Forest School
Today the second half of Year 5 got out to Forest School. They were very excited to get out there this afternoon.
Last half term, the first group experienced making dens, building fires and just enjoying being outside and the second group have been doing just the same!
Maths: First, Then and Now addition stories.
Our wonderful Year 1s are back and ready to go.
They have had a great first week, settling straight back into the swing of things. Over the week they have learnt about computing, maths and have even started a new story called Nothing by Mick Inkpen.
Although, they have learnt so much this week, one lesson in particular stood out, and that was maths. In our maths lessons this week the Year 1s have been learning about First, Then and Now stories, so we took them outside to practise and show their own addition stories. We had some great stories with some really imaginative ideas. Look below to see a photo of one of the Year 1s stories.
Poetry Basket: Pancakes
This week’s poem is called Pancakes.
How do you like your pancakes? When I was 5, my mum used to make pancakes with mince and gravy for me and my brother on pancake day! Fortunately, we had lemon and sugar pancakes for pudding.
Two of the words we’ve been focussing on this week are toss and fry.
Book Club – group reading
Hello!
This week, we’re beginning group reading again.
The class have been divided into groups and each group has been given a book to read at home. This will last for this half term.
During our Book Club sessions each Friday, each group will discuss what they have read so far and share their reading record activities related to their book. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the children to explore characters and storylines more than they might do normally!
Every Friday during Book Club, each group will be given a new page to read to for the next Friday.
What to remember:
- Your child has a book that they need to read every week (up to a chosen point marked with a post-it notes).
- Make the reading work for your child. Feel free to share the reading with them or even you read it to them here and there.
- The reading record activity needs to be completed using their new book.
- A comment from a grown up needs to be written in their reading record.
- Group reading books and reading records need to be brought in every Friday.
Help at home by listening to your child read their new book and ask questions about the book to help prepare them for class discussions.
I look forward to hearing the children’s discussions next week.
Any questions – please ask. Thank you!
Living and Learning: I know what a drug is.
In Living and Learning, Year 6 have been learning what a drug is, why people use medicine and how vaccines can protect the population.
We defined a drug as ‘a substance that changes the way the body or mind works.’ Then, we moved on to focus how medicines can help:
- prevent someone from becoming ill or stop a disease from spreading
- help someone manage an ongoing health condition, such as asthma or diabetes
- help someone feel better and relieve pain, such as from a headache
- help the body recover from illness
To finish off, we played ‘the vaccination game’. This helped us to look at how different percentages of vaccinated people can affect the spread of diseases. We learnt that the more vaccinated people in a population, the less likely it is for someone to get the disease.
World Book Day
We’re very excited to be celebrating World Book Day next Thursday in school!
If your child would like to, they can come to school dressed as their favourite book character or in something book-related. Please don’t feel any pressure to go out and buy a costume.
Throughout the day, we’ll be taking part in a range of challenges inspired by different books. One of our creative activities will be making a milk bottle Elmer. To help with this activity, we would really appreciate it if you could send your child in with an empty milk bottle (rinsed out, please!).
Love of Reading Stay & Learn
At 2:45pm, you are more than welcome to join us for our Love of Reading Stay & Learn session. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to watch one of our daily Poetry Basket sessions and share and enjoy lots of stories with your child.
We look forward to celebrating our love of books together!
Writing: Francis
This week, Year 6 have started their new writing topic. Over the next three weeks, the children will write a short narrative which creates tension and suspense. We used an animated video as our stimulus which was sourced from the Literacy Shed.
This film is perfect at building tension: the narrator uses pauses and varies the speed at which he speaks in order to build the suspense. As well as speech used to create tension, the music also plays a key part in creating suspense.
Help at home: Watch the video with and without music. How does this alter the tension created?
This Green Moon
Today was a very special day for our Reception class as we went on our very first school trip to This Green Moon! As soon as I opened the Reception gate this morning, the children were buzzing with excitement.
When we arrived at Green Moon, we were warmly greeted by the two leaders, Paul and Matt, as well as the Reception class from St James’, one of our other Federation schools. It was lovely to come together and share the experience.
From the moment we stepped onto the coach to the minute we arrived back at school, the children were exceptional – what a credit they were to our school! Their behaviour, listening skills and enthusiasm were wonderful to see.
We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day outdoors, exploring the natural world around us. The children took part in so many exciting activities: making a fire, creating sculptures using potatoes, designing bracelets with pieces of coloured wool we found in the forest, and even working together to create a giant piece of artwork. It was fantastic to see their creativity and curiosity shining through.
What a fantastic day full of learning, laughter and adventure. Well done, Reception – we’re so proud of you all!
English: Nothing
This half term, we’ve started reading Nothing by Mick Inkpen. We’re already thoroughly enjoying the story and are very eager to find out what happens to Nothing next.
We began by making predictions about what — or who — Nothing might be:
I think it’s because they’ve left nothing behind.
I think it’s the teddy bear’s name.
We also explored how Nothing might be feeling after being trapped in the attic for many years. The children suggested a wide range of emotions, including frightened, scared, lonely and apprehensive.
Today, we brought the story to life through role play, using a strategy called “thought tracking.” The children imagined they were Nothing’s inner thoughts and described how they would feel after finally escaping the attic. They used the sentence stem:
“I would feel… because…”
It was wonderful to see such thoughtful and imaginative responses as the children deepened their understanding of the character’s emotions.
Y3/4 production – Sir David Hattenscarf
Hello!
We hope you’ve had a great half term. This half term, we’re going to begin rehearsing for our production – Sir David Hattenscarf!
If your child has a part in the production that has lines, please help at home by supporting them to learn their lines. We’ll be rehearsing at least once a day at school so any extra practice would be greatly appreciated.
Here are some strategies that might help…
- Repetition & “Line-by-Line” Method: Take it one line at a time. Read a line, cover it, and try to recite it without looking. When mastered, move to the next, then combine them.
- Write It Down: Write your lines out by hand, as this strengthens memory retention.
- First-Letter Mnemonics: Write down the first letter of every word in a sentence. Use this sheet to prompt your memory.
- Record and Playback: Record the other characters’ lines on your phone, leaving pauses for your lines. Play it back and speak your lines.
- Move While Memorising: Walk around or act out actions while reciting. Connecting physical movement to words helps solidify them in your memory.
Here’s a link to one of the songs to practise at home too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuSBLQ0igsE
Any questions, please ask!