Leafy Seadragon Class (Yr 1/2)

Welcome to Leafy Seadragon Class!

Our teacher is

Mrs Davidson

Mrs Dennett teaches us on a Thursday morning

Our teaching assistants are

Mrs Jennings and Mrs Feghali-Brown

Useful information

PE - Our PE lessons will take place on a Thursday and Friday. Please ensure that your child comes to school in appropriate PE kits on those days. Our school PE kit is black shorts or joggers/leggings, a plain white t- shirt and trainers for this autumn term. We ask that other gym wear and football shirts are not worn.

Drinks and snacks - Please can all children bring a labelled, filled water bottle into school daily. Snack is now being provided by the Government for Year 1 and Year 2, so children do not need to bring a snack into school with them each day.

Seesaw - Seesaw is great resource that we use to communicate with each other and share lots of useful information. Sometimes, photos of your child's brilliant learning will be shared with you on Seesaw. You are also welcome to message me through the app and I will get back to you ASAP.

Learning

Reading - All children are heard read every week, whether this is individually or as part of a reading group, where we share and discuss stories. The children will have opportunities to change their books or be provided with a new book every week as part of their shared reading session which they then take home. We would love it if you would read with your child as often as possible - it really does make a huge difference to their progress. It is a known fact that children's vocabulary, confidence and self esteem is improved by reading everyday. It would be great if you could take the time to discuss what they have read and ask questions using VIPERS. Reading is not just about being able to decode the words but is also about having fluency, using expression and being able to understand what they have just read. We are really grateful for your support in this area. We encourage all children to share a wide range of books with their families and not just their reading books. Therefore the children will be bringing home a Read to Me book, that they are able to choose and change every Wednesday. This is a book for you to read and share with your child.

Spellings - In the first term thre will be no spellings for any children. After this, spelling lists will be sent home on Seesaw if your child is Year 2 . Year 2 Children will be tested on their spellings every Friday. The spellings may practise a particular phonic pattern, or be taken from their year group "common exception words" list of high frequency words that are tricky to spell.

Phonics - Children have daily phonics sessions following the ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ programme. Children learn through synthetic phonics, the teaching of writing in which particular graphemes (letters) and their associated phonemes (sounds) are decoded through segmentation to spell words. Children have daily sessions progressing through the phases within the ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ progression document.

In Year 2, phonics continues to be revisited to ensure mastery of the phonetic code and any child who does not meet age related expectations will continue to receive support to close identified gaps. Once secure children move onto 'Spelling Shed'. The ‘Spelling Shed’ programme supports the teaching of spelling, embracing knowledge of spelling conventions, etymology, morphology, phonics and definitions of words. The programme is split into weekly spelling patterns, which are organised by year group; it also includes sessions on the common exception words and challenging spellings. The ‘Spelling Shed’ scheme progresses through the spelling patterns set out in the National Curriculum.