Dear Parents,

Welcome back to a rather unusual start to a new term, but I hear the children did some very interesting topical work on volcanoes in my absence! Now the skies have returned to normal, so do we!

This first half term our topic will be Animals. A topic which offers countless possibilities, we will be learning about unusual animals in Year 2. We will investigate nocturnal animals from the British Isles and go on to research some endangered animals from around the world. We will learn new vocabulary such as endangered, habitat, threat, conservation. We will look at animal patterns and camouflage and consider why camouflage is important. We will identify animals that work and learn about caring for animals.

In the second half of this term our IPC (International Primary Curriculum) topic will be Saving Water. During this topic we will be finding out how much of our world is water, where the water is and what lives in and around it. We will also investigate how where you live affects how you use water. We will be finding out how much water is needed by a seed to grow it into a plant. We will look at the use of water in school to see if it is being wasted. We will measure how much water is wasted from a dripping tap.

In maths we continue working with the Hamilton Maths scheme, including ordering numbers to 100 and 200, pairs to 20 and tens to 100, continuing addition and subtraction calculation methods and continuing beginning multiplication and division facts. We will also be telling the time using ½, ¼ hours and o’clock, making graphs, looking at shape rotation and 3D shapes and measuring capacity.

In literacy we will use stories and poems connected to our topic as a starting point to writing our own. We will also be researching and recording factual information and presented our findings.

The children are keen to have a weekly ‘show and tell’ time or VIP talk. To lift this slightly to become a small presentation, the children are asked to choose a topic of interest to them; this could be a personal experience or outing, a favourite interesting article or artefact or perhaps a hobby they pursue out of school. They should then spend some time at home thinking about what they want to say and how they will present their talk to the class, bringing in items to support their talk if they wish. Some children find some brief notes help keep them on track. (Please find a list of suggested dates attached.) VIP talks are encouraged but not compulsory, so do let me know if your child is not comfortable having a turn.

We will focus on spelling high frequency words this term. I have attached a list of words that it would be beneficial for your child to know, both to read and to spell. In handwriting we will continue to learn joined up writing. I have also attached a sheet showing correct letter formation, it would be helpful if you could practise with your child if you see any incorrect letter formations.

The children will continue to do 20 minutes of Spanish 3 times a week and French twice a week. They enjoy these engaging lessons with lots of singing, action rhymes and games. They have 2 sessions of Art each week which is usually topic related and singing and music with a specialist teacher. Swimming continues to be on Tuesdays and Outdoor Sport is now on Thursday afternoons.

So that is what will be keeping us busy, engaged and working hard for the term ahead. To ensure the smooth running of happy school days can I just remind you of a few organizational things:

Morning routine:

1. If you need to make use of our early start facility, please book this in advance with Aggie. Drop off for this facility is only between 8.10 and 8.30am.

2. If you arrive after 8.30am, you are reminded to please wait outside in the playground with your child until 8.45am. During this time, your child is your responsibility and we would ask that you do not let them play on or with any school equipment. Please do not leave children unattended in a classroom.

3. At 8.45am, you are welcome to bring your child into school.

4. The school day begins at 9.00am promptly with registration and we would respectfully like to ask you to be on time dropping your child off.

Sports:

Swimming continues on Tuesday afternoons. Outdoor Sports are on Thursday afternoon this term instead of dance. Please ensure your child comes to school on Thursday in full PE kit (Navy blue tracksuit or shorts, white polo shirt and trainers).

Summer:

Please send your child to school with a cap or a hat, especially on Thursdays, but it is useful to keep one in school as we hope to make good use of the park during the summer!

If you wish your child to wear sunscreen, please apply it before school. If it is necessary to send some into school, please let one of the staff know so they can keep it and help apply it when necessary.

Dates: Please refer to the school calendar for events this term. We will keep you informed of details and any additional events by email or letters.

Reading and Homework:

Thank you all for being so conscientious about reading regularly with your child. 10 minutes a day goes such a long way to helping your child become a competent, independent reader. It helps enormously if book bags and reading records come to school with your child daily.

Homework will be given out weekly on Tuesdays, to be returned the following Monday. It will consist of spelling words and one other task which should take about half an hour. Please let me know if it takes much longer or shorter than this.

Finally, please do get in touch if there is anything at all you want to discuss. Mr. Orton or I are available briefly in the mornings or please make an arrangement for a longer meeting after school.

We look forward to a very enjoyable term.

Yours sincerely

Claire Willis and Dave Orton.

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CARIBBEAN CLASS CURICULUM LETTER – SPRING 2010

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to my favourite term of the year, where we now all know each other very well and can enjoy a productive, focused and fun filled term.

May I take this opportunity to thank you kindly for your generous gifts and cards at Christmas. I hope you have all had a happy and restful holiday.

We have the pleasure in Caribbean Class of extending a warm welcome to Mr. Dave Orton, who will be teaching on Thursday and Friday, I’m sure many of you have already had an opportunity to meet him.

If I could firstly outline some organizational notes for the smooth running of the school day:

Outside: We continue to try to find a good solution to minimising mud in the school! Please could the children keep a pair of named wellies at school, which they will need to wear at playtime and when we go out into the park. The children will then change into their school shoes once inside. Please be aware that it is uncomfortable for the children for me to have to keep reminding them to bring their wellies in.

Snacks and Water: Thank you for all being mindful of sending your child to school with a healthy snack. They discuss the merits of healthy food with each other at snack time and are quite sheepish if they are discovered by another child with so much as a chocolate chip evident! Please send a fresh water bottle daily, which the children can keep in the classroom for quick and easy access to water.

Swimming and Dance: Swimming will continue to be on Tuesday afternoons.

This term Dance will be on Thursday mornings in the church hall of the church where we had the Christmas performance. Children can continue to come to school in their P.E. kits and tracksuits on Thursdays, girls may also bring a leotard if they wish.

Homework/Reading Bags: This term Caribbean class continue to bring homework home on Tuesday to be returned the following Monday. This will include a topic /literacy related task, a spelling sheet and some optional maths. I appreciate the support you have been giving the children with their homework and they often show off their efforts very proudly in school. If there are any problems with homework, please let me know.

It is also wonderful to see the children are reading a lot at home. 10 minutes a day as part of their regular routine aids their progress enormously. Please help your child to remember their book bag daily and it is helpful and encouraging if you can fill in a short comment in their reading record book.

International Primary Curriculum (IPC)

We will work on 2 IPC units this term. The first half of term will be ‘The Circus’ (of which I am sure you are already very aware!) and the second half of term will be ‘Flowers and Insects’. The Circus is a very exciting topic which has already captured the children’s imagination. Through this topic we will be exploring the people and performances of the circus. In Art we will be drawing and painting faces and looking at expressions . We will look at artists who have painted pictures about circus life and use mixed media to create our own circus collages. In Design and Technology we will put up a tent and design and make tents. In History we will find out how circuses used to be and about some of the people who made circuses famous. We will also be finding out about how circuses have changed over the years. In Geography we draw maps and plans to show how circuses might be set up and use Atlases to find out about some of the countries circus animals come from. We will also learn about how to stay safe in busy places and find out about what different people think about using animals in performances.

Flowers and Insects will be a science based topic, through which the children will find out about flowers and insects and the environments in which they prefer to grow. We will find out how to grow different plants and about the life cycles of insects. We will investigate plants that grow in different countries and would love any parents to come in and tell us about plants from their home country or share knowledge about special plants.

Literacy: Our literacy will continue to be linked to the new primary framework and will also wherever possible be integrated through our topic work. If the children would like to bring in any storybooks or poems about the circus we would be delighted to share them.

In literacy we continue with our daily phonics program and the children will have spellings, usually linked to this for homework. This term we will begin to learn how to join our writing, please allow the children to have a go at this and encourage correct letter formation where you can.

I would also like to introduce a show and tell or V.I.P. talk session on a Monday morning. I will ask for volunteers to take the slot for the following Monday. Please support your child in preparing a short presentation on their chosen subject.

Maths: Our maths sessions follow the Hamilton maths scheme. This term we will continue to work with numbers to 100, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. We will be looking at patterns and solving money problems. We will extend our learning of 2 and 3D shapes, symmetry, weight and handling data and using units of time.

There are many online maths games which children love and support learning: Try www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/ you may find you need to try ks2bitesize with your child.

Finally, I would like to encourage more visiting speakers to visit us and share their knowledge and experiences. If you or a willing friend or colleague has any expertise in our areas of study I’d be delighted to hear from you to arrange a visit.

We look forward to a busy and happy term, we hope the children’s enthusiasm will mean that you hear a lot about what we are doing in school. Happy children learn best, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any worries or concerns.

Kind regards

Claire Willis

Dave Orton

Dear Parents,

Welcome to a happy and purposeful new school year. I hope you are all well rested after an enjoyable summer. Below you will find information for the new school year and an outline of our curriculum plans for the term.

First some organizational points:

Mrs. Hewerdine: Mrs. Julia Hewerdine, who has been the Headteacher at Sancton Wood and now Holme Court School, will be teaching Caribbean Class on Friday’s. She has a wealth of experience and her other hat at CIPS is that of special needs advisor. I look forward to working closely with her.

Miss Grass: Miss Grass is our teaching assistant, who we warmly welcome.

Reading:
Please ensure that your child is equipped with a book bag to bring to school daily. These will shortly be available from Mrs. Rigby in the office if you do not have one already.
The children and I will be discussing the importance of daily reading, which I know you will endorse and support. Please read with your child for 10 minutes each day. Setting a regular time to make it part of your child’s daily routine can ensure a positive experience.

Snacks:
Please send a healthy snack for your child’s mid morning break. I encourage predominantly fruit, carrot and cucumber sticks or the like. If you feel your child needs more a cereal bar, rice cakes or pieces of cheese are appropriate. Please avoid biscuits, crisps and fizzy drinks.

Please be sure to send a water bottle refilled daily.

Morning Routine:
The school day begins at 8.50am when the children can come into the classroom and change their reading book if they have finished the previous one. They are at and age now where they can be asked to do this independently. Then they will be ready to read the settling activity on the whiteboard, which encourages a calm and purposeful start to the day. These activities will support your child’s learning. As the children are ready, please say goodbye outside the classroom, and allow their independence to grow by letting come in by themselves. Of course if you need to speak to me I am available between 8.50 and 9.00am.
Just a reminder that prior to 8.50 children should go directly to breakfast club in the hall and register is taken promptly at 9.00am.

Homework: Your children will receive homework every Tuesday from Tuesday 30th September. This will include spellings and one other numeracy or literacy task. Completed homework should be returned to school by the following Monday.

P.E. Caribbean Class will have P.E. on Monday’s and Friday’s and swimming on Tuesday afternoons. On Monday please send the children to school in their kits and tracksuits. On Tuesday please bring swimming things and on Fridays please bring P.E. kits to change into at school. There is a big pink ‘tub’ in the entrance area where kits should be stored.

V.I.P.Talks: Last year one of the children’s favourite sessions was V.I.P. talks. We will continue these popular events from Friday 26th September. The children are asked to prepare a talk about a subject of particular interest to them. This could be a hobby, a pet, a holiday or day out or a discovery from the natural world… just about anything infact! The children will present their talk to the class and take questions from the audience. It would help if the children have had an opportunity to practice their talk to adults at home. They may find it useful to bring relevant resources; (photographs, pamphlets, pets, a piece of artwork etc.) and to have prompt cards to give their talk structure. You are most welcome to come and listen on your child’s presentation day. We will let you know a week ahead of time when it is your child’s turn.

Toys: Please do not allow your child to bring toys to school. Scooters at this time are for Junior Children only. Thank you for your understanding in this.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries or concerns, briefly in the morning, or by Email through Dr. Sturdy. At other times appointments can be made.

We look forward to a happy and settled first term in Year 2 and thank you for your support in helping the children to make a positive start to the new school year.

Best Wishes

Claire Willis.

Curriculum:

In maths and literacy we will use the National Numeracy and Literacy Strategies to provide structure to our planning. You can find further information at www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/literacy and www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/numeracy .

Briefly in literacy we will be learning about:

How to follow and give instructions
Stories from familiar settings.

In maths we will be learning about:

Counting and properties of numbers to 100
Learning and using the vocabulary, before, after and in between
Place value (Tens and units)
Using and applying addition and subtraction in real life situations
Developing mental calculation strategies
Measuring using standard units
The vocabulary and fundamental concepts for multiplication and division
How to collate data and represent it in bar charts and pie graphs.

Our other main areas of learning will be centred around out International Primary Curriculum (IPC) topic. This half term will be discovering ‘My World’ through a topic about Ourselves and next half term our IPC topic will be ‘Celebrations’. If any of you have any special celebrations (religious or country related) we would welcome you to come and share your stories and traditions. Please let me know so I can plan your visit!

In Science we will be:

Finding out about our hearts
Discovering what is inside us
Finding out what a skeleton is.
Comparing human and animal skeletons
Considering how we are similar to and different from other people
Developing the use of scientific language to communicate ideas.
Carrying out scientific experiments.

In Geography we’ll be:

Finding out which countries we and our ancestors have come from
Finding out more about these countries
Comparing different countries we have lived in.

In Information and Communication Technology we’ll be:

Taking photographs of each other
Using a computer to write about our family, using basic word processing.
To record information we collect about ourselves.

In Art, we’ll be:

Drawing pictures of ourselves and each other
Painting pictures of each other
Looking at portraits by famous painters and sculptors
Designing meals

In all aspects of the curriculum the children will be reading, researching, writing, illustrating, working on their own and in groups.

Of course we already know the interest you take in your child’s education, and as you know any opportunity to discuss with them what they are learning at school and ways in which you can follow this up at home is invaluable.