Welcome to Dormouse class! Our teacher is Mrs Jackson, who has been teaching for 17 years, and has worked at Bedwell for the last 9. Her favourite things are Lindt chocolate and reading her Kindle. She doesn’t like running very much, and is scared of spiders!

• Our curriculum map - find out about our current topics
• Our latest school newsletter
• Meet our school councilors, Richie and Amiya

Home learning ideas:

• Try to do as much maths as you can when you're out and about:
  • Keep on practicing counting whenever and wherever you can - how many cars are there in the street? How many trees in the field? How many trollies in the supermarket, players on the team or stairs on the way to bed? Our focus is on numbers from 10-20 this term, so things that come in groups of this size are ideal for counting practice.
  • Practice writing numbers in sand, salt or water, or try making numbers out of groups of pebbles.
  • Practice counting in 2s, 5s and 10s - counting in multiples as you go up or down stairs; counting in 2s as you pair up socks; totalling up everyone’s fingers and toes by counting in 5s...
• Constant practice of reading and phonics is just about the most valuable thing you can do at home. Try to read with your child as often as possible and talk to them about what they’ve read - we've put together some guidance and advice on using the books your child will bring home here.  
• We follow the Read Write Inc phonics programme, and they have provided lots of guidance on supporting your child at home, which you can read here.
• It’s Safer Internet Day on February 10th, so this is a good opportunity for us all to talk about the way that we stay safe online. This year’s focus is on learning to use AI safely - you can find out more at saferinternet.org.uk/ 
• Explore some of our local habitats and see what different living things you can find there - what differences can you see between the park, woodland, back gardens and farmers fields? What things do the animals that live in these places eat? How do they keep themselves safe? Which of them would be happy living in your garden?

Our latest news:

• Year 2 were lucky enough to visit St Hugh and St John’s Church to learn more about the Christmas story. We listened carefully to the team of volunteers who told us all about Jesus’ journey and how his birth is celebrated by Christians around the world at Christmas. 
 

 
• Our history topic has seen us learning about the Great Fire of London. As part of this unit, we compared firefighting in the past with firefighting in the present day, and were invited to Stevenage Firestation to meet a team of firefighters. The best part of the day was when we climbed up into the fire engine and got to use the hose!
 

 
• We had a fantastic visit to see Goldilocks in Milton Keynes on the 10th December. It was a great day out and we all loved getting to join in with the show by laughing, singing and booing. We were especially excited when two children from our school were invited on stage to sing the final song with the star, Brian Conley! 
 

 
• We have enjoyed practising and getting ready for our performance of Knock Knock. We loved learning the songs, actions and words, and loved performing the finished show. Thank you to everyone who came to watch us. 
 

We have been learning about... 

Maths - We have been developing our understanding of numbers to 10 and then to 20. We are now beginning to explore larger numbers and what they are made of, and have used lots of practical equipment to help us to understand what different numbers ‘look’ like and how they can be regrouped.

English - This term, we have been reading Meerkat Mail and exploring the layout and key features of postcards. We have learnt all about expanded noun phrases and used these to write our own postcards about our Christmas pantomime visit. After the Christmas break, we will be sending our postcards home, so please keep an eye out for them in the post! Check out two great examples:

Hello George, 

How are you? I went to a pantomime to see Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I loved the magician because he did cool tricks. I can tell you he did amazing, funny tricks. I liked the little baby bear. He was cute. How was your pantomime? 

Love Phoebe 

Hi George, How are you? I loved going to the pantomime. I loved baby bear because she was so cute. I liked Goldilocks because she was kind. How was your favourite circus? Did you like yours? I loved the magician because he done cool tricks. I liked Billy because he was very funny. I liked the bad guy because he was funny. Love from Miya xxx  

Hi George, 

How are you? I loved going to the pantomime. I loved baby bear because she was so cute. I liked Goldilocks because she was kind. How was your favourite circus? Did you like yours? I loved the magician because he done cool tricks. I liked Billy because he was very funny. I liked the bad guy because he was funny. 

Love from Miya xxx  

This term's topics

English - Our first unit of the term is built around the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, using Little Red by Bethan Woolvin as our core text. We will collect descriptive language and will then use this to write a short setting description. We will explore the difference between statements, questions and commands, and will use co-ordinating conjunctions to link ideas. We will finish the unit by writing our own versions of the story opening. After that, we will move on to look at non-chronological reports. We will continue to develop our understanding of conjunctions, questions and statements, and will then combine these skills to write a report about an animal of our choice.

Maths - First up, we will be developing our understanding of money, exploring different ways to make a given total by combining different coins, and then becoming shopkeepers and working out how much change to give our customers. After that, we will be focussing on measures, measuring and comparing lengths, masses and capacities and then using these skills to solve problems. Later in the term, we will be moving on to look at statistics, starting by using tally charts and tables to collect information, and then presenting this data using pictograms and block charts. Throughout the term we will also be working hard to secure our knowledge of number facts, doubles and halves.

Science - We will be exploring the different places where animals live and thinking about the ways in which they are adapted to suit that habitat. We will investigate the things that they eat, the way that they protect themselves and the types of homes that they make. We will focus in particular on seaside habitats and the creatures that we find there.

Humanities - We will be learning all about life in India this term. It’s a huge, diverse country, so we will explore the different landscapes and habitats, from the Himalayan mountains of the north to the rainforests and deserts of the west to the bustling cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. We will investigate food, clothes, music, schools and homes, and begin to compare life in the UK with life in India. Throughout the topic we will also be developing our map skills, locating India (as well as the UK and the seven continents) on a variety of maps and globes. In RE we will be exploring the question, ‘Why should we care for the world?’ We will build on our understanding of creation stories from different religions and think about the relationship between humans and nature.

Take a look at our curriculum map for more information on our topics.