Class novel – The Enchanted Wood
We have started our class novel, The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton, and all the children are enthralled already. It is a classic, which you may have read yourselves or have a copy of at home. Read along at home, if you like, or you could ask your child which characters we have met so far and what they like about the story.
Harvest Festival
Art Skills
Each week, Mrs Bald (one of our resident artists..!) spends time helping us to improve our art skills. These lessons teach us the fundamentals of art and will help us to be good artists – sort of like learning times tables which help us to become good mathematicians.
So far this year, we’ve taken time to explore lines and how they can be made in different ways…
Harvest 2021
Our Harvest festival was a great time to give thanks and to celebrate altogether – especially after the last year’s events..!
This week’s bible story
Four friends help a paralysed man: Luke 5: 17-25
If I asked you to tell you one of the things they liked doing best of all, I imagine it would be playing with their friends. Have a think about your friends and think about what you feel is special about them. In our story, we hear about how four friends help a paralysed man.
Reflection:
Think about the story.
Were there good friends in it?
Think about your friends.
What makes a good friend?
Think about yourself.
Are you a good friend?
Prayer:
Dear God
We thank you for our friends and for the happy times we share with them. Help us to be a good friend to them. Teach us how to play fairly and to share. Help us to recognize loneliness in others and show friendliness towards them. We know that you are our friend and will be with us always.
Amen.
Another busy week!
Reading Zoom meeting
Thank you to all the parents that attended the Zoom reading meeting. I hope you found it useful. For those parents that were unable to attend, click here to watch the recording.
Below are the links some of you requested during the meeting.
– Unfortunately, the pure sounds video created by two of our federation teachers is not working. However, click here to watch this video.
– Jolly Phonics rhymes
Literacy
Our focus story is We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.
On Tuesday, we went on our very own bear hunt around school and found a bear hiding in the pond area!
They had fun doing actions, using instruments, and drawing their own story maps. They were fantastic at remembering the order of the obstacles!
Click here to watch us retell the story.
One of the chilli challenges this week was to retell the story using the stick puppets. We witnessed some amazing retelling!
Next week, the children will be making up their own versions of the story by changing the main character and some of the obstacles.
Maths
Every week, the children will be introduced to a new focus number. This week, it was number one. We’ve explored what one is, watched the Numberblock 1 video, drew pictures of our own One Wonderful Worlds, and introduced the part-whole model.
One is a part. Zero is a part. One is the whole
Zero is a part. One is a part. One is the whole.
Some examples of the children’s One Wonderful World pictures:
Library Time
Every Thursday, we visit our school library. The children really enjoy visiting the library, sharing books with their friends, and listening to a whole class story at the end.
Reminders!
– A sound book has been put in your child’s bookbag. Have fun practising the first three phonemes (s, a, t) at home.
– The cold weather is creeping in! Please make sure your child comes to school wearing a suitable coat.
– Next Wednesday, your child will need to come to school wearing their school uniform.
Home-Link Challenge
What have we been learning this week?
This week, we have been learning all about dinosaurs! We have been reading dinosaur stories, singing dinosaur songs, counting dinosaurs, sorting dinosaurs and even drawing their skeletons. We have also looked at non-fiction books and talked about where dinosaurs may have lived.
Next week, we will be discussing the change of seasons and learning to mix autumnal colours. We will also be talking about our families and would love family photos to include at circle time. These can be emailed to the following address:
stjamesnursery@spherefederation.org
Things to remember for the coming week:
Please can all children have a named pair of wellington boots in school as soon as possible – we would love to go puddle jumping soon!
Class Novel – The Legend of Podkin One-Ear
Year 3 and 4 are thoroughly enjoying their new class novel – The Legend of Podkin One-Ear.
A mysterious storyteller rolls in from the snow one night and enchants a warren of young rabbits with the tale of Podkin One Ear: the son of a chieftain who went on to become a legend.
As we read this atmospheric tale, we have been discussing some of the words and phrases used by the author that create characterisation, setting and suspense. The children thought about how the author chose the right words and phrases to interest and intrigue the reader. We are certainly interested!
The Gorm
Podkin is son of the chieftain of the Munbury warren but forced to flee with his baby brother and capable big sister Paz when their home is invaded by the terrifiying Gorm, iron-clad monster rabbits turned evil by greed and enchantment.
The Gorm are a frightening bunch of thugs who want to take over the rabbit world and crush all before them. In class, the children were given half an image of The Gorm and, using the words and phrases we had discussed, they briefly sketched the other half.
iron-clad beasts
grinding metal
clump of heavy leather boots
a walking slab of metal and meat
pierced with rusty thorns and nails
jagged, dented iron
cruel shard-like spikes
curved metal horns
shadowy eye slits
dim scarlet pupils
mottled with rusty red veins
The children really enjoyed transferring the descriptive vocabulary into an image. Not the most handsome of creatures!
Talking about Mental Health
It’s becoming increasingly more and more important to talk about our mental health.
Today, Year 5 & 6 have been learning about the importance of talking about their mental health. We watched an animation to help us understand small everyday feelings and when those feeling become too much/too big for us to cope with on our own.
We chatted about our circle of support and the trusted people who we might speak to if our mental health needed a little TLC.
In school, there are loads of ways for your child to ask for help if they need it – can they tell you about our living and learning box? -the adults in school who they would choose to speak to if they needed some help?
Why not try chatting with your child about how you cope with small everyday feelings at home and the things you do when those things become too much…
Phonics screening check
The phonics screening check determines how well a child can use the phonics skills they have learned in year 1, ensuring that they are on track to become fluent readers.
The check was cancelled by the government for year 1 children in June 2021.
In December 2021, the phonics screening check will be taken by all children in year 2 instead. Year 2 pupils who do not meet the expected standard in the autumn check will take the statutory check in June 2022, alongside year 1 pupils.
The phonics screening check contains 40 words divided into two sections. Both sections contain a mixture of real words and alien words.
The children are encouraged to add sound buttons or use phoneme fingers to read a word. Here is a video showing how we do this.
You can help your child at home by reading anything and everything!