Pointillism in Year 1
This term, Year 1 have been diving into the wonderful world of George Seurat and pointillism! Last week, we explored Seurat’s paintings, noticing how he used tiny dots to create beautiful scenes. The children were fascinated by how these little dots come together to form a bigger picture.
This week, they became pointillist artists themselves! Using bubble wrap and Q-tips, they experimented with primary colours (red, blue, and yellow), dabbing dots of paint to create textured masterpieces. They also explored colour mixing, discovering new shades and tones as the dots overlapped.
Help at home:
- Encourage your child to create dot art using cotton buds or paint brushes.
- Look at nature – leaves, flowers, or clouds – and discuss how tiny details create a whole picture.
PE – Gymnastics
This half term, our focus in PE is gymnastics.
We’ve been exploring movement – the different ways in which we can control our bodies and travel from one point to another. We’ve considered the height of our position and how it can change.
The children created and performed sequences, giving feedback to each other. I was astounded by the flexibility, balance and creativity on display!
Help at home by discussing movement with your child. How can we move in different ways? Perhaps you could explore the movements of some animals – how do they move their bodies differently to ours?
Maths Stay and Learn
For those parents who could not attend the Maths Stay and Learn last week or if you would like to access the teacher presentation, please click the link below:
Parent copy SE Maths Mastery presentation stay and learn 2024
Science: Materials
This term, our Science topic is Materials. Today, we explored a variety of rocks, observing and describing their texture, colour, size, and shape. We also considered how different types of rocks might be used in real-life.
Here are some of the ideas we discussed:
- “We could use this rock to build a house or a wall.”
- “This one could be used to make a table or a bench.”
- “This type of rock would be great for carving a statue.”
- “Some rocks are perfect for kitchen worktops because they’re hard and strong.”
We compared the rocks, noting their similarities and differences. For example:
- Some rocks were smooth, while others were rough.
- Certain rocks were heavier, and some were much lighter.
Finally, we sorted the rocks based on their size and then texture, arranging them from rough to smooth. It was fascinating to see how varied and versatile these natural materials can be!
Help at home: Go on a materials hunt at home! Look around and see if you can find objects made from different materials e.g wood, plastic, rock, or metal. Use the key vocabulary below to help you describe the items you discover. What textures, colours and uses can you identify? Happy exploring!
Science – Does the temperature of water affect the time it takes for ice to melt in it?
In our chemistry unit of learning, we are learning about states of matter.
We have created gestures to help us remember our key vocabulary of solid, liquid and gas. Now that we can confidently identify and describe these states of matter, we are considering how materials can change states.
Today we planned an experiment to answer the question:
Does the temperature of the water affect the time it takes for ice to melt in it?
We had to consider the variables in the experiment including which ones would change and which ones we would keep the same to answer our enquiry. We also had to practise some key skills including measuring accurately, reading a thermometer and measuring time using a stopwatch.
We recorded our results and came to the conclusion that “The colder the water the more time it takes for ice to melt.”
Maths – column addition
In maths we have been practising adding two 4 digit numbers when an exchange is required. We started by understanding the structure of the maths by using base 10 and then place value counters to represent the maths but we are now all working in the abstract using just digits.
Across school, we all set our column addition out in the same way with the exchange underneath the sum. We also cross out the exchange when we have added it (see example below).
We use stem sentences to help us think about the procedure we are undertaking.
The instructions we have written (and follow) as a class are below. We have them on our working wall to refer to if we get stuck.
Help at home: Challenge your child to teach you how we add two 4 digit numbers using the instructions above.
Science
We are really enjoying our science lessons in Year 5 and 6. This term we are studying electricity. Today we tested whether the number of bulbs effected the brightness. The children worked well independently and in groups whilst always maintaining that they worked safely.
Help at home – Ask your child about their findings. Did adding more bulbs effects the brightness. How did they keep themselves safe? How did they maintain a fair test? What did they enjoy about today’s lesson?
Hockey at Wetherby High School
Our Year 5 children attended at hockey event last Thursday at Wetherby High School.
They took part in an array of activities and were able to demonstrate their fantastic skills and understanding from recent PE lessons. It was mentioned on multiple occasions how well behaved our children were and how talented they are too. Mrs Senior and I were so proud of the children and it is clear that we have some future hockey stars in our class!
World Nursery Rhyme Week
This week has been World Nursery Rhyme week. We have had a great week celebrating our favourite Nursery Rhymes and have focused on a range of different nursery rhymes and we have been singing them (even more!) at carpet times.
Help at home: Sing your favourite Nursery Rhyme and send a video of you singing it for us to share in class.
Odd Socks
I know how to STOP bullying is our school living and learning statement this week. On Tuesday, we wore odd socks to signify our differences and share the message that we are all different in some way. We discussed how important it is to celebrate our differences and respect everyone.
We read the story Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph and talked about how great it is to all be different.
“I am different because I have one white sock and one black sock!”
“I am different because I have a big sister and no brothers.”
“I am different because I have blue eyes.”
Stay and Learn; Maths 1
On Wednesday, we had a wonderful afternoon exploring maths with our adults.
Thank you to all of the parents and carers that were able to join us in the classroom to watch a short lesson, take part in some activities and listen to a teacher presentation.
Phonics
This week, we focused on the new GPCs (Grapheme-phoneme correspondence) v, w, x, y.
We’ve also learnt the tricky words; and, has, his, her
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We start by identifying which part of the word is ‘tricky’.
Please continue to revisit this week’s sounds, by using the learn at home sheets. Thank you.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called A Basket of Apples.
I’ve got a basket of apples, picked from a tree.
Apples rosy red for you, and shiny green for me.
Some of them are big, and some of them are small.
Some of them are oval, and some shaped like a ball.
Some of them are sour, and some of them are sweet.
Lots of lovely apples for you and I to eat.
Have a happy and healthy weekend and please don’t forget to email any pictures from home to stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman and Mr. Smith.
Art – Architecture
This half-term we are focusing on architecture in our Art learning.
Although we will be looking at a variety of structures, the two architects we will use as inspiration for our work are Sir Christopher Wren (who designed St Paul’s Cathedral) and Zaha Hadid (who designed the Heydar Aliyev Centre). We will create a collage using a variety of techniques. Watch this space to see our creations!