Spring Term 2024 

Firstly, a huge welcome back to school and a happy new year to you all. We hope you had a restful Christmas, and we look forward to catching up with the children. Thank you so much for the kind and generous gifts you gave at the end of the school year.  

This term our topic is ‘Survivors’ which we are very excited about. We are going to begin the topic by thinking about what we need to survive and examples of survival stories from around the world. Then in week two we will begin to learn about the Stone Age and move through to the Iron Age. Throughout learning about this period, we will be thinking about what is needed to survive and how that evolved through this fascinating time in history.  

Please see our curriculum map and revised timetable below:

Autumn Term 2023

Welcome back to school!

Our first topic ‘Fantastic Creatures’ offers up a wide range of learning objectives for the children to really get stuck into. A lot of the children’s learning will be cross-curricular which will hopefully make it interesting, meaningful and memorable.

A few practical matters to remind you of:

PE – PE is always on a Wednesday with Mrs Green and Friday with Mr Colbeck. On these days please may your child come to school in their PE kits. As winter draws near, the weather will begin to turn cold and wet, so please ensure your child has appropriate clothing such as trainers, jogging bottoms, jumpers, gloves and light waterproof jackets. If for some reason your child cannot participate in PE, please send a note or see us in the morning. For safety reasons we ask that children do not wear earrings on PE days and if their hair is below their ears then it must be tied up.

PE on a Friday will begin on Friday 8th September and the Wednesday PE session will begin on Wednesday 13th September.

Reading – Your child will read with their ‘Guided Reading’ group once or twice a week. The days your child reads on will be noted in their home book. Each group will read a book chosen from our school library. They will read with an adult in school and be issued reading homework which will be recorded in their home book. It is important their reading homework is completed before their next session as the whole group reads and moves on together.

Mental Maths– Your child will receive mental maths targets every Thursday which will be tested the following Thursday. The children have been assessed and will be given different targets to practise at home to support their maths lessons in school.

Spellings – Your child will receive new spellings to learn every Tuesday which will be tested the following Tuesday. Again, the children have been assessed and will be given spellings we feel give them an appropriate level of challenge and will expand their vocabulary. We expect the children to learn the correct spellings of words but they should also know the meanings and be able to use the words in sentences.

Show and Tell – We will have a show and tell session each Thursday afternoon. During this time if the children have anything topic related or something that they are keen to share, they may bring it into show their classmates. Please do not bring anything too precious into school – a photograph of the item can be emailed to swallows@alpington.norfolk.sch.uk

Inhalers and Medicine

We like to have an inhaler in the class for each child who has asthma. Please ensure that your child brings one into class immediately and that it is current and up to date.

If your child requires any medication during the school day, please complete a form at the school office. Mrs Reeman will ensure that any medication is kept safe and that the classroom adults and the first aid trained staff members are notified.

Snack

Just a reminder that children in KS2 are no longer eligible for a free piece of fruit or vegetable at break time. If your child would like a snack at break time, please provide a healthy option. As a school, we are trying to limit the amount of single use plastic we produce so something that does not come in a wrapper or packet that cannot be recycled would be much appreciated!

Pencil Cases

All the equipment that the children require will be available to them at school. There is no requirement for them to have a pencil case in school.

Tapestry and School Website

We will be recording a lot of our learning on Tapestry and our class page ‘Swallows in Action’ on the school website. Please do check to keep up with what we have been doing in school!

Useful Websites

You may find these websites will help support your child’s learning:

Timestable Rockstars– Children have school issued logins. If you do not know your child’s login details, please ask and we can remind you.

Top Marks: Hit the Button– Top Marks is an excellent website for all aspects of learning across subjects. Hit the Button is a particular game on Top Marks which is great for all mental maths strategies.

If you have any questions, we are always available after school or our email address is Swallows@alpington.norfolk.sch.uk