1. Medway Class 2017-18 Welcome back introductions.
Settling in and getting to know your children.
The Team:
Mrs Glover – Teaching Assistant (5 mornings)
Mrs Petros – LSA working with a child on a 1:1
(5 mornings)
Mrs Peto - LSA working with a child on a 1:1
(5 afternoons)
Open door – you can catch Mrs Glover in the morning who will pass on a message to me or speak to me after school. We are working together to make your children’s learning fun and purposeful so please keep in touch!

2. Our topic – Off we go! Curriculum map and learning journey
Geography focus looking at:
Our Summer holidays - Finding out about different places around the world and how people travel there
Map work:
Where we live
The 4 countries in the UK and finding out about the capital cities
Continents and oceans
Country study – Australia

3. The children will be developing a range of skills using high quality texts.
Key Texts:
Where the wild things are by Maurice Sendak
The land of Never believe by Norman Messenger
Miranda the Explorer by James Mayhew
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
The requirements for spelling and grammar in the National
Curriculum will be covered through the key texts.

4. Phonics and Grammar
Phonics/spelling patterns are taught daily in year groups using:
Song of Sounds for Year 1
No nonsense spelling for Year 2
Early work spelling of the common exception words
Word wall challenges (take home to practise with your child)
Grammar is taught through high quality texts. The children are taught to recognise the technical terms e.g. noun, verb, adjective

5. Phonics and Spelling at home
You can help at home by:
Practise spelling the common exception words using the ‘Word Walls’
Encourage your child to recognise these words in their reading
Encourage your child to use their sounds when reading to decoding unfamiliar words

6. Reading
The children will be asked to change their books every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This will be their responsibility but Mrs Glover will support them to start with
Please record the reading your child does at home in their reading records
Reading records – please bring this in every day so that we can record any guided reading or 1:1 reading comments

7. Reading Rockets Challenge
Please try to listen to your child read 5 times a week and record this in their reading diary
The children will move up the rockets each week if they read 5 times and will be given a special sticker
At the end of each half term if they have reached the top rocket they will be given a small prize

8. Maths
A range of maths skills will be covered over the course of the year. The emphasis is on ensuring your child has a deep understanding of the concepts taught so they can apply their maths skills to problem solving in a range of contexts
Number bonds
Times tables challenge

9. Science Yearly Overview
In Science the children will be building on their previous learning and skills
They will be carrying our practical experiments throughout the year to develop their scientific enquiry skills
The topics are:
Animals, including humans (Year 1 and 2)
Living things and their habitats (Year 2)
Everyday materials (Year 1 and 2)
Seasonal changes and the weather (Year 1)
Plants (Year 1 and 2)
Working scientifically (Year 1 and 2)

10. Our timetable PE is on a Monday and Wednesday.
Computing is on Tuesday with Mrs Upstone.
PPA - Mrs Martin will be teaching the children PE, guided reading and maths/English on a Wednesday morning.
Any changes to the timetable will be on our webpage. This is also regularly updated with photos of what the children have been up to!

11. Forest School
Forest school is on a Wednesday afternoon for the first half term
Please make sure the children bring in a suitable change of clothes, waterproof coat and wellington boots on that day
Due to limited cloakroom space we are unable to keep the wellington boots at school permanently
As you know they do go out whatever the weather!

12. Homework
Homework will be set on Wednesday to be handed in the following Tuesday
Value homework at the beginning of each half term where the children will be given a task related to our Christian value
Weekly homework will focus on spelling and grammar
'Word Wall Challenge' and 'Times Table Challenge'
Informal number bonds or times table quiz every Monday
Topic homework

13. Class rules and rewards
School Golden Rules
Class charter – written by the children
‘Clever Monkey’
Weekly class awards for maths, reading and writing
Child of the week
Lots of stickers!

14. Day to day life in Medway Class
Morning routine
The children line up outside the gate and I will collect them. I would encourage you to leave your child at that point and not come into the classroom with them
The children sort out their belongings and then come straight to the carpet to practise writing the words of the day on whiteboards
The register is taken followed by phonics
Whole school worship – every day except Thursday (we have a class worship)

15. Day to day life
Lunchtime - The year 1s go into lunch first and year 2s at 12.30
Water bottles – please can you make sure your child has a named one in school (with plain water in it)
School fruit/fruit snack from home.
Labelling clothes
No rucksacks please! 

16. Thank you for your support!
Questions
I am really looking forward to working with you and your children
Any questions?
Thank you for your support!