Autumn 2
18/11/19
Busy busy busy!
In year 1, we are super busy getting everything organised for Christmas (it's coming whether you like it or not!), and the children have been busy helping us too! This is just an overview as to what is coming up over the next few weeks:
Christmas nativity-
Our nativity is approaching fast and you should've received letters home in your children's book bags today giving you the opportunity to get tickets for our upcoming Christmas show! We are all very excited about this and have started the process of learning the songs for it! If your child is chosen for a speaking part (these are still to be chosen) please could you rehearse with them at home so they can learn their lines!
Assessments-
As with the end of any term, we have got lots of assessments for the children to undertake, so we can find out how they are getting on. You should've been receiving spellings home for you to practice with your children, which last week showed with a significant jump in scores for the vast majority of children. Keep practicing! It really helps and will benefit the children massively!
We also have the half termly phonics assessments which allow the children the chance to get ready for the phonics screening checks later in the year. If your child is anxious about this and you fear this will hinder their progress, you can get them used to the format of the test by following past papers located at the bottom of the page here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-practice-materials
Finally, we have the children's bench marking for their reading bands which happen every half term. This is exactly the same as the previous half terms bench marking where we assess the children's ability to read the next stage books and move them up accordingly. Please continue to read with your children and support their comprehension by asking them lots and lots of questions about the text. The questions are just as important as the reading itself! You will see the results of these written in your reading logs by myself or Mrs Wallace our class TA.
Volunteering-
I have previously spoke to some of you regarding volunteering within the classroom to help out and see how we do things within year 1. If you are interested in volunteering to help out (or have any interesting skills which you feel will be beneficial to the children's learning!) please come and have a chat with me and we'll see if we can get you in to help!
Dodgeball-
As I'm sure some of you have already heard, the children attended a dodgeball taster session with the ICON sports group last Thursday which they all seemed to really enjoy (a little too much if I'm honest, I'm still feeling sore as some of the children decided I was the primary target during our game!). It takes place on Thursdays from 4:30 with the coaches and is really good fun. Keep an eye our for an email from the admin office offering details about this opportunity!
As every, my door is always open, please come and grab me if you have any concerns and I'll be happy to chat to you!
Thanks again,
Mr. J =)
Welcome back Squirrels!
Firstly, may I say how wonderful it is to see you all after the week's half term, I hope you are all well rested and ready to move on with our learning this half term!
New topic- Food Glorious Food!
In the buildup to Christmas, we are going to be introducing our new topic, Food Glorious Food! As you can imagine, this is all about food!
The children will be the audience of a live episode of Ready, Steady Cook! During the episode the children will watch their teachers compete for the crown of pizza perfectionist, as they create their very own healthy, delicious pizza! During the show, the children will be given opportunities to discuss the importance of a healthy, varied diet and decide which contestant made the best choices of toppings. They will also have the opportunity to taste a range of healthy pizza toppings.
The lead subject for this topic is Geography, which lends itself well to this topic. The children will be looking at local, national and international foods, where they come from, the cultural significance of food in these countries as well as the types of climates which affect what different foods are grown where. More details on how our topic relates to our learning can be found on our ILU (integrated learning unit).
Spelling-
After undertaking some spelling assessments in Autumn 1, the children have been grouped and we shall be introducing weekly spelling to assess how the children are getting on. These will come home with the children to practice at home with yourselves.
Thanks again!
Mr.J
Autumn 1 update
Squirrels School Councillors
Earlier in the half term, the Squirrels were asked to vote on who they would like to be our Squirrels School Councillors. We had many nominations and lovely reasons for why specific children had been nominated. Well done to Theo and Penelope who have become the Squirrels School Councillors. They have already started fulfilling their new responsibilities and I am very proud of them both.
Homework Book
Your child also brought home a homework book over half term which will be used throughout the year to send home activities that would support your child's development. Please support your child to complete as much as they can and return them to school regularly so that we can reward them with Monster Points!
Thanks again!
Mr.J