Rabbit Class

Welcome to Rabbit Class, a truly amazing mixed-age class of Year 2 and 3 children! We hope you have had a wonderful, fun-filled break with your loved ones, as well as some rest, ready to master the new learning and exciting challenges that lie ahead!

Our Team

Miss Patel continues to teach Rabbit Class, whilst covering the long-term absence of Mrs Cryer, alongside Miss Mulligan, who will be here to share in your learning each day.

Important Notices

Please ensure you come to school ready to learn, the following should help you:

What you should bring to school daily: 

• your school bag containing your reading book and reading diary
• a drink in a refillable bottle, preferably water
• a snack for playtime, if you wish
• a waterproof coat, whatever the forecast, a warm hat and gloves on colder days and for when those sunnier and warmer days appear (they will eventually come!), please bring a sun hat and sun cream
• all uniform must be clearly labelled with your name

PE Days: Mondays and Wednesdays

You will need to come into school wearing your PE kit on both PE days. As a gentle reminder, earrings should be removed for school on these days. The link to the PE uniform is as follows:

https://www.benthamcpschool.org.uk/school-uniform

Reading at Home: the children will have a reading book to take home, of their own choice, from our class library. It is important that children read at home a minimum of 3 times per week and an adult signs their child's diary to evidence this. This term, the children have been tasked with writing down any unfamiliar words and phrases from their reading book to broaden their vocabulary and transfer into their writing. Please ensure your child has their reading book and diary in school every day as we have a weekly reading volunteer in school, as well as the opportunity to read to Miss Patel or Miss Mulligan.

Spellings: spelling lists will be sent out Friday weekly (stuck in your child's reading diary) and will be tested the following Friday.

Rapid Recall Facts: 

Year 2

Number bonds: children should be able to quickly recall number bonds to 10 and 20 and then use these to derive related number facts up to 100 (e.g. 3 + 7 = 10, therefore 30 + 70 = 100).

Times tables: please support your child in learning the 2-, 5-, and 10-times tables (they should know the multiplication and division facts for these).

Year 3

In addition to the above, year 3 children should know the multiplication and division facts for the 3-, 4- and 8-times tables.

* All children are encouraged to go on TT RockStars and Numbots, at home, to practise their Rapid Recall facts. These facts really need to be instantly recalled, to support the maths in class. 

** In the classroom, the children have been using the following maths game to help them. It would be great to see this being used at home too:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button 

Our Learning This Term

Maths

In maths, we will continue our unit on 'multiplication and division', before moving onto 'fractions'. Regular timetables practice will help secure the children's understanding of these areas of learning.

English

We will begin the term by completing our writing linked to Leon and The Place Between alongside developing the children's gross and fine motor skills, with a focus on handwriting to ensure their writing and presentation is legible and neat. Once this is secure, we will delve into the wonderful book 'The Bear and The Piano' to inspire our writing to create letters and our own versions of the story.

The children have Whole Class Guided Reading sessions, three times per week, to improve their comprehension. This half term we will be focusing on the skills of skimming and scanning a text, retrieval and vocabulary. We will be teaching the children to use dictionaries and Word Hippo to find the meaning of unknown vocabulary. 

The link for Word Hippo is below (a great tool for children to find word meanings and synonyms to develop their vocabulary):

https://www.wordhippo.com

This half term, instead of a class novel, a book will be shared on a day-to-day basis, covering different themes of courage, friendship, kindness and respect. Images of the books shared will be displayed in the classroom window - please look out for these and ask your child to share them with you.

Science

This term, the children will be building on their knowledge from last year taking a closer look at our topic on ‘Animals including Humans’! They will be able to describe the basic needs of animals and humans for survival, in addition to the importance of exercise and the right types and amount of nutrition.

Geography

Our topic this half term is 'Let's Visit Australia'! We will be exploring the states and territories that make-up this vast continent and describe the many varied landscapes. We will be improving our mapping skills by using maps and symbols and identifying where Australia's animals live and what they eat. To complete the topic, we will explore the culture and lifestyle of Australian children and compare this to the UK.

Art

Linked to our Geography topic on Australia, the children will discover the key features of Aboriginal art, developing their drawing and painting skills, before producing a final Aboriginal-style piece.

DT

Linked to their Science learning, children will be designing and making a varied nutritious meal.

RE

In RE, we will be exploring the focus question 'What do Christians believe God looks like?' with a key focus on what parables are and that Christians believe these stories were told by Jesus to teach his followers about God. Through the parables of The Lost Son and Jonah and the Big Fish, children will be able to explore what they teach many Christians about God, including God being loving and forgiving and how their beliefs are put into practice through worship.

PSHE

Mrs Nelson will join Miss Mulligan to teach PSHE on a Wednesday afternoon to cover planning and preparation time for Miss Patel. The topic this half term is "Medicines and Me' linked to why medicines are taken and where they come from, as well as how to keep safe around them. 

PE

On Mondays, the children will be taking part in Yoga sessions with Miss Patel; on a Wednesday afternoon, the children will take part in Gymnastics sessions with Sarah and Lou-Anne from Ambitions.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or queries, please feel free to come in and see us before or after school. Should you feel you need a bit more time to discuss anything, please ring or email the school office to arrange an appointment.