Living & Learning: Me and my community week 2 November
Our next whole school themed week, based around identity, diversity and community, will be taking place from Monday 2nd November. This is the first of two themed weeks in the year. In our ‘Me and My Community’ week, children will learn about what it means to belong to a community, from family to national or even international communities. Importantly, our children will also learn to respect and celebrate different communities.
Active travel in the community
We encourage children to get out in the community in an active way on their way to and from school. By walking/scooting/biking to school, families will be keeping our community safer and healthier by reducing congestion at the school gate. Maybe even pick up a piece of litter on the way. Even by parking further away from school your child could then travel the final part of their journey by foot, bike or scooter.
Email us ([email protected]) a picture of your active travel, maybe by a landmark in our community on your route to school, for the chance to win one of three vouchers. Entries to be submitted by 4pm on Thursday 5th November.
New school charity
At the end of the themed week, classes will have the chance to discuss our charity shortlist and the Junior Leadership Team will have the final vote for which charity they would like our school to support, replacing our current charity, Martin House Hospice.
Identity day
Friday 6th November will be a non-uniform Identity Day. Children are invited to dress in clothing that represents part of their identity, for example uniform from a club they attend, a team they are part of or support or traditional dress to represent their heritage. There is no donation or contribution required for this day.
SAVE THE DATE PTA coffee morning Friday 6th November 9-10am
As part of the week, we welcome all parents and carers to an informal coffee morning to meet other members of our school community including representatives from the PTA. A whole school community Wake up Shake up will follow at 9:50am in the main playground.
Can you help?
Maybe you speak another language and you would be happy to speak to children about this or you would like to share about your own family culture and heritage. If so, please contact the office to pass on your details. Also, do you have any local community links that may support our week?
Living and Learning: I take part in democratic decisions.
This week, Year 1 will be taking part in a democratic decision when voting for their new Junior Leaders.
As a class, the children will come up with one or two sentences as to why they should be chosen.
You should vote for me because I am a kind friend.
I would be a great Junior Leader because I would be fair to everyone.
I’m a great leader because I listen to everyone.
After the speeches, we’ll think about who we will vote for and why.
Help at home by coming up with reasons why your child could be a Junior Leader that your child could share during their speech!
Poetry Basket: Falling leaves
This week’s poem is called Falling Leaves and has an autmunal theme that links well with our learning about seasonal changes.
Picture of the Week
Every week, we have a picture that we focus on.
We use this picture to orally rehearse five sentences. This rehearsal helps the children when it comes to writing independently.
As the teacher, I model building a sentence each day and the children copy me.
On Friday, the children orally rehearse and write their own sentences.
For example…
the robot
the clever robot
The clever robot ran with the ball.
The clever robot ran with the ball towards to goal.
Support your child’s writing by doing this same activity at home.
Start building a sentence with what you can see and add to it step by step.
Design and Technology: Food and nutrition
Today, Year 1 prepared, made and drank a fruit smoothie.
We washed our hands, rolled up our sleeves and put aprons on to prepare ourselves.
We used the peeling skill to peel the bananas.
We used our measuring skills to measure the liquids.
The adult helped us with blending the smoothie safely.
Help at home by supporting your child to make the smoothie again. Can you swap the frozen forest fruit out for different fruits?
National Poetry Day – 1st October!
It’s National Poetry Day on 1st October and each class will be learning a poem ready to perform it on Tuesday.
There was an Old Man with a Beard
By Edward Lear
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, “It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard.”
Help at home by reading this poem with your child. They’ll be performing it on Tuesday 6th October.
Science: What does it smell and taste like?
During our learning about the human body, we’ve been covering the body’s five main senses.
This week, we’re focusing on smell and taste.
We use our nose to smell things.
We use our mouths to taste things.
We had five main flavours to try and identify…
- sweet
- salty
- bitter
- sour
- savoury
First, we smelt the food. What does it smell of? Does it have a strong smell?
Then, we tasted the food. What does it taste of? What is the texture like? Which flavour could it be?
The children loved this activity! The lemons were very sour and made their noses scrunch up. Have a look at the photos below.
Help at home by encouraging your child to taste different flavours. Can they identify its dominant flavour?
Year 1 continuous provision
Year 1 have an area with varied continuous provision. Each area has a focus and has links to our learning in class.
For example, our construction area is linked to our history learning about London – Great Fire of London.
Our maths area has links to counting within 100 and learning around weight and mass.
Our writing area supports fine motor skills that support our handwriting practice.
The children have time to explore these areas each day in smaller groups. They love this time to socialise and play with their friends!
Help at home by talking to your child about sharing. Why is important to share? How can we share in our continuous provision areas?
Library day change
Our library day will now be on a Thursday.
Easier to remember – library books and reading records to be brought in on Thursdays.
Thank you!
Miss Birch
History: Great Fire of London
When learning about the Great Fire of London, there are lots of facts to remember. To help us remember the facts, we pretended that we were on the news and interviewed each other.
“When was the Great Fire of London?”
“It happened on Sunday 2nd September 1666.”
“Where did the fire start?”
“In a bakery on Pudding Lane.”
“How many houses were destroyed?”
“13,200 (lots) of houses.”
We’re reading Vlad and the Great Fire of London as our class novel too! This is a story style non-fiction book.
The class are loving this topic so far. Help at home by watching this video that we watched with your child and recap the key facts.