Spring

Woodpeckers Spring Term Topic Web

Dear Woodpeckers Parents and Carers,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable Christmas break, filled with special moments with your loved ones. It’s wonderful to welcome the children back to school this week and I’m amazed at how well they have settled back in ready for the fresh term. This week we have jumped straight in with our whole school book - ‘The Promise’ by Nicola Davies. This is a beautiful story about the power of change and hope, gorgeously illustrated by Laura Carlin.

Towards the end of next week we will be launching our new topic The Ruthless Romans! We will be heading back in time learning about their huge cultural significance, impact on today and connections to literature. For more details, please check out the attached topic web.

Reading: Reading continues to be a key focus for us at Suckley. Regular practice is essential for building confidence, fluency, and a genuine joy of reading. Please ensure your child brings their reading book and log to school every day – remember golden tickets are awarded to those childen who read four times a week at home. Listening to your child read at home and recording it in their reading log is so valuable. We’ll change books once completed and assess comprehension.

Spellings: Spelling levels were reassessed at the end of the Autumn term. New spellings will continue to be set every Friday – these are stuck in their spelling books. Spelling tests will not be conducted in year 3 and 4; however, spellings are practiced daily during morning skills sessions. During these sessions, the children have the opportunity to explore the meaning and patterns behind the words, which has been shown to help improve retention. Spelling books should be brought to school daily, but please also encourage practice at home. Spelling lists can also be found online at https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb/. We recommend supervising online activity to ensure internet safety.

P.E. and Forest School: P.E. will take place on Friday afternoons this term, so please ensure your child has a complete P.E. kit, including appropriate footwear, and that their hair is tied back if necessary. We suggest keeping P.E. bags at school and taking them home at half term for washing. Currently, Forest School sessions are paused for the winter; this allows the site time to restore and recover. We will review the sites condition after February half term and update you accordingly.

Thank you all for your warm support during my first term at Suckley, it has been a pleasure getting to know your children, and I am truly grateful for your involvement and encouragement. I am excited to see what wonderful learning and growth lies ahead in Spring term, so lets have a fantastic 2025!

Best Wishes,

Woodpecker Team!