Welcome to the Autumn term everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful Summer break and had lots of quality family time together.

We are really looking forward to teaching Red Squirrels Class this year. The children have already begun to settle into the new routines and are developing their friendships.

Our learning this term

The children will be developing their reading and comprehension skills through our ‘Reading for Meaning’ sessions and weekly comprehension lessons. During Reading for Meaning, we will read a whole-class text and explore the book together. The children work in groups to answer quiz questions and collect as many points for their team as they can. This term, we will be reading Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl.

In English, we will be looking at the story A Crow’s Tale by Naomi Howarth and focusing on accurate punctuation and extended sentences using subordinating conjunctions. The children will then write their own stories using the skills that they have been taught during the unit.

In Maths this term, the children will be focusing on place value. Place value is very important because it underpins all aspects of mathematical work. The children will also be deepening their knowledge through problem-solving and reasoning activities.

In Science, the Year 3 children will be learning about ‘States of Matter’. They will learn about solids, liquids and gases and will complete a variety of scientific experiments. The Year 2 children will be looking at ‘Living Things and Their Habitats’.

The Year 3 history topic is ‘Ancient Egyptians’. The children will be learning about this ancient civilisation and discovering what life was like in the past. The Year 2 topic is ‘The Great Fire of London’.

In Geography, the Year 3 children will be learning about longitude and latitude. The children will be developing their map skills using a range of globes and atlases. The Year 2 topic is ‘Physical and Human Features’, where they will be looking at maps.

We hope your child has a wonderful year in Red Squirrels, and we are looking forward to working in partnership with you.

Our door is always open, so please feel free to come and talk to us if you have any questions or queries.

Mrs Homer and Miss Corbin

Please Don’t Forget…

P.E. will be on a Monday and Friday this term; please ensure the children have a full school P.E. kit in school so they can take part. Long hair must be tied up and earrings must be removed or covered up.

For outdoor learning please provide the children with a change of old clothes and shoes and a bag to put dirty shoes/clothes in.

Outdoor learning this term will take place on:

• Friday 11th September
• Friday 2nd October

Children need to bring a change of clothes. Please see below for our suggestions for outdoor learning wear.

We ask that you ensure your child’s name is on everything, and that this clothing is provided with a separate bag for wellies or boots.

Bookbags

Bookbags are expected to be in school each day and taken home each night. This enables staff to read with the children and change books when appropriate.

Snacks

Healthy, nut-free snacks can be brought in from home each day, and children can eat them at breaktime.

Supporting learning at home

Reading – it is of utmost importance that children read regularly at home in order to apply and cement the knowledge they get at school.  The children should be reading their school reading book at least three times a week. We encourage the children to read their own texts in addition to the school reading books to help develop a love of reading. The children will be bringing an extra book from the class library that they can listen to as a bedtime story.  

It is also important to talk to the children about what they have read, to make sure they understand what they read rather than just decoding it. If you would like some example questions to support your child with this, please just ask.

Please sign your child’s reading diary so that we can count how many times they have read so they can achieve a rainbow reading certificate! The children will receive a certificate every five times they have read. We will hear the children read their reading book at least once a week, alongside our reading for meaning sessions and reading comprehension sessions.

Times tables - Please help your child to practice their times tables at home. By the end of Year 4, children should know all of their times tables up to 12 × 12, so please start learning them now.

The children will also be learning their times tables in school and working towards earning a times table badge. They will receive their first badge once they have completed all of the 2, 5- and 10-times table TTRS booklets.

Spelling –Your child will have weekly spellings to practice. These spellings will help your child during our Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) lessons.

As well as practising the spellings, please complete the second sheet, where the children write the words into sentences. This ensures that the children understand the meaning of the words, allowing them to apply them to their writing

Home Learning 

English

Read at least 5 times a week. Parents must sign reading record book, to acknowledge you have read.

Reading books and diaries must be in school every day.

Spelling 

Learn your weekly spellings and try to put the words into a sentence.

Maths

Year 3 - Learn your x2, x5, x10 x3 x4 x8 multiplication tables.

Year 2- x2, x5, x10 multiplication tables.