Summer 1
Welcome back to the Summer term
, where has this year gone?
Our topic this half term is called The Hungry Caterpillar, it looks at the life cycle of the butterfly, frog and chicken
. We are getting some caterpillars in a special butterfly net to develop in school and we have some frog spawn (that has already changed into tadpoles) in the classroom to observe.
In conjunction with our topic our science is based on life processes and we have been looking at animals and will soon be growing some seeds. So hopefully later in the term the children will be bringing some plants 
home, if we have been successful at watering and keeping them in the light.
In literacy our first book is called The Enormous Turnip, we will then explore some non-fiction and then we are reading Monkey 
Puzzle.
In creative arts we are going to learn how to follow simple music 
with percussion instruments.
In PSHE we will be working with a partner or in a small group to play lots of games together to improve our sharing and taking turns 
which some of us still find quite a challenge!
Of course we will be continuing to do lots of other exciting things including maths 
, phonics, gardening, PE and ICT, when we will explore robots and using switch toys.
All in all a very busy term.
Spring 2
This half term Sapphire class will be reading and exploring the book Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake.
Our topic is Kings and Queens, we will be making our own individual castles and identifying the parts of a castle, making a king and queen for our castle, also be making crowns and jewellery fit for a king and queen, learning about transport used by royalty and ending up having a year band royal banquet. As part of our topic we plan to have a short trip to Stopsley fort.
In science we will be concentrating on Life processes looking at ourselves and life cycles. As well as doing some work with animals and identifying similarities and differences between animals. I am hoping to bring in some animals for Sapphire class to see.
In maths we will be covering number, geometry and measurement, exploring topics such as pictograms and time, learning days of the week, months and seasons.
We also have some exciting days planned in school such as World book day and Sport relief. We are planning to finish in the last week with some fun activities related to Easter before we break up.
Hi, I'm Sarah. I am looking forward to starting teaching in Sapphire class and having a fun time working with all the children and staff.
This term we will be swimming every Tuesday morning.
Our topic is Cafes, and each week we will be looking at foods from particular countries. As part of our topic we are visiting Pizza Express, and we hope to visit The Limes - a Caribbean café, later in the term. In literacy we will be exploring the book The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr, and then later on, The Shopping Basket, by John Burningham.
In creative arts we will be learning different dances beginning with bhangra dancing.
In science we will be looking at Materials, and learning how to describe them using comparative language, such as rough/smooth, shiny/dull, soft/hard.
In ICT we will be learning how to draw different objects with various computer programs and will be looking at different games to do with our café topic.
It will be a busy half term.
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Welcome to another fun packed year at Richmond Hill School and welcome to Sapphire Class we'll make sure your child has a fantastic time.
This term in Literacy we are reading the story "Funny Bones" by Alan Ahlberg if you want to read the story with your children at home I am sure there will be copies in the Library or you can buy it from Amazon here. There are also lots of videos based on the story on Youtube (just search Funnybones story). We will be doing lots of different work on this story including naming parts of the body including our bones and looking at different skeletons
In Maths (note it is called Maths now not Numeracy any more) we will continue to look at creative ways of counting, studying and naming shapes and looking at different ways of measuring (including money).
Our topic this half term is called "Champions" and we are looking at different ways of being healthy including exercise and eating healthy foods.
An important date for your diary is Friday 16th October which will be our Harvest Festival Assembly where the children will perform a song they have practised and I'm sure they will do you proud. Keep an eye on the website and Home/school books for exact details.
If you have any questions or comments do get in touch via the home school book and I will get back to you.
David Mingay - Sapphire Class Teacher
