Hello Year 1,

This week is such a special week because we are going to Colchester Castle on the 27th January 2022. This learning experience will be super exciting and it will improve our understanding of castles. The office sent a letter via Schools Buddy on the 14th January and it would be great if parents could follow the guidelines as per this letter.

We are also going to build Motte and Bailey castles in class and we would appreciate it if parents can start saving empty toilet and kitchen rolls as well as small boxes e.g. toothpaste, soap etc. Could you please send these collections to school on Monday 31st January 2022? 

This week Year 1 CC will also have their class assembly on Friday 28th January 2022 and parents already received an email from the office regarding the procedures that need to be followed.

Mrs Bennett's assembly will be on the 11th February 2022 and parents will receive their assembly letters shortly. Both classes will start their assemblies at 9:15 am. 

Just so that everybody knows what else is expected we would like to share some general information with our parents/carers and children.

Spelling Homework

From this week onwards our children will be learning ten spelling words per week and we will be assessing it on Fridays. These words will be part of the Weekly Overview that we post on the website. Children are learning these words in class and we would like parents to follow up at home. This term we will be focussing on the common exception words because we have identified the spelling of these words to be a problem when children are writing their sentences. 

Show and Tell

Children can bring ONE item to school on a Friday to discuss with the class. 

Friday  7.01.22 - Emerald

Friday  14.01.22 - Sapphire

Friday  21.01.22- Ruby

Friday  28.01.22 - Amber

Due to Covid safety measures we ask parents to send the Show and Tell item in a carry bag. The item will only leave the carry bag when the child Show and Tell and will be sent home at the end of the day.

Year 1 email address

Please remember that parents can contact teachers at any time by using the following email address: year1@greatberry.essex.sch.uk. As teachers are obliged to read email messages sent to the Year 1 address at least once a week, parents are advised  to  communicate  absences,  doctor's appointments and other matters that need immediate attention to the office email address.

PE

Our children enjoy PE and it would be fantastic if all PE bags and PE clothes are labelled, so that we are able to identify items that may get lots or put accidently in the wrong bag. Please could you also make sure that hair is tied up and earrings are removed on PE days. Your child will be having PE on the following days:

Mrs Bennett's class - Tuesdays and Thursdays

Mrs Cranstone's class - Tuesdays and Wednesdays 

Snack time in school

We have a small snack every morning before we go out for playtime at 10:15 am. School provide a piece of fruit, but children do not always like the fruit on offer. Parents are welcome to send a piece of fruit to school for snack time. Please take note that crisps, chocolates, biscuits or any other sugary food are not allowed as we are striving to teach children to enjoy a healthy snack.  Raisins and dried fruit will be acceptable. Could you please limit the size of the snack as we only have 5 minutes available for snack time?

Homework

Children have a Homework Book as well as a folder for Maths sheets. Homework will be available every Thursday (please refer to the attached Weekly Overview). Parents will be able to see the homework online on the Great Berry Primary School website when clicking on the Year 1 Class Page option (please refer to the attached Weekly Overview). English will normally be done in the Homework Book and Maths will be a sheet that we will put into the Maths folder. Please return the Homework Book on a Tuesday so that it can be marked before the new homework activities are scheduled.

Reading

Last Friday all Year 1 children received two reading books as well as a reading diary. Children are encouraged to read daily to their parents/carers and reading books will be exchanged once a week. Please write the date that children are reading to parents/carers in the reading diary as well as a short note about their reading.

Barnaby Bear

Last Friday Barnaby Bear went home with one child in each class. We know that he will have an exciting time with the children this year. If your child receive Barnaby for the weekend please send back on the Monday so that it can be ready on a Friday to go to a different child. There is a book in the Barnaby Bear bag and it will be great if children can write/draw pictures of the things that he has been doing. 

Please send Barnaby Bear back on a Monday so that we can keep it in isolation before it goes out again.

We look forward to a wonderful term with all our Year 1 parents/carers and children!

Mrs Cranstone and Mrs Bennett