This term, our topic is ‘What a Wonderful World/ Our Rights’ Alongside this, the children will continue to develop their skills in English/Phonics, Maths and Spelling through daily lessons.

In Science, our focus will be on Materials. The children will learn to identify and name a variety of objects and the material they are made from, we will learn about properties of materials such as transparent, stretchy and opaque. As part of this learning, we will investigate which materials would be best to keep our hot chocolates warm and which materials would be best to keep our teddy bears dry in the rain. What does opaque mean? What materials could a chair be made from and which would is the best for a classroom?

Within Geography, we will explore the wonders of the world and solve the key question - What are the wonders of the world? During these lessons, the children will find out what a wonder is, research ancient wonders of the world such as the Taj Mahal and then begin to look at places which they think should be a modern wonder. Do you know any wonders of the world? Where are these in the world?

As part of our Art learning, we will study the work of Paul Cezanne and use this as inspiration to create our own wonder of the world-themed artwork. The children will explore the use of colour, shape and pattern in their work. Do you know anything about Paul Cezanne? What was his artwork like?

In ICT, the children will develop their understanding of using the iPad to program a Beebot by writing an algorithm/ instruction to solve the levels. Can you remember what an algorithm is from last year?

Through our PSHE (Jigsaw) lessons, we will focus on ‘Being me in my World’, supporting the children in understanding their hopes and dreams, what is right and wrong, as well as how to build positive relationships with others to make friends.

PE lessons will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. During these sessions, the children will develop their skills in team games and fundamental skills such as running, jumping, throwing and balancing. Please ensure children are appropriately dressed, as we will aim to be outside whenever the weather allows.

Finally, in other areas of the curriculum, we will continue to build on our learning in RE, French and other creative activities linked to our topic. Please see below for more information and, as always, if you have any questions, please just ask!

PE will be on Tuesday and Wednesday each week. 

Please remember children should come to school wearing their PE kits (black or blue shorts/ joggers, trainers/ pumps and a plain white top). Anybody who wears earrings will need to remove them either at home or be able to do this in class independently before the lesson. Any questions please just come and ask!

Apart from the obvious benefits of improving reading skills, by encouraging children to read regularly, it can improve their imagination, spelling and punctuation accuracy. Reading also improves their concentration and vocabulary. The habit also makes children more stylish writers, as they copy elements of authors they have enjoyed and adopt these as their own. Children who read for pleasure are far more academically successful than those that don’t. So it really is a no-brainer: good reading habits make successful children.

By reading regularly with you and discussing the situation that characters find themselves in, children have an invaluable opportunity to help build empathy skills. For example, if a character in a book is being treated unkindly by a classmate, it gives a ‘safe space’ for relationships and treatment of others to be discussed in a situation where children can be objective and measured, rather than approaching the issue with bias and heightened emotion, as may often be the case when these situations arise in their real lives.