Happy New Year! I hope you all had a relaxing break over Christmas and are fit and well for the start of a new term. Our main theme for our learning this term is rainforests, and it will be looked at across the curriculum.
English
In English we will be reading “Slowly, slowly, slowly” said the Sloth by Eric Carle and we will be working on writing a story structured in the same way as the book. We will also be writing a set of instructions to teach people how to look after the rainforests. After half term we will be reading The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry and we will again be focusing on story writing using the format of the book as a guide. Finally, we will be writing letters as if we were animals in the rainforest trying to persuade men not to chop down the rainforests.
Reading continues to be important in class, with our regular volunteers coming in to listen to individual readers and the children bringing home their Monster Phonics books to read. As a whole class, we will be reading The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark and answering questions about what we have read. If you would like to listen to some children reading, please let me know!
Computing
In Computing, we will be introducing data and how to represent data in different ways. They will learn about pictograms, tally charts and tables to represent data and how to sort data using a branching database.
PE
In PE, the children will be learning gymnastic skills with Miss Zara and how to play invasion games with Mrs Hall. PE continues to be on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and the children will need both shorts for gymnastics and tracksuits/leggings for invasion games.
Music
In Music we will be creating our own rainforest orchestra, making a rainstorm with our bodies and then seeing whether we can transfer these sounds onto instruments.
PSHE
In PSHE this term’s theme is Dreams and Goals, followed by Healthy Me.
Homework
Please remember that homework is given out on a Wednesday and should be returned on a Monday. This enables me to have it marked and the new sheets stuck in before handing it back out. If it is handed in on a Tuesday, or even a Wednesday, it may not be marked until the following week.
Reading
Every child should be reading for a minimum of 10-15 minutes each day. As a reminder, the children will bring home a Reading for Pleasure book on a Monday, which is for them to share with you. It will usually be above their own reading level. This book is then returned the following Monday. On a Friday they will bring home their Phonics book which will be matched to where they are in Phonics, and needs to be returned the following Friday.
If your child wants to top up this reading with further reading for pleasure, they are very welcome to borrow books from the class library. These can be changed at any time during the week (at the end of the school day).
All reading should be recorded on the Reading Record Booklet and then brought to school for a certificate.
Maths
In Maths this term we will be increasing our understanding of numbers up to 50 (for the Year 1s) and consolidate our understanding of numbers to 100 (for the Year 2s). This leads us nicely into a unit on multiplication and division, counting in 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s, sharing and grouping amounts. The expectation by the end of Year 2 is that the children know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Following this, we will be learning about fractions and measurement, including time.
Geography
In Geography this term we will be focusing on the rainforest, understanding where they are in the world and why, how they are formed and what lives in the different layers of the rainforest. We will also be using our mapping skills to locate the polar regions, the equator, the continents and the oceans in an atlas. We will be focusing in on rainforests in Australia to give the children a contrasting location to our own to help them gain a better understanding of the world.
Science
In Science we will be learning about plants, looking at the differences between garden and wild plants and understanding the differences between deciduous and evergreen trees. We will learn the parts of a plant and a tree and how to spot different plants in our local area. We will move onto planting seeds and observing how they change over time.
DT
After half term we will be doing DT and our theme is textiles, using templates and joining techniques. The skills we learn will be applied in the making of an animal hand puppet.
Art
In Art the children will be learning about clay and how to model and add texture to clay. They will learn to make a tile with a rainforest animal theme, which they will paint and varnish to finish.
RE
In RE the children will be answering the question: Who is Jewish and how do they live? In term 4 they will be thinking about the religions they have learnt about and answering the question: How should we care for others and the world, and why does it matter?
Reminders
Uniform
Please check that your child’s uniform is clearly labelled with their name. Please also make sure that their water bottle is clearly named.
As tempting as it is for children to bring in any toys they may have had for Christmas (especially keyring style toys) please try to leave these at home as it is very easy for things to be mislaid in the cloakroom.
Key Dates
Friday 23rd January – NumBot Day (children can come to school dressed up as a robot)
Thursday 5th February – Class 2 Assembly (all welcome in the Hall)
Monday 9th February – Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 11th February – Parents’ Evening
Thursday 5th March – World Book Day including Bedtime at Blackboys (more details nearer the date)
Friday 20th March – PTA Quiz Night
Week of 23rd March – Scholastic Book Fair
Tuesday 24th March – Easter Service at Framfield Church (all welcome)
As always, if you have any questions you are very welcome to come in and discuss them with me.
Many thanks
Mrs Sullivan
