A warm welcome to the Spring Term in Catkin Class. We hope you and your families have enjoyed a happy, healthy and magical Christmas break.
Our class topic this half term will be ‘Deadly Dinosaurs’. This topic will offer a wealth of opportunities for the children to learn about what dinosaurs are and already know about them, where they lived, how they became extinct, who Mary Anning is and much more. There will be opportunities to engage in child interest led topics through non-fiction and fictional texts as well as a trip to the Novum Museum in Chichester.
For more information about the learning intentions for this topic please have a look at our knowledge organiser that are available to download on this webpage.
Phonics Shed
This term we will be continuing with our daily Phonics Shed sessions. So far this year the children have all made great progress learning all of their single letter sounds and an initial set of diagraphs, especially the Reception children who are new to the scheme. The children have particularly enjoyed learning all the characters names, joining in with the songs and learning the actions for each letter.
This half term the Reception children will be on completing Chapter 2 of the scheme. This will include learning the double letter diagraphs, for example ‘ff’, ‘ll’ and ‘ss’. The children will be learning the corresponding phonemes and graphemes to these sounds and how to write them. The children will also continue to work through the initial set of high frequency words. Year 1 will be carrying on with Chapter 4b, and the Year 2 children, who are coming towards the end of the scheme, will be focusing on Chapter 4C with a focus on vowels and syllables. For more information regarding the Phonics Shed scheme, please see the Curriculum Tab under Phonics at Slindon.
Home Reading
Your child’s home reading books are linked to the sounds they are working on in their phonics lessons. Please note, some children may also have a library book with a number on the side. This is linked to their reading level and the children will take part in discussions about the book once completed. Home reading is therefore a great opportunity for you to practice these sounds at home with your child. We would recommend that you take time to read with your child daily to support with fluency. Please sign your child’s reading record after each read to indicate that your child has read with you at home.
In school we will aim to read with your child individually at least twice a week. We would therefore ask that your child brings their book bag along with their reading book and reading record to school every day. We will change your child’s book every Monday and Thursday.
You may notice a red heart sticker on some of the reading books that your child brings home. These have been added to books to indicate to the children that they may not be fully phonetically decodable at the child’s current reading level. Please be assured the children are free to choose one of these texts which we refer to in school as ‘Love for reading books’. If your child brings one of these books home, they may just require a little extra support to decode some of the text. These books are ideal for parent / carers to share together to promote a love for reading!
PE Lessons
Our PE lessons will continue to be on Monday mornings led by the Premier Sport coaches. We would therefore request that your child arrives dressed appropriately for PE every Monday. This includes ensuring that long hair is tied back, and any earrings are removed or taped over.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to catch me on the playground at the end of the school day.
Swimming Fridays
This half term the children in Year 1 and Year 2 with be taking part in swimming on Friday afternoons, please make sure your child comes to school prepared and ready! For any questions, please visit reception or refer to the letter previously sent out.
Forest Mondays
We will be continuing with our ‘Forest Mondays’ throughout the spring term. This is an opportunity for the children to spend every Monday morning in the woods adjacent to the school. We will be visiting the forest regardless of the weather, so all children should come to school appropriately dressed for the weather conditions - trousers (such as joggers), a long sleeve top, a jumper, a hat, gloves and a scarf. We can provide waterproofs and wellies if needed.
We will need a minimum of one parent volunteer each week for the visit to go ahead. If you are available and would like to help, please contact the school office for more information.
With best wishes,
Miss Amos [Class Teacher]