Willow Class

Teaching Team: Mrs Pring, Mrs Tompsett, Mrs Packham, Mrs Chavush and Ms Swannell.

willow@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 5! The adults working with your child this term will be Mrs Pring, Mrs Tompsett, Miss Shone, Mrs Packham, Mrs Chavush and Ms Swannell.

Our topic for Terms 5 and 6 is ‘Exploring the World’ and this will form the basis for our Time and Place work, some of our English and Communication work and some of our Science learning.

As part of English and Communication, we will be using story and information texts to link to our learning about ‘The World’. We will develop our diary writing and postcard writing skills using fictional texts to help us describe different locations on an imaginary journey. We will use our oral story telling skills and role play to recount some traditional tales from around the world and we will use some non-fiction texts to help us learn about each continent. In Term 6 we will be reading and writing poems, including ‘What am I?’ riddles and poems with rhyming words in them.

In our Time and Place lessons, we will be learning the names of the 4 countries which make up the United Kingdom and will locate them and their capital cities on a map. We will also be learning about the compass directions: North, South, East and West. We will also be learning about the locations and names of the 7 continents of the world and the world’s 5 oceans. We will then learn more about each continent’s key human and physical features.

In Science lessons, we will be learning about plants and trees. This will include identifying and naming a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees. We will also identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees, and will observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants. We will also be continuing our work on seasons and will be observing and describing changes in our local environment, the day length and the weather as we enter summer. We will also talk about what the weather is like in different parts of the world as we learn about each continent.

In our Design and the Arts lessons, we will be looking at the work of Andy Goldsworthy and his use of natural resources to make land art. We will create our own artwork using natural resources and clay, individually and in groups. We will also be looking at the artwork of Katerina Apale, who uses bright colours, flowers and animals as a basis for her work, and creating some art inspired by that.

In Maths this term, we will start by learning to count in 2s, 5s and 10s. We will then move on to making equal groups of objects, making arrays and doubling numbers. This term we will also be learning fractions (halves and quarters) and describing position and direction. In Term 6, we will learning about place value for numbers up to 100, money (including recognising coins and notes) and time (including sequencing the days of the week and telling the time to the hour and half past the hour).

In our RE lessons, Willow Class will be learning about stories from different faiths. This will include Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist stories. We will also talk about each religion’s Holy Book and their beliefs about God. In Term 6, we will also learn about Aboriginal dreamtime stories and the Shinto creation story.

In our Sport, Exercise and Health lessons, we will be developing our dance skills and athletic skills. We will also be playing some team games to develop throwing and catching skills and the ability to hit a ball with a bat.

In our Computing lessons in Term 5, we will be learning to use a computer keyboard and mouse to write and edit text. In Term 6 we will be programming animation on the laptops.

Just a few reminders:

PE Kits

PE is on a Monday morning and Thursday morning. Ideally your child’s PE kit should be in school every day. PE Kits should include a house T-shirt, shorts and plimsolls or trainers, which are labelled clearly with your child’s name. Long hair needs to be tied back for PE so please ensure your child wears a hairband to school. Earrings need to be removed or covered with tape during PE lessons. If your child is unable to remove their own earrings, please provide some microporous tape to cover their earrings.

Water Bottles

Please make sure that your child brings a labelled water bottle to school with them every day. We kindly ask that bottles are filled with water only rather than juices or squash. Please do speak to us if this is an issue.

Start of the day

Children should arrive at school between 8:30am and 8:45am and go into school via the Willow Class outside area. If you arrive after 8:45am, please send your child via the main entrance/office so that we are aware they have arrived and can make sure their lunch choice is recorded.

Collection Arrangements

If someone else is collecting your child after school, please tell a staff member in the morning or telephone the school office if arrangements change during the day.

Toys and Games

We kindly request that toys and games from home are not brought into school.

If you have any concerns or queries about the information in this letter, please contact us via the class email address: willow@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Mrs Pring and the Willow Class Team

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Spring Term

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 3! The adults working with your child this term will be Mrs Pring, Mrs Tompsett, Mrs Packham, Mrs Chavush and Ms Swannell.

Our topic this term is ‘I Need A Hero!’ and initially we will be focusing on everyday heroes. We will then move on to learning about some significant people in history. After the February holiday we will be focusing on writing a narrative for an imaginary hero, Traction Man. Our topic work will form the basis for our English and Communication lessons and our learning related to the Time and Place curriculum.

As part of English and Communication, we will be learning about non-chronological reports and how to write them. We will be using labels, lists and captions to record our ideas. We will also be planning and writing a superhero narrative during Term 4.

In our Time and Place lessons, we will be learning about significant individuals who have contributed to national and international achievements, such as Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, and thinking about how their lives were different to modern day life in terms of transport, communication, housing, hygiene and supplies.

In Science lessons, we will be learning about animals including humans and finding out about different animal groups and their characteristics. We will also be learning about seasonal changes from winter to spring and will make a weather chart to look at how the two seasons differ.

In our Design and the Arts lessons, we will be looking at the work of Miranda Lloyd and her use of line and colour in her artwork. We will also be looking at ‘The Great Wave of Kanagawa’ by Katsushika Hokusai and some of the artwork of Alma Thomas and Beatriz Milhazes. We will be looking at their use of geometric shapes, patterns, colour and collage and use these as inspiration for our own artwork.

In Maths, we will be learning about place value within 20, addition and subtraction for numbers up to 20 and place value for numbers up to 50. We will also be learning how to measure length, height, weight and volume.

In our RE lessons, we will be learning about Christianity and the concepts of Gospel: What is the Good News that Jesus brings? (Term 3) and Salvation: Why does Easter matter to Christians? (Term 4).

In our Sport, Exercise and Health lessons, we will be developing our gymnastics skills, learning how to play team games and performing dance routines to explore movements to music.

In our Computing lessons, we will be learning about how to move a Beebot robot by programming in commands (Term 3). In Term 4, we will be learning how to put data into groups according to observable features.

Just a few reminders:

PE Kit

This term PE will be on a Monday morning and Thursday morning. PE Kits should include a house T-shirt, shorts and plimsolls or trainers. Long tracksuit-type trousers are useful in the winter months for outside PE. Ideally your child’s PE kit should be in school every day. Long hair needs to be tied back for PE so please ensure your child wears a hairband to school. Ideally earrings should not be worn on PE days or will need to be removed prior to the PE lesson. If your child is unable to remove their own earrings, please provide some microporous tape so the earrings can be covered. Please ensure that your child’s belongings are labelled.

Water Bottles

Please make sure your child brings a labelled water bottle to school every day. We kindly ask that bottles are filled with water only rather than juices or squash. Please do speak to us if this is an issue.

Drop off and Collection Arrangements

At the end of the school day, an adult will be in the Willow Class outside area and the children will need to identify who is picking them up. The playground can become quite congested so please move away from the outside gate once you have collected your child. If someone else is collecting your child after school, please tell a staff member in the morning or telephone the school office if arrangements change during the day.

Toys and Games

We kindly request that toys and games from home are not brought into school.

If you have any concerns or queries about information included in this letter or any other matter relating to your child’s education, please do not hesitate to contact us via the class email address: willow@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk.

Many thanks,

Mrs Pring and the Willow Class Team

Autumn Term

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Willow Class! The Year 1 team are looking forward to working with your child and we have some exciting plans for their learning this term. Working with your child this term will be Mrs Pring, Mrs Tompsett, Mrs Packham, Mrs Chavush and Ms Swannell.

Initially we will be focusing on the book ‘The Tree and The River’ by Aaron Becker as part of our topic work. This is a wordless book about the fates of a lone tree and a river as the area around them evolves. The river and tree witness the arrival of people, buildings, animals, technology and transportation, which impact on their environment. Towards the end of September we will then move on to our main topic for the term, which is ‘Me and My Surroundings’.

As part of English and Communication we will be learning about basic sentence structures, including using a full stop at the end of each sentence, using finger spaces between words, where to use capital letters or lower-case letters and how to correctly form letters. We will be writing using different genres, including creating parts of a narrative, writing instructions and using lists and labels.

As a school we follow the Twinkl Phonics programme and initially we will be revisiting some of the letter sounds that the children have already learnt to consolidate their knowledge. We will then move on to learning new letter sounds.

In our Time and Place lessons we will be learning about our immediate surroundings, including some features of our homes, our local area and the town. We will be using basic geographical language to describe some of the physical and human features we find. Linked in with our Science work on seasonal change, we will also be observing seasonal changes in the weather and will keep a weather chart for 2 weeks.

In our Science lessons we will be identifying and naming parts of the human body and saying which part of the body is associated with each sense. We will also be learning about everyday materials and their physical properties and we will be observing seasonal changes as we move into Autumn and Winter.

In our Design and the Arts lessons we will be looking at how different artists (such as Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Vincent Van Gogh and Rembrandt) represent themselves in self-portraits. We will be drawing and painting our own self-portraits. We will also be looking at some pictures of Antony Gormley’s sculptures and making our own clay models of people. As part of our learning, we will also be using different sketching and painting techniques to explore different effects and mixing primary colours to create secondary colours.

In Maths this term we will be learning about Place Value for numbers up to 10, including reading and writing numerals and number words. We will also be learning about Addition and Subtraction (up to 10) and 2D and 3D Shapes and some of their properties.

In our RE lessons we will be learning about Christianity and the concepts of God: What do Christians believe God is like? (Term 1) and Incarnation: Why does Christmas matter to Christians? (Term 2).

In our Sport, Exercise and Health lessons we will be learning about different ways of moving, throwing and jumping. We will also be developing our skills of defending, attacking and passing, so that we are ready to play team games.

In our Computing lessons we will be learning about the technology around us and how to use technology safely. We will also be learning how to use digital drawing and painting.

Just a few reminders:

PE Kit

Water Bottles

Drop off and Collection Arrangements

Toys and Games

In order to help us avoid any unnecessary distractions from our learning and stay safe, we kindly request that toys and games from home are not brought into school.

Many thanks,

Mrs Pring and the Willow Class Team