Literacy:

The children will be writing a narrative story based on the text ‘Previously…’ by Allan Ahlberg. This involves a lot of creativity as we have to imagine what events took place before the main events of fairy tales and use these ideas to create our own twist on classic stories. After this, the children will be looking at a book called ‘Hidden World: Ocean’. This book is full of interesting facts to learn about the different creatures that live under the sea and it contains many wonderful diagrams, drawings, and lift-the-flap facts. The children will be creating their own fact file about an animal of their choosing. We are focusing on the correct use of capital letters and full stops, question and exclamation marks, and use of the correct tense within their writing, as well as continuing to work on building the children’s writing stamina. We will also be teaching the children how to record timelines and other useful historical information during our Learning Experience: ‘What happened in 1666?’

Outcome:

The children will have written a narrative fairy story with a twist, and their own non- chronological fact file about an animal of their choosing.

School Value –Creativity:

Working alone or with others to turn a great idea from your imagination, into something of value or beauty.

Maths

In Year 1 we are learning how to tell the time to o’clock and half past. The children will understand the meaning of ‘before’ and ‘after’. They will then begin to study the place value of numbers to 100.

In Year 2 we are continuing with fractions and then moving on to telling the time to quarter to and quarter past the hour. We will be practising SATs style questions although there will not be a formal Year 2 SATs assessment this year.

The children will use a wide variety of manipulatives to aid their learning and will continue to work on communication skills through working with a partner.

Vocabulary

The children will be introduced to a range of vocabulary during our Learning Experience, ranging from simple everyday words (tier 1) to complex vocabulary that is context driven (tier 3).

Tier 1 and 2 words: firefighter, the past, newspaper, baker, oven, queen, king, fire brigade.

Tier 3 words: timeline, historical, non- chronological report, capital city, monarch, artefacts.

Pastoral care:

We are aware that the children have experienced lots of changes recently. We will be working hard to support them emotionally during school reopening. Teaching staff will be visible at the beginning and end of the day if you would like to share any observations or queries with them. We will be planning lots of collaborative and exciting opportunities for children to help ease them back into the routines and expectations of school life. If you have any further questions or worries, please contact our pastoral team: pastoral@preston.torbay.sch.uk

Wider curriculum:

History: We will be learning about the Great Fire of London. Children will be able to answer the question ‘What happened in 1666?’. The children will create their own timelines and develop an understanding of the past.

RE: We will be learning about Judaism and how Jewish people live and worship.

Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education: We will be continuing to look at family and friendships, including the roles that people play in our lives, what it means to be a family member, and how families are different.

PE: In PE, the children will be using team work to play outdoors athletics games and move on to designing their own circuits.

Reading at Home: Children will bring home two new Read Write Inc books weekly. Please encourage your child to read these aloud to you as often as is possible. These books are linked to sounds they have learnt, and they should read these independently. This will help your child to develop fluency and expression, which will enable them to become confident readers. Your child will also bring home a library book. Please share this with your child and enjoy time spent reading together.

Home Learning: Please encourage and support your child to watch the Read Write Inc speed sounds videos that teachers have uploaded to Teams. There are activities set on Teams for your child to complete based upon The Great Fire of London. We will continue to use Teams and Streams to communicate with families. Home learning will be set each half-term and Read Write Inc videos will be uploaded for children to watch on Streams. Please encourage your child to continue playing SumDog, TT Rockstars and Spelling and Maths Sheds to build fluency.

Dates to remember:

Monday 3^rd May-Bank Holiday

Monday 31^st May-Half Term begins

Monday 7^th June-Non Pupil Day

Messages

Allergies: We have a number of children with nut and kiwi allergies so please ensure these products are not brought into school.

Absence: Should your child be absent due to illness please call the absence line on 01803 607589 and leave a message with your child’s name, class and reason for absence. Alternatively, you can text this information to 07786208446. If your child has sickness and/or diarrhoea, they will need to be absent for 48 hours after the last episode of illness. For planned absences of any nature, you will need to complete an absence request form, these are available on the school website.

Times of the school day: The school day begins for us at 8:50am and finishes at 3:15pm.

Please remember to socially distance while on school premises and when leaving the site. Please wear a mask when on the school site. If you have messages for the office, please email them on admin@preston.torbay.sch.uk

On PE days, please ensure your child wears a full PE kit to school. The Tawny Owls and Snowy Owls will have PE every Tuesday, and the Little Owls will have PE every Wednesday. Please ensure your child has a pair of named wellies in a bag in school so that we can go to the Woodland Camp.

Please park thoughtfully with regard for our neighbours. We do not want grass verges torn up, and unsafe parking. We encourage as many of you as possible to walk to school. When Covid guidance allows, we ask you to consider car sharing. Together we can keep everyone safe and ensure a positive relationship with our school neighbours.

Thank you.