Science
This half term, our science learning has been all about microbes and we have learnt so much! Hopefully you will have noticed how much more hygienic the children are!
It was part of a working scientifically topic and our vocabulary for this learning is below. Check the words your child knows and which they can explain to you.
Our investigations included how soap helps to get rid of harmful microbes on our hands and also what happens when someone sneezes and doesn’t catch it in their elbow or a tissue. Ask your child to explain how we did these experiments.
Below are some true/false statements for you to check your child’s understanding.
Skipping
This week, we had a fun and active afternoon of skipping with Jodi from Skipping School and she was very impressed by the skipping and effort she saw!
Jodi taught us lots of different individual and group skipping skills to practise for our Year 2 skipping festival with other schools later in the summer term.
Skipping ropes are available to buy, at a subsidised price of £3, from the office to practise these new skills at home.
Living and Learning: Health and prevention (sleep)
Our recent Living and Learning lesson was all about the importance of sleep.
Our learning explored why sleep is so important in our lives, how it can sometimes be difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep, and how to manage this. We also considered what the children can do to help themselves have good habits that can help them to fall asleep.
Firstly, we heard a story about a girl called Mia. We had to identify the things that were STOPPING her from getting to sleep.
As a class, we had a great discussion about what can HELP Mia (and us) to get to sleep and what might STOP us from getting to sleep.
Here are some of the ideas generated.
Hopefully the children have been sharing this knowledge to help with their own bedtime routines.
For further sleep support, here are some resources you might want to look at.
• NHS sleep specific website for younger children
• Childline – for general advice about concerns
• Specific NHS advice on sleep is available here
• Sleep Charity – for sleep tips and links to other organisations
NSPCC Speak out Stay safe
During our recent Staying Safe themed week, all pupils took part in the NSPCC Speak out Stay safe learning featuring Ant and Dec and Buddy.
We are proud to receive our certificate to recognise this.
Topic- computing
Our topic this half term is all about computing.
We’ve starting with ‘offline computing’ – learning all about algorithms.
We are going to be playing, and making, lots of online and offline games. As this is a computing topic, we’ll be using a range of technology including Blue-Bots and iPads.
Here is a lost of some of the vocabulary that will be taught in the coming weeks.
Big Walk and Wheel
Get set… we’re taking part in Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel 2022 (the new name for Big Pedal), the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting challenge. The challenge runs from 21 March to 1 April. It’s free and we would love everyone to be involved.
What do you need to do?
Encourage your child(ren) to walk, scoot or cycle to school on as many days as possible during the event. Park and stride (parking your car further away from school, for example, Marks and Spencer car park and walking, scooting or biking the final part of the journey) also counts.
Why we are taking part
As a happy and healthy school, Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel is a great way to build physical activity in children’s daily routine which is important for their physical health and mental wellbeing.
Active school runs also help to reduce congestion and air pollution outside the school gate. A 2021 YouGov study showed nearly half of UK children worry about air pollution near their school. Children thought active travel was the best away to bring down these pollution levels.
Plus there are some great prizes to be won every day if we get enough children taking part!
Useful resources
To help you prepare, Sustrans has developed a handy free guide packed with advice, games and challenges to help you have hassle-free cycle, walk or scoot to school.
Download your free family guide here.
World Book Day 2022
We had a fantastic day celebrating World Book Day by reading books, talking about our favourite authors and books and dressing up as characters from some of our favourite books.
After a morning of completing activities related to their favourite books, the children paired up across Year 1 and 2 to share their work. It was fantastic to see the collaboration, interaction and enthusiasm for books when the children worked together.
You can find more activities, videos, book recommendations and the brilliant World Book Day song on the World Book Day website.
Half term Dog’s Trust workshop
Rachael, from the Dog’s Trust in Leeds, visited all classes last week in our Staying Safe themed week.
She is holding a half term workshop next week and she would like us to share this with our families.
Contact Rachael, by email, if your child is interested in attending.
Living & Learning: Staying safe online
In Staying safe week, our visitor, Sarah from Go Wise Online, shared some great tips for staying safe online. The internet is a great resource but we need to stay safe when using it.
In class, we considered how the children use the internet and some of the online games that are popular. For each game, we checked the PEGI rating. Fortnite, for example, has a PEGI rating of 12 meaning the game is suitable for children age 12 and up.
To link with our current science learning, seasonal changes, we used iPads to find out answers to some of the questions we had.
When searching on the internet, we need to be aware what to do if something comes on the screen that makes us scared or sad. We also learnt about the padlock that can be found at the start of some web addresses (URL).
Discuss these questions with your child.
Here’s some pictures of our safe searches.
Finally, we watched some videos to give us some more advice about staying safe online. Watch them again and discuss the key safety messages with your child.
Fire Safety
This week, we were joined by four firefighters from Moortown Fire Station. They came in to educate us about fire safety. It was incredibly useful and we learnt lots about how to stay safe. We were also very lucky to see the fire engine and ask lots of questions.
We learnt what fires need to get started: the Triangle of Fire. Ask your child if they can remember what this means.
