Beech

Class Letter Sprng Term 2012

3rd January 2012

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had an enjoyable Christmas and are looking forward to another exciting and busy term in Beech Class.It is a very exciting term for myself as, as many of you will be aware, as of this term I have returned to work full time and will be now be teaching in Beech class 5 days a week. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching and getting to know all of the children in both Beech class and Oak class during the Autumn term and am looking forward to being able to continue to see their excellent progress continue.I am also looking forward to continuing to work closely alongside Mrs Brewster who is now the Oak class teacher on a full time basis.

Literacy and Numeracy work will continue to take place on a daily basis, with the work being differentiated for your children’s needs. In Literacy, the children will continue to develop their phonics, reading, writing and spellings through the study of stories from other cultures, information texts, report writing and poetry. Numeracy will see us continuing to develop in the areas of counting, partitioning and calculating, number facts, shape, data handling and measures. There will be a heavy focus on using and applying numeracy skills to ‘real life’ numeracy problems.

During our topic work, the Y1 children will continue to work on a rota basis in both Willow and Beech classes.

 

The topic for the first half term is ‘Materials’.

In Science, we are learning how to sort and use a variety of materials, looking at what materials are made from, how they are made and what they are used for. We will be investigating materials further in our Art lessons and will look at artists who have used the technique of weaving to create a piece of work.

In Music, we will be listening to and composing a variety of music, specifically exploring pulse and rhythm.

During R.E., we will be thinking about ‘belonging’ and learning about Christian baptism.

In Geography we will be learning about recycling and how to improve how ‘environmentally friendly’ our school is by exploring opportunities to recycle more often.Our work on recycling will be closely linked to the theme of materials as we look at which materials can be recycled and the need to sort rubbish in order to recycle it.

PSHE lessons will see us learning about how to keep our bodies healthy and about things that can damage our bodies such as smoking.

In French the children will be learning how to sing a number of familiar songs in the French language as well as continuing to apply and extend the use of the French vocabulary they have already learned on a daily basis in other lessons.

Our ICT topic this term will focus on exploring ways to find and collect information.

 

The topic for the second half term is ‘Where We Live’.

In Science, we will investigate what plants need in order to grow. We will also investigate the types of plants found in our immediate environment

In Music, we will be exploring different instruments and learning how to use symbols to record the music we compose.

During R.E., the children will learn about the life of Jesus through the Easter story and explore the theme of ‘New Life’.

Our History lessons will see us focusing on how lives have changed over the years, focusing on the theme of ‘Homes’ and learning about how homes and the way we live today differ from those in the past.

In DT the children will create a model home using different tools and techniques that we have learnt during our DT lessons.

PSHE lessons will see us learning about the people who help us in our community and Road Safety.

In French the children will learn about celebrations.

PE:  Children will be developing their Games, Gymnastic and Dance skills over the coming term – P.E. lessons will continue to take place on a Thursday and Friday, but please ensure that your child has their kit with them throughout the week.

Individual Targets

Your child will continue to work towards their individual Numeracy and Literacy targets as set out on their individual targets sheet which will be sent home shortly.Please encourage your child to achieve their targets when completing their homework.

Homework

Your child will continue to have Numeracy and Literacy homework sent out on a Friday to be returned by the following Wednesday. Spellings will also be sent out on Friday to be tested on the following Friday. Your child will continue to have their reading book changed twice a week if they have completed the book and an adult has signed their reading record. Other homework may be set, as appropriate, to support the work that is being covered in the classroom.

Class assembly

We would love you to come along and join us for our assembly. This will be held on Wednesday 25th of January at 3.10 pm.

Finally, I would also like to inform you that we are looking forward to welcoming Miss Taylor, a final block teaching student to Beech class. She will be with us from the end of January and throughout February and March and will be completing her final teaching practice with myself and the class.

If you have any queries or concerns, however small, please do not hesitate to pop in to see me. Thank you for your ongoing support it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you Mrs K. Coates.