Hello and welcome to Packham's Class webpage!

In Packham Class we love to learn through many different multi-sensory activities including exploring our outdoor learning spaces, messy play and targeted interventions. We have four adults supporting our learning; our Class Teacher Emily and our Teaching Assistants Angela, Leah and Kara. We are very excited to be in Year 2 and will keep this page updated with all the fun things we are doing in class. 

Term 1

We have been so busy in Packham Class this term! We have been settling into our new class and getting to know the routine of the day. We have been exploring the topic All About Me, this has helped us get to know all about each other and our new friends in the class. We have enjoyed listening to a range of fiction books including I Like Myself and The Colour Monster. These books have helped us understand ourselves and our emotions. To support our understanding of our emotions we made our own Colour Monsters using paint and collage, whilst talking about what emotions the colours represent and what happens when we feel that emotion. We have been improving our communication through using SCERTS and communication boards during our messy play activities like making playdough and slime! On a Monday we are developing our life skills through our cooking classes and so far have made magic toast, cakes and cookies! We have also focused on how to safely transition around the school and love going to the soft play room, the library and the immersive room. 

Term 2

What a term for celebrations! Packham Class have been travelling round the world this term learning all about the different festivals and celebrations that happen at this time of year. We have explored festivals through a multi-sensory approach including trying different foods, sensory stories and music. We were a very lucky class and Father Christmas sent one of his elves, Skittles, to our classroom in December to help us get ready for Christmas. We loved seeing what they had been up to in our classroom whilst we weren't there! 

Term 3

Packham Class have become paleontologists this term and we are learning all about dinosaurs! We have been learning all about rhythm and rhyme, with some drama thrown in to by learning the song Dinosaur Rap and adding our own actions. To support our imagination and understanding we have made our own dinosaur masks to wear during the song! We have been continuing to work on our communication through all our activities, especially making requests using SCERTS and communication boards. Through learning a range of Makaton signs daily and with the school Makaton choir we are able to communicate effectively to everyone in class. We're continuing to develop our independence and life skills through cooking, dressing ourselves and the use of role play in class. 

Term 4

We have taken journeys down into Traditional Tales this tear, we have explored the Gingerbread Man and The Princess and the Pea story in lots of different fun and exciting ways covering all of the curriculum. We have developed our fine motor skills by learning how to sew with a needle and thread to make our own Gingerbread Men. We have have been exploring the process of change through finding out what happens to peas when you freeze them, mash them and cook them! Packham Class loved learning about shape, colour and pattern through Art this term and completed our own artist study of the work of Wassily Kandinsky, we used our new knowledge to make themed Mother's Day card. One of our favourite events was at the end of term when we got to participate in the school Colour Run on the field. It was so fun making our own powder paint and then running with our friends getting very messy and colourful. 

Term 5

It was all about animals and plants in Term 5 for Packham Class. We have learnt so much about what plants need to grow by planting out our own cress, sunflower and nasturtium seeds and watching them grow before taking them home. We were also lucky enough to develop our little allotment using a recycled palette to plant out herbs and some donated vegetable plants - we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can get to pick some cucumbers, strawberries and sweetcorn once they are fully grown. We have been exploring a range of stories this term including Elmer, Animal Boogie and The Tiger Who Came for Tea. One of our favourite highlights from the term was taking part in Aspire's first Sports Day! We were so proud to show off all the skills we have been learning in PE and try our hardest in all the events. 

Term 6

We are heading under the sea this term - time to follow the mermaids and see what we discover for our last term in Packham Class.

Home Learning Oppurtunities 

If you would like to support your child's education at home I have listed some ideas below for you. This is not mandatory and hopefully utilising some of the resources you will have at home.

Phonics / Reading 

 If you have storybooks at home, ask your child to choose one and read through it with them. You could make a reading den beforehand or take the book outside to the park or your garden. Whilst you are reading, encourage your child to look or point to different things in the pictures. You could ask them to find something in the picture that begins with a particular sound i.e. Can you find something that starts with the sound s? If they are able, ask them questions about the story or what they think might happen next. 

Imaginary play is a great way to develop literacy skills, using dolls, action figures or animals is a great way to start or you could make something like a space rocket out of recycling and go on a pretend adventure.

If you have a library nearby, they are an excellent resource for borrow books or toys for free and offer a really nice space to develop your child's love of reading. 

Get singing and dancing! Finding songs on YouTube or on the radio is a great and fun way to develop understanding of rhythm and rhyme 

Maths

Count anything and everything! It can be through helping prepare food at home which will also help develop their independence and life skills. Using words like full, empty, more, less, half as well as counting will support their understanding of Maths. 

You could also go for a walk and count how many cars / road signs / dogs that you see. If you are out and enjoying the fresh air. You could look at timers or clocks to see how long it took you to walk / run / jump around an area. 

Sensory Circuits

All children will benefit from having support to regulate themselves and there are many ways you can do this at home. It is recommended that you follow the order described below but you can choose whichever activities your child enjoys the most. 

Alerting - Bouncing or jumping, frog jumping, bunny hops, skipping, running, dancing, action rhymes such as row, row your boat. 

Organising - Climbing, blowing bubbles, making a tower with lego, throwing balls/beanbags into a bucket or box

Calming - Massage, time under a weighted blanket, rolling up tightly in a blanket