Dear Parents, Happy New Year! I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas break. The children seem keen to be back in school and are ready for more interesting challenges in the term ahead. Over this term, we will begin to focus a little more on preparing for the SATs tests which take place after Easter. The children will bring home some KS2 revision books. I do not want you or your child to panic or start spending hours revising, however, they will be there to refer to and I will be setting home learning linked to them. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or queries about this. Our topic this half term is ‘The magic of Science’ where the children will be investigating and learning about the way things can be changed and react. We’ll be focusing on material properties in terms of how they can be mixed, dissolved or separated. The children have asked many thoughtful questions that we’ll need to investigate and try to answer.
In literacy we’re starting the term looking at how to pose an argument. We will be thinking about how to take a stance and also put forward a balanced argument. This will take the form of debates, letter writing as well as reports. We will be taking the controversial issue of graffiti as our focus for this, which also allows for some interesting art work too! As ever, it is really important that your child continues to read regularly, no matter how competent you think they are. Not only does it improve reading skills, but it also helps them with writing skills as it gives ideas for vocabulary and plot ideas the children can use. It’s great to spend time asking questions, discussing the text and posing “what if?” scenarios too, as these techniques will help develop their deeper understanding of texts they read. In numeracy we’re going to continue to extend our knowledge and skills in recognising and working with numbers, including decimal and negative numbers. The children will develop their knowledge of shapes looking at properties of 3D shapes and solving problems relating to shape and space.
The theme for RE this half term is focusing on the idea of miracles, considering Jesus’ miracles alongside more modern day miracles. The children will have opportunities to consider the meaning behind these events and what messages they might contain to Christians. Leading up to Easter, the children will be learning about life after death in terms of the resurrection. In PSHE the focus this half term is going for goals (which links quite nicely into New Year’s resolutions I think) where children will be thinking about how they can set themselves goals and how to recognise and achieve our aims. Please do make use of our class blog which is regularly updated and will keep you informed about what is happening in Rainforest Base. I appreciate the help and support you give your child with their home learning and would like to stress the importance of it in terms of continuing learning outside of school, as well as helping support what is happening in the classroom. I hope that this demonstrates what a busy but interesting term we have ahead of us. As I said earlier, please feel free to contact me if you have any queries. Best wishes,
Miss O’Sullivan
Mrs Dolman