Welcome back. I hope you all enjoyed your week off school, relaxing with family and friends. 

This half term sees the beginning of the Christmas period. This is always one of my favourite times of the year as the children (and staff!) are getting excited for the Christmas play, which will be 'Pirates versus Mermaids' this year. The children with speaking parts all have their words, as well as all the song words, so please practise with your child at home as much as possible over the next few weeks. Occasionally, I will be setting 'practise song words' as homework instead of spellings so expect lots of singing at home!

Instead of History, we will be focussing on Geography this half term. Year 3s will be learning about the UK. They will learn about the countries, cities and rivers in the UK as well as the seas which surround the UK. Year 4s will be learning about mountains. We will learn about different mountain ranges in the world, locating these on a map and considering what life is like for those who live on a mountain as we learn about the human and physical features. Year 5s topic is named 'All Around the World'. The children will be introduced to geographical language including Equator, Northern and Southern hemisphere, continents, countries, oceans and lines of latitude and longitude. 

Instead of Art, this half term we focus on DT. We have timetabled two mornings for DT in Ash and Maple Classes. From experience, we have found that by blocking out two mornings, the children are able to fully immerse themselves in the designing and making process without the added pressure of packing away after just one lesson. More information about these mornings will be shared with parents nearer the time. 

Year 3s will be doing Forest Schools this half term on Tuesday afternoons. Children will come to school in their PE kits as usual, but then change into Forest Schools clothes at lunchtime. Please provide suitable clothing in a separate bag including waterproof coats and wellies. 

Year 3 were lucky enough to work alongside the artist in Year 2 creating the most beautiful sea creature inspired pieces of art work, currently displayed outside of Maple Class. Now it is the turn of Year 4 and Year 5 who will experience their own art afternoon with the artist. More details to follow. 

Year 5 will be visiting Winchester museum this half term as part of their History learning on the Anglo-Saxons. This hands-on experience will be incredibly enriching, helping to bring the children's learning to life.