Term 5 - Live and Let Live

Welcome back to Term 5. We hope you had a wonderful Easter break.

We have a short but very exciting term as we begin our new topic theme, 'Live and Let Live'. In this Science topic, we will be finding out all about animals and their habitats. Over the term we will learn about how animals are classified. We will look at animals and their offspring. In Year 2, we will observe how some animals change, as they grow, looking at different life-cycles. We will observe first hand the changes of a caterpillar to a butterfly within the classroom. Our tiny caterpillars have already arrived! This term we will also have the opportunity to visit Bristol Aquarium to discover more about life under the sea. You will receive more details about this in due course. You might want to talk about different animals you see out and about. Where did you see the animals? Was this their natural habitat? You can look at the Knowledge Organiser to support with the use of vocabulary and find out what the children have been learning each week.

Our PE days remain unchanged. As the warmer weather arrives (hopefully), please ensure your child has a hat and sun protection as we will have outdoor sessions. We would like to take this opportunity to have a polite reminder to ensure all clothing is clearly labelled as the children will often take off jumpers at this time of year and not always place these in their drawers or bags.

We look forward to a busy and successful term ahead.

Kind regards

Key Stage One Team.

Term 4 - People of the Past

Welcome back to term 4. 

This term we have a History focus to our main topic, 'People of the Past'. We will be finding out about three historical figures and developing an understanding of the legacy left by them. You might want to talk about any significant people from the past that you know about. Perhaps if you have visited somewhere and learned about them you could link these to our timeline from our Knowledge Organiser. 

In our Science this term we will be learning about plants. You might like to observe, outside the school environment, the changes occurring through Spring. When are things beginning to grow? How do they change? You could take photographs and of course share these with us via Showbie.  In class we will carry out activities to develop the Science skills of observation. We will investigate how things grow and explore results and explain our findings.

In English our Year 1 children will be focusing on their sentence writing, whilst writing simple postcards, letters and fact files. Year 2 children will be learning about how to write Information Texts. They will learn about the features including grammar and punctuation as well learn how to set out an Information Text. You might like to read some non-fiction books at home and talk about how they are different to a story.

It is wonderful to see many children collecting their certificates, achieving their 50, 100 and even 150 reads now. Please can we remind you of the importance of logging your reads using Boom Reader. This helps teachers to track progress, as well as ensure the children are able to celebrate their achievements. A huge part of our reading, is teaching the children to decode and to confidently recognise sounds in words, and blend these. We do this through teaching Read Write Inc. In preparation for the Year 1 phonic screening assessment, which takes place in June, we will be sending out some packs to help practise the sounds. You will also find on our Showbie platform video clips to help with practising recognising the sounds and reading words.

Our World Book Day will fall in this term on the 7th March and the children will be invited to come to school in a book themed costume. There will be further details about this later in the term.

We will have the opportunity to meet at the end of the term to discuss progress, however, as always if you have any questions please speak to your child's teacher at drop off or collection or alternatively contact the office to arrange an appointment. We look forward to a busy and successful term.

With best wishes 

Key Stage One Team

Term 3 - Super Humans

Happy New Year! Welcome back to a new term. We hope you had an enjoyable Christmas break with your families. 

Our topic this term is called, 'Super Humans'. We will be learning about the human body and working on some of our scientific skills by asking and answering questions and carrying out some simple investigations. We will be finding out about how humans grow and change, as well as learning about the things the human body needs in order to stay alive and to be healthy. You could look at pictures of yourself and your child when they were younger and talk about the changes they notice from then and now. You might want to talk about the types of foods you are eating and how they help the body.

In English we will be learning a suspense story called 'Kassim and the Greedy Dragon'. We will find out how writers create suspense in writing and try writing our own version of the story. 

Our PE this term will continue to be on Mondays and Thursdays. On Mondays we will have a focus on Gymnastics. On Thursdays we will have an outdoor PE session (weather permitting). Please can you ensure all items of clothing (particularly hooded tops) are clearly named to ensure it can be quickly reunited with its owner if misplaced.

Homework will continue to be set on Showbie on Fridays. The children should practise their reading, spellings and have a Maths activity or Mathletics to engage with. Please support your child by encouraging them to regularly practise their weekly spellings prior to their spelling quiz. Don't forget to log your child's reading using the BoomReader app to support them in achieving their Rainbow Reading Challenge. 

We look forward to working with you over the next term.

Best wishes

Key Stage One Team.

Term 2 - Let's Celebrate

Welcome back to term 2. We hope you had an enjoyable break after a busy end to the last term. Thank you for your support sending the children in costume for our end of term 'Pirate Day'. We had a super day and I hope the children were able to share with you news of the activities they did.

We have already made an exciting start to our new topic, 'Let's Celebrate'. We have been thinking about the events we already know about that people celebrate. Over the term we will learn about different celebrations across the globe. We will have the opportunity to explore the celebrations through art and design activities. You might want to talk with your child about special family celebrations you have had. We will be talking about events from the past. You could look at some celebrations that have happened in your family from the children's lifetime and perhaps before they were born. A great opportunity to share some old photographs and discussion time! We will of course be preparing for the special celebration that marks the end of the term (Christmas). We shall soon be learning the songs and practising lines for the event of the year (the Nativity). There will be more details about this to follow.

PE

Our days for PE remain unchanged. Please ensure the children have warm clothing as we will still have opportunities for outdoor PE. Can we take this opportunity to ask you to check that hooded jackets (or indeed any clothing items) are named as many of these are similar and the younger children are not always reliable at recognising their own clothing. 

READING

Hopefully your child has been enjoying making use of the library and we hope that you have been able to share some of the wonderful books they have access to. We would be grateful if you could ensure these are returned ready for the next session. We are, of course, happy to renew books should the child want to keep the book a bit longer. Please can we ask that any school books are protected in school bags. We have had a number of books damaged by leaking water bottles and are keen to avoid this happening. We have had our first few children already gaining their first certificate and their small reward for our Rainbow Reading Challenge during our Golden Assembly. In order to achieve their certificates it is important that you are logging their reading using BoomReader. If you need any help on how to do this, please speak to your child's teacher.

As always should you need any support or have any queries please don't hesitate to contact us.

We are looking forward to another exciting and busy term working together and helping your child to flourish.

Key Stage One Team.

Knowledge Organiser -Let's Celebrate

Term 1 - Treasure Island

A very 'warm' welcome back to a new term and school year. We hope you have had an enjoyable Summer break.

Our topic this term is, 'Treasure Island'. The main subject focus will be Geography with the children working on mapping skills looking at the countries of the United Kingdom. They will also locate continents and oceans in the world. Please take time to read through and share the Knowledge Organiser with your child. At home you might want to talk about, and show, places you have visited as a family and find these on a map to show your child. Which of the 4 countries have you visited in the United Kingdom? Have you been to any of the capital cities? Have you visited any of the continents? You could talk about which country you visited and the type of weather you had there. Also you could talk about whether it was a long or short journey.

PE:

 PE days for Year 1 and 2 will be on  Monday and Thursday.  The children will continue to wear PE kit to school on those days. Please ensure all items of school clothing are clearly named so that we can quickly return them to the rightful owner should they become lost.

Homework:

 The children will be set homework via our Showbie platform. Homework will be set on Friday and we ask that is completed on Showbie by the following Wednesday. Homework will comprise of spellings to include the common exception words for year 1 and 2, as well as the other National Curriculum spelling requirements for those year groups. The children will also have a Maths activity to complete. There will be further information about this in due course as we appreciate many of you will be new to Showbie. Please follow the set up instructions to join your new class.

Reading:

 Your child will have a reading book that matches their assessed group band for our Read Write Inc programme. It is important to build confidence and fluency so we encourage you to read the book at least three times to support speed and accuracy as well as the use of expression. The BoomReader app is used for recording your child's reading journey. It is simple to use and keeps a record of the books the children have read and the number of reads, as well as highlighting any challenging words they have encountered. We ask that you only log one read per day. Please ensure you do log the children’s reads as it is important that we can see how the children are progressing at home and in school. We look forward to celebrating their achievements with our ‘Rainbow Reading Challenge’ awards throughout the year. These achievements are shared in our ‘Celebration Assembly’ and I am sure you can imagine how proud the children feel when they receive their certificates.

Library:

We are very proud of our wonderful school library and the range of books we can offer to the children. Each week your child will have the opportunity to select a book from the library to share with you over the week. The book should be returned the following week to either renew or to exchange for a different one. The library sessions for each class are:

Robins and Wrens- Monday

Kingfishers and Puffins -Wednesday

We look forward to sharing further information with you during 'Meet the Teacher' on Tuesday 12th September for Year 1 parents in the studio at 2:40 pm and Wednesday 13th September in Kingfishers at 2:40 pm for Year 2. This will provide an opportunity to ask any questions you might have.

As always should you have any queries or concerns, for a longer appointment please contact the office where an appointment can be made to see the teacher. If it is a quick query we are always happy to see you at drop off or pick up.

We are looking forward to working with you to ensure a happy and successful year.

Best wishes

Key Stage One Team

Knowledge Organiser -Treasure Island