Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you have all had a lovely summer! I am really looking forward to teaching Year 1 this year and I have enjoyed our first few days together as a class. We are so lucky to have the wonderful Mrs Fox in our class every day. On Tuesdays, Mrs Spiller will be teaching ICT. On Wednesday afternoons, Year 1 have a weekly music lesson with our specialist teacher, Mrs Salway, and will join in with Singing Assemblies on Thursday mornings when assemblies resume.  Mrs Salway enjoyed working with the Year R bubble last year and is looking forward to getting to know Year 1 as a whole class.  The aim in Year 1 is to develop general musicianship through singing and games, with an increasing awareness of pulse and pitch.  Hopefully they will be eager to share their new songs with you at home! If any parents or grandparents have a particular enthusiasm for 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. On Wednesday morning, in the second half of the Autumn term, Mrs Cheshire will be teaching French.

I have attached a summary of the areas we will be covering this term in each subject, including details of some of the activities we will undertake.

The children will have the opportunity to change their reading books every Friday and they will be given back the following Monday. 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 Wednesday mornings and 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. Spellings will be given out every Friday and tested the following Friday. The spellings will be based on their Read Write Inc work.

The children will, hopefully, be tested on their Maths cards every week, so please make sure these are brought back into school the following week. If you would like to help with the Maths cards, please let us know the day and time, during the afternoon, that you are available!

There will be the opportunity for Show and Tell on Friday afternoons. We ask children to not bring in things on other days, as this causes disruption to daily proceedings. I will attach the rota on a separate Parent Mail.

This year P.E. will take place on Thursday and Friday afternoons, so please ensure your child brings in their kit on these days. However, it is advisable to retain P.E. kits in school at all times in case of non-timetabled sessions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me, or arrange a time to come and see me either before or after school; you are always welcome. My email is: kupton@skyswood.herts.sch.uk . Thank you for all your support.

Yours sincerely,

Miss Upton and Mrs Fox