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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.

Class Swaps

Every Monday afternoon in term 6 Maple and Year 1 children will be combining for a Science lesson to get to know each other and the staff before September. Year 2 will be taught by Miss Munn.

Ashdown Forest School Trip

We are going to the Ashdown Forest on 18 June to learn how Stone Age people lived in our locality. We need one more parent helper, but as the trip is free, we could have more!! Come and see me if you can help.

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. MyMaths can be used at home for the children to explore and practise skills from class work whenever they choose.

Useful Websites to Support Learning

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

Reminders

• Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle and their book bag each day. Please no rucksacks as these are taking up room on the pegs.
• Can the children please always have a coat in school as the weather can be unpredictable.
• Our PE days are Wednesday 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 Term 6.

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?

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.

Learning Map

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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 10th 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

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 at any time after school.
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 as part of the homework.  – Please practise these words with your child at home in their spelling book. These will then be tested on a Monday in school.
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/index.html

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 named 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 Mondays and every Friday but named PE kits should be in all week.
• All school uniform should be clearly labelled.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Norris and Mrs Neville

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Dear Parents/carers,

Happy New Year! I 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 focused 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.

Here are some of the texts that we will be looking at this term:

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 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 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.
Spellings & 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 once a week in the homework sheet. Please practise these words with your child at home in their homework book. These will then be tested on a Tuesday in school. Additionally, Year 2 children will receive a comprehension to help them preparefor the reading SATS.
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. 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 fairytales 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 Wednesday and Friday but PE kits should be in all week.

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 necessary.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Norris

Learning Map

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Dear Parents,

I hope that you had a good half term. Our topic this term is “Bright Lights, Big City”. Please ensure that your child’s PE kit is always in school. We really appreciate your on-going support at home, with your child’s learning.

Helping to Enrich Our Topics

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

Useful Websites

• www.phonicsplay.co.uk – phonics and spelling games
• www.bbc.com/bitesize/topics/z4mxsbk – World War One information and activities
• www.google.co.uk/maps – find different cities around the world

Questions to ask at home

• What do I know about Remembrance Day?
• Why do we remember on this date?
• Have you been to any cities? What are they like?
• How are cities different to the towns and villages that we live in?
• What things give us light?
• What types of electronic technology do we have in our homes?

I look forward to seeing you very soon If you or your child has any problems do come and see me.

Regards,

Mrs Norris

Learning Map

Click here for a printable version of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a fantastic summer break! This term we will be starting our new topic of ‘The Great Fire of London’. Please ensure that your child’s PE kit is always in school. We really appreciate your on-going support at home, with your child’s learning.

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.

Useful Websites

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

Questions You Could Ask Your Child About Their Learning This Term

• What do you know about 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?

I look forward to seeing you very soon. If you or your child has any problems do come and see me.

Many thanks and I hope you have a great term!

Mrs Norris

Learning Map