Autumn 2: Week 1
Literacy
On Tuesday, we talked about why we celebrate Bonfire Night and what people do to celebrate. We also thought about how to stay safe. Here’s some of the children’s Bonfire Night safety tips:
- Stand back from the bonfire.
- Hold sparklers far away from your body.
- Put a sparkler into a carrot to hold the carrot.
- Don’t put sparklers in the bin—put them in some water instead.
- Only adults should light fireworks.
Help at home: Make a Bonfire Night safety poster with your adult or older sibling.
We also talked about Remembrance Day and why people wear a red poppy. We watched a short animation called Poppies. It allowed us to see what life was like for animals during the war.
Here’s a look at some of the exciting challenges we completed to support our learning…
Maths
This week, we’ve been engaging in activities that highlight the purpose of counting – finding out how many objects there are altogether. We’ve reinforced our understanding of cardinality, recognising that the last number we say when counting represents the total number of objects in the set.
A key focus has been deepening our understanding of the number 5 as a quantity. We’ve been linking the number to familiar representations, such as the five fingers on one hand. The children are also beginning to explore different ways to represent numbers up to 5, using both their fingers and the Hungarian number pattern (die frame).
On Wednesday, the children worked in pairs to collect 5 objects and place them on the fingers of their hand template. They were challenged to find:
- 5 objects that are all the same
- 5 that are the same but in different colours,
- 5 that are the same but in different sizes
This activity sparked lots of discussion and teamwork as they compared, sorted, and explained their choices. We saw fantastic mathematical thinking and collaboration throughout the session!
Help at home: Draw a hand on a piece of paper and collect 5 objects. Can you do some of the challenges with did in school?
Important!
If your child likes to have grapes in their packed lunch, please make sure they are cut in half lengthways. This helps reduce the risk of choking. Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe!
Reminders
- Odd Socks Day – Monday 10 November
Children are invited to wear odd socks to school today, marking the fact we’re all different in some way. - Children in Need: non-uniform day – Friday 14 November
- Maths stay and learn session – Tuesday 18 November
Money Week – Maths
In maths this week we have been learning about money. The children learnt all about our currency and the coins and the notes we use to buy or pay for things. In this lesson the children learnt about what the difference between pennies and pounds were and the order of each from the lowest value to the highest. Again, the Year 1s did a really good job learning this and they even managed to complete a number of tasks amongst themselves around money. 
Money Week! – Woodland Adventure.
This week on our first week back from the half term break, our wonderful Year 1s have taken part in our Money Week in school. They had a really informative online workshop with someone from HSBC! They took us on an online woodland adventure, where we met lots of new animals. As we met them we learnt about all the amazing ways we can save money, how to spend it and the differences between what we want to spend our money on versus what we need to spend our money on. The children did really well with this learning overall but they struggled understanding that we don’t need to buy that new toy they all want.
Me and My Money themed week
We’ve had a fantastic start to the week! The children have returned from the half-term break feeling refreshed and ready to learn. We’ve begun our Me and My Money themed week by exploring the difference between wants and needs, discussing why saving is important and having fun investigating real money.
Help at home: Have a think about the things you spend your money on? Are they a want or a need? Is it ok to spend money on things you want?
Anti-bullying day/Odd socks day Monday 10 November
Bonfire safety
Recently, our local PCSOs, Sian and Matt, came to talk to us about staying safe at this time of year around bonfire night.
Help at home: ask your child what stop, drop and roll means. Why did Sian show us a carrot?
Guided Reading Information
This week, Year 6 have been given their guided reading books.
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. This information will be posted every week on our class news.
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 note).
- 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: listen 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!
Do you have a child due to start primary school in 2026?
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Light and dark!
Training day – Arty ideas !
We thought you’d enjoy hearing a little about what went on during our recent teacher training day! Part of the day was dedicated to developing our art knowledge and skills with our resident art teacher, Mrs Boulton.
Teachers got hands-on with paints, pastels and even soap! There was plenty of colour, laughter, and even a bit of friendly competition as we experimented with new techniques and ideas for upcoming art lessons.
The rest of the day focussed on other important areas too, including maths and inclusion. It was a full, productive day – and we left feeling ready and excited for the next half-term!
