Year 1

We hope you all had a lovely holiday and a very happy New Year. It has been wonderful to welcome the children back to school and see their smiling faces ready to learn once again. They have returned full of enthusiasm and have settled back into school routines brilliantly.

What a week to come back to! We were greeted with very cold weather, snow and ice – and even an unexpected squirrel visit in the school kitchens! Despite the wintry conditions and unusual excitement, the children have shown fantastic resilience and adaptability, and learning has carried on as normal. We have already enjoyed a busy and productive week with lots of lovely learning taking place across the curriculum.

In English, we have started a new book called Yeti and the Bird. The children have been focusing on identifying nouns and verbs, as well as learning how to use the personal pronoun ‘I’ to write in the first person. They have really enjoyed exploring the story and thinking carefully about how characters might feel.

In maths, we have begun learning about place value within 20. The children have been practising counting to 20, understanding the composition of numbers within 20, and finding one more and one less. They have shown growing confidence when working with numbers and explaining their thinking.

In geography, we have been learning about the weather in the UK and discussing how it can change across the year. In art, we have introduced our new artist, Henri Matisse, and the children are excited to explore his work. In science, we have been learning about deciduous and evergreen trees and spotting weather patterns across the seasons.

Well done to Year 1 for such a fantastic start to the term!

   

   

          

w/b 12.01.26	w/b 19.01.26
Keywords: nouns, verbs, personal pronoun ‘I’, numbers within 20, 1 more, 1 less, Henri Matisse, collage, seasons, weather, UK. day length, rainfall, temperature, goals, steps   Sounds: kn, ph, ue, e (he) CEW: pull, push, full	Keywords: number line, estimate, compare, greater, fewer, more than, less than, equal to, order, body parts, senses, success, teamwork    Spellings: a-e, i-e, o-e, u-e, e-e, aw CEW:  they, there, where

 

Messages: 

• Reading folders need to be brought in on Monday and sent back home on Tuesday.

• The reading record should be signed by an adult five times. 

• Please make sure your child’s snacks are nut-free as we are a nut-free school. 

• The Learning Garden gates will close at 8:45am, where we will promptly be taking the register. If you are late, please go through the office to not disrupt the register or learning.

• PE days for both classes will be moved from Friday to Wednesdays.

  • PE days: Wednesday and Thursday

 

Dates: 

• 19/01 - Phonics Screening practice (1)

• 22/01 - open classroom (8.45 - 9.15)

• 30/01 - international day

• 05/02 - Diamond trip to Holly Lodge (1 - 3)

• 06/02 - number day

• 06/02 - Sunstone trip to Holly Lodge (1 - 3)

• 09/02 - National dental examination for Reception and Year 1

• 13/02 - express yourself day (own clothes)

 

Year 2

Happy 2026 from all the teaching team! We loved seeing the children return relaxed and rejuvenated from the Christmas holidays last week. They re-established school routines well. Some families had enjoyed a cosy time at home and others had travelled far and wide to catch up with family or explore. We had enjoyed some lovely, informative talks in class where children have explained about the fantastic wildlife they have encountered as well as other valuable learning experiences.

Dragon fever has gripped Year 2 as we have started our new text, The Dragon Machine. Children’s imaginations have been ignited and this has fed through into some lovely writing, particularly using ‘because’ and starting to think about rules for constructing plurals. We are compiling what the National Curriculum calls a ‘non-chronological report’ and we also refer to it as a fact-file. We are writing for the boy in the book, to tell him what he needs to do to look after his troublesome dragons.

We have enjoyed a lot of hands-on learning in maths as children have immersed themselves in their money topic. Recognising coins and notes of different denominations, understanding their value and equivalence is a harder task at a time when money is less used than in the past. Any conversations and practical experiences with money you could offer at home would really help to consolidate the children’s learning. 

Classes loved the Gladiators-style gauntlet in PE and have worked hard on their dodging, swerving, reaching, dropping and catching skills.

This half term’s science topic, Animals, including Humans, has started with the thought-provoking question of whether all creatures’ offspring look the same as their parents. We moved on to the challenging issue of whether air, food or water was the most important element for survival. 

We introduced the focus artist for this half term, Keith Haring. The bright colours, energy and movement in his work have inspired some really fun first illustrations. Well done, everyone! 

We look forward to seeing you at Open Classrooms on Thursday 22nd January, then the week after at the class assemblies. Happy weekend!

  

  

  

 

w/b 12/01/26	w/b 19/01/26
Keywords: money, pence, p, pounds, £, notes, value, worth, equivalence, non-chronological report, information, plurals, because, UK, England, Richmond, Greater London, offspring, animals, humans, air, water, food.	Keywords: money, shopping, change, addition, subtraction, compare, calculate, setting description, wilderness, noun, verb, adjective, retrieval, inference, prediction, nutrition, food groups.

 

Messages: 

• Please ensure your child brings their reading record and books on Mondays to exchange them and allow class teachers to check and stamp their records.

• Reading records should be signed by an adult five times per week. 

• Please name your child’s coat so it can find its way back to the class if misplaced outside. 

• All chin-length hair needs to be fully tied up. 

• Please ensure your child has a book bag. We cannot accommodate rucksacks due to our limited space.

 

Dates: 

• 16/01 - Family Forum: class reps meet Senior Leadership Team, 2pm

• 22/01 - Open classroom, 08.45 - 09.15

• 27/01 - Turquoise class assembly - 09:00

• 28/01 - Pearl class assembly - 09.00

• 29/01 - Amethyst class assembly - 09.00

• 30/01 - International Day - wear clothes that share your heritage/home country

• 06/02 - Number Day to support NSPCC

• 13/02 - Express Yourself Day (own clothes)