Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope you have all had a lovely summer. I am really looking forward to teaching Year 1 this year! We are lucky enough to have the wonderful Mrs Fox in our class every day and the lovely Mrs Penketh, Mrs Wildman and Mrs Koter as 1:1’s. On Wednesday afternoons Mrs Spiller will be teaching ICT and Mrs Salway will be teaching Music. Year 1 upwards have a weekly music lesson with our specialist teacher, Mrs Salway, and join in with Singing Assemblies on Thursday mornings. The aim in Year 1 is to develop general musicianship through singing and games, with an increasing awareness of pulse and pitch. Hopefully your children will be eager to share their new songs with you at home! If any parents or grandparents have a particular interest in or skills in music and would like to get involved in Skyswood music they are very welcome. We have been very lucky to have parents come in to help in Singing Assembly and to give instrumental demonstrations in class sometimes. Mrs Salway is looking forward to getting to know Year 1! On Wednesday morning, in the second half of the Autumn term Mrs Cheshire will be teaching French.
I have put a summary of the areas we will be covering this term in each subject, including details of some of the activities we will undertake, on our Year 1 notice board. Please let me know if you would like a copy.
The children will receive the opportunity to change their reading book every Tuesday and Friday. It would be very helpful if you could find a few minutes to listen to them read aloud on a daily basis. It is important to ask your child questions about what they have read to check their understanding and comprehension, even if they appear to be reading fluently. They will have RWInc every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday morning. They will have Guided Reading on Tuesday afternoon, if you are available to help with this please let myself or Mrs Fox know. In addition, any helpers for additional reading will be much appreciated as well. Spellings will be given out every Friday to learn for a test the following Friday. The spellings will be based on their Read Write Inc work.
The children will be given Maths cards every week, so please make sure they are brought back into school the next week for testing. Your child will be tested each week. If you would like to help with the Maths cards, please let us know the day and time that you are available! Thank you to those of you who have already signed up!
There will be the opportunity for Show and Tell on Friday afternoons. The timetable and dates for each child are on the Year 1 Notice board (on the Year 1 door). We ask children to not bring in things on other days, as this causes disruption to daily proceedings.
This year, P.E will take place on Thursday and Friday afternoons, so please ensure your child brings in suitable kit on these days. However, it is advisable to retain P.E. kits in school at all times in case of non-timetabled sessions.
Parent Consultation Evenings will be held on Tuesday 12th and Thursday 14th November 4:00pm – 7:00pm.
We anticipate that the cost of our trips this year will be: Baptist Christmas Trail – free, St Albans Abbey which will cost approximately £13, the Baptist Easter Trail- free and a joint trip with Year R in the Summer term to the Paradise Wildlife Park, which will cost approximately £18. These are subject to change and availability.
I look forward to seeing you all in the near future. If you have any questions, please feel free to come in and see me either before or after school; you are always welcome. Thank you for all your support.
Yours sincerely,
Miss Upton and Mrs Fox