Summer Term
A warm welcome from Nethercote class, I hope that you have all had a relaxed Easter Break as this term is a busy one.
This term our class topic is ‘The Great Fire of London which we will study in our Topic, DT and some Literacy sessions. The children will be given the opportunity to explore London today and compare London now to London then, learn key facts and information about this event which has shaped our capital and even recreate their own 3D model of the fire and Pudding Lane. The topic also allows some rich literacy opportunities for the children such as writing letters, diary entries and poetry.
In science we are looking at ‘Animals – including Humans’ which links well with one of our main literacy texts WILD by Emily Hughes and in Art we will be creating a number of different portrait pieces. A full topic web can be found below and contains information about all subject areas covered this term.
This term the year 2 children will be sitting their SATs and the year 1s their phonics screening check, so a proportion of our time will be dedicated to preparing the children for this. If you have any questions or queries about either of these then please do not hesitate to contact me either by booking in an appointment at the office or catching me on the playground.
Please continue to focus on reading at home- reading 4 times a week is ideal. Although children in Nethercote are book banded it would be wonderful to see children reading more widely at home. Reading a book slightly above your child’s ability is a great way to expand their vocabulary and book talking with your child is a great way of ensuring that they have a good grasp of inference skills.
The children will continue to do PE on Monday afternoons, and swim on a Tuesday morning. Please make sure that your child has their full PE and Swim kit in school on these days so that they can participate fully in these lessons.
As this term is jam-packed homework will be focused on topic and revision in preparation for KS1 assessments and checks. There will be no spellings set but children will continue to do spelling practise in school. Homework books will be sent home on a Friday and due back on a Wednesday like last term.
As the weather warms up it is essential that the children bring in a freshly filled, labelled water bottle to school every day. We have drinking water in the class so children can refill their bottles during the day.
I am always happy to meet with parents to discuss your child’s learning or any concerns you may have. Feel free to book an after-school meeting with me via the office or see me on the playground. Thank you again for your continued support.
Mrs Niner
Spring Term
This term our class topic is ‘Around the World in 60 days’ and will include learning about the continents, oceans and food from around the world. The topic will have a specific focus on Chinese New Year and Italy allowing the children to explore festivals, celebrations and culture inside and outside of Europe. A full topic web can be found below and contains information about all subject areas covered this term.
Regular reading (be it a book, comic strip or magazine) at home is essential in KS1. Children should read at least 4 times a week and record it in their reading records. Many of the children in Nethercote continue with daily phonics and the Year 1s will sit their phonics screening check later this year. You can support phonics at home by using the Read Write Inc flashcards at home. These are available at Amazon and the children should be familiar with the Set 1, 2 and 3 sounds. I have linked them below in case this is of interest.
After reviewing homework over the last term some slight changes have been made. Children will receive both a Maths / English piece of work and spellings on a weekly basis. These pieces of work will be due in every Wednesday and will be handed back out on the Friday. A spelling test will take place every Wednesday. On top of this children will also have topic homework (which was a fantastic success last term). Children should complete a minimum of four pieces of topic work between January and Easter, topic homework should then be sent in on a Friday and will be shared and celebrated in class on that day. Although there will be suggestions on how these activities could be presented it would be great for the children to put their own interpretations, style and personality on their homework, so it becomes unique and meaningful to them.
Number bonds and times tables (2, 5 and 10s) are something which the children work towards in KS1. We assess the children on either their number bonds or times tables weekly and it would be beneficial for the children to practise these at home. ‘Ping Pong Number Bonds’ has been a huge hit in Nethercote and I am sure that the children would be more than happy to challenge you to a game at home.
The children will be doing PE on Monday afternoons, please ensure your child has their winter PE kit in school and that all items (not just PE kit) are clearly labelled.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or queries, either on the playground in the mornings or via the school office.
Mrs Niner
Autumn Term
Hello and welcome to Nethercote Class!
I hope you have had a lovely time over the summer and welcome to Nethercote. This term we are extremely fortunate to have both Mrs Harris and Mrs Roberts working in our classroom with us throughout the day, as well as one to one reading with Mrs Plumridge.
For our Year One children joining us this term from Medcroft, one of our main aims is to ensure that the children experience a smooth transition from the Foundation Stage to Key Stage One. The Year 1 curriculum builds upon and extends the experiences that children have had in Reception. Learning through play will continue to be an important part of the school day, and the children will experience more formal learning as the year progresses.
This term our topic is ‘Come fly with me.’ We will be focusing around different areas of flight including both aviation and birds across much of the curriculum. Exploring the history of famous faces in aviation such as Amelia Earhart and The Wright brothers we will learn about the first ever airplane flight and the impact that these individuals had in the world of aviation. We will be visiting Oxford airport to build on our knowledge and understanding of flight, and details of this trip will follow shortly. Please see the topic web on our class page on the website for more details of the curriculum.
There continues to be a focus on reading and phonics in Nethercote and it would be wonderful to see children being read too and listened too daily. Regular reading (be it a book, comic strip or magazine) will really boost reading and inference skills.
For homework this year, children will receive both a mental maths piece of work and spellings on a weekly basis. This will be due in every Wednesday and will be handed back out on the same day, so you have a whole week to complete your task and learn your spellings. A spellings test will take place every Wednesday too.
In addition to this, at the start of term, children will be provided with a range of topic homework activities that would support their learning for our topic. The expectation is that children will complete at least four of the activities over the entire term, from September through to December. Although there will be suggestions on how these activities could be presented it would be great for the children to put their own interpretations, style and personality on their homework, so it becomes unique and meaningful to them.
The children will be doing PE on Monday afternoons, please ensure your child has their PE kit in school and that all items are clearly labelled. We encourage children to practise getting dressed at home to help them get changed quickly in school!
I hope that you enjoy the new challenges and approaches to learning that Year 1 and 2 has to offer. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or queries either in the morning on the playground or via the school office.
Mrs Niner
Topic Webs
Cycle B September 2017 – July 2018
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Year 1-2 – Spring Term B – On your Doorstep
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Year 1-2 – Summer Term B – Destination Unknown
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Year 1-2 – Autumn Term B – A Trip down Memory Lane
Cycle A September 2018 – July 2019
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Year 1-2 – Spring Term A – Around the World in 60 Days
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Year 1-2 – Autumn Term A – Come Fly with Me
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Year 1-2 – Summer Term A – The Great Fire of London
