A warm welcome to the second half of the Spring Term in Catkin Class. We hope you and your families have had a lovely half term break.
Our class topic this half term will be 'Come Outside!’ This topic will offer a wealth of opportunities for the children to learn about their outdoor environment. We will be learning about the weather and seasonal changes. We will be planting seeds and bulbs and will grow a variety of flowers, fruits and vegetables. We will be engaging in discussions about how best to care for environment, looking at the reduce, reuse and recycle initiatives. This term we will continue to encounter both fiction and non-fiction texts as we further develop skills in asking and answering questions about the world around us.
For more information about the learning intentions for this topic and how they link to the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, please take a look at the ‘Come Outside Topic Web’ available to download on this webpage.
Phonics Shed
This term we will be continuing with our daily Phonics Shed sessions. So far this year the children have all made fantastic progress learning all 42 of their single letter sounds and double letter diagraphs. The children have particularly enjoyed using their new found phonic knowledge in their independent reading and writing.
We will be focusing this half term on consolidating our Chapter 2 sounds. This will include a recap of the sounds learnt so far and then moving on to learn about alphabetical order. We will also spend some time looking at vowels and consonants. In addition, the children will continue to work through the initial set of high frequency and common exception words. More information regarding the Phonics Shed scheme is available on the Curriculum tab under Phonics at Slindon.
Home Reading
Your child’s 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. We will change your child’s book every Tuesday and Friday.
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 parent / carers to share together to promote a love for reading!
PE Lessons
Our PE lessons will continue to be on a Tuesday afternoon led by the Premier Sport coaches. We would therefore request that your child arrives dressed appropriately for PE every Tuesday. This includes ensuring that long hair is tied back and any earrings are removed or taped over.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to catch me on the playground at the end of the school day.
Forest Fridays
We will be continuing with our ‘Forest Fridays’ throughout the spring term. This is an opportunity for the children to spend 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 appropriately dressed for the weather conditions - trousers (such as joggers) a long sleeve top, a jumper, a hat, gloves and a scarf. We can provide waterproofs and wellies if needed.
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.
With best wishes,
Mrs Emmajane Merrett [Class Teacher]