Outline of Work Lent Term 2010
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


