Cheshire

Cheshire

This week's notice

What have Cheshire been doing?

On Wednesday the 10^th of June, Year 1 had an exciting trip to Brighton SeaLife Centre. We saw some fascinating sea creatures and learnt interesting facts about their bodies, how they survive and where they live. We discovered a new tank which was created to show both daytime and night time environments. We were then lucky enough to have a trip to the beach where we looked at the beautiful shells, lapping waves and the stunning view of the pier. Thank you to all of our lovely parent helpers for their support and enthusiasm.   

When we got there, we had our tasty snacks outside and then posed for photos as sharks (Eve F).

We had a tour guide with a man called Colin! He told us that some fish grow as big as their tank, so when they get to a specific size they stop growing (Edward D)

We had lunch in a room with a boat that had a glass bottom – I was so excited to see the huge turtles (Logan H)

When we went to the beach I found some interesting shells and as a class we collected as many as we could find. They are now on our display in the classroom (Isabella S)

We learnt that starfish have a special stomach that they can take out of their mouth to digest food and then put it back in again. That’s weird… (Teddy E ).

The Snail and the Whale

English

This term our key text will be ‘The Snail and The Whale’, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Sheffler. Our crosscurricular learning will be inspired by the main characters and the journey they undertake together. What will happen? Where will they go? Your child will find out over the course of the term whilst creating exciting character descriptions, responding to illustrations, forming opinions to debate and persuade, composing poetry, story mapping and writing both in role as the snail and later as the whale. Your child will continue to consolidate all of the grammar skills they have learnt this year as well as applying new learning. We will continue to encourage all children to proof read and edit their work, looking for areas to correct or improve using their purple pens and checklists.

Maths

At the beginning of the term we will continue to solve fraction word problems, interpreting whether we need to share fractions of amounts into halves or quarters. The next chapter will focus on identifying all numbers to 100, understanding the place value of tens and ones before comparing which is greatest and which is fewest. Within the rest of term 6, your child will learn to read and tell the time to the hour and half hour, order events within the day and use comparative language to sequence. The following unit will be about monetary value, where the children will learn to recognise current British currency. Towards the end of the year, each class will practically compare volume and capacity before moving onto mass and positional vocabulary. Throughout the term we will revise number bonds to 20 as well as learning the 2s, 5s and 10 times tables.

Science

In Science this term the children will learn about plants, making cross-curricular links to the many flowers, trees and plants discovered in the different countries visited during the travels of the Snail and the Whale. They will identify different trees, their types before considering what the purpose of different plants and flowers are.

Humanities

In History the children will be responding to the following question: How have the features of a seaside changed throughout History? We will make links to this term’s text, ‘The Snail and The Whale’ before looking at the differences and similarities between a seaside in the present and during the Victorian era. We will be looking at events beyond their living memory focusing specifically on the lifetime of Grace Darling. The children will begin to put events from the past into chronological order and start to discuss their meaning. This will enable us to investigate why Grace Darling is a significant person in history.

P.S.H.E.

In PSHE this term the children will be looking at the personal qualities they have that make them a good friend. This will link to our British Values and the strengths that will be explored during discussions about Individual Liberty and Mutual Respect.

R.E.

In R.E this term the children will continue to learn about Judaism and stories from the Old Testament. The children will learn about Jewish places of worship, traditional stories and the importance of reflection within worship. We will make connections to our British Values, with a focus on Tolerance, to explore what Judaism looks like within the United Kingdom.

P.E.

In P.E this term the children will build upon the throwing, catching and ball skills learnt earlier in the year to move onto to striking and fielding. They will develop their crocodile catches and lengthen their underarm throwing distance. In addition to this, your child will prepare to participate in Sports Day. We will continue to partake in a rotational block of three outdoor learning sessions on a Friday afternoon for the duration of this academic year. Somerset’s last sessions are: 7th and 14th of June. Lincolnshire’s last sessions are: 21st June, 28th June and 5th July. Cheshire’s last sessions are: 12th and 19th of July.

Music

This term the children will explore how sounds can be combined to mimic the sounds of the ocean. They will use a range of instruments to make their own ocean sounds and investigate songs all about water.

Art and D.T.

Term 6’s Art focus will begin with an artist study on Axel Sheffler. The children will use similar techniques and mediums to create their interpretation of the cover artwork from ‘The Snail and The Whale’. They will then learn about composition and line drawing to create a mood board with swatches. They will combine this with experimentation of different materials to draw their own whale before cutting, tearing and layering to make suitable compositions and collaged textures for their individual final outcomes.

Computing

This term we will be continuing with our current computer topic ‘We are Collectors’ in which we are looking at creating audio versions of a book. We will also investigate how to add different sound effects and then edit our recordings.

Home Learning

Home learning will be set each Thursday and must be returned the following Wednesday:

Daily Reading 

Your child’s reading book will be collected in on a Wednesday and sent home each Thursday with their reading record. This should be returned the following Wednesday with a weekly comment.
Reading books will only be changed if the reading record has been signed.

RWInc Sounds / Words

If your child has daily Read Write Inc lessons they will come home each Thursday with a copy of their speed words, nonsense words and sounds which are either new that week or need to be revised. The children practise these as part of their daily RWInc lessons to support their learning please take 5 minutes a day to listen to your child read these aloud to you.

Spellings

From Term 4 weekly spelling lists will be sent home on a Thursday in your child’s green home learning book, these will be tested the following Wednesday. The spellings are based on The National Curriculum words. Each child will record their score on their new spelling sheet which will come home on a Thursday. Please discuss the meaning of each of the words listed on the spelling sheet and support your child in helping to learn them.
There will be helpful tips and activities for learning these with your child at the bottom of the sheet. As an optional challenge your child can see if they can use all of their spelling words correctly in a piece of writing in their green home learning book.

Times Tables & Number Bonds

From Term 4, Year 1 have a weekly Number Bonds to 10 and 20 check. E.g. 8+2=10, 12 + 8 = 20. Please also take a few minutes each day to practise these and counting in multiples of 2, 5 & 10 with your child. Not necessarily starting at 0. E.g. 6, 8, 10… 

Any other Special Events/Notes...