Tawny Owls Y1

Welcome to Term 6 Tawny Owls!

Here we are in the last term of school. How time has flown! We hope you and your families enjoyed a lovely half term break in the sunshine. This will be a busy term with lots of exciting things to look forward to.

Our topic this term is Great Milton which will focus on local history and geography. The topic map above sets out curriculum areas in more detail. We hope to get out into the village lots of this term and will send further details in the coming weeks.

Home learning will continue to be set on a Friday via Google Classroom. It should be ‘turned in’ by the following Wednesday. If you are new or returning to Google Classroom, search for 'Google classroom' and click on the link. It will then ask you for your child’s user name and password. Once on the class page, click on the 'classwork' tab along the top where you will see a home learning section with dated home learning, explaining that week's tasks. We always set an Abacus Active Learn online game for maths and a piece of handwriting, spelling or phonics. In addition to this, the children can select a piece of optional topic homework from the grid above. We love to see what you’ve been getting up to, so please do continue to send in the lovely photos! Please ask if you need a reminder of Google Classroom or Abacus Active Learn user name/ passwords.

Please continue to read as much as possible at home as this helps to consolidate the skills we teach in school. Perhaps try some different genres, if your child tends to read similar texts. We recommend https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/ for exciting book recommendations. They often suggest new and upcoming authors and you can search by reading age and genre.

P.E days are Tuesday and Friday this term. Please make sure your child comes to school in full kit that is appropriate for the weather that day. In the hot weather it is also really important for the children to bring in a sunhat and wear sun cream daily.

The gates will be open between 8.45 and 9am for morning drop off. Pick up is 3.15pm if your child does not have siblings in school and 3.30pm for those with siblings in school.

As always, thank you for your continued support as we enjoy the final term together.

Best wishes

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor and Miss Belcher

Welcome to Term 5 Tawny Owls!

Dear Tawny Owl Families,

We hope you all had a fun-filled Easter break! We certainly did… chocolate, outdoor fun, haircuts, sunshine and even a bit of snow!

We are all really looking forward to an exciting summer term, starting off with our new topic; Let’s visit Australia! Please see the topic web above to find out about all the exciting learning we can look forward to in the coming weeks.

Home-learning will start again this term, however, for the most part we will set the learning via our ‘Google Classroom’ page rather than using folders. Work will be set on a Friday and should be ‘turned in’ (using Google Classroom) on or before the following Wednesday. ‘Turning in’ the work might take the form of sending us a photo of the completed homework or a photo of your child completing an activity. Alternatively, it might just be a comment to let us know how they have got on with a task. Photos are particularly helpful as we can display them in class and the children can share their experiences with their friends.

Please continue to read as much a possible at home; just ten minutes a day is great and if your child is too tired, then just enjoy sharing a story together.

Our P.E Days this term are Mondays and Fridays and will both be taught by Mrs Dickson. She will lead athletics on Mondays and tennis on Fridays. As the weather changes, the children will hopefully be able to swap leggings and joggers for shorts, and don’t forget the sun hat and sunscreen!

The gates will be open 8:45-9:00am for morning drop off. Pick up is 3:15pm (if your child does not have siblings in the school) and 3.30pm (if your child does have siblings in the school).

Thank you for your continued support as we enter a sunny term of learning!

Best wishes

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor and Miss Belcher

Happy New Year and Welcome to Term 3!

We hope you all had a lovely Christmas break. Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2021. Thank you once again for our wonderful gifts!

Our topic for Term 3 is ‘The Wind in the Willows’ which encompasses lots of exciting subject areas, not least, learning about animals and their habitats. The topic web and homework grid can be found above to explain more.

P.E Lessons- Tuesdays and Thursdays with Mr Sykes

Mr Sykes will be teaching netball and team games this term. In addition to this, we will be exploring dance; particularly in relation to Chinese New Year. Please make sure your child comes to school dressed in a warm tracksuit or leggings and a top and trainers on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wellies should be kept in school throughout the week to be used as a change of outdoor shoes for outdoor learning and play.

Reading

Thank you for continuing to support your child’s reading development at home. Please aim to listen to them read a little at home each day- even if it is just a couple of pages. Also, it is fine to read a book more than once; in fact, this can help to build a good sight vocabulary and gets the children used to patterns and context- this may help with reading confidence. Reading at home really helps to consolidate the children’s learning in school.

Reading happens throughout the school day; during our reading workshops when we hear readers and the children have the opportunity to read and share books and to play reading games, in literacy lessons, during phonics sessions and throughout topic work. We also love to share stories each day as a class. Our aim is for your child to develop a love of reading and books.

To develop independence, we encourage the children to change their own reading books daily during the 1-1.30pm reading workshop. In addition to this, we will check book bags and change books 3 times weekly.

Home Learning

The children’s home learning folders will once again be given out on a Friday and should be returned on or before the following Wednesday. There is a new ‘Wind in the Willows’ home learning grid for term 3 (please find pdf above) and we will continue to set Maths and spellings/ phonics on a weekly basis. It has been lovely to see the children’s brilliant work from home! Remember, you can always email photos to the school office so that we can share them in class - the children love to see each other’s learning and creations!

Keeping in contact

We will continue to post updates and weekly home learning here, on the class web page. If the situation changes and we have to switch to remote learning, we will use Google Classroom (log-in details can be found in your child’s yellow reading record book). We are always around if you would like a quick chat (social distanced) at the end of the school day or would be very happy to arrange a telephone call for a longer conversation. We can be contacted by email via the school office.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We feel so lucky to be teaching a lovely group of children with such supportive families. It really is a pleasure!

With best wishes,

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor and Miss Belcher

A big thank you! Wishing you all a very happy Christmas!

Dear parents and children of Tawny Owls,

As we near the end of term, we would like to say that it has been a joy and a pleasure teaching your children this term. We are proud of every single one of them. Thank you to the children for being superstars and thank you for all the support you have given us in school.

A HUGE thank you for our wonderful and very generous Christmas gifts. We are all looking forward to hitting the shops! Also, a big, big thank you for our amazing staffroom goodies! We are really excited to be able to enjoy a 'proper' coffee at work in the new year! We feel quite overwhelmed with the thought and care that has gone into such delightful gifts. 

We wish you all a lovely Christmas and a very happy and healthy 2021.

With our very best wishes,

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor and Miss B

Friday 4^th December 2020

Home Learning

Maths

Help your child to log in to Abacus Active Learn to play Sea Shack Smash. This game will provide children with practise recalling addition number facts.

Spelling

Work through the Christmas themed Tricky Words Activity Booklet (pdfs above). This part of the home learning will be for next week.  The booklets have quite a few pages!

Thank you for your continued support,

Friday 27^th November 2020

Home Learning

Maths

This week in Maths we have been adding by ‘jumping’ along the number line. To continue practising this at home, go to the Top Marks web site to play Robot Addition:  https://www.topmarks.co.uk/addition/robot-addition . There are 3 levels of challenge to try. Why not record some of the number sentences on paper to share in class next week?!

Phonics

Go to the Phonics Play web site to play Picnic on Pluto: https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/picnic-on-pluto  to practise segmenting and blending words for reading. Help your child to ‘drag’ the word to ‘feed’ the correct alien, according to whether the word is ‘real’ or ‘fake’. The game can be made easier or harder by playing on different phases.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Ray and Miss Taylor

Friday 20^th November 2020

Home Learning

Maths

On the computer: Help your child to log in to Abacus Active Learn to play Team Toucan to practise comparing lengths.

Practical: Find some everyday objects (pens, cutlery, string, pencils…). Ask your child to take 2 at a time and compare them; which is longer? Which is shorter? Next, take 3 or more objects and see if they are able to order them from shortest to longest. For a challenge, draw some lines in centimetres (or cut some pieces of string) and see if your child can recognise which is longer/ shorter by measuring with a ruler.

Phonics/ Spelling

Please help your child to complete the Phonics Activity Mat (in their folder or pdf versions above).

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Ray and Miss Taylor

Friday 13^th November 2020

Home Learning

Maths

On the computer: Help your child to log in to Abacus Active Learn to play Addition Facts. This is a game for 2 players, so can be played with another member of the family, but can also be played individually by moving the counters on both sides to make the total.

Or…

Practical: Give your child a set of coins (6, 7, 8, 9 or 10). Use them to find the different addition pairs to make the total and write the corresponding number sentences. For example, the addition pairs to 5 are:

0 + 5 =5

1 + 4 = 5

2 + 3 = 5

3 + 2 =5

4 + 1 = 5

5 + 0 =5

Handwriting/ Spelling

Please play the phonics game enclosed in your child’s folder (pdf copies can be found above) to practise segmenting and blending words linked to sounds your child has been learning.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Ray and Miss Taylor

Friday 6^th November 2020

Home Learning

Maths

On the computer: Help your child to log in to Abacus Active Learn to play Clam Collector to practise ordering numbers. We have also added a couple of extra games to your child’s account to practise key number skills should your child wish to do more.

Or…

Practical: Write a set of numbers on a piece of scrap paper. Cut them up and support your child in ordering them from smallest to largest.

Handwriting/ Spelling

This week we have combined handwriting and spelling…

Bronze: Please use the Precursive Letter Formation sheet to help your child to form their letters correctly (hint: all lower case letters in the precursive script start on the line - capitals do not).

Silver: Practise writing some of the words on the Year 1 Spelling List using a precursive script.

Gold: Write a sentence including one or more words from the Y1 list.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Ray and Miss Taylor

Welcome to Term 2 Tawny Owl Families!

Monday 2nd November 2020

We hope you had a restful half-term break and enjoyed some fun autumn activities! We are really looking forward to an action-packed term ahead! Our new topic is ‘Explorers’ (please find the topic web pdf above) which focuses on significant individuals throughout history who have travelled far and wide - including space travel! We had fun building a ship in the classroom this half term and look forward to the children adding their special touches to it! Even with all the changes in the wider world, we will endeavour to make this term a really exciting time of learning, not least in the lead up to Christmas, so please check this page regularly to keep updated!

P.E and Forest School - Tuesdays and Fridays

The children will learn tennis skills with Mrs Dickson this term in their Tuesday afternoon P.E lesson. They will also take part in Forest School led by Mrs Howlett on Friday afternoons. Please make sure your child comes to school dressed in a warm tracksuit or leggings and a top and trainers on Tuesdays and Fridays. In addition to this, please send in waterproofs for the Friday session as they will go out in pretty much all weathers! Wellies should be kept in school throughout the week to be used as a change of outdoor shoes for outdoor learning and play.

Reading

Thank you for continuing to support your child’s reading development at home. Please aim to listen to them read a little at home each day - even if it is just a couple of pages. Also, it is fine to read a book more than once; in fact, this can help to build a good sight vocabulary and gets the children used to patterns and context- this may help with reading confidence. Reading at home really helps to consolidate the children’s learning in school.

Reading happens throughout the school day; during our reading workshops when we hear readers and the children have the opportunity to read and share books and to play reading games, in literacy lessons, during phonics sessions and throughout topic work. We also love to share stories each day as a class. Our hope is that we help your child to develop a love of reading and books. As such, we have just moved and re-modelled our reading corner this half term to make it into a bigger, more welcoming space - we know the children will love it!

Changing Reading Books

Our reading workshop takes place from 1pm - 1.30pm each day. Following this, we remind the children to change their reading (colour-banded) book; we ask that they put the old book back and select a new one, then bring it to us to write the new title in their reading diary. For the most part, this works well to encourage independence, though we are aware that sometimes the children need prompting! To ensure that books do not go unchanged for too many days, we will check book bags on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We usually just exchange one book for another, but if you would like to take a few at a time please write us a little note in the reading diary.

Home Learning

The children’s home learning folders will once again be given out on a Friday and should be returned on or before the following Wednesday. There is a new ‘Explorers’ home learning grid for term 2 (please find pdf above) and we will continue to set maths and spellings/ phonics on a weekly basis.

As a school, we have decided to remove the children’s completed work from the folder and keep it in school as part of our Covid-safe policy. We are celebrating the work your child has completed with the class and will continue to value their efforts by sticking work (or photos of models) in their class exercise books or displaying work in the classroom. We will also give out reward homework stickers or write a Post-it note to celebrate successes. Thank you for supporting your child so well last half term - we saw some fabulous pieces and were pleased with how keen they were to get stuck in!

Thank you!

Thank you once again for your continued support. Please do grab us for a quick chat (at a distance!) at the end of the school day if you need to talk to us about anything or if a longer conversation is needed, please email the school office and we can arrange a telephone call.

With best wishes,

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor and Miss Belcher

Friday 23rd October 2020

Happy Half-Term!

We hope you all have a lovely half-term break and enjoy some autumn fun! Please feel free to email photos of anything exciting to the school office. Your child can then share them in class.

We have uploaded ‘Rainy Daze’ on Abacus Active Learn if your child would like an optional maths game to play over the break. Remember to keep the reading ‘ticking over’ too!

We would like to thank you all for your support during this first term. We are so thrilled to be teaching such a lovely group of children and we are so proud of how well they have all settled and the progress they are making!

With our very best wishes,

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor and Miss Belcher

Friday 16^th October 2020

Home Learning

Maths

On the computer: Help your child to log in to Abacus Active Learn (log-in details at the front of their folder) to play Excellent Estimating. This game will provide children with practice estimating totals; an area we have been focusing on this week. The bronze, silver and gold levels offer different levels of challenge.

Or…

Practical: Take some coins or dried pasta. Set out groups of varying amounts (first from 1 to 10 and then moving on to 10+). Ask your child to look at a group and record an estimate of the total. Next, ask them to count the actual total and see how close their estimate was!

Phonics/ Spelling

Play the phonics game we have sent home with your child in their folder this week (or ask an older sibling to play it with them). Encourage them to segment (sound out) each phoneme and then blend the sounds together and say the word.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Ray and Miss Taylor

Home Learning - Friday 9th October 2020

Well done for all the fantastic home learning last week! It was lovely to share the children's topic work in class and hear about the fun they had playing the maths and phonics games we set. Home learning will continue to be set on a Friday and folders should be returned on or by the following Wednesday. Below is this week's home learning.

CHRISTMAS ALERT!!! You will find your child's Christmas card design tucked inside their home learning folder this week, along with details of how to order your copies to send to family and friends. We are very proud of how carefully the children worked to create such beautiful designs.

Maths

Please help your child to log in to Abacus Active Learn to play Reel it in (you can find a link to the site below). The game focuses on shape; an area we have focused on in school this week. The bronze, silver and gold levels offer different levels of challenge. To 'reel the shape in', wait for the hook to point at the correct shape and press 'go!'

Phonics/ Spelling

Practise the /igh/ trigraph on the sheet we have sent home in the children's folders this week. (This can also be accessed by clicking on the pdf document below). 

Extension: Try writing some 'silly sentences' including the /igh/ phoneme; e.g. The cat had a fright in the night.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Ray  and Miss Taylor

Home Learning for our Super Tawny Owls!

Friday 2^nd October 2020

Dear Parents and carers,

Today your child will come home with their personal home learning folder. It will be sent home on a Friday and should be returned to school by the following Wednesday. We will remove any work sent back into school and celebrate it with the children in class.

We will be setting the following home learning on a weekly basis:

1. A piece of Maths linked to our learning in class that week (The Maths will often take the form of a game or activity on Abacus Active Learn; please find your child’s log-in details on the inside cover of their folder).

     2. A phonics or spelling activity linked to current learning in class.

Please remember your child should be reading a little each day in addition to the above.

Optional Extra…

The children can select an optional activity from the topic homework grid to complete if you wish. The activities can be a fun way to explore our topics further at home with the family. Our current topic is ‘Seasides’. You will find the grid at the front of the folder or open the pdf below. There will be a new grid for each new topic at the start of each short term.

This week’s home learning:

Maths

Please help your child to log in to Abacus Active Learn (log-in details at the front of this folder) to play Pesky Pets. This game focuses on finding one less than a given number; an area we have been focusing on this week. The bronze, silver and gold levels offer different levels of challenge.

Phonics/ Spelling

Please go to https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/buried-treasure to practise segmenting and blending words for reading. Help your child to ‘drag’ the word to the correct place according to whether the word is ‘real’ or ‘fake’. They can start on Phase 3 and then challenge themselves to Phase 4 or 5.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Ray and Miss Taylor 

Welcome to Tawny Owls' Class Page!

Teachers: Mrs Ray (Mon-Wed), Miss Taylor (Thurs-Fri)

Teaching Assistant: Mrs Belcher 

Welcome to Term 1 everyone! We have already had a fantastic couple of days getting to know our lovely class of Year 1 children and we are extremely excited about spending the year learning and playing together! Please check this page regularly as this is where we will communicate anything important you need to know that is specific to our class.

Here are a few useful pieces of information to start off with...

Reading

Please spend a short while listening to your child read on a daily basis to provide them with the opportunity to practise and consolidate the skills they are taught in school. If they are particularly tired one day, then please read to them; sharing stories is equally important! Please send your child to school with their book bag every day. They will have an opportunity to change their book daily and we will be starting guided reading sessions next week as well as listening to them read individually as much as possible. You can use the yellow reading record book to communicate anything about your child's reading with us, or simply to praise their efforts - we will do the same!

Topic

Our topic this term is 'Seasides' which encompasses subjects across the curriculum. Please see our class topic web below which details the exciting learning we have planned!

Homework/ spellings

We will be setting homework and spellings later this term, but we would like to settle the children in first - particularly after such a challenging year. For your information, the spelling list for Year 1 is below.

P.E

P.E days this term are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lessons will be taught by Mr Sykes (P.E specialist coach) whilst we have our PPA time. Please ensure your child comes to school in full kit, including a warm top and joggers/ leggings as the weather turns colder. As Mrs Frost has mentioned in the whole school newsletter, it might be sensible to send a change of clothes (for after the lesson) if the day is looking particularly wet so that the children are comfortable.

Those are the main things to mention so far, but we are always available on the gate at the end of the school day if you need to talk to us or email the office and we will be happy to give you a ring or return your email.

Best wishes,

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor and Mrs Belcher