Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome back. We hope you have enjoyed a restful half term. This half term, our topic will be: Where I live.

Reading

Every child will read aloud to an adult regularly at school. Reading at home is the learning priority for your child over the course of this year. Children who read at home make noticeably better academic progress and develop a love of reading for both understanding and pleasure. There will be a variety of different genres available, including story books, non-fiction and phonic activity books. Reading to your child is equally an essential part of building on their story knowledge, which improves their comprehension skills and allows them to become better writers. It also increases their vocabulary, enhancing their writing and giving them a better understanding of what they read independently. Please continue to comment in your child’s reading record book. During the week, please work on all your child's books, reading and re-reading and talking about the story or information. Repeated reading will increase fluency, comprehension and confidence. If your child is reluctant to read, please talk to us and we can discuss a range of strategies to support. Books will be changed regularly throughout the week.

Phonics

Phonics is a very important part of the Year 1 curriculum, as we build towards the phonic screening check that your child will take in June 2026. The children will have a daily phonics session which will consolidate and gradually increase their knowledge of the sounds within the English language. The children will bring home a phonics book as part of their weekly reading so please look at the sounds within these books and help them to spot other words containing these sounds in the world around them. We will also continue to send home phonics practise films via Class Dojo to practise with your child as appropriate. If you need any advice or support in helping your child with their phonics please do not hesitate to see a member of the Year 1 team. We are always happy to help!

Maths practice

The key areas we will be focusing on this half term are:

· Addition and Subtraction within 10

· Naming and sorting 3D shapes

· Naming and sorting 2D shapes.

· Making patterns with shapes.

· Counting, labelling and ordering numbers to 20

· Addition and Subtraction within 20

As well as helping your child with their number facts, any ‘real life’ experience will really help. Cooking and shopping are particularly valuable. Your child will benefit from counting up their own coins and using them to pay at the shop. They may not yet be able to work out the total price or the change, but they will benefit enormously from the experience of needing enough money to pay and getting change when they give too much. Other (less stressful!) activities include, checking the time (o’clock and half past); ‘helping’ with measuring tasks; spotting and reading numbers in different contexts (door numbers, road signs, etc.); counting anything including money (counting in 2s and 10s).

Topic work

Other activities you may want to explore to support your child’s learning this half term include, finding out about the local area where you live. How long have the buildings been there? Can you spot any physical features of the landscape? Have a look at some maps, can you find where you are? Explore materials in and around your home. Why are certain materials used to make things and what are their properties?

Other information

The class will continue to have daily fruit provided in the morning. You may wish to supplement this with an additional healthy snack, for example, bread and butter. Your child will be able to drink during lessons but this should be water only and should be in a non-leaky, named water bottle. PE with Mr Bain will be on Wednesday afternoons. Please do ensure that your child’s jumper and PE kit is clearly named. We aim to learn outdoors as much as possible so, named, waterproof clothing and shoes are essential at all times so please do bring these back in again. As well as hats, gloves and an extra layer for colder days. As always, we are available via Class Dojo or email, so please do not hesitate to ever get in touch: becky@stoke-climsland.cornwall.sch.uk or gmachray@stoke-climsland.cornwall.sch.uk

Key Dates

Phonics Parent Meeting Tuesday 17h November 2026

Parent meetings Wednesday 11th November 2026 or Thursday 12th November 2026 (please book your appointment via Parent Bookings)

Infant Christmas performance Wednesday 2nd December 2026, Thursday 3rd December 2026

Last day of term Friday 18th December 2026

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Becky Thomsett and Georgina Machray