Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to Acorn Class and a new, exciting and busy term. We hope everyone had an enjoyable summer holiday and are ready to take on the new challenges of the coming year.
Our topic this term is Volcanoes, focusing on the structure of the earth and volcanoes, what happens when a volcano erupts both physically and from the human perspective. We will also look at earthquakes. To consolidate and extend their knowledge, the children will visit the Natural History Museum in London.
In English we will study the book Ocean Meets Sky by Eric Fan & Terry Fan. Children will be creating a dream adventure narrative based on the story. After that, we will read The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish by Chloe Savage. This is about a dedicated scientist named Dr. Morley and her crew as they sail to the icy Arctic to find a legendary, unseen creature. We will use the book as a base to write a ship’s captain daily log.
In the second half of the term, the children will base their writing on Fox by Margaret Wild and will create a fable narrative and an information report. Over the term, every week, we will be also practising reading comprehension skills and a focus in VIPERS to answer a variety of questions about the text. VIPERS stands for:
Vocabulary
Inference
Prediction
Explanation
Retrieval
Sequence or Summarise
The reading challenge is starting again, so keep reading to earn rewards!
In Maths we are focusing on place value, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division and measuring area.
In Science we will be learning about rocks and soil. The children will investigate different types of rocks, learn about their properties and uses the will investigate and classify different types of rocks and explore the composition of different types of soils.
In PSHE, the children will be asking “How can I manage my emotions?” “Who does my body belong to?” and in the second half of the term, they will be discussing what it means to be British.
In Music we will complete a unit called “Hands, feet, heart!” and Christmas carols emphasising the benefits that singing and music can have on our well-being. Our PE days are Mondays and Fridays. Every child is expected to come to school wearing their PE kit.
In RE the children will discuss Reconciliation and in the second half of the term we will endeavour to answer the question “How does a Muslim show their submission and obedience to Allah?”
To support your children at home, we ask that you listen to them read, practise the spellings set on Spelling Shed and practise times tables on TT Rockstars. We will be doing weekly spellings test. Homework will be set on a Wednesday and collected on a Monday morning.
We are looking forward to working in partnership with you throughout the year, we are always available at the end of every day so please talk to us if you have any concerns. We look forward to a fantastic first term with you all!
Mrs Soal (class teacher) and Miss White (Teaching assistant)