Hello and Welcome to Maple Class page,

Your teachers are: Mrs Yeandle and Mrs Carr. We welcome Mrs Carr back from maternity leave. Mrs Pearce will continue to support Maple as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant and our Teaching assistant Mrs Perryman will be leading a phonics group also. For one afternoon per week Mrs Kelly will teach Music and a Premier Sports coach will teach PE to Maple on Mondays. Maple will have Forest school with Mr Morgan and Mrs Pearce on Fridays.    

As mathematicians, Year 1 will investigate numbers to 100, look at multiplication and division, fractions before then moving onto position and direction.  

Year 2 will also learn about fractions, look at solving problems using efficient  methods before learning more about telling the time. Maths lessons are delivered using the Power Maths WRM scheme. We will continue to improve our fluency using the NCETM programme that has been implemented this year.  

This half-term, Year 2 will focus their English learning around the book "Tidy” by Emily Gravett.  They will write a persuasive letter in the role of the character; Pete.  The mastery keys are to add -er and -est to adjectives, to use subordination (‘if’ and ‘so that’), to use homophones and near homophones and to use punctuation correctly including apostrophes for contracted forms.    

They will use our new spelling programme 'Pathways to Spell'. They also have weekly Guided Reading sessions.

The Year 1s will continue to learn phonics with Fred Frog and practise writing skills through different story books as part of Read, Write Inc.   

For more information about Read Write Inc please follow this link where it explains all the language and how it works - https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/

This half-term we are being Geographers. Year 1 will be looking at a topic called ‘Here I am’.  As part of this topic we will learn about what physical and human features are and be able to identify some. We will also learn how to describe where we are and where our local area fits in the wider world. Our Year 2’s will be looking at a topic called ‘Mini Mappers’. For this topic we will be learning about compasses and how to use them to locate places on a map.

As scientists we will be looking at animals.  We will notice that animals, including humans, have offspring that grow into adults, find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air), describe the importance for humans of exercising, eating the right amounts of different types of foods and practising good hygiene. For the final point, we will focus on the fact that our diets should provide us with all the nutrients we need.

In RE we will be looking at Pentecost and how the disciples felt during the events following the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.  We will talk about the different ways the Holy Spirit is expressed in some of the Bible stories and we will discuss ways it is described in art and music too.   

In ICT Year 1 will be continuing to practise using Numbots and TTRS as well as practising keyboard skills and typing. Year 2 will be practising logging on to become competent at completing their online reading quizzes on AR as well as Quest Quizzes and typing our letters for English. 

In Art Design and Technology Maple will start a new unit learning about an Australian artist called Nikki Silk who has a love for dots and colour! The children will explore her signature style which always includes a “themed palette” of warm, cool or vibrant colours, curved lines and areas of pointillism. Nikki has a lovely website which includes many pictures of all her different artwork. The children will be looking at these before coming up with their own version themselves.  The website is as follows if you would like to take a look.  https://www.nikkisilk.com.au 

In PSHE and RHE children will complete the unit  “Relationships”. In this Puzzle, children explore families, friendships and what it means to belong and help others feel included. They learn how to make friends, solve problems and when to seek help or support. Across the six lessons, children practise appropriate ways to greet others, learn who can help them in their school community, and reflect on how to ask for support when they feel upset. They also build confidence by recognising their own qualities and learning how to praise themselves.

Maple will continue to use Charanga Music scheme this term and Year One will complete the unit entitled: Round And Round by Joanna Mangona A Bossa Nova and Year Two will learn the Friendship Song by Joanna Mangona and Pete Readman. Year One and Year Two will listen to and appraise their pieces as well as songs written in other styles. Each year group will then learn to sing their song before playing instruments to accompany their song. There will be lots of opportunities for the children to improvise and add their own ideas as well as performing each lesson within the class and sharing their learning with their friends.

In Music this term Maple will be linking their learning to our History unit on “Homes” and will be undertaking a BBC Ten Pieces unit entitled “No Place Like”.  Children will listen and analyse pieces of music and then create their own version of ‘No Place Like’ inspired by their home, hometown, school or anywhere that feels like home.   

Below you will find the key vocabulary for RE, Science and Geography. Please talk to your child about these key words to find out more about what they have been learning! Please come back soon to see what we’ve been up to!