THE FIRST DAY OF TERM 2 IS AN INSET DAY, SO FIRST DAY BACK FOR CHILDREN IS TUESDAY 2ND NOVEMBER.
Notices:
Thursday 4th November – **The following amendments have been made due to the increase in COVID cases in the community:
Class 8 9-9:45 am – OPEN MORNING – 1 parent for each child is invited to our patio areas to look through your child’s work and look around their classroom in small groups. Masks need to be worn.
Classes 7 and 9 2:45-3:25 pm – OPEN AFTERNOON– 1 parent for each child is invited to our patio areas to look through your child’s work and look around their classroom in small groups. Masks need to be worn.
We ask that face coverings are worn both indoors and out and strongly recommend visitors take a lateral flow test on the morning of the visit. Anyone displaying any symptoms associated with Covid should refrain from visiting school.
Parents’ Evenings will follow in Week 2 These will again be held virtually like last year.
Reading Rangers – During this first week back we will send out further information about the Rangers and then there will be an opportunity in week 2 to join a zoom call if you have any further questions. This is instead of the scheduled meeting due to COVID restrictions.
Author Visit – We are very lucky to have an author visiting us in Week 2 of Term 2. Information was sent out about this in Term 1. Click this LINK to an order form and more information if you have not received it. All replies and monies need to be returned to school by Monday 8th November (Next week!)
Bug Club – When using the Bug Club books, please remember to click the ‘X’ to close the book when your child has read it, otherwise teachers cannot see that it has been read.
Waste Nothing Challenge – A big thank you to all those who managed to take part in the Bristol Waste Nothing Challenge, we managed to get 62 completed booklets back which is a brilliant result.
Week 8 celebrations:
The children have worked really hard all the way up until the end of their first term in Year 2. What a fantastic term it has been. There has been so much excitement and enthusiasm surrounding our topic of Knights and Castles and this has led to some excellent and creative pieces of work being produced by all of the children.
Thank you, as always, for your playing your part as parents and carers, helping your children remain engaged in their learning, reading with them regularly and for your huge smiles at the beginning and end of every day!
Black History Month:
Learning in Term 2, Week 1
If you are learning from home in Term 2, Week 1 you can find all of the plans and resources that you will need if you click this link: Home Learning Link.
To watch Mrs Fricker’s whole school assembly click here.
English
In our first week back after half term, the children will be learning about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. They will start by using their inference skills to predict what they think the plotters said to each other when they met in secret. They will then use role play and puppets to act out the events of the gunpowder plot. The children will consider the consequences of the gunpowder plot and how it links to Bonfire Night, which we still celebrate today. By the end of the week the children will have produced a beautiful piece of descriptive writing about Bonfire Night, using their senses and imagination to describe.
Reading
Our dedicated time for exploring Reading for Pleasure books and changing levelled books is MONDAY. Please ensure your child has their books and reading logs with them on this day ready to change. Please do come and see us if you have any barriers to reading with your child or reluctance from them to do so: we are here to help make reading at home an enjoyable one.
Phonics and spelling
At Henleaze Infant School, we are very lucky to be following a new phonics scheme created by our English Hub: Unlocking Letters and Sounds. Whilst the plans and resources they share with us are still in publication process and cannot yet be shared with parents, we are delighted to be able to update you with the focus of our 4 sessions each week. Each session we become masters of phase 5 and introduce new spellings for phonemes we already know.
The first week of Term 2 will look a little different as we prepare for the Phonics Screening Check in Week 2. We will be making our phonics sessions fast-paced, fun and engaging to best support the children with their revision. We will be playing interesting phonic games to hook the children into their learning and recap the sounds we have learnt so far.
To support with phonics at home you can:
-be a Phase 3 and Phase 5 phoneme spotter in any texts that you read e.g. how many ‘ow’s (as in cow) can you spot in this page of your book/ magazine?
Have a look at some of these phonics videos/activities:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvq9bdm/articles/zh828xs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvq9bdm/articles/zj39382
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvq9bdm/articles/zh9q92p
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvq9bdm/articles/z4p3pg8
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/5/picnic-on-pluto
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/5/dragons-den
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/5/buried-treasure
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/5/alt-spellings-ai
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/5/alt-spellings-ee
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/5-7-years/letters-and-sounds
Our spelling lesson this week is focusing on the /l/ sound spelt as -le (found at the end of words – eg. little).
Maths
In maths in the first week of Term 2 we are starting a new topic of ‘Money’. The children will build on their existing knowledge of British coins and notes and start to apply this knowledge to counting and selecting money. At home you could get real coins and notes out and discuss these with your children. They could even help you pay for the shopping one day and help count the change!
Knowledge and Understanding of the World (Topic)
In KUW in the first week of Term 2 we are going to be sequencing and retelling the events of the Gunpowder Plot in History. Our work this week is going to be very cross-curricular, with History themes running throughout the weeks’ English lessons.
Religion and World Views
In R+WV in the first week of Term 2 the children will learn about Christian marriage. They will explore key questions about marriage and weddings and then go on to learn about a wedding that Jesus attended. The children will use art and watch a video to help them understand the key parts of a Christian marriage.
During class assembly time, the children will learn about Diwali which falls in the first week of Term 2.
PSHE
Our focus in PSHE in the first week of Term 2 is considering the ways in which boys and girls are similar. The children will explore the assumptions that are sometimes made about boys and girls, and start to challenge these through rich discussion.