Welcome to the Spiders!

Hello and welcome!

*Meet the Spider grown-ups*

The grown-ups in the Spider class are Mrs Desforges and Mrs Jones. We love teaching the Spiders and we are so proud of their achievements!

If you ever have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you! 

*Our Christian Value for the term*

Our Christian value for this term is Trust.

Trust is the very essence of faith; trust in the God who is trustworthy.

Trust is essential to human life and lies at the heart of all relationships. Trust can mean putting yourself in others’ hands. We have to trust experts - pilots, dentists, surgeons – and our wonderful teachers, teaching assistants and all of our St Faith’s family, and be trustworthy ourselves.

John 14:1 (Jesus’ words to his disciples)

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.’

*Our Learning for this term*

We are so excited for our Topic this term...

History Detectives

English

This term we will be writing about the Titanic for our non-fiction writing, creating an amazing double page spread to showcase our learning! We can’t wait!

Our text for our talk for writing this half term is ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’. We will begin with an exciting ‘Hook’ lesson, where children will be invited to be brave enough to find out what is in a mystery box, by touch alone! This will help us associate with the main character of the story ‘Plop’ who overcomes his fear of the dark. We will be thinking about how we can use our senses to help with our descriptions over the term, including interesting vocabulary, alliteration and enough detail, with features such as expanded noun phrases. We will also be considering how to make our writing enjoyable for the reader, such as with time adverbials to structure our text. 

Our T4W focus vocabulary: afraid, gazed, excitedly

Home learning suggestions

1. Why not explore somewhere or something using your senses? You could even create a senses quiz or poem!
2. You could research facts about Owls and create a little fact file about the animals.
3.  We will continue to send spellings home on a Friday for the children to learn over the week. These always include common exception words and words linked to the SPaG.

The common exception words for this half term are: who, whole, busy, people, water, again, money, Mr, Mrs, parents

Reading practice books and reading for pleasure books will be changed once a week. Please ensure reading practise books and reading diaries are brought back to school every day. Please read with your child at least 3 times a week.

Maths

We will be continuing with the White Rose Maths scheme of learning. This term the children will be introduced to simple fractions, and we will be finding fractions of a length, shape, set of objects or a quantity. We will be solving problems with fractions and as always discussing our reasoning. We will then be moving onto the area of time. We will compare and sequence intervals of time and know the number of minutes in an hour and hours in a day. We will also be telling and writing the time on an analogue clock, noting the hand positions.

Home learning suggestions

1. How about applying fractions at home. You could find quarters and halves of things,

such as at snack time or when tidying up items.

1. Can you read the time when you are doing certain things, for example, getting up, eating breakfast.

Why not create a little visual timetable complete with mini clocks to show a day in your life?

Topic
Science – We will be continuing our work with plants. We will be planting seeds, sorting and classifying plants, as well as using our own knowledge to care for them. 

History – This term we will be learning about events beyond our living memory. We will be finding out all about the Titanic and how it sank. We will be showcasing our learning with a double page spread!

Art – We will be studying the artist Van Gogh this term, appreciating his work and having a go at working in his style. We will be working with paints and oil pastels. We will build up to creating a final piece inspired by ‘Starry Night’ incorporating the Titanic.  

Computing – This term we will be using Scratch Jnr to program and create animations and quizzes. We will also be creating a short stop motion of the Titanic. We will continue to use Natterhub within our lessons to support our PSHE learning.

PSHE – Over the term we will be focusing on money, what it is and why we need it, as well as how to look after our money. We will also discuss as wants and needs.

PE – The children will be focusing on gym skills, including balance, flight, rotation and travel.

RE – This term our focus will be on salvation. We will be using the Easter story to explore sacrifices, forgiveness and hope. We will be looking at different symbols for Easter and finding out why the story is important to Christians. 

Home learning suggestions:

1. Why not research the work of our focus artist Van Gogh? Can you have a go at recreating any of his other art pieces?
2. You could have a go at observing germination by placing a seed in a clear container with a wet paper towel. In just a few days you will see the germination and then you can apply your knowledge of caring for a plant after this happens. Why not keep a plant diary?
3. Can you build a model of the Titanic? You could use junk modelling, lego or other building bits. Why not see if your boat can float?

Extra helpful information
PE days
Dragonflies: Thursday
Glowworms: Thursday
Spiders: Monday
The PE uniform is white t-shirt and navy or black leggings/joggers and a navy or black jumper, trainers or plimsolls. PE kits must be in school every day as timetables can alter at the last minute and all items of clothing must be named and in a named bag.
 

Important dates:

4^th and 5^th March – Pedestrian Training (Year 2 only)

6^th March – World Book Day

15^th March – Comic Relief

W/B 24^th March – Parents evenings this week

27^th March – Internet Safety Workshops

28^th March – Feel Fabulous Friday

1^st April – Easter service at the church

Please look at our school facebook page for updates and news and don’t forget to check out the school website and class pages for lots of useful information.

THERE MAY BE MORE DATES ADDED THROUGHOUT THE TERM SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU CHECK PARENTMAIL AND THE CLASS WINDOW NOTICE BOARDS.

*Our Class Newsletters*

Keep updated with our learning and our news!