7th January 2014 Dear Parents Happy New Year to you all!

We are looking forward to this half terms topic of Sand and Water, another topic taken from the International Primary Curriculum. As most of you already know, this curriculum has been specially designed for children who are in schools out of their home country. The learning goals are set out in 4 strands: Independence & Interdependence We will spend time finding out about our locality when we visit and talk about the beach and the sea and when we play in the role play areas. Communicating The children will have the opportunity to develop their oral and written language using the sand and water theme as a stimulus. Exploring A major focus of this theme is enquiring and researching in order to draw conclusions about the world around us. The children will sort and classify the materials they find when they go beachcombing. They will learn what happens when it rains and which materials will keep us dry. Healthy living The children will learn about the importance of keeping themselves safe near water and that we need to drink to think. Our entry point for this unit will be on Thursday of our first week back when we shall have a sand and water experience. The children will have the opportunity to explore a variety of sand and water toys in wet and dry sand and in coloured and soapy water. We shall have a lot of fun and it will be a messy experience! In Literacy, we share books about sand and water for shared reading and emergent writing. We continue with Phase 3 of Letters and Sounds and introduce new sounds on a weekly basis. This term, we shall discover the sounds letters make when they are together, e.g. sh, ch, th, oo and ng. The children will continue to develop their skills of blending and synthesizing sounds to spell and read words and continue with their progress through the schools reading programme. Thank you for the support you give your child at home by learning the high frequency words, sharing their reading books and practising their blending skills. The children will bring home their

first spelling books this term. The instructions for teaching them how to spell are on the inside front cover. In Mathematics we shall extend the childrens understanding of numbers and the number system and introduce them to the concepts of addition and subtraction. We shall also investigate capacity. Swimming lessons continue on a Monday and we begin our gymnastics programme during the Tuesday PE lesson. Please note that the school day now finishes at 14.30, except on Wednesdays when children leave at 11.30. As always, if you have any concerns about your childs learning, please dont hesitate to contact me to make an appointment. Best wishes Jacqueline & Shirley