St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolArden Road

Henley in ArdenWarwickshire

B95 5LT

Tel: 01564 792316

January 2018Dear Parents of Year 1 children,

CURRICULUM LETTER – Spring Term 2018

We hope you have all had a lovely and enjoyable Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Over the next half term, Year 1 will be focusing on an exciting topic all about Superheroes. Our learning will be centred on a range of books such as ‘Supertato’, ‘Traction Man’ and ‘Elliot the Midnight Superhero’. The children will learn all about Super-heroes and be involved in discussions about what makes a su-perhero? Do we see superheroes every day? We will be re-searching superheroes all about real life superheroes. In sci-ence we will be learning all about superhero senses and all about the human body.

REThe children will develop their knowledge and understanding of Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Jesus. We will be dis-cussing the importance of Jesus birth through the events before and after, and the impact it had on the people involved. They will also learn about Jesus in his ministry as a teacher and healer. We will be looking at how we are called to follow the ex-ample of Jesus in our lives.

English English continues to be taught daily, working towards a ‘Big Write’ on a Friday. The children will continue to practise the skills of segmenting and blending when reading and writing, which we will be encouraging them to do more independently and to apply their tricky word knowledge to both reading and writing. They will be reminded to use finger spaces, to form let-

Head Teacher: J Le Maitre B.Ed MA.

St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolArden Road

Henley in ArdenWarwickshire

B95 5LT

Tel: 01564 792316

ters correctly when writing simple sentences and to use simple punctuation. Throughout the half term, the children will have weekly handwriting sessions.The children will progress on to quiz books. On finishing the book they will discuss the contents with myself or Mrs Cooke to ensure they have understood all aspects of the story. After this, the children will complete an online quiz on accelerated reader.

Try to read with your child every day. They have been given a reading book suited to their ability and a read-ing diary. Please be aware that even if you believe your child is finding their reading book easy, it is vital that they understand everything that they read and can dis-cuss what they have read in detail.

Reading ChallengeThe reading challenge will begin again and we have a new set of books to read by the end of the term. Please email the office if you would like a copy of the reading challenge list. Children who read the required number of books within the term are re-cognised with a certificate at the end of term celebration as-sembly. Please note reading challenge books are in addition to their phonics reading and not a replacement.

MathematicsIn maths, the children will start to recognise, find and name half of two equal parts of a shape, quantity and objects. Also the children will begin to tell the time to the hour and half past the hour and draw the hands on a clock face to show these times We very much appreciate home-learning support particularly the rehearsal and consolidation of times tables (initially 2, 5 and 10). They will continue to complete the “Beat It” and “CLIC” sheets at the end of the week and this will help the chil-

Head Teacher: J Le Maitre B.Ed MA.

St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolArden Road

Henley in ArdenWarwickshire

B95 5LT

Tel: 01564 792316

dren to improve in a wide range of maths skills, as will the weekly homework in which times table targets and mathemat-ical activities will be set for each child. Any opportunities you get at home to practise the skills described above please do so and share their learning experiences with us.

PEThe children will have regular structured sessions of sport/PE. Lessons will be on a Wednesday afternoon with Mr Green. They will need a complete PE kit for these sessions including a polo shirt, jumper or hoodie, shorts or joggers and appropriate train-ers for outdoor activities. The new royal blue polo shirt has re-placed the gold round neck PE t-shirt and can be ordered and paid for via ParentPay.

Home Learning SupportHome-Learning books will be sent home on Friday and are to be handed in by the following Wednesday. Please ensure children complete their homework in pencil.The children can continue to go on Go Noodle and earn their stars by answering mathematical questions. I am able to mon-itor questions they are finding difficult and we can address these questions in class. Seesaw will also be used to support you at home. This will be launched across the whole school in the coming weeks.

Please ask us if you would like to know how you can help your child at home or if you have any questions about this half term's learning.

Thank you,

Miss O’Leary and Mrs Cooke.Head Teacher: J Le Maitre B.Ed MA.