LEARNING IS A JOURNEY - NOT A RACE!!

Curriculum Newsletter for Autumn Term 2007

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FARNHAM COMMON INFANT SCHOOL

CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER - AUTUMN TERM 2007

24^th September, 2007

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to a new school year and we are pleased to welcome the new parents and children into Beech class. This newsletter will give details of some of the work that each year group will be covering during the Autumn term. A selection of photographs and samples of work, arising from visits and special occasions, can be viewed on the school website at www.farnhamcommoninfant.ik.com.

THURSDAY MORNINGS

Thursday mornings between 9.15 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. are reserved for parents to speak to teachers without prior appointments. This is a regular opportunity for all parents to find out about their child?s progress as well as raise any concerns, and we hope parents will take the chance to speak to the class teacher at least once a term. If this time is unsuitable, please contact the teachers to make an alternative appointment. A formal parent/teacher Consultation Evening is held in the Spring term.

BOOK WEEK (8^th- 12^th October)

This is always an enjoyable week and the children have opportunities to learn about books in creative ways. We have three visitors who will ?perform? to the whole school ? Katy Cawkwell (a storyteller), Coral Rumble (a poet) and a theatre group, Blunderbuss, who will perform ?The selfish giant?, as well as working with the children in workshops. There will also be a Book Fair in school during the week. Please look out for the posters. If anyone has any special talents that could be of use during Book Week, please let us know.

RECEPTION ? Beech Class

Beech class will work on a different book every two weeks. All areas of learning of the Foundation Stage Curriculum will be accessed primarily through the following books: Elmer, the Little Red Hen, Day and Night Animals and Goldilocks - as well as a topic based on ?The Snowman?. In addition to this, Beech class will learn about Diwali and Christmas. The children will also work on the initial phonic sounds of: e,m,l,r,b,a,n,d,g,p,h,s,c. Mathematical development will include activities to develop recognition, sequencing and recording of numbers to 10, as well as work on 2D and 3D shapes, measurement, pattern and simple time.

This term, the topic for the Year One and Year Two classes is ?Our Changing World?

YEAR ONE ? Oak and Silver Birch Classes

Maths work this term will involve learning to read, write, order and compare numbers from zero to twenty, to develop concepts of addition and subtraction, including using calculation to solve simple word problems. The children will also learn to compare the lengths of objects by direct comparisons or by using uniform non-standard units, to name 2D and 3D shapes, begin to understand and use the language associated with time, money recognition and totals to 10p. In Literacy, the children in Oak and Silver Birch classes will be looking at a variety of fiction books, e.g. ?Peace at Last? and ?Minnie and the Champion Snorer,? as well as non-fiction books, e.g. ?All kinds of toys? and ?Breakfast??. They will be consolidating initial sounds, looking at CVC words (both rhyming and non-rhyming) and initial consonant blends bl cl fl gl pl sl. They will continue to extend their writing skills in both fiction and non-fiction activities, as well as continuing to improve their reading and handwriting skills. Science work will include looking at the changing seasons, finding out about materials and their properties, comparisons between light and dark and observing and recording the changes when growing bulbs. In History, the focus will be on personal timelines, Guy Fawkes, St. Andrew and Christmas. Geography work will include a weather watch, as well as finding Scotland on the map. More local work, will be looking at the school grounds and in relation to their class tree. In Art, the children will be mixing autumn colours as well as creating classroom displays around their holidays, Harvest, self-portraits, firework art, Diwali patterns and Christmas. The children will be making calendars, using split pins, in Design and Technology. In ICT, the children will use a variety of CDrom?s to supplement their learning in Literacy and Numeracy, as well as using ?Softease Pictograms? for data collection and a graphics program for creating their own pictures.

YEAR TWO ? Sycamore and Willow Classes

In Maths, the work will involve reading and writing numbers to at least 100, as well as improving their ability to add and subtract mentally when solving word problems. They will learn all addition and subtraction facts to at least 10. The children will begin to partition two-digit numbers into ?tens and units?. They will be recognising all coins and working out totals, as well as deciding what change to give and which coins to use. The use of standard measurement will be introduced and the children will look at the properties of 2D and 3D shapes and will use this knowledge to sort and describe shapes. Throughout the term in Literacy, the children will be carrying out work on a variety of books. Fiction books will include ?The Owl who was afraid of the dark? and ?The Snow Lambs?, whilst non-fiction books will include ?All Kinds of Homes? and ?Changes at home?. They will also be developing their own writing skills through stories, poems and instructions, as well as continuing to improve their spelling and reading skills using ~s (plural) ~ed (past tense) and ~ing (present tense). The phonic focus will be on long vowel phonemes: magic ?e?, a, i, o, u, -ai/-ay, -ee/-ie/-ea,-ow/-ou,-ow/-oa,

-ew/-ue and -oo. They will develop their dictionary skills to help with spellings and meanings of words. In Science, the main focus is on Materials and their properties ? including changing materials. The children will also undertake work on the changing seasons and look at light and dark. In History, the children will compare past and present in relation to homes of 100 years ago - as well as looking at the historical significance of Guy Fawkes, Poppy day and Samuel Pepys. The work in Geography this term will include making comparisons between the Island of Coll in Scotland, Farnham Common and life in India. Artwork will include seasonal pictures, firework pictures as well as artwork related to Diwali. The children will be using a variety of skills in Design and Technology to make clay divas and sew calendars. ICT work will include improving word processing skills, creating pictures using a graphics program, learning to give simple instructions to a programmable floor robot, as well as using a variety of CDrom?s to enhance their learning.

YEARS ONE and TWO

R.E. - This term the whole school will learn about different festivals - Harvest, Diwali and Christmas. The weekly themes will involve the children learning about belonging and how to look after each other, the natural world and about special occasions and people ? Remembrance Sunday, Saint Andrew.

PHSE ? The children will be looking at choices and safety, as well as caring for the environment. We will also be encouraging the children to consider their own successes at school and to think about what they would wish to improve on at school.

HOMESTUDY IN YEAR TWO

The children in Sycamore and Willow classes will receive work to carry out at home on a regular basis, although there may be times when the teachers feel that there is no appropriate work that will reinforce or enrich work carried out in school. This work is in addition to the regular individual reading, keyword or dictionary word tasks.

Yours sincerely,