Willow Class is our Year 1 and Early Years Foundation Stage Unit (Nursery and Reception pupils) aged 2-6.  
The unit leader and class teacher is Mrs Williams, with Mrs Backhouse the unit's Nursery Nurse, with Mrs Woods being the EYFS practitioner.

Outdoor and spare Clothing
We explore outside in all weathers, so please send children with sun hats and suncream applied, or raincoats and wellies when appropriate. If possible, keeping a named pair of wellies at school is ideal.

Please make sure your child has a full set of spare clothes. These can be kept in school, and we’ll let you know if they need replacing. For children in Reception and Year 1 this can be their P.E kit, but please ensure they have spare underwear.

P.E Kit
This term our P.E lessons will be on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. Please provide children in Reception and Year One with a P.E kit which can stay at school. This should contain jogging bottoms or shorts, a white t-shirt and trainers. We ask that Nursery children wear
comfortable clothing they can move freely in.

Literacy
This term our topic is Heroes around us. Through our class books ‘A Superhero like You’ by CBeebies Dr Ranj Singh and ‘Astro girl’ by Ken Wilson-Max, we’ll be finding out what it means to be a hero and learning about the everyday heroes who keep us safe and healthy. We’ll even be meeting some real-life heroes, including the Fire Service and a Midwife!

Reception and Year One will be using their growing writing skills to create fact files inspired by our experiences.

Phonics
Reception children will begin learning to recognise and write their first sounds, identifying the letters that represent them and blending sounds together to begin reading and writing simple words. They will also be introduced to their first tricky words, which are words that cannot
always be sounded out using the phonics they have learnt so far.

Year 1 children will build on their existing phonics knowledge by revisiting previously taught sounds and learning alternative ways of representing sounds, including new digraphs. We practise reading through daily activities and guided reading sessions three times each week, helping children to develop their fluency, confidence and enjoyment of books.

We ask that you listen to your child read five times each week and record each read in their reading record. Regular reading at home has a significant impact on children's reading progress, wider learning and enjoyment of books. Each home read also counts towards our
coveted Bawdsey Bookworm Awards!

Phonics books are changed once children have read them three times at school and reached the required level of fluency. Sharing books are changed weekly on a Friday. Please make sure your child brings their reading book and reading record to school in their
book bag every day.

Maths
This term Nursery will be exploring making collections as they learn to compare amounts and recognise changes in quantity. Reception will be working on developing sorting and matching skills. This is an important step towards counting objects accurately. Year One will be building on their understanding of place value, to develop confidence in addition and subtraction within 10.

Foundation Subjects
In Science, we will be finding out about ourselves. We will consider how we are similar to, and different from others, discover more about our own; 'super senses', and begin to work scientifically as we investigate our sense of hearing.
In History, we will be asking, 'How am I making history'; We will develop our understanding of personal chronology by thinking about our own lives and experiences, before looking further back to discover what childhood was like for our parents and grandparents. We are hoping to create a collection of ‘artefacts’, to help bring our learning to life. If you have any items you would like to donate or lend the school, we would be very grateful. We are
particularly looking for objects which demonstrate change at home, for example, a rotary telephone, an old mobile phone or typewriter.
Our Art this term focuses on exploring line and shape. We will be working and experimenting with different materials through observational and collaborative pieces inspired by artists including Paul Klee.
In Music, we will be learning how to keep a steady beat using body percussion and instruments. We will discover that musical notation is read from left to right, just like the words in a book! We will also develop our listening skills by listening carefully to short pieces of music and excerpts from longer compositions, before sharing what we notice, hear and enjoy.
In PSHE, we will be learning more about our emotions and how we can look after our wellbeing. We will practise recognising and naming how we feel, as well as beginning to understand that other people may feel differently from us.
 

Top Tips for starting school

• Label everything! Biro works brilliantly on labels in clothing.
• Big feelings at home time are normal, as children can be exhausted after a day of learning. Home is their safe space to ‘let it all out!’ It can be tough on us as parents, but it’s really a compliment. You will quickly find what works for your child, snacks, cuddles, quiet time, or movement might help.
• Get into the habit of reading daily. You will have a huge impact on your child’s reading and wider development by practicing at home.
• Talk to us. Nothing is too big or too small. If you have any concerns, questions or a ‘wow moment’, we are always happy to talk.

Oak Class is a lower KS2 class which includes Year 3 and Year 4 pupils. Ages 7 - 9

Mrs Briggs is the teacher for Oak Class;  children in Years 3 and 4. We are joined by Year 2 in the afternoons for the foundation subjects. In the Autumn Term our topic is From Flint to Iron, followed by Frozen Realms, which starts after the October half term. 

We are learning about humans from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. We will read The Fossil Hunter, about Mary Anning, and other books about ancient humans including The First Drawing and The Humans.

Our PE days are Monday and Friday, Beach School is on Tuesday afternoons and we enjoy these sessions very much. We are lucky to be only a ten minute walk from the beach!  In Science we are learning about Sound and will be experimenting with how to make sound and vibrations change, different musical instruments and what affects sound in terms of volume and pitch.

Hazel Class is an upper Key Stage 2 class which includes Year 5 and Year 6 pupils. Ages 9 - 11
The Class teacher is Mrs Moffatt.

In Hazel class this half term our topic is “Tudor Hearts and Minds”, so we are focusing on all things Tudor!

In History, we will be learning about Henry the 8th, his wives and what life was like in Tudor England. In Art, we are carrying out artist studies and then using our knowledge to create a range of portraits using different mediums and techniques, with a Tudor focus. In Design Technology, we will be researching the types of foods that were eaten during Tudor times and having a go at creating some of our own.

In Music, we are listening to various pieces from the Baroque era and then composing.

In Science, we are learning about the circulatory system including the heart, blood and lungs and discussing how to keep our bodies and minds healthy, which links with our PSHE, which sees us focusing on settling in to our new year groups and looking at how we can keep ourselves healthy, physically and mentally.

In Computing, we are exploring computer systems and networks and finding out more about search engines and how these work. In RE, we will be looking at Christianity and answering the big question: Why is the gospel such good news for Christians?

In writing, this half term we are using the texts “Wind in the Wall”, to create mystery stories and “Romeo and Juliet”, to write balanced arguments. In guided reading lessons we are reading “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” and “Poetry for Children by William Shakespeare”.

In Maths, this half term we are going to be revisiting place value with numbers up to 10,000,000. We will then be practising our skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Our PE days are Mondays and Wednesdays. Wednesday’s PE will be swimming. Children should come to school in PE kit on both days, which is black/navy shorts/skorts or jogging bottoms and a plain white t-shirt. Black or navy jumpers or zip up PE hoodies can be worn in colder weather but please ensure that these are not logoed. The children will have clarinet lessons on Tuesdays, Year 5's will be given their clarinets on the first lesson back and are expected to bring these every week.

In Years 5/6 children should read at home as much as possible. They can do this on their own, but please make sure you sign their reading records and that they are brought to school daily. Children should also practise their times tables using TTRS as much as possible. This knowledge is the foundation for a lot of what they will be covering in maths. In addition, year 5/6 children are expected to complete literacy and maths tasks on SATS Companion every week, these will be set on Fridays.