Foxes Class

1. Foxes Class Mrs O’Leary – Monday & Tuesday Mrs Tucker – Wednesday am, all day Thursday & Friday Mr Arnold – Swimming Wednesday pm Mrs Hughes – Every morning and Monday and Wednesday pm

2. Morning Routine • Drinks, PE bags and book bags in lockers and coats on coat pegs. • Children will have different activities to do each morning so it important that they settle quickly. • Please try to change reading books at the end of the day not in the morning. • Please drop your children outside the classroom door to encourage independence. • Please encourage children to put money/letters etc. into the Foxes post box independently. • Please only come into the classroom if you have an urgent message for the class teacher. Too many adults in the classroom mean the children do not settle quickly and the classroom soon becomes noisy.

3. Timetable

4. Topic/EnglishOur topic for this term is On the Farm! • ‘Talk for Writing’ approach. – Immerse, Imitate, Innovate, Invent! • This term our first story will be Little Red Hen • They will be learning how to structure a story using TFW and begin to change some parts of the story. • Punctuation and Grammar is a key aspect of the curriculum, so the children will be learning lots of new terminology and how to use it correctly in their writing.

5. Spellings Phonics • Spellings – Year 1 - will be individual cards - based on their phonics • Year 2 – children ready for phase 6 will move on to different spelling patterns e.g. adding suffixes/pre-fixes etc with Mrs Stone. Tested every Monday. • Beginning of Term the children will be assessed in phonics and grouped accordingly. However, this is flexible depending on the children’s changing needs and they may move groups at various points throughout the year.

6. Maths • In Maths, during the autumn term the year 1 children will be continuing to work on counting, ordering and writing numbers to100. They will be learning about place value, odd and even numbers, addition and subtraction and naming 2D and 3D shapes. Throughout the year they will move on to multiplication and division and continue to develop their problem solving techniques. • This term year 2 children will be recapping numbers, place value and then focus on addition and subtraction, inverses and less/greater than. They will then move on to understanding statistics, multiplication and division, written methods, time and money throughout the year.

7. Maths Tests • Times tables - Children will practise times tables in school as part of mental maths, however lease help your children learn these key facts even in year 1 – they are extremely important to their overall progress in Maths. • The children who are ready to be tested will be tested every Mondayafternoon. Please note children are now expected to be able to instantly recall their, 2, , 5 and 10 times tables by the end of year 2 (randomly). Year 1’s need to be able to count in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. • Children will bring their test sheets home for you to see their progress however their name will be displayed in the classroom next to their current targetI f you are unsure of what they should be working on. • 1 House Point for improving their last score • 2 House points for moving up a target • 3 minutes for each test.

8. Swimming • Children will be going swimming at Blackbrook on a Wednesday afternoon. We will be leaving by coach at 1.30pm and returning at 3.15.pm. • Parent helpers and minibus drivers needed please  Please sign up on the relevant sheet. We cannot provide swimming provision if we do not have parent helpers. • All children will now be required to wear a swimming cap under GLL rules. Each child will be given a free cap on their first visit and they will have to wear one. If they are lost it will cost £1 for a replacement. Children will not be allowed to swim unless they are wearing a hat. • Colours are as follows: • Red – Non-swimmer • Amber – Weak swimmer • Green – Competent swimmer

9. Class Information • Other subjects will link to each topic. Each termly newsletter will update you as to what our topic is. Please bring in any story/non-fiction books relating to this topic if your children have any. • READING – please read with your children as much as possible as it is an important part of their learning (Active learn/School reading books). • Reading books will get checked every Monday and house points awarded. Parents/carers/Older siblings must sign. 1 HP -4 x a week, 2hp – 7x a week • PE – Mondays and Thursdays – children come wearing it on a Monday and it goes home on a Friday. • Please feel free to ask for an update of your child’s progress throughout the year or if you have any concerns that you would like to raise. • Please inform us if your child is going home with another family or family member. We will NOT allow a child to go with a different adult unless we have your permission.

10. Homework • Our homework has changed - rather than having a different piece of homework set every week, we will be asking you prioritise helping your children with the following: • Number Bonds and Times Tables – Children will be tested on Mondays. It is vital for their maths fluency skills and calculations that they progress in this area as soon as possible. Please take time to look at your child’s test sheet they bring home and help them work through wrong answers. Encourage your child to count in 10’s, 5’s and 2’s often; climbing stairs, lampposts in the street etc, but also help them to recognise the written form of times tables such as: • 1 x 10 = 10, 2 x 10 = 20 etc. • Reading – Listen to your child read for just a few minutes a day, read stories to your child at bedtime and enjoy visiting the library together. In the words of Dr Seuss: ‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go.’ • Spellings – These will be tested weekly (see separate information) • Use ‘Active Learn’ and ‘Purple Mash’ online. Information pack will be given out to help. • To help your children with their writing skills, encourage your child to recite their class story maps as much as possible when they bring them home. • Separate homework tasks and challenges will also be sent out from time to time.

11. Reward System • Whole school • Behaviour and achievement based • House points (Dojos) – house gems • Maths / English Star • Class star of the week – Foxy • Celebration assembly in Village-hall/outside until half-term. • A text will be sent out to advise you if your child have been chosen.

12. School Information • Rules and expectations of the school are we encourage independent learning and have high standards of behaviour and engagement in learning. • Open door policy – Please feel free to see your teacher at the end of the day after school ends. Alternatively arrange an appointment with your child’s teacher if your require a longer discussion time. • Reduced provision due to budget – MFL in KS2 only LSA have reduced hours Mr Arnold teaching 1.5 days (Foxes Wed am, Badgers Fri all day) No samba in Foxes Class Cleaning staff reduced hours Main gate unmanned. Office only for basic enquiries on Tuesdays – Office closed for other business

13. School Information • Safeguarding and Online Safety – Please continue to talk to your child about online safety and use of online site such as YouTube. There is a Children’s YouTube that has enhanced safety. • Parent Voice – Please view the School Website to learn: • Who the School Governors are • How to best support your children in reading, writing maths etc. • Up to date information and newsletters and key information and policies. • Sickness – 48 hours after the last bout of sickness and diarrhoea. • DBS – If you haven’t already signed up please leave your name with us after the talk so we can arrange for Ros in the office to contact you.