Croeso Pawb!

Welcome back to school everyone! I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to an exciting school year together – I certainly am! We have so many wonderful learning opportunities planned for you and lots of visits, visitors and celebrations to look forward to.

I can’t wait to help you learn and grow throughout the year and hope you continue to be the best you can be. Here’s to a wonderful school year!

Mr Sheehan 😊

This year we will be continuing to develop the four purposes of the new curriculum for Wales:

* Ambitious, capable learners ready to learn throughout their lives

* Enterprising, creative contributors ready to play a full part in life and work

* Ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world

* Healthy, confident individuals ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society

This term, our topic is 'Into the Woods', where the children will become young scientists and explorers as they investigate the fascinating world of woodland habitats. They will learn about a variety of animals, insects and plants, discovering how living things are adapted to survive in different environments. Through hands-on investigations, observations and outdoor learning opportunities, the children will explore how animals and plants can be grouped and classified according to their features and characteristics. As part of this topic, pupils will develop important scientific skills including observing closely, asking questions, identifying and comparing living things, recording findings and making simple conclusions based on their discoveries. Alongside building their knowledge of the natural world, children will also strengthen their curiosity, communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills, helping them to become confident and enthusiastic learners who appreciate and care for the environment around them.

In Literacy this term, we will be studying The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide, a captivating fantasy story that will inspire the children’s imagination and creativity. Through reading and exploring the text, pupils will develop their understanding of characters, settings and plot whilst building key reading comprehension skills. The children will have opportunities to write for a range of purposes, including creating detailed setting descriptions using rich vocabulary and figurative language, writing diary entries from a character’s perspective to explore thoughts and feelings, developing playscripts that bring scenes from the story to life, and producing their own survival guides based on the creatures and adventures encountered throughout the book. As part of this learning, children will strengthen their skills in planning, drafting and editing their writing, as well as improving their grammar, punctuation and spelling. They will also develop creativity, communication, empathy and confidence, enabling them to express their ideas effectively across a variety of writing genres.

In Maths, we’ll be developing our skills in place value and number operations; mental and written strategies for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; problem-solving and reasoning; times tables fluency and statistics later in the term. We’ll be using our skills to calculate meal costs at a woodland café.

In Religious Education this term, we will be exploring the theme of Creation and Covenant, learning about God's relationship with His people and the promises He made throughout the Old Testament. The children will study the story of Abraham and God's call to trust Him, including the covenant God made with Abraham and the challenges he faced in showing faith and obedience. They will also learn about Isaac and his family, exploring how God's promises continued through future generations. As part of this topic, the children will discover the story of Joseph, reflecting on how he demonstrated faith, hope and love even during difficult times. Through discussion, scripture, reflection and creative activities, pupils will develop a deeper understanding of God's faithfulness and the importance of trusting in Him. They will build skills in critical thinking, empathy and respectful discussion, while learning how these stories continue to inspire Christians today and encourage us to show faith, hope and love in our own lives.

This term, we are focusing on the virtues of being faith-filled and hopeful. These virtues help us grow in our relationship with God and encourage us to face challenges with trust, confidence, and positivity.

• Faith-Filled: We encourage pupils to be faith-filled—trusting in God, living out Gospel values, and showing kindness, compassion, and respect to others in their daily lives.
• Hopeful: We want pupils to be hopeful—looking to the future with confidence, persevering through challenges, and recognising that God is always with them to guide and support them.

These virtues will be woven into our daily learning and celebrated in our classroom environment

Dates for your diary:

24th September – Class mass @ St John Lloyd Church at 9:30am.