Welcome back to Term 2 at Minterne, we hope you and your children enjoyed a well-earned rest during half-term.  We are very pleased with how the children settled and adapted to school life at Minterne, after such a long time away from school and having to begin a new school too!  This term is set to be a great one, it's always my favourite as it's lovely being in school in the run up to Christmas.  We will continue to communicate with you through ParentMail and Tapestry - please contact our school office if you have not yet signed up to these - we often share photos or send messages to keep you updated and let you know about personal achievements for your child.  

Our topics this term include:-

English - Gorilla?  What the Dickens?  During this topic, the children get the opportunity to explore local authors (Anthony Browne and Charles Dickens) through different genres. When studying Anthony Browne, they focus on the illustrations; finding out how picture books work, how stories are told through illustrations, through the words and how the two work together. Charles Dickens introduces the children to biographies, and allows them the opportunity to explore the features of a biography in order to write their own.

History - Bourne To Remember In this topic, pupils will learn about the history of Sittingbourne, including areas of the town familiar to them. They will have the opportunity to question a local historian and to learn how to conduct their own research on areas of historical importance such as local industry, how the town was affected by the war, the high street, and learn about important historical figures who have visited the town. As the topic progresses, the children will produce a timeline of events. The topic will end with a leaflet displaying facts about the history of the town which will be given to The Sittingbourne Museum for them to display.

Science - Head To Toe -  Our pupils become personal trainers this term. They are put in to teams of 5 and given a client who has bespoke concerns about their lifestyle and what they wish to achieve. Over the term, the class learn about skeletal structure, respirations, muscles and healthy diets to become experts on healthy living. Over the term they will design healthy meals for their clients and assess their vegetable and sugar intake. At the end of the topic, the pupils will present their research and the changes their client needs to make to the rest of class.

DT  - Sew this is Christmas...and what have you done? During this topic, pupils will examine sewn Christmas tree decorations and, with the aim of sewing a decoration good enough to hang at the front of their tree at home, they will create an appropriate design, make a paper pattern and learn and practice running and overcast stitches. They will then use their pattern to cut out fabric pieces, join them together, stuff the decoration with wadding and decorate it with sewn embellishments. Finally they will evaluate their finished product against their original design criteria.

PSCHE - Myself and Others - Children will learn to recognise and respect that there are different types of families and that families provide support, stability and love. They will learn about how to identify safe relationships and about personal privacy and boundaries, including online. We will discuss strategies for keeping safe and for dealing with hurtful behaviour. The importance of self-respect and the right to be treated respectfully by others will also addressed and we will learn about ways in which people from different cultures and the wider society show respect and courtesy.