Welcome to 1/2 L

Mrs Laughlin 

Miss La Veys (Trainee Teacher)

LSA: Mrs Bray & Miss Cresswell

contact: adminsil@connectedlearningmat.co.uk

1/2L is made up of enthusiastic, creative and curious year 1 and 2 children.  In our class, we respect each other and are proud of everyone's achievements. We never give up and value a growth mindset (I don't know how to do this 'yet'!).  We work together to create a warm and welcome atmosphere, where every class member feels valued, safe and listened to.   

The key stage 1 teaching team are passionate about reading and can't wait to share many wonderful stories and poems.  We are also very creative and have lots of inspiring activities planned.  This is going to be a marvellous year! 

Things to remember 

English  

Reading/Phonics/Spellings: 

In Phonics, the children will continue to work on the Song of Sounds. We will recap sounds they are unsure of before moving onto the next stages. They will aim to read common words by sight (particularly Common Exemption words), whilst still sounding out unfamiliar words as well as writing written answers to comprehension questions. They will learn further spelling patterns and rules, and begin to apply those in their writing. During guided reading we follow 'Reading Dogs'.  Each half term we will have a reading dog focus which their reading tasks will be based on.  Our spellings are linked to the sounds we are learning each week in our phonics lessons. 

Writing: 

Children will learn to write for a range of purposes including stories, poetry and real events. Grammar becomes even more important in Year 1 and Year 2.  At Silver End we follow the 'Talk for Writing' approach for teaching writing.  This has three phases: imitation, innovation and invention.    

Maths 

We will be teaching maths through the 'Power Maths' scheme.  Power Maths is a UK curriculum mastery programme designed to spark curiosity and excitement and nurture confidence in maths. 

Connected Curriculum- Theme

In our Connected Curriculum, we make links between the subjects, where possible.  PSHE, Art and D & T are the main subjects for this term.  Our connected curriculum follows three stages:  Stage 1, Teacher directed.  Stage 2, Teacher led and Stage 3, Pupil led.  

In our theme lessons this term we are looking at the subject of PSHE and focusing on all about me and my world. 

 How can I help my child in KS1? 

Talking, listening and reading: 

Continue to hear them read daily, practise counting in different ways (2s, 5s and 10s), talk to them about their day and encourage them to read by visiting the local library, bookshops or using eBooks online.  

As reading comprehension is so important, checking your child’s understanding of the book they are reading is an excellent way to support them. Asking questions such as: ‘What might happen next? Why do you think the character is behaving this way? What sort of atmosphere is being created?’ will help them to engage with their reading on a deeper level.   

You can also do this when you are reading to them, which is still so important at this age. Children learn a lot from the way we read aloud and we can encourage them to see how the author’s use of punctuation changes the way we read their work. Think about pointing out statements, commands, questions or exclamations when reading with your child. You might want to use a range of voices to show how types of sentences and punctuation can be read in different ways. 

Accelerated Reader in Year 2 

The programme is designed to work out a reading level (or STAR reading level) for students at the start (by means of a STAR test, completed in English lessons). Students then read books within this level – all books in the library that are registered with AR have a coloured star label on the spine to help them recognise books within their ‘zone’. Students take a quiz on the website after reading each book to assess how well they understood it. Their STAR level is tested every term to see how they have progressed. Once you have read your book, you can then log onto Accelerated reader and quiz your book, which involves answering questions about what you have read. Let us know your score and we can change your book.  

Real-life maths: 

Any opportunity to use maths in a real-life context is really useful. For example, ask them to help you pay for goods or calculate change when shopping. This will help to develop their reasoning and problem solving skills. Learning to tell the time, using an analogue clock (not digital), to the nearest 15 minutes, is another great way to support your child’s learning at home; this also links neatly to their counting in 5s in the 5 times-table. 

Make sure they are in on time every day and that their attendance is high. 

Remote learning 

At Silver End Academy, we aim to provide learning opportunities for all of our children to ensure that the need to learn remotely does not disadvantage our pupils.  If for any reason you find your child in isolation, please find the documents attached below.  This work would be a starting point until further information is sent out. 

Reading!

Oxford Owl

If you finish a book and you would like to try something different, sign up for FREE to Oxford Owl reading, You can choose from a range of books including phonics, fiction and non fiction books.