To start off this exciting new term together, both year 1 and year 2 will be going on an adventure to Bekonscot Model Village, where they will be looking at the different styles of homes. In addition, the children will be looking at the countries that make up the United Kingdom and where Cuddington is in relation to other places that they know. We will also be looking into different houses and homes around the world, exploring how and why they are built and who might be living in them. We will be looking into what an architect is and the difference between an architect and architecture. They will be able to explain why they like certain buildings, thinking about their purpose and whether the architect has designed the building for that purpose. We will investigate changes within living memory around the local area and how the village of Cuddington has changed in recent years.

In Science, the children will be looking at the properties of everyday materials and will be able to label these by the end of the unit. In RE we will be looking at ‘what it means to be me’.

Spellings 

Children will be given a weekly spelling list through Spelling Shed, we will be doing a half termly spelling test so please practise these spellings at home when possible. Please encourage your child to put the words into sentences so they begin to understand definitions and context. This should aid their long-term recall of the spelling rule. It is very common to find that the children are able to spell the set of words during their tests and whilst practising but if they are not spelling them correctly in a piece of writing, then the spellings are not embedded. Therefore, it is vital to practise them in many ways to help them retain them.

Phonics

The children will have daily phonics lessons and will be regularly assessed. Within the phonics scheme Bug Club Phonics, we follow a systematic synthetic approach to our phonics teaching which means that the children’s reading books will link to the phonics they are learning in school. There is more information about supporting your child’s phonics knowledge on our phonics curriculum page.

Phonics Screening Check

This term, your child will complete the Phonics Screening Check. The Phonics Screening Check is an assessment to check your child’s ability to read words using phonics rules. This check helps us to identify your child’s progress within phonics from EYFS to the end of Year 1, and it also helps highlight if any extra support needs to be given.

The test is for all children who are in Year 1 at school. will send out an email to you all during the first half term with resources to help support your child with their Phonics Screening Check, which will take place at the beginning of the second summer term.

Homework

Homework will be weekly spellings, a Maths task and reading and at various points in the year, a specific one-off Learning Log homework linked to an annual or national event such as World Book Day. It is important that all children complete the homework. Please email me if your child is experiencing any particular difficulties with the completion of the homework.

All homework will go home on a Friday and will need to be completed by the following Friday.

Reading books

In Year 1, the children will have two books for the week. One will be a book of their choice, from the library, and the other will be a phonics-based book. Due to our new phonics programme, the phonics-based book will help your child practise the graphemes they are learning in school. It is vital that the children become fluent in reading words with the graphemes they learn, so practising to read their phonics book is important for them.

Please can I ask that all books are returned to school on a Friday so we can send a new book home with your child. The children will not bring new books home unless they have returned the ones they had.

PE

PE kits need to come into school on a Monday morning and the children will now come home in their kit on PE days. Please can I ask that their kit is brought back in the following day, if possible, or ready for their next PE day which is Wednesday.

This term, we have PE on a Tuesday and a Wednesday.

Lost property

Please can I ask that you ensure all your child’s clothing is clearly named. Having items clearly named helps us to ensure pieces do not go missing. It will also help other parents to return items, in the event of their child taking home another person’s belongings.

Thank you for your continuing support,

Miss Bailey