Cygnet Class

Teacher: Mrs Gabrielle Manzi

TAs/LSAs : Mrs Michelle Rose, Mrs Margaret Cornthwaite, Mrs Serena Patten and Miss Sophie Farmer

Welcome to Cygnet Class

Question: where can you…..?

discover, explore, imagine

build a pirate ship and sail across the Arctic ocean

hunt for fossils, buried treasure or both

escape the hot lava of an active volcano

dig, plant, grow and cook

travel to the moon in a homemade space ship

paint everyday, if you want to

dance freely, sing loudly

become a scientist or superhero, mathematician or engineer

…and, of course, learn to read and write your first words…….

Answer: in Cygnet class! – where children explore what it is like to be grown-up, and where grown-ups remember what it was like to be a child.

Summer Term 2022

Globe Trotters

This term’s topic focus is geography, and we are going to be learning all about three famous rivers: our very own River Parrot, the River Thames and the River Nile. We will be learning about the animals and plants that have river habitats and we will be comparing life in a village with life in a city.

We are also looking forward to our Arts week – watch this space!

We are also developing Oracy skills through Philosophy for Children and learning how to discuss a topic with another person using sentence stems. We will learn to answer questions using a full sentence and to use or voices in different ways.

In Science we will be learning all about summer, including the weather and how to keep safe in the sun. We will also be learning about our own bodies and how to look after ourselves, including healthy eating and what happens when we exercise.

In English we will be using Talk for Writing to explore the well known story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Year one will be learning about how to create characters using adjectives and powerful verbs, and how to sequence a story using five parts. Reception children will be having a go at telling and writing their own versions of the Three Little Pigs, using their phonics and letter formation.

In Maths year 1 will be consolidating their number sense – partitioning numbers to 20 and recording this using addition, subtraction and equals signs. We will also be learning and remembering all double and near double facts to ten and exploring odds and evens to 20.

Reception will be learning all about 2d and 3d shapes and repeating patterns, alongside developing fluency with number bonds to 10. We will be learning how to count objects accurately to 10 and beyond, reading numbers to 20 and learning about odds and evens to 10. 

Don’t forget to send your child in with a named PE kit and wellington boots for wet welly walks. Children will also need a complete set of named spare clothes too, just in case of accidents!

If you are having to self -isolate here are a few things you can do to support your child’s learning at home:

Maths

Year 1: week 5.1 Home activities for doubling

• Watch Number blocks together and talk about the maths you see

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/joinin/numberblocks-help-your-child-with-maths

• Play board games using a dice- this helps your child to practise subitising (seeing a number of objects without having to count them) and turn taking.
• Practise reading and writing numerals
• Count together – up to 100 and beyond
• Sing number songs like Five little Ducks (BBC School radio has lots of number rhymes)
• Make different patterns using everyday objects
• Talk about the shapes you see in the environment
• Cook together – follow a recipe and weigh the ingredients
• Teach them to tell the time – o’clock and half-past the hour
• Say the days of the week and months of the year together

English

• Sing lots of nursery rhymes (BBC School radio will help)
• Read lots and lots of stories together
• Collect a few objects and make up stories together using the objects
• Practise writing the letters of the alphabet
• Support your child to practise writing their name
• Use post-it notes to label things in the house (like wall, chair, window, bedroom etc)
• Make shopping lists together – either writing or drawing the things you need

Also – please call into school if you can, and collect a handful of reading books for your child to read whilst they are off school.

In Cygnet Class we love reading! Here we are sharing our favourite books with our friends.

KS1 Curriculum Overview

Cygnet Class is where the youngest children begin their time with us. The children in this class are Reception and  Year 1.  Mrs Manzi, the class teacher, is supported by many very experienced voluntary helpers. In Cygnet Class there is a mixture of play based learning and more formal teacher led learning. A particular favourite of the week is the Welly Walk, where the children go off site around the village and local area learning about their surroundings. Children in Cygnet class have daily phonics lessons. Many of the children will say that their favourite part of the week is creative dance, a favourite of Mrs Manzi’s.

Here are some pictures of our work on Cave Art. We had great fun making our own paint and paint brushes and printing in clay with natural objects.

Useful Documents and information:

Here is the  foundation stage phonics workshop powerpoint:

phonics parent workshop 2021

Please find the powerpoint from Mrs Manzi’s presentation to parents about the Early Years Foundation Stage attached for you to look at at your leisure.

Foundation workshop 2021v.2

Here is the link to the handwriting website which has lots of ideas to help you support the development of gross and fine motor skills in preparation for handwriting. https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/parents.html