Tuesday, 7th January 2014
Dear Ash Class Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to the Spring Term at Woodcote Primary School. We hope you enjoyed your Christmas Holidays. Before we move onto curriculum information, we’d just like to thank you for the lovely cards and gifts we received at the end of last term.
Lower Key Stage 2 Production
In the last week of the Spring Term (before Easter), Lower Key Stage 2 will be performing Jonah – A Fishy Tail. More information will follow soon.
English (Miss Allen)
We will be learning about poetry for the first part of the spring term. We will then learn about authors and letters. This will begin by learning about Roald Dahl and the stories he wrote, before moving on to write book reviews and letters to our favourite authors. It is beneficial for children to read a range of these types of texts at home to support the work they do in class. As part of our English work, we will visit the Roald Dahl Museum in Buckinghamshire. The date for this visit is Wednesday 29th January. More details will follow soon. After half term, we will learn about play-scripts.
Children will continue to have regular spelling sessions to support their word level and phonic work. Children will take part in daily reading activities such as shared reading, guided reading and independent reading tasks. As children’s reading progresses, the independent reading tasks will increasingly take the form of comprehension activities to develop the children’s ability to understand what they have read.
Maths (Miss Allen)
This term, will cover a range of topics including counting, partitioning, calculating, handling data and measures, securing number facts and understanding shape. We will also be developing skills in solving mathematical problems.
Science (Miss Allen)
Before half term, we will continue our topic of ‘Forces and Magnets’. Then we will start to learn about ‘Light’.
PSHE (Mrs Bodeker
In PSHE this term, children will be following the whole school theme of ‘Going for Goals’.
Humanities (Mrs Bodeker)
Our humanities topic for this term is ‘India’. This will involve learning about Chembakolli, a village in India. We are planning to hold an India Day and more information will follow closer to the time.
PE (Mrs Bodeker)
In PE this half term we will be learning about invasion games. After half term we will be moving on to gymnastics. PE will usually take place on Wednesday. It is very important that children have a PE kit in school all week in case the day is changed for any reason. If possible, please provide jogging bottoms and trainers for outdoor PE, and shorts and plimsolls for indoor PE. Please ensure PE kits are fully labelled.
Swimming (Mrs Hickman, Miss Allen and Mrs Bodeker)
This term, Year 3 will be swimming at The Oratory. This will take place on Tuesday mornings, starting next week on Tuesday 14th January. We will be travelling to The Oratory by minibus. Children will need to bring a named swimming kit including a towel, swimming hat and sensible swimwear. For boys, this means no baggy swimming shorts and for girls, swimming costumes (not bikinis). It is also important that no jewellery is worn. Also, please make sure children are in school promptly on Tuesday mornings as we will be leaving 8.55am sharp.
ICT
ICT will be taught this term on a cross-curricular basis and incorporated into other subjects whenever possible.
RE (Mrs Bodeker)
We will be looking at a Place of Worship (and visiting a church in Woodcote), the Jewish Festival of Passover and the Christian Festival of Easter.
Music (Mrs Bodeker)
We will be learning songs for the Lower Key Stage 2 production.
Homework
Homework will continue to be given out on a Friday and is due back on Wednesdays, unless otherwise stated.
Finally, please keep reading and discussing books with children at home (remember, these can now be borrowed from the Snug), and do not hesitate to come in and see us if you have any concerns.
Yours sincerely,
The Ash Class Team
Miss Allen, Mrs Bodeker and Mrs Benham