Adel St John the Baptist
Church of England Primary School
Class Newsletter
Autumn 2 in Year 1
Out Imaginative Learning Project this half term is called ‘Paws, Claws and Whiskers’.
Please see the Parent and Guardian Notice Board for more information on ‘Paws, Claws and
Whiskers’.
Soft fur, sharp claws and twitching whiskers…What’s your favourite animal? One that meows? One that
barks? Or maybe one that scurries or slithers? From pets to animals in the zoo, let’s find out what animals
like to eat and where they like to sleep. Do you know how to look after a rabbit? A cat? Or even a snake?
Find out how the elephant got his trunk and how the rhinoceros got his leathery skin…Perhaps you know
how the dog got his waggy tail? Can you make a food chain to show who eats who? Who is a herbivore and
who is carnivore? When a gaggle of mysterious pets arrive at the local pet shop, it’s up to you to take care
of them…Feed them, clean them and discover their daily needs. After all that work, curl up and take a
nap…a cat nap!
Mathematics
We will be doubling and halving shapes and amounts; learning about measurement of
time; using 2D shapes to make patterns and pictures; using tables to sort shapes into
categories; consolidating and extending our addition and subtraction skills and using
ordinal numbers.
English
We will be writing captions; learning about and creating our own non-fiction information
books; using Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories as a basis for creating our own stories and
fables; using ‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea’ to learn about booklets and lists;
consolidating our learning of instructions and reciting and creating poetry.
Science
We will be sorting animals using classification criteria; comparing basic body parts and
considering why animals have different features.
Art and Design
We will be drawing animals; critically analysing professional works of art and using
animal print to make collages.
Design
and We will be designing a label for a tin of cat food and designing enclosure for an animal.
Technology
Geography
We will be using world maps to locate areas where big cats live and where animals
originate from
Computing
We will be learning using computers and tablets to find and copy and paste images of a
range of zoo animals.
Physical
Education
Religious
Education
We will be consolidating and improving our basic movement skills, linking with the ways
animals move`. On Fridays, we will be having gymnastics lessons with Amy from the
YMCA.
We will be learning about the way that light is used as a symbol in Christianity throughout
Advent and Christmas, in the Hindu festival of Diwali and the Jewish festival of Hanukah.
Water
Please ensure your child is sent to school with a named water bottle. These are to be stored in the blue
baskets.
PE Kit
Please ensure that full indoor PE kit is kept in school (white T-shirt and shorts). Please ensure that long hair
is tied up on these days. Our PE days are Mondays and Fridays.
Reading Mornings
These will take place on Wednesday mornings for 8.50am - 9.10am.
Learning Logs
The standard of the Learning Logs is fantastic and the children are benefitting from them. They are enjoying
sharing their Learning Logs with their peers. Your ongoing support with Learning Logs is highly valued.
Spellings
As with last half-term, spellings will be practised together as class on a Thursday and consolidate the
phonics learning we have done the previous week. The phonics (Phase 5 of Letters and Sounds) and
therefore the spellings this half-term will be based on learning different ways of making the same sound
(sound families).
Art T-Shirts
Most children have art t-shirts (an old, adult t-shirt) in school now which are used to protect uniforms while
we are doing some art activities. If your child doesn’t have one, please send one in.
Thanks for your support, as always, Miss Griffin.
[email protected]