Year 1 Newsletter January 2017 Phonics: Phonics lessons will take place daily. The children will continue to learn new sounds regularly as this really develops and boosts reading and writing skills. The phonic sounds and High Frequency Words we cover are in your child’s reading diary. We shall be recapping sounds learned to date and the children will be screened regularly to ensure they are secure and confident in sounding out and reading words. Weekly spellings will be sent out on a Friday for test on the following Thursday. These will be a combination of phonic and high frequency words. Please ensure you help your child learn their spellings. Dear Parents and Children Welcome back! Happy New Year to you all. I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday. I am looking forward to teaching your child this year and meeting with you at Parent’s Evening later in the term to discuss your child’s progress. I will be organising a trip for the children based around one of our topics; further details to follow shortly. Mathematics: Daily maths lessons will continue to follow the Singapore Maths No Problem! The children really enjoy using practical and visual activities to embed a good understanding of mathematical concepts and operations. The children will focus on numbers to 20 including addition and subtraction to 20. Positional language including left and right and ordinal numbers. Shape, space and measure will include 2d and 3d shapes and measuring length. Please encourage your child to look at numbers and shapes at home. A range of interactive games are available on the Active Learn and Maths No Problem websites for your child to consolidate concepts covered. Reading The children will be encouraged to change their reading books and can be changed on a daily basis. Regular reading is very important to your child. The more your child reads the more confident and successful they will become. Please sign reading diaries to confirm your child has read the book with an adult. However, please don’t rush through the book, ensure your child can talk about the main characters and say what is happening in the story. Your child will have an opportunity to read their reading book to either me or Mrs Cullen weekly. Furthermore, your child will also take part in regular Guided Reading sessions in small groups. There will be a range of interactive books also available for your child to read on the Active Learn website, passwords are located on the front of your child’s reading diary. I would also encourage you to join a local library to foster a ‘love’ of reading. R.E.This term we will be learning about Jesus as a Teacher and Healer, Forgiveness. We shall also be focusing on Lent, Holy Week and Easter later in the term.

This term the children will be learning about famous sculptures. Science Our topic this term is about our everyday Materials. We shall be learning about the properties and use of everyday materials. We shall also be making our own recycled paper. The children will have the opportunity to look after the school pet snail in class. As always please encourage your child to read or research these topics. They can always bring this work into school to share with the class. P.E. Please ensure your child has their P.E. kit (named) in school on Tuesdays. Thank you. Music Children have weekly music lessons with Mrs Jarvis. The children learn a range of songs and have the opportunity to play instruments. Computing Computing will continue to be taught alongside all curriculum subjects. We shall be focussing on becoming Digital Researchers. The children will also be made aware of how to keep safe when using the internet in age appropriate E-Safety sessions. Art/DT This term the children will be learning about famous sculptures. The children will have the opportunity to design and make their own playground. History Later on this term we will be looking at Toys and Books from the past and present. This will give the children an insight on how toys have changed and the types of toys children played with in the past. REMINDERS Milk money should be paid as soon as possible if your child would like to receive milk. Please send your child with a water bottle. Ensure your child wears sunscreen and brings a coat to school and hats in cold weather. A project will be assigned to children in the coming weeks. Please, please name and label everything – it really does help your child and staff. Geography This term we will be learning about our local environment. We shall be looking at maps of the local area and how we travel to school. We shall be comparing how schools look in other countries and how children travel to school. Should you have any concerns or worries please feel free to see me at the end of each day. Thank you for your support. Mrs Tudor and Mrs Cullen