Spring Term 1

This term our quest topic is 'Up, Up and Away'. This topic will have a History and DT focus. The children will be using fieldwork and observational skills to explore the school grounds. They will be learning all about the history of flight and the early pioneers of this such as the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart. We will undertake a big DT project this term and investigate levers and sliders to build our our moving picture. We will be visiting the Fleet Air Arm Museum on 30th January to consolidate and extend knowledge of our quest.  We are also holding a family learning session on 5th February for you to come and help the children with their DT project. 

Reading - The expectation is that the children read three times a week. Books will be changed on a Monday and Thursday.

The purpose of keeping a book and reading it multiple times is as follows:

1. The first read is for decoding and reading common exception words (applying phonic

knowledge and recognising phonemes in context – knowing that ‘high’ contains a trigraph

for example and is read as h-igh and not h-i-g-h. Being able to read common exception

words by sight - he, she, was, you, all etc). The first read may be a little robotic because of

this.

2. The second read is for prosody; to encourage reading with intonation and expression.

3. The third read is for fluency.

 If  children are on the Accelerated Reader scheme, they can bring in their books as soon as they are finished and then complete a short comprehension quiz on the book. The children have to achieve 80% or above in three consecutive quizzes before they can move up a level. All the AR books are kept in the library and the children are responsible for choosing their own text. You can lo on from home to check your child's progress, using the log on details given at the start of term.

All children are expected to have their reading folders containing their reading books and reading records, in school every day.

Spelling - Year 2 children have spelling lists that it would be of benefit for them to learn each week. They could practice writing these out at home in a variety of ways and they could also see if they can add that word into a sentence and write it. They will have a spelling test on Fridays.

These spelling lists will also be on Spelling Shed to help the children consolidate their learning at home.

We are also hoping to get Year 1 children set up on spelling shed this term so they can be practising words learned during their phonics lessons. 

P.E. - This will continue to be on Monday and Friday. Monday will be a session with the sports coach but it may continue to be outside, so warmer clothes will be needed. Friday will be dance in the hall. Please could the correct kit be worn and long hair needs to be tied up.

Forest School - This will be on a Tuesday afternoon, every other week. Please could you make sure that your child has a waterproof coat and wellies on this day. With the current weather, the forest school area will be muddy so if your child does not have wellies, they won't be able to join in.