Year One
Summer Term 2007
Homework Guidance
Dear Parents
We are just starting our third and final term this academic year. This letter is a brief outline of some of the activities we are going to include this term.
In Numeracy we are continuing with addition and subtraction, numbers to 100 – greatly aided by a hundred square, place value, ordering and estimating. The children will be encouraged to work out and learn various strategies to help them with their mental calculations. The children will also be using money and relating it to “real life” problems, as will the other problem solving activities. Homework will also be given every week.
In Literacy the children will continue to read and listen to a variety of books from both fiction and non-fiction. This term we will have a greater emphasis on reading for information. The independent writing will include personal experiences, factual accounts, questions and answers and poetry. The children will also be learning to read and spell high frequency words to aid them in their writing. Reading labels and captions will help the children find their way around Milestones.
In Science the first part of the term will be spent looking at animals, including humans, learning about their different life cycles, how they move, use their senses and reproduce. In the second half of term we will be busily planting seeds and growing plants in order to study them at close quarters. The children will also focus on keeping healthy in Healthy Schools week.
Technology is also based around plants. The children will be looking at different fruits and vegetables, their appearance, texture, colour etc, what they can make from them and how. We will also be covering basic food hygiene. Fruit Salad will be the tasty treat for the children.
Art. The first half of the term will be linked to ourselves and other animals; looking at and making drawings, models etc of our own homes and the “homes” that animals live in. It will be followed by an artistic study of fruit and vegetables, observational drawings and the still life work of more famous artists.
History is based on the different types of homes, far and near, old and new. It is also going to be interesting to find out how the people lived in their homes many years ago and a trip to Milestones Museum at the beginning of May will help to bring it all alive for the children.
The children love to look at artefacts from the past and if you have any you could lend to us, we would love to use them in our history lessons.
Geography. We shall be focusing on various countries and places around the world, as well as following our old friend Barnaby Bear on his travels to different destinations during the term. Why not take part? If you are going on holiday before the end of term why not sign out Barnaby Bear from the school office and take him with you on your travels. Or if you have access to the Internet you could visit his website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/barnabybear.
The ICT suite will be well used to help the children to learn and practise their keyboard and word processing skills. We will also be using it in conjunction with other subjects.
The children will be enjoying themselves in Music singing, playing percussion instruments, developing their aural skills, conducting with the aid of symbols and also using symbols to write their own scores, making wonderful class compositions.
Hopefully, if the weather permits, we will do as much of our PE outside as we can. Part of the time will be spent indoors learning our country dances. Outside we will be focusing on our basic games skills, culminating in Sports Day.
RE and SEAL (Social and Emotional Attitude to Learning). RE starts with the questions “Why am I special”, followed by our SEAL work on relationships. We will also be learning what it is to be part of both a Christian and a Jewish community. To help us understand more about the Christian way of life we are planning a visit to St Paul’s Church to have a first hand experience of a place of worship.
SEAL ends the term with the theme of Changes. This will help all of the children to move onto their next class or their next school.
Thank you to all the people who have lent us books, photographs, toys and other artefacts last term. The children enjoyed looking at them and or playing with them. Everything was much appreciated and it all helped to enhance the children’s learning. If you have anything related to this term’s topics please could you lend it to us, we will look after it carefully.
Yours sincerely
Diana Killey
Year 1 Coordinator
Here is some guidance on the type of homework we would like your child to do whilst they are in Year One. It will also give you an idea of how often and for how long we expect the children to carry out certain tasks.
Independence
Please encourage your child to get dressed and undressed independently so that changing for PE will become less of a struggle. This includes turning clothes the correct way around and managing laces, zips and buttons, if they have them. Can you also ensure all clothes and PE kit are clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Reading
If your child has flash cards we would like you to encourage them to practise these five times a week. When they bring a reading book home we would like them to read at least three times a week, for approximately ten to fifteen minutes per session.
As well as your child reading books and flash cards, we would like you to encourage your child to find and read words in a variety of places. For example signs, packaging, labels and notices.
Please find time to read to your children. A regular bed time story is ideal. When they bring a library book home from school read it to them, make it a special time. Please take care of these books and return them to school the following week. If a library book is lost or damaged we will ask for five pounds to go towards the cost of replacing it.
Mathematics
Please play games with your children. Dice games and card games are ideal for helping children gain confidence with number recognition and simple calculations. Moving a counter along a board helps with “counting on” when your child is developing their addition skills. Encourage your child to complete jigsaw puzzles.
If your child is writing numbers at home encourage them to form them correctly, always remembering to start every number at the top.
Writing
Playing rhyming and matching games as well as “I Spy” will help your child with their spelling. Encourage your child to hold their pencil with the correct grip and to form their letters correctly.
Listening Skills
Try to encourage your child to develop their listening skills. Make sure you have their full attention when giving them instructions, eye contact is particularly important. Try giving instructions that require your child to remember more than one instruction at a time. For example “hang your coat up in the entrance hall and then bring me your book bag.”
Health Warning!
All children are unique and have different levels of concentration and abilities. Please use this as a guide only and do what you think is most appropriate for your child. Obviously if your child is tired or upset homework becomes counter productive. When you are working with your child keep the atmosphere relaxed. Learning should be a positive experience for all those involved. The most successful children will be those whose parents remain positive and involved, making the most of all opportunities that come along.
If you require any further information or clarification please feel free to talk to your child’s class teacher or to Mrs Killey, the Year One team leader.
Fiona Prickett
Deputy Head Teacher
Year Two
Summer Term 2007
Homework Guidance
Reading Information
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome back to your child’s final term at Walter. The following information is to give you an idea of the areas of work your child will be covering during this important term. During the first half of term the children will be doing their SATs but this will not affect their everyday work in the classroom. Please try and ensure your child does not miss any school days unnecessarily and that they remain relaxed and happy and have no additional pressures placed on them. Your child will also have the opportunity to spend time in St. Paul’s over a series of planned visits which will ease their transition into the next stage of their education; more details about this will follow.
If you have any concerns or comments during the term please feel free to come in and talk to your child’s class teacher or to me.
Literacy
Speaking and Listening
We will continue to encourage your children to speak clearly and to tell real or imagined stories using familiar story language. They will develop their ability to listen to others and ask relevant questions to confirm their understanding. They will need to listen to the views of others and work effectively in a group, ensuring that everyone makes a contribution. There will a strong focus on drama activities.
Reading and Comprehension
The children will be expected to use appropriate intonation when reading a variety of texts. They will apply their knowledge of different strategies to help tackle unfamiliar words. As usual, there will be an over riding emphasis on reading for understanding. The children will be expected to respond in greater depth to a range of questions when discussing the texts they have read. Non-fiction texts will be used to support other areas of the curriculum throughout the term.
Writing and Composition
The children will be revising the correct use of full stops, capital letters, question marks and commas. The children will be producing a variety of non-fiction texts as well simple riddles and humorous verse.
Phonics and Spellings
The children will continue to have four fifteen minute sessions a week where they will learn how to identify phonemes in speech and writing, to blend them for reading and to segment words to aid their spelling.
The individualised weekly spellings will also continue. We would appreciate it if you could spare five minutes four or five times a week to practise these words with your children.
Mathematics
The children will continue to work on a range of topics with the main emphasis being on mental calculations and applying new knowledge to real life problems. Work on multiplication, division, fractions, capacity, time and handling data are some of the areas covered this term.
Science
During this term the children will be covering work under the general heading of “Plants and animals in the local environment”. They will be identifying plants and animals in the local environment and recording their findings. The children will investigate the conditions these plants and animals need to survive and group them according to common criteria. The children will compare the features of different animals to those of humans and will be introduced to the term reproduction. They will investigate the conditions needed for the healthy growth of plants and use books and pictures to learn that all animals produce young that grow into adults.
Finally they will compare similarities and differences amongst themselves.
In addition to this work we will have a science theme week, focussing on the effects of physical activity on the human body.
ICT
The children will continue to use ICT to support their work across the full range of topics and subjects. An example of this would be that the children will learn to select and scan images to use in the production of an information poster about an animal. They will also use digital cameras, video equipment and tape recorders during the science theme week. Each week the children will have a timetabled session in the ICT suite to support their mathematics learning. The children will also have regular ICT skills lessons, taught in small groups by Mrs Cox, our ICT technician.
Technology
The children will be designing and producing fabric collages of minibeasts. During the first half of the term the children will be set the challenge of building a strong paper bridge to support the weight of several toy cars. The children will also learn how to use various items of kitchen equipment safely whilst cooking individual apple crumbles.
History
During the first half term the children will be learning about transport in the past and comparing this to the types of transport the children use today. The particular emphasis will be on wheels and trains. If you have any helpful books, photos or other resources we would be most grateful if we could borrow them.
Geography
The children will be studying a contrasting locality to the UK. We have chosen Australia as I am hoping to have gathered lots of useful information and resources during my Easter study visit with Mrs. Killey! We will focus on buildings, wildlife, occupations, food, leisure and culture. Hopefully we will be able to communicate by email with some children in an Australian school.
Art
The main emphasis during the first half term will be on observational drawing and painting. During the second half of the term the children will be exploring Aboriginal art.
Music
The focus for this term will be looking at the themes of exploring moods and simple composition with a strong emphasis on using rhythm sticks and tuned instruments. The children will also rehearse and refine their ability to perform in preparation for the Leavers’ Concert.
PE
The emphasis this term will be on country dancing and team games focussing on throwing and catching, bouncing, chasing and aiming at a target. These team games will play an important role in the lead up to sports day.
RE
The children will listen to stories and take part in discussions that will help them to answer questions such as What do Christians believe makes a person special? and What do Christians believe about how people should live with others? The highlight of our RE this term will be an educational visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor where the children will have the opportunity to learn about a different faith first hand.
Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL)
We are continuing to promote the importance of social, emotional and behavioural skills. Your children will be helped to develop these skills through a systematic programme of work based on a new theme each half term. This term’s themes are “Relationships” and “Changes”. The whole school will work on the same themes at the same time but the activities will vary according to the age and maturity of the children.
Fiona Prickett
Deputy Headteacher/Year Two Team Leader
The purpose of this item is to give you some guidance on the type of homework we would like your child to do whilst they are in Year Two. It will also give you an idea of how often and for how long we expect the children to carry out certain tasks.
Independence
Please encourage your child to get dressed and undressed independently so that changing for PE will become less of a struggle. This includes turning clothes the correct way around and managing laces, zips and buttons, if they have them. Can you also ensure all clothes and PE kit are clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Reading
Please try and hear your child read at least three times a week. It is important that your child reads out loud and that you can see the book at the same time. Make the time special and ensure your child has your full attention. Each session needs to last for about twenty minutes and should include time when you ask questions about the text and discuss the content.
As well as your child reading books, we would like you to encourage your child to find and read words in a variety of places. For example signs, packaging, labels and notices.
Please find time to read to your children. A regular bed time story is ideal. When they bring a library book home from school read it to them, make it a special time. Please take care of these books and return them to school the following week. If a library book is lost or damaged we will ask for five pounds to go towards the cost of replacing it.
Mathematics
Please play games with your children. Dice games and card games are ideal for helping children gain confidence with number recognition and simple calculations. Moving a counter along a board helps with “counting on” when your child is developing their addition skills. Encourage your child to complete jigsaw puzzles.
Look for opportunities to develop your child’s understanding of mathematics in day to day life. Cooking, shopping, sorting and telling the time are ideal examples. Make it real rather than a paper and pencil activity.
If your child is writing numbers at home encourage them to form them correctly, always remembering to start every number at the top.
Writing
Encourage your child to hold their pencil with the correct grip and to form their letters correctly. An ideal time to do this is when they are doing their spelling practice.
Spelling
Please do your child’s spelling with them at least four times a week. If they keep making no errors, all the better! Think how good it will make your child feel having that success.
Listening Skills
Try to encourage your child to develop their listening skills. Make sure you have their full attention when giving them instructions, eye contact is particularly important. Try giving instructions that require your child to remember more than one instruction at a time. For example “hang your coat up in the entrance hall, put your lunch box in the kitchen and then bring me your book bag.”
Extras
Occasionally your child will bring home work to finish. This is usually because they worked at too slow a pace on that particular activity. Please encourage them to complete this work and return it to school as soon as possible.
Health Warning!
All children are unique and have different levels of concentration and abilities. Please use this as a guide only and do what you think is most appropriate for your child. Obviously if your child is tired or upset homework becomes counter productive. When you are working with your child keep the atmosphere relaxed. Learning should be a positive experience for all those involved. The most successful children will be those whose parents remain positive and involved, making the most of all opportunities that come along.
If you require any further information or clarification please feel free to talk to your child’s class teacher or to me, the Year Two team leader.
Fiona Prickett
Deputy Head Teacher
We hope this will explain some of the strategies used for reading in Year 2 to help you and your child this year.
Your child will have a yellow reading record book which is used by school and home to record comments about a book and the way a child has read. It can also be used as a means of communication between parents and teachers. In school we write on the right side of this book and ask you to use the left side. If you do write a message to the teacher in this book, please make sure your child tells the teacher it is there. We do not check these books daily so your message could be missed.
In school, your child will read a suitable book chosen from the range of school readers within the classroom. These will stay in school until they have been finished. Your child may then take them home to read again. We aim to hear each child read at least twice a week either by a teacher or an adult helper and comments about each session will be recorded. Some children may be given a “reading buddy” from year 6, a friendly session to provide extra practice.
All children have free access to the “Home Readers” which can be found outside the classrooms in the corridor. We encourage children to change these whenever it is necessary and without supervision. We expect children to choose from their correct reading colour band, but the type of book is their choice. These books are for you to share and enjoy at home. We encourage the children to be responsible for this task themselves and although they will be reminded, we do not set aside a particular time in the day to do this. Before or after school or after a reading session are ideal times.
We would ask that you try to set aside a small amount of time each day to hear your child read aloud to you. Children should enjoy books and stories and sharing a book encourages discussion and ideas as well as improving vocabulary. Please talk about the book you have shared, ask some simple questions about the story. For example, could there have been a different ending? Are the illustrations good? Was the story exciting?
If you have any other queries about reading please come in after school at any time to talk to your class teacher or write in the reading record.
Happy reading!
Ann Cole
Literacy Coordinator |