Key Stage 1 Summer Newsletter 2023

In History this half term we will be answering the big question "Who were the greatest explorers?" We we be learning all about Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space and the first men on the moon, Neil Armstrong and the crew of Apollo 11.

We will be learning about local astronaut, Helen Sharman from Sheffield, who was the first British astronaut to visit the international space station.

To launch our learning all about space exploration, we are really looking forward to our space day, where we will get to be explorers learning about the stars in the Wonderdome and launching our own forest school rockets with Alfresco learning!

How you can help at home...

Talk to your children about the night sky and the phases of the moon. Can they see the space station or is it just another star? Why not try this link to the international space station and have a good look around together https://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/virtual-tour-iss/

For the second part of the term our Geography learning will be answering the big question "Why can't Giraffes, Turtles and Gorillas live near the south pole?" by learning all about climates, climate change and how the equator factors into hot and cold regions.

We will be refreshing our learning about the continents, the polar regions and linking our learning to science and animal habitats.

We will also look at our local climate, track our weather and think about what a temperate climate might mean for plants and animals.

How you can help at home...

Talk you your child about the different weather we have in the United Kingdom. Look at the weather forecasts and talk about how we track and monitor the weather. Help them keep a weather diary and talk about which weather they should expect at this time of year.

In our English writing lessons we will begin the year by learning how to write a formal letter as we apply to become astronauts after our training in the wonderdome.

Our traditional tale of the term will be the Chinese tale of The magic paintbrush and we will be describing some settings using The way back home by Oliver Jeffers as inspiration.

In the last half of the term we will become journalists and write some shocking articles about the crime caper The adventures of the dish and the spoon by Mini Grey and we will also be working on writing our own animal shape poems to link in with our science topic of Habitats.

Reading is something that we at St Botolph's are incredibly passionate about. We can not stress enough how important it is that children are fluent and literate readers as early as possible to ensure that they can access all areas of learning.

At this point in the year we have two main assessments in reading that we are working towards. The Phonics screening test in June for all our Year 1 children and the Year 2 reading SATS exams .

In June all children in Year One will undertake a phonics assessment required by the government. To better prepare them we will be sending home a variety of resources to help you support your child in learning and recalling the sounds they will need to be fluent in to pass this national test.

As we begin to prepare our Year Two children for the SAT assessments later in the year they will also be learning to answer comprehension questions to enable them to demonstrate that they understand the things that they are reading.

How you can help at home...

Please support your child's reading journey by recording home reading in your child's reading record, to help us keep a track of how they are doing at home.

Mrs Skelding and Mrs Groves will be leading some further sessions for parents to explain more about the program and the assessments that your child will have this year and we will let you know the dates of these closer to the time

In our school we follow the White Rose scheme of learning to plan and deliver our maths lessons. This scheme allows children to experience a wide range of strategies to use across the different operations and pushes the children towards mastering the subject by allowing children to use what they know about number relationships and patterns in different ways, helping them solve problems.

In Year 1 the children will be learning about multiplication and division focussing on counting in 2's, 5's and 10's. They will also be learning about fractions, position and direction, money and time. We will continue our mastery of number program throughout this final term and use number facts to solve simple arithmetic questions in dedicated arithmetic sessions.

In year 2 we will be expanding on what they have learned throughout the year to solve worded problems and focus our learning on statistics, fractions and time. We will also be working on their rapid recall and arithmetic skills in preparation for the maths SATS exams in May.

How you can help at home...

There are many counting songs on YouTube that support the rote learning of times tables that your child could use to help them recall these number facts at speed. Try counting in jumps of 2, 5 and 10 at home to help them practice.

There are many apps that can support your child in the rapid recall of number facts, one that we prefer in school is the white rose number app. This app allows them to focus on key arithmetic skills, picking up speed as they go.

Our RE lessons this term will focus on the big question "What is the good news that Christians believe Jesus brings?" furthering our understanding of how the apostles documented the life of Jesus and where it all fits in the big story of the Bible. After Half term we will move on to explore big question "What makes some places sacred to believers?"  Here will explore the different sacred places of many religions and look at the similarities and differences in them and the way these are treated with respect.

Our core Christian values for the term will be Relationships in the first part of the term and then Reflection in the second half of summer. We will explore these themes in our daily worship sessions as well as learning about British values and protected characteristics through our in class worships.

Our science work this term will be learning all about Habitats through the big question "Why do we not find polar bears in the desert?" We will be learning to Identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other.

Our key scientist of the term is Charles Elton (1900-1991)

In our Art lessons we will be exploring Art and design skills though our exploration of clay, weaving, colour mixing and tone.

The artists that we will focus on will be Clarice Cliff, Nancy McCroskey and Sonia Boyce.

In DT we will be trying our hand at sewing by designing and creating some fabric pouches as well as thinking about designing healthy and balanced meals by creating healthy wraps from fresh ingredients.

In Music we will be learning about Traditional music of the British Isles. We will be learning about composition, folk music and the vocal and body sounds we can use to compose.

PE this half term will focus on striking and fielding in the first half of the term and then Athletics in the second. We will be learning to throw with accuracy and technique, play against opponents by fielding and using tactics.

Our Sports day is currently planned to be on Thursday 15th June and we look forward to welcoming you all to help us celebrate our learning in PE with this end of year tradition.

Our PE kit is a plain white t shirt with plain navy or black bottoms. These can be leggings, shorts, skorts or track suit bottoms. Please ensure that children remove any earrings, have their hair tied up if it is collar length and have both an indoor and outdoor kit with appropriate footwear with them as PE will be moving outdoors as the weather improves.

In computing the children will be learning all about Data Handling for different purposes as we explore the international space station and all its uses for gathering information.

In the second half of the term children will be learning more about Digital imagery and how they can use it to create their own stop motion animations.

Our internet safety focus will be sharing information.  In the second half term It will be learning about consent and permissions.

Finally, Thankyou for your continued support in helping the academy in trying to achieve it's attendance target of 97%. Every school day counts and we have such an exciting curriculum planned it is important that your child does not miss out.

Please also remember that we follow the Wakefield policy on healthy school life and your child must have only water, no flavoured waters or fizzy drinks in water bottles as we move into the summer where they will certainly need to drink throughout the day.

We are looking forward to another fantastic term and can not thank you enough for all of your support and help in getting our children off to a flying start this year.

Yours in learning

Mrs Groves and the KS1 team