Term 3 & 4 Newsletter – Class 2

Victorian School

Happy New Year to you all, we hope you have had a restful couple of weeks and are all keeping safe and well.

The overriding theme for this term’s learning is Victorian School Life.

Should you have any questions at any time, please do not hesitate to contact me at hsullivan@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

Kind regards
Mrs Sullivan

History & Geography

In History we are spending term 3 learning about how schools have changed from the Victorian period to today, focusing on playtimes, subjects taught and discipline. In term 4 we will use some of our Geography skills of looking at maps and aerial photographs to discover how Blackboys School has changed over time.

English

In English this term we will be reading a new book called “If I were Prime Minister” by Trygve Skaug and we will be using this to learn how to describe characters using expanded noun phrases. We will then be reading a book called “The Election” by Eleanor Levenson and using this to learn about letter writing to inform people about what we would do if we were the prime minister. After half term we will be reading a lovely book produced by The National Trust called, “I am the Seed that Grew the Tree”. This will link nicely with our science learning about plants and we will be adding to our learning in Term 3 by writing setting descriptions and narratives about a woodland adventure.

In Whole Class Reading we will be reading “I am Rosa Parks” by Brad Meltzer, which will help to broaden the children’s cultural knowledge, then we will be looking at some poetry from A.A Milne’s “Now I am Six” and finally “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt.

We will be continuing with our Guided Reading sessions and our daily Phonics sessions, learning new phonemes and revising those that we have already learnt.

Computing

In Computing this term, we will be learning about how to use a computer to support our designing and making of a fizzy drink bottle rocket. We will also be learning about online safety as February sees Safer Internet Day, which we like to mark in school.

PE

Miss Zara will be teaching Class 2 on a Tuesday in terms 3 and 4, focusing on dance skills and Mrs Hall will continue to teach PE on a Thursday and she will be teaching the children how to succeed in target games.

Please make sure the children have their PE kits in school for Tuesdays and Thursdays. They will need shorts for their indoor PE lessons and can wear jogging bottoms for outdoor PE. If your child is wearing tights to school, please ensure they have a spare pair of socks in their PE kit to change into.

Music

In Music we will be using the CBBC 10 pieces work on “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius, making sounds with their bodies, making a graphic score, hearing music from other countries and moving to music.

Homework & Reading

Homework will continue as in Terms 1 and 2. Reading is always important and your child will continue to bring home a Reading for Pleasure book on a Monday and a Phonics book on a Friday. It is vital that these books are returned each week.

If your child would like to choose another book to read each week, there is a great selection of books in the class book corner, which they are welcome to borrow. These can be accessed at any time during the week.

Please continue to fill in the reading records and send them into school once completed so that we can issue a Reading Certificate during a Gold Book Assembly.

Maths

In Maths this term we will be continuing with our learning about addition and subtraction of numbers up to 100, taking small steps to get to the point of being able to add and subtract two 2-digit numbers. Following this we will be starting to learn about multiplication and division, focusing on equal groups. We will finish the term with a unit on fractions making sure we understand that fractions also have to be equal parts of a whole and using this alongside our knowledge of division to find fractions of amounts.

Science

In Science we will be focusing on plants and how they grow, learning about what plants need to grow and then consolidating this knowledge with some investigations into what happens to plants that are grown in the light and the dark. In Term 4 we will be focusing on bulbs and seeds and how these produce plants.

DT

Using Victorian toys as a context, we will be learning about wheels and axles. There will be opportunities for the children to experiment with axles and how they can make a toy move along the ground before designing and making their own Victorian moving toy.

Art

In Term 4 we will be learning about painting and mixed media, in a unit called “Colour Splash”. In this unit children learn about primary and secondary colours, colour mixing techniques, and applying these skills in painting and printing.

RE

In Term 3 we will be continuing our learning about Islam, answering the question “Who is Muslim and how do they live?” by building on our previous knowledge by finding out about Prophet Muhammad and some of the stories he told. In Term 4 we will be answering the question “Why does Easter matter to Christians?”

PSHE

Mrs Hall will also be teaching the class PSHE, looking at Dreams and Goals for term 3 and Healthy Me for term 4.

Key Dates

31.1.25 – Trip to Hove Toy Museum

7.2.25 – SEN Tea & Talk @ Framfield School – on wellbeing

10.2.25 – Parent consultation evening 3.30-6.00

12.2.25 – Parent consultation evening 5.00-7.30

24.2.25 – INSET Day

6.3.25 – World Book Day

1.4.25 – Easter Service @ Framfield Church

4.4.25 – Cup Assembly