Maple
Class Letter Summer Term 2010
Dear Parents,
Welcome back! Hope you managed to enjoy the gorgeous weather over Easter, I know I did! This term is always the busiest so I would like to briefly outline our plans.
SATs are to take place in this first half term at the end of the week beginning 26th April and continue onto the following week. Please try to ensure your child attends school on these days. These tests will involve a maths paper, a comprehension activity, reading and two writing activities. We have covered all aspects of the tests over the past two terms and the children are used to the way in which the tests are presented. The activities are interesting so the class should really enjoy the week and I am anticipating that they will do well. You will be informed of your child’s progress made in Year Two in their end of year school report.
The first unit of work in Literacy will be concerned with writing in past tenses and writing non-chronolgical reports. Our last three weeks of literacy will be spent looking at the work of Roald Dahl. We will explore his style and choice of vocabulary. The children will work on their own styles of writing and develop their skills in using more detail and greater punctuation. Our ICT work for the first half term will be linked to this work where they will produce their own story. We also will be preparing for our public speaking presentation where you will be sent the poem to practise over the two week May holidays. Reading will continue as normal with a guided read session in a group and a one-to-one session every week. The reading ability in the class is improving all the time and I am very impressed with the progression. The focused work in class together with the time spent reading at home has definitely benefited the children.
Numeracy lessons are to remain the same, where skills are reinforced and practised. Homework will continue after SATs to support the work covered during the week. In the second half of the term ICT will be used to support our lessons.
In our science work the children are to look at similarities and differences between each other. They will look for patterns in nature, in both plants and animals. The children will look for common factors and develop their observational and describing skills. We will then move on to looking at electricity and make simple circuits. We will wire our lighthouses to light up and programme them to work to a timer.
After the getting so much from the last history unit of The Great Fire of London, I am looking forward to the children learning about the work and life of Florence Nightingale. They are to have a visit from a nurse to find out about their current role and duties so that they can make informed comparisons with how Florence Nightingale worked in the past. They are to watch video clips and use many different sources to gain further insight.
We will then move from History back to a Geography unit for the last six weeks. We will be comparing two contrasting European countries. The children will use travel brochures and the internet to find out about these two places and will complete a project incorporating maths and literacy. I am sure they will find this unit fascinating when made to consider that only four hours away they could be laid on a beach basking in the sun or skiing knee deep in snow! I hope that this will inspire a little bit of awe and wonder about our world.
Our music is concerned with playing a variety of instruments and recording how they were played. We are fortunate to have been given a piano for our classroom this term so the children will be taught to read music and locate the basic key notes. We will explore how sounds are made and have a go at making our own instruments.
This first half term we are going to visit St Chad’s Church. We will look at the layout of a Church. The children will be shown the Christian symbols and the ornate decorating. We will discuss the story of Pentecost and look at the role the symbols play in remembering the story. We then will move from Christianity to Hinduism. We will compare their use of symbols to those used in the Christian faith.
Our Artwork is all about using natural resources. The children will be developing their collage skills with detailed planning stages. We are going to link our final school trip to this unit and visit the Trough of Bowland. The children will look at how sculptures are used to blend in with their natural surroundings. We will have a fun day playing orienteering games and making our own natural sculptures. As always I will send you details with permission slips nearer the time.
We will end the school year making toy vehicles. The children will plan and develop their ideas to incorporate fixed or loose axles. So once again we will be collecting resources after the two week May holidays. The children will compile lists of what they will need to make their design.
Our PCSHE lessons are about eating healthily and being safe with medicines. The children will carry out role play activities to explore these two topics. We will continue with circle time sessions and show and tell.
Our Class Assembly this term is to take place at 3.10pm on Thursday 20th May.
Details of Sports Day, Health Day and our Summer Social will be sent home with news letters.
I think that is all. Phew! Please feel welcome to come in at any point if you wish to discuss any aspect of your child’s well being.
Thank you,
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Su McGrath
