ as a hook for our learning this term. We will explore a range of characters (including pirates and dragons) and different story genres. We will also be investigating different materials in our Science topic.

The learning map attached to this newsletter outlines the areas we will be looking at and some of the work we will be doing in teacher focussed activities and group work. We are also placing an emphasis on improving the presentation of our work and writing quality sentences in all areas of the curriculum.

Some of the texts we will be looking at are:

Home Learning

Mini Home Project – Who is your favourite book character?

Thank you all for your effort with home learning tasks last term, including reading with your children. To link with this term’s story focus, we would love the children to create a piece of work dedicated to a particular character from a story. This could be their favourite story or a character from another book they like. We are focussing on writing this term including handwriting and presentation. It would be great if they could do some writing as part of their project. For example, they could describe a dragon from a story or choose a fairy tale character like Goldilocks to write about.

They could bring this in when complete or by Friday 8th February.

Reading	Please read with your child at least three times a week, even if it is just for 5 minutes. When reading with your child, please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the reading record book. During reading sessions, please discuss the story with your child and ask them questions about what they are reading. Attached to this letter are some examples that you could use. These questions will help to develop their understanding of what they are reading as comprehension and discussion are key reading skills in Year 1 and 2. Books are changed three times a week. Additionally, you are also welcome to come into school at the end of the day to change books with your child. Don’t forget that every child who reads three times in a week gets a special entry into the prize draw to win a book in the Friday Celebration Assemblies.
Spellings and homework	Thank you for your continued support with homework. This really is a great way for you to consolidate learning in class and a chance for you to share in your child’s learning. Spellings will be given out for the term. Please practise these words with your child at home in their spelling book. These will then be tested on a Friday in school and scores will be written in the book at the end of the day for you to see.
Maths	Please can children continue to learn their times tables at home. Year 1 children should be learning 10x, 2x and 5x tables Year 2 chlldren should be moving onto 3x and 4x tables BBC Bitesize website has links to times tables songs that children can learn. www.bbc.com/bitesize/topics/zqbg87h MyMaths can be used at home for the children to explore and practise skills from class work whenever they choose.

Useful Websites

• www.ictgames.co.uk and www.topmarks.co.uk for Literacy and Maths games.
• www.phonicsplay.co.uk Phase 4 – 6 games, blending sounds and words.
• If you wish to make games to have fun at home with learning, you can print from: www.twinkl.co.uk great resources for supporting all areas of learning.

Questions to ask your child

• Who is your favourite character and why?
• What is your favourite book and why?
• Can you tell me the story of Charlie Cook’s favourite book?
• What other fairy tales do you know?
• Who is your favourite author?

Quick Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bag each day.
• The children must always have a coat in school as the weather can be unpredictable.
• Our PE days are Tuesday and Friday but PE kits should be in all week.
• Wellington Boots – Please can all children have a set of Wellies in school at all times, this is so we can use the field and outside areas when it is wet and muddy.

Mystery Readers

To encourage the children to read as much as possible, we will be holding ‘Mystery Reader’ sessions this term where parents, family members or visitors will be able to arrange to come into school at the end of a day to share their favourite story with the class. If you are interested in being a Mystery Reader, please come and see us to book a slot!

As previously, please do not hesitate to come and see us if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Winchester and Mrs Pattenden

Learning Map

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a fantastic summer break! This term we will be starting our new topic of ‘The Great Fire of London’. Our PE days are Tuesdays and Fridays, please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; as the timetable can sometimes change – trainers and coats everyday are essential.

Homework

Our homework focus for this term is Reading.	Please read with your child regularly. Their books and book bags will need to be in school every day. There is a page in the reading record for each week, we ask that you initial whenever you read with your child at home or make notes as appropriate. In school, we have our own record keeping systems and teachers/TAs will not write in these home records. It is expected in our school reading policy that the children should read at home at least three times a week. If the children achieve their ‘three reads’ they will receive a raffle ticket. The reading records will be checked and raffle tickets given on a Friday and entered into a draw which will be held in the following week’s celebration assembly. Many thanks to those parents who have already been using the new Reading Record Books.  It is vital that the children are reading at home to practise the skills they are learning in school. If you have any questions about the new reading system, please come and ask. Also see the school reading strategies below.	Homework Letter Beech
Home learning Task	To enhance the learning of ‘The Great Fire of London’, we are asking all of the children to make a simple model house at home. This can be using an old cereal box or similar recycling materials. The children need to use paint, paper and pens to make it like a real house from the Tudor times. To begin to understand how the people in London felt, we will then safely recreate the ‘Great Fire’ on the playground and discuss how we feel as our hard work goes up in flames! (Parents please don’t worry – Mr Herdman will be lighting the fire and we will be standing way back with lots of adults!) Please could ALL children bring their model house in by the beginning of October.

Helping to enrich our topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work we are doing this term, we would love to see and hear about them.

Children’s Pegs

This year, the Year 1 children have their individual coat pegs outside the classroom and the Year 2 children are just inside the cloakroom next to the school office. Children are encouraged to put their jumpers on their pegs when they take them off. Please ensure all jumpers are named so that they can be quickly returned to the owner.

Useful Websites

• https://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/great-fire-london
• http://www.fireoflondon.org.uk/game/
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/37222884

Questions You Could Ask Your Child About Their Learning This Term

• When was the Great Fire of London?
• How is London different today than it was in that time?
• Why did the fire spread so quickly?
• What equipment is inside a fire engine?
• How would you call the fire brigade if you needed them?

If you visit London with your child, try to bring back any leaflets, postcards, train or bus tickets or artefacts if you can.

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks, and we hope you have a great term!

Mrs Winchester and Mrs Pattenden

Reading at School and at Home

Learning Map

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a fantastic Easter break! This term we will be starting our new topic of ‘Explorers’. Our PE days are Mondays and the occasional Friday, please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; as the timetable can sometimes change – trainers and coats everyday are essential. We are also starting Forest School this term.

Reading	Please read with your child regularly. Their books and book bags will need to be in every day.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in their reading diary, but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments space. A member of staff will be checking reading records during the week and children are expected to have read at least 3 times a week with an adult.
Spellings	Spelling tests are every Friday and your child will be tested on the spellings they were given in the previous week. We send out new spellings on Fridays. We use the ‘No-Nonsense’ Spelling scheme in class and spellings sent home for homework will be derived from the Year 1&2 curriculum word lists. Please do ask if you would like to see the resources we use or would like to know more about how we assess the children’s spelling. Their spelling tests results will be recorded in their books for them to share with you at home.
Times Tables	It is expected that by the end of KS1 all children will know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables fluently (and hopefully some others!).
Maths	Maths homework will be on Mathletics and should consist of 30 minutes per fortnight, the children can compete against each other or complete their own timed skills trials – I will be able to see clearly areas in which they need more focus and how many minutes they spend online. If you do not have access to the internet at home, please let me know and we can arrange a time for the child to complete it at school. If your child has misplaced their login details, let a member of staff know and we can give you a copy.

Helping to enrich our topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them.

Parent readers

We are always looking for extra parent helpers to hear readers, please let me know if you are available, even if it’s a one off!

Forest School

Forest school will be starting this term on Wednesdays, so please ensure your child has waterproof clothing and wellies in school.  

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks, and I hope you have a great term!

Mrs Woods

Reading at School and at Home

Useful Websites

• www.ducksters.com/biography/explorers
• www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting
• community.mathletics.com/signin/#/student

Questions you could ask your child about their learning this term

• What does an explorer do?
• Who are some famous explorers?
• Why are explorers important?
• What are some ways to add 2 digit numbers?
• Can you find different fractions of amounts?

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a lovely half term! This term we will be continuing with our topic of ‘Dinosaurs’: focusing more on how dinosaurs changed over the years, and the extinction event! Our PE days are Mondays and the occasional Friday, please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; as the timetable can sometimes change – trainers and coats every day are essential.

Reading	Please read with your child regularly. Their books and book bags will need to be in every day.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in their reading diary, but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments space. A member of staff will be checking reading records during the week and children are expected to have read at least 3 times a week with an adult.
Spellings	Spelling tests are every Friday and your child will be tested on the spellings they were given in the previous week. We send out new spellings on Fridays. We use the ‘No-Nonsense’ Spelling scheme in class and spellings sent home for homework will be derived from the Year 1&2 curriculum word lists. Please do ask if you would like to see the resources we use or would like to know more about how we assess the children’s spelling. Their spelling tests results will be recorded in their books for them to share with you at home.
Times Tables	It is expected that by the end of KS1 all children will know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables fluently (and hopefully some others!).
Maths	Maths homework will be on Mathletics and should consist of 30 minutes per fortnight, the children can compete against each other or complete their own timed skills trials – I will be able to see clearly areas in which they need more focus and how many minutes they spend online. If you do not have access to the internet at home, please let me know and we can arrange a time for the child to complete it at school. If your child has misplaced their login details, let a member of staff know and we can give you a copy.

Helping to enrich our topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them. We are also looking for parent readers during the morning!

Parent readers

We are always looking for extra parent helpers to hear readers, please let me know if you are available, even if it’s a one off!

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks and I hope you have a great term!

Mrs Woods

Reading at School and at Home

Useful Websites

• www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sy534/clips
• www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/andys-dinosaur-adventures
• www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting
• community.mathletics.com/signin/#/student

Questions you could ask your child about their learning this term

• What does ‘extinct’ mean?
• How do you think the dinosaurs became extinct?
• What is your favourite dinosaur and why?
• Can you count up in 3’s?
• What do the big hand and little hand on the clock do?

Learning Map

 

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a fantastic Christmas holiday! Our topic for the next two terms is ‘Dinosaurs’: we will be learning everything there is to know about these amazing creatures from the past!  Our PE days are Mondays and the occasional Friday, please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; as the timetable can sometimes change – trainers and coats every day are essential.

Reading	Please read with your child regularly. Their books and book bags will need to be in every day.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in their reading diary, but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments space. A member of staff will be checking reading records during the week and children are expected to have read at least 3 times a week with an adult.
Spellings	Spelling tests are every Friday and your child will be tested on the spellings they were given in the previous week. We send out new spellings on Fridays. We use the ‘No-Nonsense’ Spelling scheme in class and spellings sent home for homework will be derived from the Year 1&2 curriculum word lists. Please do ask if you would like to see the resources we use or would like to know more about how we assess the children’s spelling. Their spelling tests results will be recorded in their books for them to share with you at home.
Times Tables	It is expected that by the end of KS1 all children will know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables fluently (and hopefully some others!).
Maths	Maths homework will be on Mathletics and should consist of 30 minutes per fortnight, the children can compete against each other or complete their own timed skills trials – I will be able to see clearly areas in which they need more focus and how many minutes they spend online. If you do not have access to the internet at home, please let me know and we can arrange a time for the child to complete it at school. If your child has misplaced their login details, let a member of staff know and we can give you a copy.

Helping to enrich our topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them. We are also looking for parent readers during the morning!

School trip

We hope to go on a school trip this term, linking to our topic, and will be sending letters out in week one. Please let me know if you would like to be a parent helper!

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks, and I hope you have a great term!

Mrs Woods

Reading at School and at Home

Useful Websites

• www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sy534/clips
• www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/andys-dinosaur-adventures
• www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting
• community.mathletics.com/signin/#/student

Questions you could ask your child about their learning this term

• Can you name any dinosaurs?
• How long ago did dinosaurs live?
• How have the continents changed from when the Dinosaurs were alive?
• Can you count up in your 2’s/5’s/10’s?
• What is a fraction?
• Can you name the months of the year?

Learning Map

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a lovely summer holiday! Our topic for term 1 is ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’! We will be reading a variety of texts including ‘Funny Bones’, ‘You Think it’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?’ and a range of non-fiction books . In maths we will be looking at place value and positional language and moving on to data handling. Our science learning this term will be focused on the human body and life processes. We look forward to learning lots of new action songs to go with our topic in music and learning about the ‘human timeline’ in history – this will include finding out about children in other time periods. Our PE days are Mondays and the occasional Friday, please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; as the timetable can sometimes change – trainers every day are essential.

Homework

We will stagger the start of homework this term – starting with spellings and reading.

Reading	Please read with your child regularly. Their books and book bags will need to be in every day.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in their homework diary, but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments space. A member of staff will be checking homework diaries on a Thursday and children are expected to have read at least 3 times a week with an adult.
Spellings	Spelling tests are every Friday and your child will be tested on the spellings they were given in the previous week. We send out new spellings on Fridays – the first six are essential and the last four are an optional challenge. We use the ‘No-Nonsense’ Spelling scheme in class and spellings sent home for homework will be derived from the Year 1&2 curriculum word lists. Please do ask if you would like to see the resources we use or would like to know more about how we assess the children’s spelling. Their spelling tests results will be recorded in their books for them to share with you at home.
Times Tables	It is expected that by the end of KS1 all children will know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables fluently (and hopefully some others!).
Maths	Maths homework will be on Mathletics and should consist of 30 minutes per fortnight, the children can compete against each other or complete their own timed skills trials – I will be able to see clearly areas in which they need more focus and how many minutes they spend online. If you do not have access to the internet at home, please let me know and we can arrange a time for the child to complete it at school. If your child has misplaced their login details, let a member of staff know and we can give you a copy.

Helping to enrich our topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them. We are also looking for parent readers during the morning!

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Mrs Woods

Reading at School and at Home

Useful Websites

• www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/z9yycdm
• resources.hwb.wales.gov.uk/VTC/our_bodies/eng/Introduction
• www.colgate.com/en/us/kids/kids-corner

Questions you could ask your child about their learning this term

• Can you name any bones in the human skeleton?
• What organs are there in the body? What do they do?
• How can we keep our body healthy?
• Why is it important to look after your teeth?
• How do your eyes work?
• How is our skeleton different to the dog/cat/hamster’s skeleton?

“Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!” Learning Map

Click here to download a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome back, I hope everybody had a great half term break. This term we are beginning an exciting new topic –The Super Stone Age. We will learn about history skills. We will use our research skills to find out what it was like to live in the Stone Age, and our artistic skills to learn new talents. This term will also include our school production and sports day!

We are continuing with our Reading Challenge Chart in the classroom! Please record in your child’s book when they read their book to you. Children that read 5 times at home to an adult get to move up the caterpillar, and get a prize when they reach the end! They can swap their book twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If they finish their book before that, please ask them questions about the book, or they can read you a book from home (please note this in their reading record.)

Reading	Please read with your child every day, even if it is just for 5 minutes. We read individually with the children once a week, so it is really important that the children bring their book bags, yellow reading record and their reading book into school every day. We also have small group guided reading sessions each week. When reading with your child please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the yellow book, or you may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary. Books are changed twice a week. This is so that the children can enjoy answering questions about the book rather than rushing through books. Please feel free to record in the record if your child has read another book in addition to the school book.
Spellings and homework	Every Friday, the children will bring home their new spellings to learn. Please ensure your child learns their spellings for their spelling quiz, which takes place the following Friday. Thank you for your continued support with homework. This really is a great way for you to consolidate learning in class and a chance for you to share in your child’s learning. Please ask your child to read the Year 1 and 2 Common Exception words. All children need to strive to be able to read and spell all the words correctly by the end of their year group.
Maths	Homework this term will be linked to the learning in class. However, please can Year 2 learn their times tables out of order. By the end of this year the aim is they know their 2, 5, 10, 3 and 4 times tables off by heart, out of order and recall answers instantly. Some wise owls may even go beyond this and learn their 6 and 7 times too!

Useful Websites

• www.ictgames.co.uk and www.topmarks.co.uk for Literacy and Maths games.
• www.phonicsplay.co.uk Phase 4 – 6 games, blending sounds and words.

 Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bag each day.
• Can the children please always have a hat in school as the weather is improving.
• Our PE days are Monday and every fourth Friday but PE kits should be in all week.
• Wellington Boots – Please can all children have a set of wellies in school at all times, this is so we can use the field and outside areas when it is wet and muddy. We will be doing forest school for the whole of this term!

Topic websites

• www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/stone-age
• www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z34djxs
• timetravellerkids.co.uk/time-travel/stone-age

 Key Questions

1. Can you recite your x2, x5, x10 times tables?
2. Can you tell me about the Stone Age? What was it like to live back then?
3. How was life in the Stone Age different to how we live today?
4. Can you tell me what a suffix is, and give me some examples of words that contain them?

We hope you all have lovely term supporting the children in their learning and can see how much they have learnt already. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to me if you have any questions.

Thank you for your support, and I hope you have as much fun this term learning about the Stone Age from your children as we will have teaching them!

Mrs Woods

Click here to download a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome back, I hope everybody had a great Easter break. This term we are beginning an exciting new topic – Famous People from the Past and Present. We will learn about the skills and talents of different famous people. We will use our history skills to find out about past lives and our artistic skills to learn new talents. This term will also include Enterprise Week.

We are continuing with our Caterpillar Reading Challenge Chart in the classroom! Please record in your child’s book when they read to you. Children that read 5 times at home to an adult get to move up the caterpillar, and get a prize when they reach the end! They can swap their book twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If they finish their book before that, please ask them questions about the book, or they can read you a book from home (please note this in their reading record.)

Reading	Please read with your child every evening, even if it is just for 5 minutes. We read individually with the children once a week, so it is really important that the children bring their book bags, yellow reading record and their reading book into school every day. We also have small group guided reading sessions each week. When reading with your child please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the yellow book, or you may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary. Books are changed twice a week. This is so that the children can enjoy answering questions about the book rather than rushing through books. Please feel free to record in the record if your child has read another book in addition to the school book.
Spellings and homework	Every Friday, the children will bring home their new spellings to learn. Please ensure your child learns their spellings for their spelling quiz, which takes place the following Friday. Thank you for your continued support with homework. This really is a great way for you to consolidate learning in class and a chance for you to share in your child’s learning. Please ask your child to read the Year 1 and 2 Common Exception words. All children need to strive to be able to read and spell all the words correctly by the end of their year group.
Maths	Homework this term will be linked to the learning in class Please can Year 2 learn their times tables out of order. By the end of this year the aim is they know their 2, 5, 10, 3 and 4 times tables off by heart, out of order and recall answers instantly. Some wise owls may even go beyond this and learn their 6 and 7 times too!

Useful Websites

• www.ictgames.co.uk and www.topmarks.co.uk for Literacy and Maths games.
• www.phonicsplay.co.uk Phase 4 – 6 games, blending sounds and words.

Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bag each day.
• Can the children please always have a hat in school as the weather is improving
• Our PE days are Monday and every fourth Friday but PE kits should be in all week.
• Wellington Boots – Please can all children have a set of wellies in school at all times, this is so we can use the field and outside areas when it is wet and muddy. We will be doing forest school for the whole Term 6 when we doing a Stone Age topic.

Topic website

• www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople

 Key Questions

• Can you recite your x2, x5, x10 times tables?
• Can you talk about a famous person?
• Can you tell me some facts about the person you are looking at this week?
• Can you create a timeline?

We hope you all have lovely term supporting the children in their learning and can see how much they have learnt already. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to me if you have any questions,

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Woods

Click here to download a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome back, I hope everybody had a great half term break. This term we are beginning an exciting new topic – Monty’s Marvellous Mission. We will explore the different animals that can be found on each continent including Africa, Australasia and Asia. We will use clues that our class Meerkat (Monty) gives us from his suitcase! The boxes below explain the areas we will be looking at and some of the work we will be doing in teacher focussed activities and group work. We are also focussing on handwriting and reading activities.

We have updated the Reading Caterpillar in our classroom! If the children read at home or at school five times they can move themselves up the Caterpillar, and each time they get to the Caterpillar’s head they receive a sticker on their picture! The children with the most stickers by the end of term will earn a special reading certificate!

They can swap their book twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If they finish their book before that please ask them questions about the book, or they can read you a book from home (please record this in their book).

• What does the character feel like? Why?
• What did you learn?
• Does this remind you of anything you have done or any other books? Why does it remind you?
• What do you think will happen next?

It is World Book day in week 2. The children can dress up as their favourite book character!

Literacy Poetry Non – chronological report Storytelling and writing	Mathematics Fractions Times Tables Reasoning Shape and Space Money and coins Using mathematical vocabulary	Science Scientific Investigation Exploring birds, making bird homes and bird feeders. Predicting, measuring, planning, observation and making conclusions.
Expressive Art & Design Art – Drawings of animals and animal prints Making African themed bracelets DT – Animal face masks	ICT Handling data about favourite animals, pets and animals found in different continents. Animal Top Trumps.	Physical Development Team building skills
Religious Education Exploring different feelings about Easter. Is Easter Happy or Sad? Learning songs and preparing for Easter Service.	Personal, Social and Emotional Development Our responsibilities How we treat and look after the natural environment	Geography Meerkat – he is going to tell us about his travels/ Equator – learn about this using globe Name the seas and the continents,

Home Project

This term we are focusing on Animals from different countries. We would love the children to do a project about their favourite animal. This could be a mask, poster, PowerPoint, model, booklet or painting. They can bring it in when it is complete and can share with the class. All children will have the opportunity to share this with the rest of the class.

Reading	Please read with your child every evening, even if it is just for 5 minutes. We read individually with the children once a week, so it is really important that the children bring their book bags, yellow reading record and their reading book into school every day. We also have small group guided reading sessions each week. When reading with your child please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book, or you may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary. Books are changed twice a week. This is so that the children can enjoy answering questions about the book rather than rushing through books. Please feel free to record in the reading record if your child has read another book in addition to the school book.
Spellings and homework	Every Friday the children will bring home their new spellings to learn. Please ensure your child learns their spellings for their spelling quiz, which takes place the following Friday. Thank you for your continued support with homework. This really is a great way for you to consolidate learning in class and a chance for you to share in your child’s learning. Please ask your child to read the Year 1 and 2 Common Exception words. All children need to strive to be able to read and spell all the words correctly by the end of their year group.
Maths	Homework this term will be times tables focussed. Please can Year 2 learn their times tables out of order. These are recorded in their times tables books. They will be assessed every Friday. By the end of this year the aim is they know their 2, 5, 10, 3 and 4 times tables off by heart, out of order and recall answers instantly. Some wise owls may even go beyond this and learn their 6 and 7 times too! Year 1 and Year 2 –Every child has their own log in to the Mathletics website. The children can get Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates for doing lots of Mathletics tasks. I will print out and give to children to take home. Please let me know if you have any questions about Mathletics.

Useful Websites

• www.ictgames.co.uk and www.topmarks.co.uk for Literacy and Maths games.
• www.phonicsplay.co.uk Phase 4 – 6 games, blending sounds and words.

 Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bag each day.
• Can the children please always have a coat in school as the weather can be unpredictable.
• Our PE days are Mondays and every fourth Friday but PE kits should be in all week.
• Wellington Boots – Please can all children have a set of Wellies in school at all times, this is so we can use the field and outside areas when it is wet and muddy.

Topic website (linked to animals)

• http://a-z-animals.com/animals/
• http://www.kidsbiology.com/animals-for-children
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/

 Key Questions

• Can you recite your x2, x5, x10 times tables?
• Can you talk about your favourite animal and explain why?
• Can you name a continent that our Meerkat has been to?
• Can you tell me which different sentences we can us and what punctuation can end a sentence?

We hope you all have lovely term supporting the children in their learning and can see how much they have learnt already. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to me if you have any questions,

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Woods

Click here to download a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome back, we hope you had a brilliant half term. Our topic for this term will be ‘Super Seasons of Stickman’. We will be exploring the story of ‘Stickman’ by Julia Donaldson, using it as a starting point for all of our learning. We will be learning about seasonal changes, how to measure the weather, poetry, story writing, and drawing maps. We will also explore events that happen in different seasons including Bonfire Night.

 

 

Home Learning

If the children find any information on the seasons, weather or complete any home learning inspired by ‘Stickman’, they are welcome to bring in to share with the class. There will be a home learning project every other term. The next one will be given out in term 3.

Reading	Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just for 5 minutes. It is really important that the children bring their book bags, yellow reading record and their reading book into school every day. When reading with your child please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the yellow reading record, or you may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary. We will change their books when appropriate.
Spelling	Spelling homework will be sent home every week. Please can your child complete and bring back the following Tuesday. Common exception words should be read and spelt correctly by the end of year 2. These are attached to this newsletter. Year 1 need to continue to practice their phonic sounds. It will be helpful for children to use www.phonicsplay.co.uk. There are lots of games to play which support phonics learning e.g. Obb and Bob is a game they can play. We have attached phase 3, 4 and 5 phonics mats that the children need to be able to read.
Maths	Please complete the maths homework – sent home every other week in maths books. Year 2 – Times tables – please support your child to learn their x10, x2 x5, x3 times tables so that they know them off by heart, backwards, and at any point can tell you the answer e.g. 6 x 5 =

Key questions to ask your child at home

•  Can you retell the story of Stickman?
• How do you know the seasons are changing?
• Can you identify the characters in Stickman?
• Can you order the seasons?
• Can you select which months go in which season?
• Can you practice your number bonds to 10 and 2?

Useful Websites

www.ictgames.co.uk and www.topmarks.co.uk for Literacy and Maths games.

www.phonicsplay.co.uk  Phase 3-5 games, blending sounds and words.

Topic Websites

• www.stickmanoffical.com/book/
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=swKDQR9Fs4
• www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zwkqmp3/vidoes/1
• www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zwkqmp3

Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bags each day.
• Can the children please always have a coat in school particularly as the British weather is unpredictable.
• Please can your child bring their PE kit every day. This can be left on their peg. Mr Watson teaches the PE session.
• YEAR 1 AND 2 WILL BE DOING FOREST SCHOOL THIS TERM – The children will need a forest school kit in school including long trousers, a top covering their arms and waterproofs. Please can all children have a set of wellington boots in school at all times, this is so we can use the field and outside areas when it is wet and muddy.
• Share Learning – if the children would like to share something from home with the class, it needs to be linked to the topic, their learning in school or a personal achievement.
• Cursive Script – please can you encourage your child to write with joined up hand writing. They are learning this in school.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to come and ask. If you need to speak to me, I am on the playground every day at 8:45am. Please see Miss Chewter or me if you would like to make appointment to see me.

Thank you for your support. We are looking forward to an exciting term ahead

Miss Moore