A warm welcome for the second half of the Spring Term in Catkin Class. We hope you and your families have had a lovely half term break.
Our class topic this half term will be ‘Wings and Wheels’, which will offer a wealth of opportunities in all subjects. For example, one of our high-quality texts is Mrs Armitage on Wheels, whilst in the Forest our learning will focus on materials. In D&T, we will be building our very own vehicle, and this links nicely to History where we will be learning all about the history of transport and how it has changed and adapted over time.
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 all children have been making fantastic progress. The Reception children have been learning all 42 of their single letter sounds and double letter diagraphs. This half term we will be focusing on consolidating our Chapter 2 sounds. This will include a recap of the sounds learnt so far and then moving on to learn about alphabetical order. We will also spend some time looking at vowels and consonants. In addition, the children will continue to work through the initial set of high frequency and common exception 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 and starting VIPERS.
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 with your child. We would recommend that you take time to read with your child daily, to help support with their 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 therefore 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]