British Library Workshop
This week, we were lucky to be visited by the British Library for a day of creativity. We used spoken language, visual literacy and reading comprehension to creatively explore and understand the experiences of refugees as they settle in a new country. Inspired by Sarah Garland’s heartwarming graphic novel, Azzi in Between.
The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about experiences refugees go through, creating dramas to explore characterisation and performing to their peers.
If you would like to borrow the book, please ask – we have a copy in our reading corner.
World Book Day
Last week, we celebrated World Book Day! The children in Years 3 and 4 really enjoyed the day, full of exciting reading lessons and activities. The highlight of the day was the reading café, organised by some of our Year 5/6 pupils. The children had an opportunity to explore books and reading activities with one other, drink delicious hot chocolate and enjoy the lovely sunshine!
Spring and Counting Skills
Signs of Spring
We’ve spotted some signs of spring outside at forest school. We’ve spotted buds, shoots, flowers and listened to birds singing.
I’ve been so impressed with the children’s counting skills this week. We’ve all had a go at counting objects and saying the amount.
Help at home: Practise counting different objects during play and in everyday life. Make sure children say one number for each item; it often helps to move each item as you count or line them up so that children only count each object once.
Can they remember how many they had in total without counting again?
1,2,3 there are 3
Outside we’ve been making race cars with the large construction and climbing trees in Forrest School.
Next week we’ll be looking at healthy eating and where food comes from. Painting vegetables, tasting vegetables and exploring different herbs.
The Hundred Decker Bus
It’s been another busy week in Reception this week. We have been looking at the focus book The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith. The children loved the journey the bus took.
Our word of the week was Countryside- land that is away from big towns and cities. We’ve also used Google Earth to find school and some of our houses. We had so much fun, we will continue looking for more places next week.
Maths
This week in our Maths we have been comparing and considering where numbers to 8 are in relation to each other. We have used the vocabulary ‘more than, less than and equal to’ to describe the relationship between them. The children have enjoyed making the stair pattern to help them to describe each number.
“7 is more than 6”
“3 is less than 4”
“5 is more than 4 but less than 6”
Phonics
Spring 2 week 3 has been a review of phase 3 sounds, reading words with two or more digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound). We review tricky words (a word you can’t sound out – you just have to know it) daily.
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! Tricky Word Bingo is still a huge hit in class and the prizes are becoming incredible, this week we have been playing for a trip on a cruise ship and a golden helicopter!
Poetry Picnic
Each week we learn a new poem and recite this poem every day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is the traditional nursery rhyme Pat a Cake, Pat a Cake. We turned this in to a clapping song and the children enjoyed singing it with a partner.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Reminders and Dates
‘Number’ Stay and learn – Tuesday 18 March 2:20-3:00pm
Our Stay and Learn sessions are a chance to find out more about your child’s journey through Reception. You can observe some teaching and learning, and pick up some tips to support your child at home. This session is all about Number.
Please send your child into school with an empty shoebox next week. The children will be creating their very own deck, based on their designs.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith
Chess Club
Chess Club is up and running…
Why is Easter important to Christians?
This term, Year One have been learning about the Easter story and why it is so important to Christians. They explored the events of Holy Week, discussing why Good Friday is called ‘good’ despite something sad happening.
The Last Supper
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
Cian – “I think that Christian’s call it Good Friday because Jesus forgave those who punished him.”
Isaac – “He showed courage because he died for us.”
Elsie – “Jesus showed compassion because he loved all of his friends.”
Through freeze frames, the children acted out key moments. Thinking about the emotions of those involved. They also linked Easter to our Christian values of perseverance, forgiveness and compassion, reflecting on how they show these in their own lives.
Topic – Computing
This half term, we’re computer programmers!
Our current topic, computing, focuses on creating and debugging programs and algorithms.
An algorithm is a sequence of instructions or a set of rules to get something done.
The children have really impressed my with their ability, skilfully tackling challenges on Scratch Jr.
As the weeks progress, we’ll each be designing and creating a quiz game, and evaluating its success.
Help at home by exploring our topic vocabulary with your child.
algorithm – a sequence of instructions or a set of rules to get something done
program – an algorithm or algorithms which can be run by a computer
to debug – to find and fix errors in algorithms
computer – a type of machine that can follow instructions and do useful things
command – an instruction that can be used in a program
You could try Scratch Jr. at home!
Living and learning: I recognise that friends and family are important.
Year 3 have been learning about what makes a healthy relationship with friends and family. We began by looking at some attributes that may, and may not, contribute to a positive relationship. As a class, we organised these on a chart. The left side represented all the attributes we absolutely do want in our relationships, and the right side showed those features that we don’t really want to see.
The children then went on to create a personal poster, showing themselves and those close to them (friends and family). They then decided which positive attributes are involved in their positive relationships. There were loads of brilliant ones that were consistent across the whole class, such as kindness, fun, happy, patient and hardworking.
Help at home:
Discuss with your child their attributes and how they contribute to happy, healthy relationships with friends and family. Maybe set a personal goal by identifying one attribute to develop further.
Living & Learning – Family and Friends
This half term we’re using resources from MindMate to support our learning in Living & Learning. They have lots of resources that are useful for families too – check them out here: MindMate for parents
Today we’ve been thinking about why family and friends are important to us and what qualities we need to have to have healthy relationships with our friends. We’ve enjoyed debating whether you always have to be fun to be a good friend and whether you always need to be happy to have a healthy relationship.
Love was the most common reason that our families are important to us and we spoke passionately about our families helping us through hard times.
Maths in Year 1
Wow! In Year 1 we’ve been diving into some fantastic Maths! We’ve been using our number bond facts to master subtraction with confidence. Take a look at our amazing learning below!
Help at home: practise your number bonds within ten. Find all the ways of making numbers 1 to 10.
e.g. Here are all the ways we can make 7 by adding two parts:
1 + 6 = 7 6 + 1 = 7
2 + 5 = 7 5 + 2 = 7
3 + 4 = 7 4 + 3 = 7