Curriculum Theme

In History this half term, the children in KS1 will go back in time to 1341 BC. They will learn about the ‘boy king’ Tutankhamun and begin to make comparisons between the responsibilities he had and those of King Charles. The children will look at why Tutankhamun became King at such a young age and develop their understanding for the monarchy – they will make connections with why our late Queen Elizabeth was crowned Queen at an early age in her life too. To build on from their recent History topic: Pre: Historic Britain, we will teach the children about how King Tut was discovered by archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter. Their knowledge for palaeontology will support them in understanding how we can make predictions about the past and what life was like by what is left behind for us to find. In addition, the children will be immersed into their topic through a range of activities provided by an Egyptian company workshop. We endeavour to excite the children into this fascinating time in History and help them to realise that not all children have the same experiences at a young age.

English:

His half term, the children will be looking at a range of texts to capture the children’s imagination and support them in writing their own stories. We will focus on character and setting descriptions where we will master expanded noun phrases and adverb sentence starts. We will begin to look at dialogue in stories and use role play and concrete resources to support children in using speech marks accurately in their writing. They will look at explanation texts how something works, or why something happens. Children will then write their own explanation texts using the key skills and features gained. We will look at some fiction and non-fiction texts about Tutankhamun to help build retention and cross-curricular links with their new topic.

Mathematics:

Children will build on their existing knowledge for mental strategies and practise adding several numbers together. Much time will be given to building on their place value understanding and using this to partition 2- and 3-digit numbers to support them in adding them together. Children will also be taught a range of strategies for subtracting 2- and 3-digit numbers including use of a number line (complimentary addition) and partitioning by subtracting the tens and then the ones. Further into the half term, the children will explore money and the British currency. As well as being able to recognise coins and make amounts in different ways, the children will apply their addition and subtraction strategies to finding totals and finding change. Position and direction – The children will practise using and following directional and positional language in locating objects and symbols on a map. They will practise using and reading cross references and develop their understanding for vocabulary such as: clockwise, anti-clockwise, left, right, forwards and backwards. Finally, the children will revisit 2-D and 3-D shapes. In this week they will refer to what they have remembered about properties of shape and apply this to sorting, sequencing and building shapes.

Science:

This half term, we will be delving further into our first biology unit ‘Living things and life cycles’.

The children will begin the topic by delving into classification and will be able to classify animals into different groups based on how they are similar and how they are different. For example, being able to identify that reptiles are cold blooded and lay eggs. Following on from this, the children will then explore the different animal’s diet and whether they adopt a carnivorous, omnivorous or herbivorous diet. To provide children with a secure understanding of ‘living things’ we will immerse the children into this element of the unit by exploring the five processes: moving, growing, consuming, excretion, reproduction and respiration. The children will work scientifically by: using their observations to compare and contrast animals at first hand or through videos and photographs, describing how they identify and group them; grouping animals according to what they eat; and using their senses to compare different textures, sounds and smells.  

RE:
This half term, the religion we will be focussing on is Islam and the theme we will be exploring is ‘prayer at home’. The children will immerse themselves into the topic by exploring the idea of ‘commitment’ and identifying what they have a commitment to. For example: Football, gymnastics or dance. This will allow the children to relate to the Islamic faith as they have a commitment to praying in their religion. Following on from this, the children will discover all about Muslim prayer rituals and why this action/ritual is significant to them. In addition to this, the children will conclude the topic by understanding how these rituals help them feel close to their God.

PSHE:

In PSHE this half term, we will be exploring ‘Celebrating difference’. The children will be discovering how we are all different such as: our hobbies, our interests and the way that we dress. The children will explore stereotypes and recognise that everyone is different. In addition to this, the children will also understand that bullying sometimes can occur as a result of difference. Following on from this, the children will understand what behaviours are right and wrong and be able to recognise this.

P.E Information

2SB- Tuesday and Wednesday
2AM – Thursday and Friday
2JG – Wednesday and Friday

Children will be required to attend school on these days wearing their school PE kit. This can be worn beneath a pair of tracksuit bottoms/school trousers and their school uniform jumper.

In addition, children should attend school wearing their trainers/school shoes however, a pair of pumps, which will be stored on their coat peg, should be worn in their PE lessons. 

Can we remind children that long hair should be tied back and any jewellery removed. 

Additionally, can we remind both parents and children that if they attend school on these days wearing earrings, they will be asked to remove them and store them safely. If they wish to wear micropore tape, this should be brought in from home and stored in their PE bag. A permission slip should be completed and given to the class teacher.

Drinks and Snacks

• Children can purchase milk for 30p.

• Children can purchase toast for 30p a slice.

• On a Friday they can purchase a sausage or bacon bap for £1.

Children should give their money to the class teacher during registration.

Reading Books

Children should attend school each day with their school reading pack. They will be heard read once a week by the learning support assistant and every other week by their class teacher. Books will changed once a week.

Library Books Days

2SB- Wednesday
2JG- Wednesday
2AM- Wednesday

Spelling Test

Spellings Issued: Monday

Day of Test: Friday

To support the children with their weekly spellings, individual log ins have been given to all children. Each week, assignments will be set for children to access to support them further. The children can access these both at home and during their computing lessons to enjoy learning their spellings through a variety of games. There is no obligation for children to access Spelling Shed each day however, it is an invaluable resource and the children have responded with great enthusiasm. Furthermore, children will receive spelling machines on a Friday evening and will take their spelling test the following Friday.