Class 1 Newsletter Spring Term 2016
This Term’s Topics
Houses and Homes
Castles, Knights and Princesses
Science
Using the story of the Three Little Pigs
as a starting point, we will find out about
different types of materials and
investigate their properties. We will learn
to sort objects according to their
material: metal, wood, plastic, glass, china
clay, fabric and according to the
properties they have: flexible, rigid,
smooth, rough, hard and soft etc. We will
investigate how waterproof and
absorbent some materials are.
and what makes materials
suitable
the purposes
we use them
Art for
& Design
Technology
for.
We
will be looking at the work of the
architect Gaudi and investigating pattern in
the buildings around us. We will use printing
techniques to explore our patterns with
paint and make a class photographic montage
of the patterns we have found around our
school.
After half term, as we begin to find out
about castles, we will make our own castles
out of card board boxes, joining materials
and adding draw bridges and turrets.
Visits
It is hoped that we will able to visit a local
building site to observe how houses are
constructed, health and safety being taken
into account. After half term when the
weather is warmer we will be visiting a local
castle.
Maths
Our Year 1 and 2 Maths topics will include;
Number and place value
Addition and subtraction
Money and Measurement
Multiplication and division
Shape and Fractions
Statistics (Data handling)
Year 2 children will continue to learn their
2, 5, 10 and 3 times tables in our Mental
Maths sessions on a Friday morning.
Reception Maths will focus on Counting,
recognising and ordering numbers, shape,
measures and money. Reception will begin
to complete more recorded tasks this term
English
Our topic will provide the starting points for
much of our literacy work in Year 1 and 2. It
will include writing fairy stories, poems about
the seasons, and recounts of trips, letters
and non-fiction writing about castles.
Reception writing activities will be based
around the children’s own experience and
especially linked to role-play.
Phonics and reading
Reception children will begin to learn the
long vowel phonemes where two or more
letters make one sound like – ee, ai, igh.
Year 1 children will be begin to focus on
different ways of spelling a sound.
Year 2 will continue to learn spelling rules
for adding suffixes to words.
Computing
We will continue to learn about internet
safety and practice our keyboard skills. Year
2 will be exploring programming through the
ScratchJnr app on the ipads.
PE
Religious Education
We will be learning about the Hindu religion
and in particular finding out about how they
worship and express their beliefs about
truth. We will explore the spring festival of
Holi. We will also learn about the Christian
festival of Easter.
Forest School
This will take place as usual on Thursday
afternoons. As the forest school area is
very muddy at the moment the children will
be walking in the local area. Please make
sure that you send in wellington boots and
either full waterproofs or separate
trousers and coat every Thursday. As the
weather is cold at this time of year your
child will also need gloves and a hat.
History and Geography
We will be learning what it used to be like
living in a castle, why they were built and
what people used to live inside them. We
will also find out about how houses are
different around the world.
Monday– PE with Alex Owens. This half
term the children will be going to the
village hall to do gymnastics.
Friday— usually inside with Mrs.Thorpe.
Our focus will be dance and yoga and the
Move Well element of our new Personal,
Social and Health Education programme.
Please make sure your child has a tee
shirt, jogging bottoms, a sweatshirt,
trainers and socks to change into.
PE kit will be sent home regularly if it
gets wet or muddy but only every few
weeks if clean and dry.
Personal, Social and Health
Education
We will be focusing on learning how to stay
safe. After half term we will learn about
healthy food.
Year 1 and 2 Spellings
Homework
Spelling challenges will be held on Friday
mornings as usual. Please help your child
practice their words by writing them in
the sentence given. This is a good
opportunity to practice using capital
letters and full stops correctly and for
Y2 to practise joining their handwriting.
Education City homework for Year 1 and 2
will be set as usual on Thursdays for the
following week.
If you have any questions about the Class 1 curriculum or how you can
help your child please don't hesitate to ask.