Year 1 – Beech

Dear Parents,

Beech Class have had such a fantastic, enriching term and they have learned so much from their lessons and each other.

Next term we will be learning in Literacy (English) from a lovely range of books such The Tiger Who came to tea and We’re going on a bear hunt. We will be exploring these books by describing settings, retelling narratives from the stories and learning acrostic poems. There will be lots of opportunities for children to work on their writing skills, whatever stage they are at.

In Maths we will be looking at addition and subtraction which will build on our learning of place value this term. We will also be looking at 2D and 3D shapes in geometry. They have done fantastically well this term, learning how to use a variety of tools to help them:

• The number line
• The ten frame
• Concrete objects representing numbers
• Pictorial representations of numbers

In Geography we will be looking at locational knowledge and physical geography. Looking at the season of Autumn in their homework will help them to start thinking about seasons, the weather and our surrounding environment.  

Edible Garden.

We are so lucky to have an edible garden, in which we have planted our first batch of curly kale! We will look at ways of protecting it and nurturing it as we move towards a colder winter.

Homework

Homework for half-term contains a few different elements to it. At parents’ consultation meetings I listened to many of you looking for ways to support your children at home.

Responding to this, I have offered a variety of homework for half-term.

Handwriting can be practised by copying simple text out such as a poem or a nursery rhyme.

if you have time. I can always supply with extra handwriting paper if needed.

At the beginning of term Beech Class met Mr.Bear from the book ‘Peace at Last’ and found him to be very drowsy, tired and frustrated.

He shouted         ‘Oh no! I can’t stand this!’

The children made expert sound effects to the book in our role-play lessons and have all made a fantastic effort with their independent writing.

The week starting 30th September begins our wonderful new book, Farmer Duck. We will be exploring the emotions that come with working for a lazy farmer…

Lazy Farmer:       'How goes the work?'

Farmer Duck:                 'QUACK!'

We love finding out about Dinosaurs in Beech Class and have been making our own fossils whilst we remember the inspiring fossil hunter Mary Anning.  In Science we have been exploring materials and their properties. 

In Mathematics we are comparing objects, numbers and understanding place value. We have been looking at  counting backwards and forwards. The key language to reinforce is ‘one less’, ‘one more’, ‘counting forwards’ and ‘counting backwards'. When looking at groups and comparing them we have started to look at 'less than' 'more than' and 'equal to'.

Next week we will be looking at the symbols < and > and = to deepen their understanding. 

In this case we would look at the size of groups and then decide which phrase to insert. 

We will be sending out a few things to help you support your child at home with homework and further learning this week (ending 4th October). If you would like any extra support or have any questions please do come and see Mr.Thomas or Ms. Hammond at the end of the day.

Mr. Thomas and Ms. Hammond