Squirrels – Mrs Owens

Spring Term- Squirrels Newsletter

January 2023

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I am excited to be welcoming you back to Sigglesthorne for a fun-filled year ahead.  

Ice, Ice Baby- Can anyone visit the South Pole?

Our topic this term is all about the Polar Regions. In geography we will be locating the Polar Regions on a world map and learning about their geographical features. We will be comparing these Polar Regions to our local area Sigglesthorne. In history, we will learn about the explorers Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen and their great race to the South Pole. We have planned a range of engaging and enriching activities to develop the children’s knowledge and skills across the curriculum. Please see the attached knowledge organiser for more details.

 Reading

We are continuing with the Little Wandle phonics scheme that we started last year. Therefore the children will bring home a new reading book each week that they have been reading at school. This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading. If you would like more resources and information about supporting your child with their early reading, the Little Wandle website has a fantastic section with videos and resources for parents to access. 

Your child will also come home each week with a book from the school library. This is a book to be shared together at home and it is not expected for your child to read this book by themselves but to share this book with a grown-up to help promote a love of reading.

Please continue to support your child’s reading at home by encouraging them to read at least 4 times each week and please don’t forget to record this reading in their reading records so that we can see when they have read their books. 10 minutes each day can really help to improve their reading fluency and confidence. As always, we love for the children to read for pleasure so if there are other books that your child would like to read, please encourage them to do so! Any additional books can be included in the children’s reading records.

Continuing to ask your child questions about what they are reading will really help them to develop their comprehension skills and therefore their understanding of what they have read. These questions can simply be things like ‘what do you think will happen next and why?’ or ‘how do you think this person is feeling?’

Spellings

Spelling tests will take place every Thursday. New spellings will also be provided each Thursday. 

Maths

Every Friday, the children will have a quiz to keep track of their mental maths progress. There is no set method for the children to learn their number facts. Some children learn through chanting and singing. Others write them down. Some make games and quizzes. Whatever you think works for you and your child. If you need any help with strategies, then please speak to me and I will be happy to help. 

PE

PE lessons will take place on Thursday and Friday. However, we ask that your child brings a full indoor and outdoor school PE kit, including outdoor trainers, on a Monday morning and leaves it in school for the week. We will continue to teach PE outside unless there are extreme weather conditions then we will be inside. Our outdoor PE kit consists of the kingfisher blue or white t-shirt, blue or black joggers and trainers. If you think your child requires extra layers then please send it with them and please remember to provide socks if your child wears tights. 

Please ensure that all of your child’s clothing is clearly labelled as each year we seem to have more and more stray clothing.  If it is labelled it is easier to find and return to the owner.

Seesaw

I am hoping to get the new Seesaw class set up as soon as I can. If you’re not familiar with Seesaw, it is similar to Tapestry. I will post photographs and videos to the journal for parents to view, like and comment on. You can upload any photographs of home learning and can also send me messages. Please check your child’s bag for information about how to link to the class. 

Outdoor shoes

Many of the children enjoy playing on the grass outside during playtimes and lunchtimes. As the weather turns colder and wetter, please provide some outdoor shoes (old trainers, wellies etc.) to enable your child to continue to play on the grass if they wish to.

Water bottles

Please continue to send your child to school with a water bottle each day. Children have access to their water bottles throughout the school day and these can be refilled at school when needed.

Throughout the year we have evenings and events that give us the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress. However, our door is always open and if you have any comments or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Owens

 Please follow the link to our class Knowledge Organiser – Y1.2 knowledge organiser- Ice, Ice Baby

If you are interested in learning more about how we plan and the national curriculum please follow the Useful links tab on the Teaching and Learning Tab.

Welcome Chester – our School Dog

From Wednesday 21st July we will be inviting a dog into school. A full risk assessment has been completed which will be available on our website. Chester is nearly 2 years old, a labradoodle (hypoallergenic) and belongs to myself (Mrs Owens).

There has been extensive research about the many benefits that can be seen by having a school dog.   

• Dogs teach children about responsibility – by children having to remember to feed and give water to the dog it can give them a sense of importance and satisfaction that they may not get from other responsibilities.  
• Dogs teach children patience – they do not always do as they are told first time!  
• Dogs teach children compassion – just like us dogs feel pain and emotion.  
• Dogs teach children about socialisation – by the children learning how to interact with a dog they can better learn how to socialise with other children.  
• Dogs are fun – they greet you with a wagging tail every day and put a smile on your face, even on a bad day. 
• Please follow the link to the Risk Assessment for this activity:-  Risk Assessment – Dogs in School- Sigg

Please follow the link to the letter which was circulated to parents/carers:-  School Dog letter