Weekly Newsletter 2

What a busy and exciting week we have had in Year 1! The children are really starting to settle into their new routines, and it has been wonderful to see their confidence growing as they get stuck into their learning.

Announcements

???? Library Day: Tuesday
???? PE Days: Monday and Wednesday

  • This week, your child has brought home their first reading practice book. These books are fully decodable for their current phonic level and are designed to help build fluency. Please try to read them together as often as possible during the week.

    • Book Return: Please make sure books are returned every Friday in the named plastic wallet, so that we can swap them for a new one.

    • Inside the wallet, you’ll also find a Year 1 sound mat, tricky word list, and number & letter formation sheets. These are optional extras to help support your child’s learning at home – they are not formal homework.

  • History Project: As part of our current topic, we would love for each child to bring in one baby or toddler photo of themselves next week. Photos can be brought in physically or emailed to admin@strathmore.herts.sch.uk.

English

This week, we revisited the story Jasper’s Beanstalk and worked together to sequence the key events. We also created our own lists of what we would need to make a cress head. Next week, we will be writing clear step-by-step instructions and then using them to grow our very own cress heads – we can’t wait to see them sprout!

Maths

In Maths, we focused on numbers 0–10. The children practised counting different amounts, counting forwards and backwards, and began learning to recognise and write the numerals as words.

Phonics

This week, we continued to review Phase 3 sounds and focused on words with two or more digraphs, such as shower, march, and starfish. We also revisited the tricky words what, when, have, and love.

Topic

This week, we started our Computing lessons with a brilliant discussion about how to stay safe online. In History, the children worked hard to put key life milestones into chronological order. In Science, we sorted natural and human-made materials and had thoughtful conversations about objects like yarn and wooden chairs – recognising that while the material is natural, it has been shaped by people.