The Willows 2025 - 2026

Dear Parents, Carers and Children,

Welcome back! We hope that you have enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyble break and that your child is looking forward to starting back at Lache Primary School and The Willows! We would like to welcome our new family and their daughter to Lache Primary School and The Willows.

The children have looked very smart on their return to school, settled into work really well and have been happy to see each other. Please do ensure that your child continues to wear full school uniform, including black school shoes or black trainers. Children may wear their own clothes as a treat when it is their birthday. Please do remind your child that they should take off their coat and put this into their own coat box on arrival in the classroom. Please do also remind your child that they should take off any hats when in the classroom or moving around school.

It would be very helpful if you can base any conversations aorund our school rules:

Be respectful

Be ready

Be safe

Children may bring a water bottle to school, please ensure that the drink is plain or flavoured water (rather than a fizzy drink). Please send drinks in a plastic bottle rather than glass or metal containers. This will help to ensure a safe working environment.  Should your child require a snack they are very weclome to bring in a piece of fruit, cereal or cereal bars. Please avoid sending into school lots of sweets and chocolate. School will provide bagels and fruit for the children within The Willows. The school kitchen also provides a range of snacks and drinks. Should your child want to buy a snack from the kitchen, please send any snack money into school in a secure container. Please do stress to your child the need to eat a school lunch each day, as this provides fuel in order to help them do and feel their best at school. 

This term we have many things to look forward too including our monthly visits to Lache Library. Learning to read fluently is a vital life skill and in The Willows one of our aims is to enthuse the children and to continue to develop their reading skills. Please do read at home with your child, read to them, encourage them to echo read and to read themselves more independently. Do talk with your child about what they are reading in order that they develop reading fluency understanding.  Children will be encouraged to take home a reading book each Monday (and more often when desired). It would be great if your child could read with you on a regular basis. Please do comment on your child's effort, engagement and reading progress in their home reading record book. Please do ensure that the reading book and reading record book is returned to school each Tuesday morning.

It would also be helpful if you could send into school on a Monday morning anything that your child may wish to share following a weekend event that has been memorable to them, this could be a photograph,  a drawing, postcard, a note detailing a film your child has watched, a family event, who your child may have played outside with, something your child has bought or received. This will help in developing conversation skills with your child and will lead into writing tasks. 

The children will again have the opportunity to attend the school choir at lunchtime once a week.  The club wil be led by Mrs Hughes, who is a familiar face to the children. Where possible the children will be encouraged to take part in before and after school clubs, including dance, tag rugby, cross country, basketball, football, fencing, archery and judo clubs.   Information letters will be sent home with your child relating to each club. Please do contact Willows staff if you require further information.

A copy of The Willows weekly newsletter will come home with your child each Monday and will be posted on School Spider, giving you more information about teaching and learning each week, and any special events for the week. 

The Willows Facebook and Twitter pages will be regularly updated with photographs following teaching and learning tasks,  events and special activities that have taken place in The Willows and around school.  If you would like some support in accessing these sites, please do approach Willows staff. Do take a look at your child in action!

The children should bring their PE kit into school each Wednesday. PE kit is black shorts, blue t-shirt and trainers. Please do ensure that PE kit and school uniforms are labelled with your child's name. Whenever appropriate the children will be encouraged to take part in PE, Spanish, Music and PHSE lessons alongside their mainstream peers. 

Children will continue to take part in Celebration assembly each Friday at 2.50pm. You are very welcome to attend the assembly and whenever possible Willows staff will let you know about the assembly in good time. Our children are very pleased and proud to see family members at the assembly. The Willows staff will regularly phone you to celebrate your child's achievements. Please do encourage your child to attend as many school assemblies as possible throughout the school week. This is an important part of the school day and as an inclusive school, all children are fully encouraged to take part in the life of the school. 

Included below is some information about the topics the children will be learning about this term. Should you have any questions or concerns at all, please do phone, email or call  into school and speak with Mr Mohan and The Willows staff.  It is especially important that if there is any change in your child's medicaton that you inform school as soon as possible. Please do every effort to order additional medication from the pharmacy well in advance of home or school running out of medication. Medication should not be handed to Willows staff by your child, please do ensure that medication is well enclosed and handed  to staff by a responsible adult or by the taxi escort. Should something unexpected happen at home and you feel that this may affect your child's school day, please do make contact with Willows staff so that we can support your child in the most appropriate way. 

The Willows team this school year will continue to be Mr Mohan  as the class teacher, Miss Russell, Miss Wilde and Mrs Hughes will support the children on a Monday and Tuesday. Miss Boulton will take over from Mrs Hughes and  support the children each Wednesday to Friday. Mrs Anstey will lead The Willows each Wednesday morning when Mr Mohan completes his planning and preparation time. Included below is an overview of what the children will learn in the Autumn term. 

Thankyou for your continued support and for the very positive feedback that we continue to receive from you. The Willows staff are very much looking forward to another  happy, memorable and successful school year your children.

Very Best Wishes

Mr Mohan and The Willows Team

AUTUMN TERM

English

We will use a range of texts, using the texts to develop a range of writing skills. Willows staff will model simple sentences for the children, we will then have a go at writing a similar sentence together. The children will then be supported in writing simple sentence more independently, attempting to use the features that they have seen modelled. Phonics and spelling tasks will be bespoke to the needs of each child. Children will read 1-1 with an adult on a daily basis and Willows staff will read a range of texts with the class group each day. This will include reading together 'Grandpas Great Escape' written by our feature author David Walliams.  Discussion will be encouraged in order to develop the children's enjoyement and understanding of what is being read. We will also focus on a 'WOW' word each week in order to extend the range of vocabulary that the children can understand and apply in conversation and in writing. Children will work with Willows staff to develop letter formation and presentation. 

Maths

Power Maths scheme of work will be used as  a guide to developing the maths skills and knowledge of each child. Tasks for each child will be bespoke to the needs of the children. We will focus particularly upon the development of addition and subtraction number bonds and on the rapid recall of multiplication facts.

Science

Our topic will be 'Animals including Humans'.

PHSE

No Outsiders

We will read the books 'The Flower' by John Light and 'Red' by Michael Hall, considering the range of choices we make each day and how we can build self confidence in ourselves and each other. 

Raising Aspirations

Our theme will be 'Animal Wordl'. We will consder where different animals live and who looks after them. We will consider what qualifications professional people need to keep animals safe and healthy. 

Jigsaw

Our topic is 'Changing Me'.

Zones of Regulation 

Children will take part in tasks which help them to develop startegies to self regulate more effectively and recognse and manage a range of sometimes challenging emotions.

Physical Education

Our focus this term is 'Multi Skills Throwing and Catching' Physical Education will take place each Wednesday afternoon. PE kit is a blue t-shirt, black shorts or black joggers, black pumps or trainers. Children may also bring a warm tracksuit to change into if the weather is cold. Please ensure that your child has a suitable bag to carry belongings and all kit is labelled with your child's name. Children may wear their PE kit each Wednesday on arrival at school.

Information Technology

The focus topic will be  'A Moving Device'.

Geography

Our focus topic will be 'World Explorers'. 

Design and Technology

We will follow instructions to make and evaluate the taste, texture and appearance of a range of foods including fresh fruit kebabs, pancakes and chocolate brownies and healthy fruit smoothies. The children will bake cup cakes which they will sell in order to raise money towards The Macmillan Cancer Charity. The Willows will hold a cake and cuppa event in school.

Art

We will create colour wheels by mixing primary and secondary colours, then creating pictures inspired by the paintings of artists Rothko and Klee. 

Spanish

Children will learn and use numbers to 10.  We will use simple greetings and talk about events unique to Spain and its climate.

Music

We will discover how our voices can produce rhythm, pulse, high and low pitch to create different effects.