This half-term our topic is ‘Spring Celebrations Around the World’. Last week, we introduced our spring topic, learnt a bit about the season and what we might see at this time of year. This week (week 2), we have learned about a popular spring celebration, Nowruz, and some of the ways they celebrate this special period, as well as the foods they enjoy to celebrate new life and a new start. In week 3, we will learn about Songkran, a water festival celebrated in Thailand, marking the start of their traditional New Year. In week 4, we will be learning about Holi, a popular Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. In week 5, we will learn about the Egyptian festival, Sham El-Nessim, a  celebration marking the beginning of spring and the start of the agricultural season. In week 6, we will learn about the Christian celebration of Easter, how and why this is celebrated both in England and across the world. There will be lots of fun events happening this week such as the Easter Bunny hunt.

This half-term, we will be continuing our weekly tennis lessons at Ebbisham Sports Centre on Mondays. If we could please ask you to continue to provide your young person with a named sports bag with  trainers and tracksuit bottoms (if these are not kept in school), that would be very helpful. We also look forward to some fabulous community visit opportunities, including a trip to Sayers Croft and a trip to the cinema later this term.

In our Science sessions this half term we will be following the White Rose scheme of work looking at living things and their habitats. We will be learning about different groups of animals and what they need to be able to survive in different habitats. Some of Monarch Class will be learning about light and its properties as well as conducting a number of investigations in to how light travels.

In our Jigsaw PSHE sessions, we will be focusing on our new topic ‘Healthy Me’. Over the coming weeks we will cover themes such as what we need to eat to have a healthy diet, the importance of taking care of our emotional wellbeing and how we can take responsibility for our health.

Our ICT focus this half-term is the Twinkl Scheme of work, ‘Programming Turtle Logo and Scratch’. We will be designing and writing programmes to achieve specific goals and help solve problems.

For our World Views focus this half-term, we will be following the unit ‘What do Sikhs Value’? We will explore the key beliefs of Sikhi, in particular, the importance of equality. Through our sessions, we will gain a general insight into what many Sikhs value and how they express this through their community life, their commitment to pray, work and give, and the wearing of all or some of the 5Ks.

If there is any other information you would like me to provide you with or if you have any questions, please do get in touch.    

Nikki