Key Stage 1 Summer Newsletter 2024

Welcome back to the summer term in Key Stage One. We hope that the Easter break has helped you all recharge ready for our action packed summer!

Key Stage 1 is made up of Year 1 pupils in Giraffe class and Year 2 children are in either gorillas or Turtles class.

Mrs Skelding and Ms Tse will lead this class until the end of the year.

The Turtles class will have their PE days on a Monday and Thursday this term. These PE sessions will be outdoor weather permitting and mean that you will need to provide your child with suitable clothing and footwear on these days.

The Turtles children will have the chance to work with the PE specialist during Summer 1 half term and we are all excited to work with Mr Stringfellow to build up our multi skills.

The books of the month for Turtles class this term will be...

April

It's up to Daddy to give his daughter an extra-special hair style in this ode to self-confidence and the love between fathers and daughters, from Academy-Award winning director and former NFL wide receiver Matthew A. Cherry and New York Times bestselling illustrator Vashti Harrison. Zuri's hair has a mind of its own. It kinks, coils, and curls every which way. Zuri knows it's beautiful. When Daddy steps in to style it for an extra special occasion, he has a lot to learn. But he LOVES his Zuri, and he'll do anything to make her -- and her hair -- happy.

May

Grace loves to act out stories. She spends her time dressing up and putting on performances for her beloved Ma and Nana, usually helped by Paw-Paw the cat. Sometimes she plays the leading part, sometimes she is 'a cast of thousands’ and sometimes, when they’re not too tired, she can even convince Ma and Nana to join in her magical story creations. When Grace’s school decides to put on a performance of Peter Pan, Grace longs to play the part of Peter. But her classmates say that Grace absolutely can’t play that part. Peter was a boy, and besides, he wasn't black... But Grace's Ma and Nana tell her she can be anything she wants if she puts her mind to it...

June

TWhen Joe, Beth and Frannie move to a new home, an Enchanted Wood is on their doorstep. And when they discover the Faraway Tree, that is the beginning of many magical adventures! Join them and their friends Moonface, Saucepan Man and Silky the fairy as they discover which new land is at the top of the Faraway Tree. Will it be the Land of Birthdays, the Land of Toys, or even the Land of Ice and Snow with its magic snowman?

July

In this wittily illustrated anthology of poems, designed to be read aloud, twenty poems arm children with techniques for lifting poetry off the page and performing with confidence.

WE are very fortunate to have Miss Dias with us until the end of summer to lead Gorillas Class. The Gorillas class will have their PE day on a Monday and a Thursday this year.  These PE sessions will be outdoor, weather permitting and mean that you will need to provide your child with suitable clothing and footwear on these days. As with the other classes they will also be working with our PE specialist Mr Stringfellow.

The books of the month this term will be...

April

When a girl is asked where she’s from—where she’s really from—none of her answers seems to be the right one. Unsure about how to reply, she turns to her loving abuelo for help. He doesn’t give her the response she expects. She gets an even better one. Where am I from? You’re from hurricanes and dark storms, and a tiny singing frog that calls the island people home when the sun goes to sleep....

May

Super-long and super-strong, Superworm is always on hand to help animals and insects in need. From rescuing Baby Toad from a busy road or fishing Beetle out of a well – do not fear, Superworm is here! But who will come to Superworm's rescue, when he’s captured by the wicked Wizard Lizard and Crow? Luckily, all of Superworm’s friends have a cunning plan...

June

Jake’s mum is not like most mums. Say there's a skip in the street, most mums will pass right by without a second glance. Not Jake’s mum. “Look at this, Jake!” she'll shout. “We must have this! We must have this, too! And we simply must have this!” That’s Jake’s mum for you. She’s a must-have mum. So when Jake’s mum upcycles every last thing in the apartment, Jake begins to worry that the only thing left to change is…him! Will Jake’s mum try to change him too? A heart-warming story about the unbreakable bond between a mother and her son, and a little boy who learns that he is perfect just the way he is.

July

These are Claire’s big sisters. They call her Bear and ruffle her hair. And whatever Claire’s sisters can do, Claire can do too … But there is one thing Claire won't do …The water in the swimming pool makes her feel squirmy inside. Follow her sisters? No thank you! Not today? Can Claire conquer her fears? Can she set foot in the water – and what will happen if she does?

The Giraffes class will have their Monday and Thursday. These PE sessions will be outdoor, weather permitting and mean that you will need to provide your child with suitable clothing and footwear on these days. We will also be working with the PE specialist Mr Stringfellow.

The books of the month for this term will be...

April

This book captures the thrill of when pretend feels so real that it becomes real. With a stick in hand, the options are endless—whether it's conducting an orchestra, painting a masterpiece, or slaying a dragon—give a child a stick and let imagination take over and the magic begin.

May

Billy's family is not what you'd call ordinary. His mums won't listen to NORMAL music. They love to sing sea shanties and dance jigs in the lounge. Their clothes are highly unusual, they have a rude parrot for a pet, and their taste in house design is, well . . . FISHY. Billy wishes his family could be more like everyone else's, until an ocean adventure changes everything!

June

Simon is an odd, stripey sock. He lives in the drawers with all the other socks. Every day two socks get picked to go on an adventure. The sparklies go to parties. The woolies go the park. The smarts go to school. Everyone has a pair... except Simon. Will he ever find his perfect match?

July

Mr Twit is a foul and smelly man who always has bits of cornflake and sardine in his beard. Mrs Twit is scheming and sly and always thinking of the next horrible trick to play on her husband. The Twits are so ghastly and evil that they even keep Muggle-Wump the monkey and his family captive in their garden. But not for much longer! The monkeys are planning to trick the terrible Twits so that they can escape and put a stop to the frightful pair once and for all!
History

In History this half term we will be answering the big question "How have holidays changed over time?" We we be learning all about how holidays have changed since our grandparents first went on holiday. we will explore the reasons why people have chosen holidays and different holiday destinations and explore how modern travel has changed how we go and where we go on holiday.

How you can help at home...

Talk to your children about your memories of how your holidays in this country were spent. do you have any holiday traditions that you still carry out with them even now? Do you have any travel keepsakes that you can talk about with your child?

Geography

For the second part of the term our Geography learning will be answering the big question "How is Flamborough different to Knottingley" by comparing what human and physical features are like in coastal locations near to where we live.

We will be recapping our learning about the continents and oceans that make up the world and why the seasons change the way we take holidays in the UK. We will also begin to learn about how tourism and travel can change the environment.

How you can help at home...

Talk you your child about different places you have visited that are different to where we live. Talk about the different features of the places you visit or have visited in the past.

English

In our English writing lessons we will strengthening our writing skills through a variety pf genres.

We will be learning to write alternative setting descriptions for a contemporary story with our book "The last wolf" by Mini Grey and creating our own recounts of our inspire day where we learned all about the way holidays have changed since the Victorian and Edwardian times with our forest school providers- Alfresco learning.

In the last half of the term, we will be looking at the ways that one person can change the world by writing a report, using the book "Mamma Miti" by Donna Jo Napoli as our stimulus. We will then be continuing our learning about sustainability by writing a narrative about the journeys of Stanley the carrier bag as he finds his way through the ocean.

Early reading

Reading is something that we at St Botolph's are incredibly passionate about. We can not stress enough how important it is that children are fluent and literate readers as early as possible to ensure that they can access all areas of learning.

Please remember that we have the statutory Phonics screening test in Year 1 which will be held in June in the week commencing Monday 10th June. It is essential that the children bring their books to school everyday as we try to find as much time as we can to hear children read throughout the day. This practice, in addition to the work you are doing at home is essential to the development of the children's speed and fluency in reading.

We will be running an information session for all parents on Tuesday 16th April at 9am. It is essential that you try your best to attend as this would be a great opportunity to find out your child's individual gaps, to enable you to better support them at home.

Now that we have many children that are reading fluently, some children will be completing the Read Write Inc program. This will mean they will access the Accelerated Reader programme and choose their own reading book for their reading level.

How you can help at home...

Please support your child's reading journey by recording home reading in your child's reading record, to help us keep a track of how they are doing at home.

Maths

In our school we follow the White Rose scheme of learning to plan and deliver our maths lessons. This scheme allows children to experience a wide range of strategies to use across the different operations and pushes the children towards mastering the subject by allowing children to use what they know about number relationships and patterns in different ways, helping them solve problems.

In Year 1 the children will be learning about multiplication and division for the first time and will begin to start combining all the skills they have learned so far in practical applications such as money and time.

In year 2 we will be expanding on what they have learned throughout the year in preparation for the end of key stage tests. They will also cover, statistics, time, fractions and begin to learn the early geometry skills of position and direction.

How you can help at home...

In school we answer ten simple arithmetic questions each morning. why not make this a part of your learning at home too?

RE

Our RE lessons this term will focus on the big question "Who do Christians believe created the world?" and then furthering our understanding of how religious studies interconnect with the world by answering the big question "caring for the world"  Here will explore the concept of the human race as caretakers and how this is reflected in many religions.

Our core Christian value for the first half term will be Wisdom and in summer two it will be love. We will explore this theme in our daily worship sessions as well as learning about British values and protected characteristics through our in class worships.

Science

Our Science work this term will be learning all about plants through the big question "How can we identify different plants from trees?" We will be learning to identify a variety of common, wild and green plants. We will be able to describe the basic structure of a variety of flowering plants, including trees.

Art, DT and Music

In our Art lessons we will be exploring craft and design through our exploration of threads and wool to weave.

The artists that we will focus on will be Judith Scott, an American fibre sculptor.

In DT we will be learning about mechanisms including moving vehicles, wheels and axels. We will be building structures using levers, sliders in our creations.

In Music we will be learning about pitch and tempo through the theme 'superheroes'. We will be learning to use tuned percussion instruments to create a piece of music.

PE

PE this half term will focus on invasion games in the first half of the term and then athletics in the second. We will be practising hard for our sports day this Summer.

Our PE kit is a plain white t shirt with plain navy or black bottoms. These can be leggings, shorts, skorts or track suit bottoms. Please ensure that children remove any earrings, have their hair tied up if it is collar length and have both an indoor and outdoor kit with appropriate footwear with them as PE will be outdoors as the weather permits.

computing

In computing the children will be learning all about computer networks and using a computer for different purposes as we explore basic mouse skills.

In the second half of the term children will be learning more about algorithms and how computers are used to capture, store and sort data in our rockets to the moon module. In the second half of spring we will be focussing on computer networks and systems and learning how computers actually work

Our internet safety focus will be keeping ourselves safe in privacy and security.  In the second half term It will be learning about managing online information by thinking about our digital footprint and how our information is used and kept safe online.

Finally, Thankyou for your continued support in helping the academy in trying to achieve it's attendance target of 96%. Every school day counts and we have such an exciting curriculum planned it is important that your child does not miss out.

You will all by now have been given the parental expectations around attendance and have seen the policy that the academy follows on holidays in term time. In each case where there is a request for a holiday under the clause of exceptional circumstances, the Head Of School will follow the Academy and Trust policy. Please note that the Head of Schools decision is final and there is not appeals process for holidays in term time under the current policy.

Please also remember that we follow the Wakefield policy on healthy school life and your child must have only water, no flavoured waters or fizzy drinks in water bottles as we move into the summer where they will certainly need to drink throughout the day.

We are looking forward to another fantastic term and can not thank you enough for all of your support and help in getting our children off to a flying start this year.

Yours in learning

Mrs Groves and the KS1 team