A warm welcome to Hazel Class.
The children have settled in wonderfully and have made a fantastic start to the new school year. It has been lovely getting to know them all even better and seeing their confidence grow as they become familiar with their new routines and classroom. We are really looking forward to a happy and exciting year together in Hazel Class.
Our class topic for the first half of the Autumn Term will be ‘Woodland Adventures’. Within our Geography lessons, we will be exploring what makes our local area so special, with a particular focus on the wonderful woodlands around us. The children will learn about the trees, plants and creatures that can be found in our local environment and will compare these with woodlands in other parts of the world. Along the way, we will think about how different woodland habitats support different types of wildlife and what makes each one unique.
Phonics Shed
This term we will be continuing our Phonics Shed sessions. This interactive Phonics Programme is narrative driven and employs a multi-sensory approach to the teaching of phonics. This includes the use of songs, rhymes, actions, puppets and is supported with a web-based platform of interactive games for your child to enjoy.
We will be focusing in the first half of the autumn term on recapping the Chapter 2 and 3 sounds and introducing Chapter 4a. The children will be learning the corresponding graphemes to these sounds and will also learn to recognise and write the corresponding letters. The children will also be continuing to practise and learn high frequency words.
English
In our English lessons, our focus text this half term is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. The children will explore the story in detail, developing their vocabulary and comprehension, and using the text as inspiration for their own speaking and writing.
Alongside this, we will be using Mighty Writer. This is a visual and interactive approach which helps the children to orally rehearse sentences before writing them down. It supports them in understanding sentence structure, choosing interesting vocabulary and remembering important features such as punctuation.
Maths
This half term in Maths, we will be developing the children’s understanding of place value within 100. The children will explore tens and ones, compare and order numbers and develop confidence in recognising the value of each digit. We will use a range of practical resources and strategies to help the children build fluency and confidence.
Science
This half term in Science, we will be learning about animals, including humans. The children will explore the different groups of animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish and learn about the features that help us to classify them.
R.E.
We are exploring why Jewish families talk about repentance at New Year. The children will learn about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and consider why this is an important time for Jewish people to reflect on their actions, say sorry and think about how they can make positive choices in the year ahead.
Art
This half term, the children will be exploring spirals. We will look at how artists use line, shape, colour and movement in their work, including the colourful, swirling designs of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The children will experiment with creating their own spirals using different materials and techniques, before using these ideas to create their own artwork.
PE Lessons
Our PE lessons will be on every Monday. We would therefore request that your child arrives dressed appropriately for PE every Monday. This includes ensuring that long hair is tied back and any earrings are removed or taped over.
Forest School
This half term we will be adding ‘Forest Fridays’ to our weekly timetable. We will be spending every Friday morning in the woods adjacent to the school. We will be visiting the forest regardless of the weather, so all children should come to school in trousers (such as joggers) a long sleeve top, a jumper and suitable footwear. Please pack full waterproofs, wellies and a spare pair of clothes on these days.
We will need a minimum of one parent volunteer each week for the visit to go ahead. If you are available and would like to help, please contact the school office for more information.
Home Reading
Your child will bring home a new reading book on a Wednesday. These home reading books are linked to the sounds they are working on in their phonics lessons. Home reading is therefore a great opportunity for you to practice these sounds at home with your child. We would recommend that you take time to read with your child daily to support with fluency. Please sign your child’s reading record after each read to indicate that your child has read with you at home.
In school we will aim to read with your child individually at least twice a week. We would therefore ask that your child brings their book bag along with their reading book and reading record to school every day, as we will change your child’s book every Wednesday.
You may notice a red heart sticker on some of the reading books that your child brings home. These have been added to books to indicate to the children that they may not be fully phonetically decodable at the child’s current reading level. Please be assured the children are free to choose one of these texts which we refer to in school as ‘Love for reading books’. If your child brings one of these books home, they may just require a little extra support to decode some of the text. These books are ideal for parents/ carers to share together to promote a love for reading!
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to catch me on the playground at the end of the school day.
With best wishes,
Mrs Harris [Class Teacher]