Owls’ Termly Letter

It was lovely to see so many of you at parents evening. That was our last one for this year, but please be assured that if you have any concerns or comments you can come and see me at any time.

Thank you so much for all of the hard work and support you put into helping your children create the owl homes. There were so many positive comments from other children and parents, and I think you’ll agree they made a fabulous display for parents evening. I will go back to issuing more regular weekly homework in the pink books this term.

On Tuesday (23^rd Feb) all of year 1 have a cycling workshop! This will take place in 2 groups, each having 3 different sessions over the day, and all children will ride school balance bikes. Please could everyone come in to school on Tuesday morning wearing their PE kit (including tracksuit bottoms, sweatshirt and trainers). All children will also need a warm, waterproof coat as some of it will be in the playground.

We have the very exciting topic this term of Toys and Games.

Possible trip

I am currently weighing up the costs involved in taking the children to The Heritage Museum in Canterbury for a workshop involving Toys and Games. I want this to be as reasonably priced as possible because I’d like to do a big trip next term to Wingham, when we study “Dangerous Animals” as our topic. I am awaiting dates and prices at the moment and will let you know as soon as I know.

Please read below to find more information on our learning this term:

Literacy

Our daily literacy lesson will continue to be Read Write Inc. All children are placed into small groups so they can learn at their best and at an appropriate level. They are regularly assessed by their group’s teacher and our Read Write Inc manager, Mrs Linden, and then moved on accordingly. This is a fast paced lesson in which children read and write daily, using their knowledge of sounds and helping their class mates along the way. We will also use our topic learning to give us plenty of writing opportunities, in particular, we will be looking at “Old Bear” and “The baby who wouldn’t go to sleep”. For our class book I’d like to read Winnie the Pooh to the children.

Numeracy

Our numeracy is taught through the Maths Makes Sense scheme which uses concrete objects such as cups and DM (decimetre) sticks so children can act out maths in addition to reading and writing it. This term we will be working towards vertical additions and subtractions with 2 digit and 3 digit numbers, multiplication and division with 1 digit whole numbers, being able to associate particular volumes with different objects in ml, addition and problem solving using 1p, 2p and 5p coins, properties and names of 2D shapes and rotation and reasoning using real life stories.

Topic

In science we are learning about the human body. We will look at body parts of humans and how they compare and contrast to animals; and we will also look at the 5 senses and, once again, compare ourselves with animals. As part of history we will be looking at old toys and I want to create a toy museum in the class room. If anyone has any old toys that can go on display in our museum then please do name them and bring them in, they don’t have to stay for the whole term if that means they will be missed. In RE we will be looking at the Easter story. In Art and Design we will draw our favourite teddy and make our very own toy; and in Computing we will be looking out how easy it is to change information on our screens.

We will continue to practise letters and numbers for our handwriting and aim to hear the children read as much as we can. We want to build confident readers who enjoy reading, and choose to do it for pleasure. So, we will change books twice a week so the children can read their books a couple of times and start to read with expression. To read for pleasure it is also essential that children understand what they are reading, so please ask them some of the questions below as you are reading:-

• Who was your favourite/least favourite character and why?
• Where was the story set?
• Can you think of a different ending to the story?
• What was your favourite/least favourite part of the story?
• How did the story make you feel at the end?
• List 2/3/5 new words you learned in the book
• Can you draw a story map for the book?

Show and Tell (Friday)

So that all children get an opportunity to share their items and news each week different groups will be given priority to go first. The group at the beginning of each list goes first and then if time allows we’ll work across. If children bring in topic related show and tell they will get a star!

26^th February – Surnames beginning with K-N, O-W, A-C, D-J

4^th March – Surnames beginning with O-W, A-C, D-J, K-N

11^th March – Surnames beginning with A-C, D-J, K-N, O-W

18^th March – Surnames beginning with D-J, K-N, O-W, A-C

Mrs Gurney, Mrs Crockford and Miss Delaney

Diary Dates: Weds 16^th March Owls Class Worship and Fri 18^th March Easter Service.