Did that plant move?!
We’ve been learning about plants in our Green Fingers topic. This video demonstrates that plants need sunlight to survive and will move towards it to ensure they get as much sunlight as they can!
https://youtu.be/Iiqh5kWKT_E
After-school club availability
After-school clubs are proving popular this term but we do have some limited places left on the following clubs.
Monday
- Change4life Rec, Y1, Y2, Y3
- Basketball Y4, Y5, Y6
- Code Club Y4, Y5, Y6
Tuesday
- Cricket Y4, Y5, Y6
- Animation Y4, Y5, Y6
Please contact the office as soon as possible if your child would like to take part in any of these clubs, starting next week.
If you go down to the woods today…….
This week, in English, we have been thinking of different ways to ignite and inspire our writing. What better way than go down to the woods!
The children loved doing their lesson in a different setting. They were encouraged to think of strong adjectives and use their senses to describe the setting. During our visit, some superb vocabulary was used. Words and phrases such as:
- vivid, purple flowers
- blankets of dead, crunchy leaves
- ancient, tall trees, sweet aromas drifting through my nostrils
- silky, soft feathers in the palm of my hand
- and many more.
Back in the classroom, the children set to work on their very own settings. They thought carefully about their designs and selected resources accordingly. Again, using the five senses to help, the children studied the materials on offer and looked closely at the textures.
The imaginative ideas flying around the room were an absolute delight to hear. Children worked well as teams, were so very helpful to each other, and were totally engaged in the whole lesson.
- “This is the best way to help me with my writing.”
- “You just wouldn’t think that we were doing English.”
- “I’m really looking forward to doing my writing about my setting.”
Staying Safe
Our next whole school themed week, based around Staying Safe, will be taking place from Monday 22 May 2017. The key message is how to be safe in a range of situations. A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this key aspect of education.
Events during the week will include e-safety drama workshops for all classes, NSPCC Speak Out, a stay safe assembly and workshops, Leeds City Council road safety and scooter training, water safety sessions with Canal and River Trust, bike maintenance with Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative and d:side, delivering drug education. Some of the events require parental permission and these letters will be sent out separately. There are also three specific parent sessions during the week.
Tuesday 23 May 2.10-3.10pm O2 and NSPCC online safety workshop (open to all parents)
This hour-long workshop will help parents and carers understand their child’s online world and build confidence to have those important conversations that can help keep children safe online.
Wednesday 24 May 3.15-3.45pm d:side informal information session (open to all parents)
A d:side representative will be available to provide information about your child’s drug education learning during the themed week and answer any other related enquiries.
Thursday 25 May 2.40pm e-safety drama show back (parents of Year 5 and 6)
Following e-safety drama workshops led by One Day Creative, parents are invited to come and watch the children present their learning from the day.
Following the success of the recent Big Pedal promotion and as we will be covering bike, scooter and road safety during the week, we shall be holding a whole school walk/bike/scoot to school initiative. Children are encouraged to travel to school in a sustainable way, keeping safe along the way, and if they do, they should complete the slip at the bottom of a letter to be sent home for a chance to win one of five £10 Love2Shop vouchers. We hope you will support this initiative in helping children make a healthy start to their day and also helping towards reducing congestion at our gates. Even by parking further away from school, your child could then to do the final part of their journey by foot, bike or scooter. Bike and scooter storage facilities are available beside the Year 3 and 4 classrooms.
Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative will be running a Dr Bike event in the playground on Tuesday 23 May. From 8:30am, you will be able to bring along your bike for a free bike safety check.
We will keep you up to date about events during the week through Twitter and the class news pages on our website.
Finally, if your job involves an aspect of safety and you can support our Staying Safe themed week by coming into school, please contact the school office or your child’s class teacher directly to arrange this.
What time is it?
By the end of Year 2, children should be able to achieve the following objectives in relation to telling the time (taken from the Year 2 Core Subjects expectations).
- compare and sequence intervals of time
- tell the time to five minutes, including quarter past/to the hour
- write the time to five minutes, including quarter past/to the hour and draw the hands on a clock face to show these times
- know the number of minutes in an hour and the number of hours in a day
This is always a difficult area of Maths for children to master but we have been particularly impressed by two time ‘boffins’ who shared their knowledge to teach others.
You can continue to embed these Maths skills at home by asking your child the time at different times of the day. We have been focusing on the analogue time.
Phonics
Thanks to everyone for attending last week’s phonics mornings. Some of you asked for a reminder of the phonemes the children have learnt so far, so here they are:
Phase 2 and 3 phonemes
- s a t p
- i n m d
- g o c k
- ck e u r
- h b f ff
- l ll ss
- j v w x y z zz
- ch sh th th ng qu
- ai ee igh oa oo oo
- ow oi ar or ur ir
- er air ear ure
Keep blending!
What is under the surface of the Earth?
We have had a great start to our new topic – Extreme Earth. This week, Year 3 imagined they were on an underground journey, travelling down through each of the Earth’s layers. The children used different coloured modelling clay to create their own Earth model. When we cut the models in half we could clearly see the different layers of the Earth.
Green Fingers
Our own ‘tin forest’ is growing well and we’ve been making lots of observations to see the changes in such a short time.
Day 4
Day 13
Next week in our Green Fingers topic, we will be focusing our learning on trees. In preparation for this, children are encouraged to bring in leaves to be used for classifying and identifying. Just one example of each leaf is needed and these should be brought in next Monday.
These spotter sheets can help with identifying any leaves you may find.
Rewarding Residential
Last week, Year 4 enjoyed a residential trip at Herd Farm.
It was fabulous to see all the children so enthusiastic about all aspects of our stay. For a lot of the children, this was the first time being away from home without parents. All staff were impressed with how well everyone supported, cared for and encouraged each other.
Some of the activities really took our breath away – and our legs!
Lots of children pushed themselves into taking a safe risk and attempting things they’ve never done before. Being responsible, remembering, being resilient and showing resourcefulness were also demonstrated by all – especially with bed making!
Mrs Burke, Miss Hale and I were incredibly proud of the all the children. It was an absolute pleasure to take them away for a few days – albeit with very little sleep. Here are some photos of our adventures…
Phonics mornings!
Don’t forget our third and final phonics mornings this week. These will take place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning at 9am.
If you didn’t return the slip, don’t worry – there is plenty of space.
See you there!