Welcome back, we are halfway through the academic year!

This week in English, we will be focusing on how we organise our writing into paragraphs. We will continue to use our feature books, Perfect and King of the Sky, both by Nicola Davies.

Guided reading this week will be the song This is Me, from the musical The Greatest Showman. The children will investigate the lyrics and answer questions about comprehension and composition. Songs are always popular with the children, and we do tend to have a sing alone too!

In Maths this week we will be continuing with multiplication and division. The focus this week will be on multiples of ten, looking at the related calculations and reasoning skills needed when multiplying. Times tables learning will continue throughout the week, with opportunities for the children to practise their tables and complete a times table challenge.

In art this week, the children will finish their portraits, and make their own judgements about the work of the other artists we have looked at last term. From next week, we will be looking at designers, building up to designing our own moveable puppets. We would be grateful of any empty egg boxes or similar recycled ‘rough’ cardboard packaging.

We will continue work on our UK topic as well this week, a geography focus again this term, looking at the United Kingdom. This week, we will be taking a closer look at Wales.

Mrs Johnson will be starting the Salvation unit this week, considering why Christians call the day Jesus died ‘Good’ Friday.

Maple class have PE on Thursday with myself and Mr Luckhurst, and then swimming on Friday as usual. Please do email if you have any questions about this and remember to send your children in with everything they need for these sessions. If in doubt please do ask.

Reading Records will generally be changed on a Monday and Thursday. We would continue to ask however, that children bring their books and Reading Records in to school each day and that they aim to read daily, ideally with an adult – details of this can then be recorded in the Reading Record. Pleased do contact me if you feel your child’s book is either too easy or too difficult, or if your child’s book has not been changed. There are times when a book will be sent home more than once, either because a child is reading chapter books, or if it is felt that the book needs to be read more than once to enhance familiarity.

I am always happy to answer any questions you may have, so please do contact me if you have any queries, using the class email address:

maple@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk

Best wishes

Mrs Smallcombe and the Maple Team