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Quick links: Term 1 & 2 Newsletter – Class 5 | Term 1 & 2 Newsletter – Class 4 | Term 1 & 2 Newsletter – Class 3 | Term 5 & 6 Newsletter – Class 2 | Term 5 & 6 Newsletter – Class 5 | Term 5 & 6 Newsletter – Class 1 | Spring Fling | Useful Downloads | Useful Downloads | Reading Parent Workshop

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Term 1 & 2 Newsletter – Class 4

Welcome back to school and the start of an exciting year. I hope everyone had a lovely and restful summer break and enjoyed the warm weather. It’s great to see everyone back in school and the children so enthusiastic and excited about their learning this term. I’m really excited for what is already looking to be a fantastic year!

Reminders

Please make sure all belongings (water bottles, jumpers and PE kits) are named to avoid missing items.

Mrs Taplin

dtaplin@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

History

Our theme for both of these terms will be the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. Our key questions are ‘What happened when the Romans left Britain?’ and ‘Did the Vikings deserve their reputation?’ We will begin by with the Anglo-Saxons settlement in Britain and what life was like once the Romans left. Following on from this after half term, we will be looking at Viking invasions, finishing with the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Whole class reading

Our whole class reading book this term is Ted Hughes’s ‘The Iron Man’. These sessions give the class an opportunity to read a book together, practice reading aloud with expression, and answer comprehension style questions.

Maths

We will start the year by learning about place value and number, which are the building blocks of maths. After half term, we will be looking at calculating with the four operations. We will also be having a big focus on times tables throughout the year, which children should be practicing at home regularly. This will prepare year 4s for the Multiplication Tables Check in the summer.

RE

This term we will be considering the questions, ‘What does it mean if God is holy and loving?’ and ‘Was Jesus the Messiah?’.

Art

Before half term, we will be working on our drawing skills, with a particular focus on making some brilliant harvest artwork to decorate the church with at the harvest festival. After half term we will be working on sculpture.

Music

In term 1, we will be learning about the Leonard Bernstein’s – ‘Mambo’ from Symphonic Dances from ‘West Side Story’. This will involve listening, responding and creating compositions inspired by the song. After half term we will be starting our yearly recorder lessons. More information about this will be provided nearer the time. We will also be continuing our regular singing sessions with Mrs Bayman each week.

Computing

In Computing this term, we will be learning about computer networks and the internet and video production.

English

Before half term, we will be looking at the famous Old English poem, Beowulf, which is an Anglo-Saxon story. The children will be looking at various different versions of the story, including the Michael Morpurgo novel, which is going to inspire them to produce some amazing writing. After half term, we will be focusing on the text ‘Viking Boy’. This is a great story which links in nicely with our theme, as it looks at different aspects of Viking life and culture. We will also be doing handwriting practice and encouraging those who still need to earn their pen licences.

Spelling

During these terms, we will be using Superhero Spellings. This approach has 3 stages: learn, build and show. The children will be given opportunities to practice the words for the rule throughout the week, before completing dictation sentences on Fridays. These will be stuck in the back of homework books for the children to refer to if needed. The children will be split into year groups during these spelling sessions.

Science

In term 1, we will be learning about forces including gravity, air, and water resistance before moving onto learning about earth and space in term 2.

PSHE

PSHE lessons will be taught using the Jigsaw scheme of work. In the first term we will be looking at the piece ‘Being Me in My World.’ After half term our topic will be ‘Celebrating differences’.

PE

In term 1 we will be having our regular PE lessons with Bright Sparks, learning about invasion games, such as football. In our other PE lessons, we will be working on our tennis skills before moving onto tag rugby in term 2. PE sessions will take place on Mondays and Tuesdays. Full PE kit is expected and we will be outside.

DT

This term we will looking at pneumatic systems in DT.

MFL

We will begin the year by recapping any French learnt in year 3 before moving onto places in town after half term.

Homework

The children will be sent home with a homework menu for the term. Each week the children will select one task to complete. This is sent out on Wednesdays to be handed back in on a Monday.

Spelling

Each week, the children will be working on a different spelling rule and receive 10 spelling words. A list of these can be found stuck into homework books for the children to practise at home.

These will also be worked on in class and at the end of the week the children will complete dictation sentences including these 10 words.

Dictation sentences will be stuck into the back of homework books each week in order to see progress and any words/spelling rules that may need to be worked on further.

Reading

Reading is required every night which is to be shown in their reading records. Please bring completed reading records in for reading certificates.

Times tables

Don’t forget to keep practicing times tables at home whenever you can. We have a leader board for studio speed/Rockstar status up in the classroom which is updated weekly.

If you need your TT Rockstars login, just send me an email.

Key Dates

Thursday 24th September – Uckfield College PE

Friday 25th September – European Day of Languages

Friday 25th September – In School Poetry Recital

Tuesday 29th September – Harvest Festival and KS2 Hike

Monday 19th & Wednesday 21st October – Parent Consultations

Friday 23rd October – Last day of Term 1

Monday 2nd November – First day of Term 2 & School Photos

Friday 13th November – Children in Need Crazy Catwalk

Monday 16th November – Odd Socks Day

Thursday 19th November – Uckfield College PE

Friday 20th November – INSET Day

Friday 27th November – Takeover Day

Friday 4th December – Senior Citizen Christmas Party & Late Night Shopping Singing

Wednesday 9th December – Open the Book Donkey Walk

Tuesday 15th December – Christmas Jumper Day, School Christmas Lunch & KS2 Carol Concert

Thursday 17th December – KS2 Christmas Party

Friday 18th December – Last Day of Term 2 and Cup Assembly

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Term 1 & 2 Newsletter – Class 3

Dear all,

I hope you have all had a wonderful summer holidays and enjoyed spending time with family and friends.  Welcome to Class 3! I am very excited to get to know the children and to begin their Key Stage 2 learning journey with lots of exciting experiences and engaging topics.

English

In term 1, our focus text is ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker. Journey is a wonderful and engaging first text to ease the children in as they will need to use a lot of their imagination and detective skills as the book does not have any text. Journey follows a young girl who finds a magic crayon which takes her on an incredible adventure. During term 1, children will be developing their questioning and inference skills by analysing the images to make sense of the story and the key events. Journey also will give the children the opportunity to develop their descriptive writing skills and narrative writing skills.

In term 2, we will be showcasing all our history knowledge by writing a non-chronological report all about the Romans. The children will be focussing on the key features of a non-chronological report and practice applying this into their writing. We will then be putting ourselves into a roman soldier’s boots and writing a diary entry as a roman soldier who is guarding Hadrian’s Wall.

Spelling

In key stage 2, we use the Superhero Spelling scheme which is the next level up from monster phonics. The outline of the weekly spellings can be found stuck into your child’s homework book as well as on class 3’s page on the school website. Children are expected to practise their weekly spellings alongside their homework by using the ‘Look,Say,Cover’ sheet or handwriting sheet.

Science

In term 1, our topic is Rocks, Soils and Fossils. Children will be identifying and classifying rocks based on certain characteristics as well as learning about the process of fossilisation. We will also be taking part in an exciting experiment testing soil permeability which gives us the opportunity to plan, carry out and evaluate an experiment. In term 2, our topic is Animals, including humans. During this topic, we will be learning about the functions of the skeleton and how we move using our joints. We will be identifying bones in animal skeletons and try to answer the question ‘Are all animal skeletons the same?’

Art / Design & Technology

Our art topic starts with a focus on creating art for the Harvest festival; the children will be experimenting with texture and shading to design, draw and shade a Harvest scene. We will then move onto experimenting with colour and how we can create different effects with paint.

We will then be moving onto DT in term 2, where we will explore how levers and linkages work. We will then use this knowledge to make a moving Christmas card.

Music

Children will have their weekly singing lessons on a Wednesday afternoon with Mrs Bayman. In term 1 music lessons, children will be having a go at body percussion and unison songs. In term 2 music lessons, we will be listening to ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ where we will create their own performance piece based on the music to reflect the characters moods and actions.

French

In French for terms 1 and 2 we will be learning how to greet one another in French before moving onto learning how to count 1 -31, the days of the week, months of the year and weather to create our own calendar.

History

We will start our History in Class 3 by recapping all events studied in Key Stage 1 to ensure that children have a strong understanding of how everything they have studied so far links chronologically. After this, we will delve into learning about the Romans. Our first question we will explore is ‘When did the Romans come to Britain and did everyone want them there?’ which will look at where the Romans based themselves in the UK and the conflict with the Celts. We will then move onto exploring our second question in term 2, ‘How did the Romans influence life in Britain’? with a focus on the Roman roads, architecture, number and calendar system.

Handwriting

Mrs Hall will be running handwriting sessions with Class 3 on a Tuesday morning to practice joining up our writing in order to obtain a pen license.

Maths

To begin, we will be recapping our KS1 place value knowledge with representing numbers to 100 and using tens and ones when adding. This will be followed with representing numbers to 1000 and exploring part whole models to show different ways of making a number. We will be comparing numbers and learning how to find 1,10,100 more or less as well as exchanging. Our place value work will support our work with addition and subtraction with 2 digit and 3 digit numbers as well what happens when you cross 10 and 100.  In year 3, we will be focussing heavily on our 3,4 and 8 timetables. Children will be learning how to multiply and divide by 3,4 and 8 by equal grouping and arrays.

Times table knowledge is heavily implemented in Class 3 so I strongly encourage the children to be using TT Rockstars at home to build their knowledge. The children will be shown how to log on and how to use TT Rockstars in the first couple of weeks of term 1 and I will be sending the children home with a copy of their username and password for you to support them at home.

RE

Our RE topic for term 1 is around the big question of ‘What do Christians learn from the Creation story?’ Term 2’s big question is ‘What is it like to follow God?’

Whole-Class Reading

Our whole class text for term 1 is ‘Bill’s New Frock’ by Anne Fine, followed by ‘Revolting Rhymes’ by Roald Dahl. Whole class reading sessions will be taking place 4 times a week to build children’s reading stamina and comprehension skills.

PSHE

For PHSE in term 1 we will be exploring what it means to be ‘Me’ in the world before moving onto ‘Celebrating Differences’ with a focus on anti-bullying in term 2.

Computing

In term 1, we will be learning about digital devices and how different networks work. In term 2, we will be building on our year 2 work with stop frame animation to create our own mini movies about online bullying.

PE

In term 1, we will be developing our tennis skills by focussing on racket and ball control, how to use a forehand and back hand and learning the rules and how to score during a game. In term 2, we will continue to work on our ball skills by practicing dribbling both with our feet and hands, tracking, throwing, kicking and catching.

Geography

Our first two terms has a heavy History focus with the Romans and much of the learning will naturally be a combination of both History and Geography. We will focus discretely on recapping the UK countries and cities as well as the surrounding seas, particularly those areas with a Roman past.

Reminders

PE kits

Our PE lessons are on Tuesday and Wednesday, so please make sure children have their full kits. 

Reading Records

Your children are encouraged to be independent with choosing a reading book to read at home and changing their book when finished. We expect children to read every night, even if it is only for a short while. Please continue to record all reading in their Reading Records. (Small comments such as ‘Read well’ or ‘Confused with word…’ would be useful.)

The Reading Records will be stamped once a page is completed. Children will receive a certificate in assembly when they fill up their Reading Record. We will be checking children’s Reading Records once a week, so please do make sure it is in their schoolbags on Tuesday Mornings.

The highest number of reading records we have had on a Tuesday is 8 out of a possible 20 last year, we would love to have a full set. Whilst reading with your child, it would be beneficial to ask them some questions about the text or to find a key word they have read. This supports their reading comprehension skills which supports their whole class reading sessions.

Homework

Homework is to be completed once a week and children will be able to choose a piece of homework from a Homework menu.  The orange homework books will be handed out to children to take home on a Tuesday afternoon and will be expected back in school on a Monday morning. Please make sure you ask your child about their homework for the week and are working with them to complete it.

TT Rockstars

As a school we are now celebrating children’s times table achievements in gold book assembly.  TT rockstar logins are stuck in the front of your child’s homework book. The times tables class 3 are expected to be confident with are their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of the year. Mr Boorman is checking children’s progress weekly so it would great to see class 3 earning certificates in gold book assembly to show off their timestable skills. I will be checking the classes TTRS progress weekly and will be handing our prizes for children logging in and having a go.

Uniform

Please make sure children’s names are on their uniform so that we know exactly who owns what! In Class 3 children are expected to wear ties with their winter uniform. Please make sure your child has a tie and that it is named.

Water bottles

Please make sure your child’s water bottle is clearly named and that they bring them home with them every day.

Forest School

Class 3 will have Forest School on a Wednesday afternoon. A rota will have been shared with you regarding which week your child will be participating in Forest School. Please make sure to check this carefully to ensure your child has all the necessary gear with them in school on the day that they have Forest School.

Please feel free to come up and chat to me at the end of the school day or email me if you have any questions.

Many thanks,

Miss Rietdyk

crietdyk@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

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Term 5 & 6 Newsletter – Class 2

The Man on the Moon

Dear parents,

Welcome back from your Easter holidays, I hope you all managed to enjoy a break and some family time.  We have a great overriding theme, this term, of Man on the Moon, which lends itself well to English, History, Music, Art and Science!

Year 1 Phonics Screening

All Year 1 children, and those Year 2 children who didn’t reach the pass mark in Year 1, across the country will be screened in June to assess their progress within phonics. It allows us to ensure we are identifying the children who need extra help with learning their phonics.  The format of the screening is 40 words to be read, 20 real words and 20 alien words.  The alien words use the phonemes that the children have been learning, so they test whether the child knows the phoneme and can blend them into a word, rather than their knowledge of words.  We will be practising these in school to prepare the children for this screening.  The Phonics Screening Check week begins on Monday 8th June.  You will be informed of your child’s score in their end of year report.

English

In English, we will be focusing on the theme of Man on the Moon and will start with a lovely text called, “Man on the Moon (A day in the life of Bob)” by Simon Bartram.  This is the first in a series of books and has a fun look at a man who works on the Moon entertaining tourists!  We will be writing our own stories about what Bob does the next day on the Moon.  We will also be writing a recount of how an astronaut gets ready for an expedition to the Moon.  Following this, we will be reading some space-themed poems and writing our own poetry about the different planets.  We will then be reading a book called “Footprints on the Moon” by Mark Haddon and will be retelling the story of Neil Armstrong and the first Moon landing.

Computing

In Computing, we will be learning about animation on the computer in particular learning about stop motion animation and how it works.

PE

We welcome Bright Sparks back to Blackboys for term 5 working on athletics skills and Miss Zara for term 6 working on fitness.  Mrs Hall will continue to teach PE on a Thursday morning and she will be preparing the children for Sports Day later in Term 6.  As we are now in the “summer” term, there is no need for tracksuit bottoms or leggings for PE, if your child is cold they may wear their school jumper over their t shirt and shorts.  Please check that they have suitable footwear for outdoor PE.

Music

Our music, this term, links nicely with our space theme and the children will be learning about Gustav Holst and exploring the music of his Planet Suite.  There will be opportunities for listening to music, playing music and composing music.

PSHE

In terms 5 and 6 we will be learning about relationships and how we are changing as we grow older.  In relationships, we will be talking to the children about families, resolving conflict with friends and how to trust people.  In the Changing Me unit, the children will be learning about how they have changed since they were babies and will be learning the correct names for boys’ and girls’ body parts. Through both units they will be exploring physical contact with others and what is acceptable.

Maths

In Maths, this term, we will be working on learning to tell the time, so it would be a great time to get out those watches and help your children to recognise the hours and minutes on the watch.  Year 2 children need to be able to tell the time to the quarter of an hour, however, we will be starting to learn the time to the five minutes, eg 5 past, ten to etc.  Year 1 children need to know the time to o’clock and half past.  We will also be doing some work on statistics, understanding tally charts and pictograms, and finishing term 5 with some work on position and direction.  During the term, we will be revising many of the concepts previously learnt, eg addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions through our daily Early Bird Maths.

History

In History we will be learning about how space travel has changed over time, starting with the German V2 rocket, looking at the different animals that went into space, finding out what satellites are and finishing by learning about the International Space Station.  We will answer the question “How has space travel changed?”  After half term we will focus more on the concept of exploration, learning about Neil Armstrong and his journey to the moon, but also making comparisons between his journey and the journey made by Christopher Columbus.  We will answer the question “Who was the first man on the Moon?”

Science

In science this term we will be learning about materials and how objects are different from the materials they are made from.  We hope to have a school trip to Herstmonceux Science Centre to enrich this learning.

DT

We will be doing DT in term 6, learning about levers and sliders to help us to design and make a moving picture of a space rocket.

Art

In Art we will be focusing on textiles, learning about Cecilia Vicuña’s work (knots, plaits, weaving etc) and creating their own woven wonder.

RE

In term 5 we will be returning to the religion of Judaism and how Jewish people live, focusing on the festival of Chanukah.

In term 6 we will be focusing on the Christian concept of Gospel, trying to answer the question: What is the good news that Jesus brings?

Reading Books

The children will be continuing to read their Monster Phonics books each week in Guided Reading and these will continue to be changed every Friday.  Reading for Pleasure will continue on a Monday, so please ensure your child’s big sharing book is returned each week.

Please remember that the children are very welcome to take other reading books home from our class library and these can be changed as often as needed.  Please remember to keep filling in the reading records to help your child achieve certificates in our Gold Book Assemblies on a Friday.

Homework

Homework will continue in the same format as previously.  Please help your child to remember to hand their homework in on a Monday as this gives staff enough time to mark and stick in the next piece of homework before the books are handed back out on Wednesday.

Forest School

It is Class 2’s turn for Forest School this term and you should have received a copy of the groupings before Easter.  Please ensure your child brings in suitable clothing and footwear for Forest School sessions, including a coat in case of poor weather.  Mrs Godfrey will need parental support to be able to take the children into the woods for Forest School, so please see the school office if you are able to volunteer to help.

Key Dates

Sunday 10th May – PTA Spring Tidy Up at school

Thursday 21st May – Scorcha Skate School Day

Friday 22nd May – Class 2 trip to Herstmonceux Science Centre

Monday 1st June – INSET Day

Saturday 6th June – PTA Bingo and Bubbles Night

Monday 8th June – Start of Phonics Screening Check week

Wednesday 24th June – Sports Day

Wednesday 1st July – Reserve Sports Day

Saturday 4th July – PTA Summer Fair

Friday 10th July – Whole School ‘moving up’ morning

Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th July – Whole School Production

Tuesday 21st July – Last day of Term 6

                                       Cup Assembly

Wednesday 22nd July – INSET Day

If you have any questions, please contact me at hsullivan@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

Best wishes

Mrs Sullivan

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Term 5 & 6 Newsletter – Class 5

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to the summer term, one of the busiest and most exciting of the entire school year! There is lots to look forward to this term including school trips, the end of year play and sports day. We are learning about a new topic in Classes 4 and 5, which I’m sure the children will find really interesting. With so much to look forward to, I’m sure we will have a great end to the school year together.

Mr Boorman

During weeks 2-5 of the term, the Year 5s and 6s will be being taught separately in the mornings. The Year 6s will be with myself and Mrs Harper in preparation for the SATs tests (Monday 11th May), while the Year 5s will be being taught by Mrs Riley. In the afternoons, the class will be back together as normal.

Our main focus of learning this term is the Battle of Britain and its importance to World War 2 on the whole. We will be learning about when, why and how the war started before focussing on the details of the Battle of Britain, looking at the ways in which the battle was fought, the effects it had on people in Britain, and how it was eventually won by the RAF.

Maths

Year 6 children will be looking at Year 6 topics such as algebra, ratio and angles of shapes in the lead up to SATs, as well as revising previously taught content. Year 5 children will be learning about angles, shape and space, measurement and statistics during the summer term.

Art

Children will be continuing to work on their painting skills, focussing on showing motion in their work with a study of the work of Eric Ravilious.

DT

In DT we will be learning about air raid sirens before using our skills in electricity to make our own version.

PSHE

Our two PSHE topics this term are ‘Relationships’ and ‘Changing Me’ (including SRE – Sex and Relationships Education).

ICT

In computing, we will be continuing our work with micro bits before looking at the work that was done at Bletchley Park during World War 2.

French, music and singing will continue to take place through the term.

Music

English

After SATs week, we will be studying the classic book, Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian, during which time we will be finding out about people who were evacuated during the war. In whole class reading we will be reading Silver Sword by Ian Seuralier. Year 5 will be working with Mrs Riley on Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo.

Spellings

There is a spelling session each day Monday – Friday, where children in Key Stage 2 are split into their year groups in order to cover the year group objectives using Superhero Spelling. Children will also be given a list of words each term from their year group’s statutory spelling list. These lists will be need to be learned over the whole term, and we will be doing dictation sentences using the words each Friday. Each term’s list will be added to the class page on the school website.

Science

In term five, children will be learning about reproduction in plants and animals. In term 6 they will be continuing their learning about electricity, linking with their DT project.

RE

In RE, we will discussing two questions – ‘When Jesus left, what was the impact of Pentecost?’ and ‘How and why do people mark the significant events of life?’

PE

In PE, children will be working on their athletics skills with Bright Sparks Sports and stoolball skills. In term 6, Year 6 children will be taking part in swimming sessions at Cross in Hand School while Year 5 children will be joining Class 4 to play striking and fielding games.

Homework

Homework will be set each week on a Wednesday. A homework menu will be given out which will feature tasks involving writing, reading, spelling and grammar.

Please ensure that children do still get the chance to read at home with an adult – it is important that they get the chance to discuss their reading as much as possible outside of school as well as in class.

Monday: Homework handed in. PE with Mr Boorman
Tuesday: PE with Bright Sparks.
Wednesday: Homework handed out.
Friday: Spelling dictation sentences.

Key Dates

Wednesday 22nd April – East Sussex Children’s Book Award author visit
Monday 11th May – Year 6 Spelling and Grammar SATs tests.
Tuesday 12th May – Year 6 Reading test.
Wednesday 13th May – Year 6 Maths Arithmetic and Reasoning tests.
Thursday 14th May – Year 6 Maths Reasoning test.
Wednesday 20th May – Year 5/6 French trip.
Thursday 21st May – Skateboarding workshop
Friday 22nd May – Last day of term 5.
Monday 1st June – INSET day
Tuesday 9th June – East Sussex Children’s Book Award celebration event for participating children.
Thursday 18th June – Year 6 leavers service at Crowborough.
Wednesday 24th June – Sports Day.
Thursday 25th June – Class 4/5 visit to Newhaven Fort
Wednesday 1st July – Reserve Sports Day.
Friday 10th July – Moving up morning.
Wednesday 15th July – Whole School performance (afternoon and evening).
Thursday 16th July – Whole school performance (evening).
Monday 20th July – Year 6 leavers treat evening.
Tuesday 21st July – Last day of term 6. Cup Assembly.

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Term 5 & 6 Newsletter – Class 1

Under the Sea

Dear Class 1 Parents,

We hope you all had a lovely Easter holiday and are ready for all the exciting new learning the children will completing in the terms ahead.

Our theme for Terms 5 and 6 is ‘Under the Sea, Over the Waves’. These will be based around the seaside and Pirate themed activities. We will be going on a trip to the seaside. The children will visit the Blue Reef Aquarium in Hastings which links to our geography and science learning.

As our theme title suggests this term, we will be focusing our learning on things we find under the sea as well as the seaside itself. This theme will have a focus on geography and history learning.

English

Children will continue to have opportunities to develop their vocabulary through new and exciting texts, as well as a variety of speaking and listening activities. We will focus on a few different fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts to base our literacy work on, including:

The Rainbow Fish
Seaside Poems
Non-fiction Sharks
A Fish that Could Wish
Commotion in the Ocean
Sharing Shell
Pirate Pete …as well as many others!

The writing focus for Reception is to continue to use and apply their phonics to write simple sentences independently. They will also be encouraged to accurately spell some the tricky words they have been learning to read. In phonics, Reception will be introduced to reading and spelling CCVC and CVCC words (c=consonant; v=vowel) e.g. went, help. We will be learning to read and write our tricky words and there will be a strong emphasis on blending. Year 1’s writing focus will be to develop their independence when writing. They will also be encouraged to think about the structure of their writing and ways to make it more interesting by editing their work. The Year 1 children will be focusing on spelling compound words such as; playground, farmyard and contracted words such as; he’ll, she’ll.

Mathematics

Through the use of practical maths sessions, in which we will promote the use of a wide range of concrete apparatus, the children will be covering the following objectives:

Computing

Reception children will be experimenting with programming a Bee-bot and learning how to give simple commands. Year 1 children will be using IPads to create a stop motion animation.

History

We will explore the history of the seaside by looking at how clothing for the beach has changed and the types of seaside entertainment people used to enjoy. The children will compare seaside now with how it looked in Victorian times.

Geography

We will be learning about coastal places that we visit and the features of what makes a coast using geographical vocabulary. We will also be finding out about different sea creatures and where they live in the world.

Reading

We would like to thank you for the support you have shown regarding your child’s reading. We do appreciate how busy life can be and know that it can sometimes be a struggle to fit everything in. In school, we will be continuing to read daily with the children. On some days this will be 1:1, on other days group or choral reading. The children also have a daily story time.

Please continue to support your child with reading at home. The children will have a new phonic book sent home each Friday. This book is a Monster Phonic book. These are the books your child reads to you. Please remember that the idea of this is that the books should be read and re-read. Whilst reading the same book over again can be ‘challenging’ for us as parents, this repetition is very important for early readers as it helps them to gain confidence; familiarity; build their vocabularies; develop an understanding of rhythm and pattern; as well as for developing comprehension skills. The larger ‘real book’ changed on a Monday during our guided reading session, and this is the book you can share together.

The reading record is for you to use at home but please ensure that it is kept in your child’s book bag. In the reading record please write one comment for each day that you read. When 6 pages of the white book have been completed then a reading certificate will be given to your child during our weekly Friday assembly. We will also be checking reading records for these certificates on Wednesday. To avoid disappointment with delayed certificates, please be sure that your child’s reading record is in school.

PE

In term 5 on Tuesday, we will have Katie from Brightsparks Sports teaching Athletics and helping prepare the children for Sports Day. Miss Zara will be back in term 6 working on health and fitness. On Fridays Mrs Nobes will be teaching the children to hit a ball using a racket in preparation for playing tennis.

DT

In term 6 the children will be learning textiles to make their own finger puppet. The children will design, make and evaluate their finger puppet.

RE

We will be learning, which places are special and why? Places that are special to them and places that special to Christians and Muslims.

Science

We will be learning about the different materials. We will also be distinguishing between an object and the material. We will plan and observe experiments involving selecting materials for a purpose.

Art

The children will be learning plaiting, threading and knotting techniques. They will use these skills to create a sea themed woven piece of art.

Year 1 Homework

The year 1 children will have their homework books sent home each week with an English and maths task for the children to complete.

The reception children will have the next set of letters sent home to learn with words to learn that link to their phonics.

Uniform and Water Bottles

Now that the weather is warming up please ensure that on days when it is likely to be sunny you put sun cream on your child before they come to school. Also remember to send them to school with a named hat, jumper and water bottle.

Resources Needed

We would be extremely grateful for any donations of the following items:

Baby dolls/clothes/accessories.
Tea set or picnic set.
Cars.

Finally, thank you for all support, if you ever have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to email us:

sbooth@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk or jnobes@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

Very Best Wishes, Mrs Booth, Mrs Nobes and Miss Butler.

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