To all our wonderful Highflyer families,

This week in our topic we have continued to learn about the first Norman King, William the Conqueror and how we know so much about the battle from 1066.  We have also been looking at several historical sources and observing what we see - so that we can try to understand what happened as accurately as possible! We have also continued to enjoy finding out about the Bayeux Tapestry and how it was made; including how valuable/fascinating it is to still be able to tell the story of what happened nearly 1000 years ago :) … Next week we will be beginning to think about how our monarch today (King Charles III) has a whole variety of different roles compared to King William I - including how much power William I  had back then … including his passion for building castles and important information written down in the Domesday Book ... Therefore, any books which the children might like to bring ‘in’ or relevant photographs of them even visiting Windsor Castle or the Tower of London – two that immediately spring to mind !? – would be VERY gratefully received … 

For Week 3 (T6) our phonic focus is comparing the /ch/ phoneme e.g. nature/stretcher – with two additional homophones of groan/grown; with Forest School continuing on Wednesday morning (from 10.00am) as usual followed by our Performance Sport P.E. (Athletics focus) on Thursday as timetabled. However, … wherever possible it would be absolutely AMAZING if all the children could “Be prepared”! – by remembering to apply their sun cream each morning (before school), bring in their sunhat (Mrs Shrimpton and I are more than happy to help pop them into their individual trays for easily accessibility at all breaktimes, lunch plays or even outdoor After School Clubs) plus their water bottles – especially as “sunshine and hot weather” are seemingly forecast for next week! Fingers crossed …

In Maths we are continuing with our unit on statistics - looking at data and creating graphs; however, please don’t hesitate to help your fabulous children continue to practice their 2x, 5x and 10x tables – and beyond (3x, 4x and 6x) if they are feeling super confident! As we have also been revising our previous work on halves, quarters and thirds (as fractions) including parts of a ‘whole’ number – so this added knowledge really does help to imbed their learning … and will pay dividends when they move ‘next-door’ from September into marvelous Year 3 I promise!

Please do remember/encourage the children to return any completed weekly maths homework – on any day of the week! As all ‘best efforts’ are always welcome ;) … - even those which only made it into their tray … alongside any ‘lost or found’ group reader books … that may still be hiding ‘at home’ before we switch to our final shared FFT text of the year … from Monday 22^nd.

We also have a large amount of unnamed jumpers, cardigans and coats etc – on Grandpa Ian’s/Mr Woods terrific new pegs … therefore, please do stop by if you are missing any items … and feel sure that they are ALL waiting to find their rightful home/owners again!?

Wishing you all another great week – and PLEASE do not hesitate to drop me a line if you need – or would like any further clarification as to the next few weeks/events ahead … especially as the whole school calendar starts to fill up considerably … (including the eagerly anticipated arrival of Nettlefest!) and the gorgeous chatter amongst the children of “Sports Day” practices starting to gleefully feature more heavily … - or our Egg and Spoon/Sprint/Skipping Race ‘rehearsals’ taking hold in the walled garden :) !

With very best wishes – as always,

Mrs Winters and the HF ‘Team’