What’s the matter?
Our mini topic for the first two weeks is What’s the matter? In this Science-driven mini topic we will be looking at rocks, soil and fossils. Today, we’ve been investigating the properties of rocks. We conducted an experiment to see which rocks were permeable and which rocks were impermeable.
We used pipettes to add three drops of water onto a flat surface of a rock. We then observed what happened to the water. We were looking to see if it would soak into the rocks or just sit there. Why don’t you ask your child about the difference between permeable and impermeable rocks and how this experiment helped us to discover if rocks were permeable or not?
You could also explore whether other materials are permeable or impermeable – materials like raincoats, for example!
Welcome back!
2016 has hit the ground running in Y5. We welcomed each other back on Monday with a great circle time…
We’re working really hard on new English targets and are tackling measuring capacity in Maths.
Our new mini topic ‘What’s the Matter?’ started with lots of questions and hands on discovery as we explored which materials would conduct electricity.
Maths
Happy new year! It’s nice to see all the children happy to be back at school!
This week, we have begun adding numbers up to 20. We have looked at the method of ‘bridging 10’. The following is taken from a parent guide to addition from Oxford Owl. It is available online here: https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/abbots-hall/UploadedDocument/06bb6ca9993b4b29bf6b805cbb2b9ea4/OxfordPressParentSupportAdditionlines.pdf
Instant recall of number bonds to 10 is essential to make the group of 10 with ease. Please practise these number bonds with your child to secure this understanding. It can be as simple as saying ‘7’ and your child quickly replying with ‘3’. A good time to do this could be during car journeys or when walking to school together. Frequent practice will embed these number facts.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Fruit kebabs
Year 3 have been practising their peeling and chopping skills today when preparing a variety of fruits to make their own fruit kebabs. We considered other aspects of selecting fruits such as seasonal availability, allergies and individual preference. Children were keen to try new fruits, both fresh and dried.
At a time of year when many people make healthy eating goals, we all agreed this was a great way to get one of your 5-a-day.
Mystery letter causes outrage in Year 6 English lesson
Happy New Year!
Yesterday, we read the classic fairy tale: ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Then, in the middle of our lesson, we received a letter from Mr A.Wolf. The letter explained how the wolf has been made out to be a villain when really the whole story was a misunderstanding involving a bad sneeze and a cup of sugar; some of us were more understanding of the wolf’s plight than others. We combined all of this to create our own version of the plot in which the wolf is not the villain.
There were some interesting ideas. Rav’s alternative plot included misheard song lyrics, heavy whistling and a tranquilizer dart, while Jaskirat’s alternative plot centres around the wolf having a bad couch and asking his neighbours for medicine.
Despite being aimed at younger children, we have used ‘The Three Little Pigs’ as a stimulus for some very creative and mature learning. The focus of our learning will be on news reports so we’ll be producing our own news reports based on our alternative plots.
You can help at home by encouraging your child to read the news (online or in the paper) and pick out how the writing might differ to what you would find in a narrative. Also, ask them about the plot they have devised in class and how it differs to the original story line. 
Let’s get sugar smart
Today has seen a new campaign launch by Change 4 Life, the government’s public health initiative, aimed at reducing the amount of sugar that children consume.
The free Sugar Smart App can tell you the amount of sugar in items by scanning the barcode, and then displaying the result as a number of cubes or in grams. The app can be used as a way of revealing the hidden sugar content in foods and to make us more aware of what children are consuming.
Public Health England, which runs the Change 4 Life campaign, hopes the Sugar Smart app and campaign will help combat tooth decay, obesity and type two diabetes and encourage families to choose healthier alternatives.
New SEAL theme…Good to be me
Our new SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme for this half-term, Good to be me, focuses on three main areas of learning:
•Self-awareness – feeling good about yourself, taking risks.
•Managing Feelings – understanding feelings, and why and how they lead us to behave the way we do – particularly the feelings of being excited, proud, surprised, hopeful, disappointed, worried and anxious and standing up for yourself –assertiveness skills, standing up for your views.
•Empathy
This theme explores feelings in the context of the child as an individual, developing self-awareness and helping the child to realise that it really is ‘Good to be me’. The theme is about understanding our feelings as well as considering our strengths and weaknesses as learners.
As part of our current mini topic, What’s the matter?, children will also ask ‘What’s the matter?’ from a social and emotional point of view, understanding feelings and thinking about how they can solve problems.
The key ideas and concepts behind the theme of Good to be me are:
Building emotional resilience
Children need to become resilient if they are to be healthy and effective life-long learners.
Coping with anxiety and worrying
Worry and anxiety are major features in many children’s lives. Many children have good reasons to be anxious. Exploring worries is important.
Calming down
Although getting stressed, anxious or angry are important and useful emotions, sometimes these feelings can be overwhelming.
Assertiveness
The theme encourages children to become assertive – that is, able to recognise and stand up for their rights while recognising and respecting the rights of others.
Understanding feelings and how they influence behaviour
The theme explores the relationship between ‘thinking’ and ‘feeling’ and the way each impacts on our behaviour. It looks at Flight or Fight rapid response to situations of threat and our responses to feeling threatened /under stress.
‘I respond to difficult situations in a positive way’ is the first SEAL statement for this theme.
Merry Christmas to all…
Have a happy holiday!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first term in Year 2 and have been really impressed with how hard the children have worked and the progress they have made. Here’s an A to Z guide to my first term…
- Ahmed has impressed me with his curiosity in science lessons.
- Aisha was a marvellous Whoops-A-Daisy Angel.
- Alexander has shown an excellent, mature attitude to his learning
- Alexandra did brilliantly to take on two roles in the production at very short notice.
- Arundeep has shown that he is an excellent mathematician.
- Ben has shown he understands how to use a range of punctuation in his writing.
- Byron also really impressed me in science lessons.
- Charles really impressed me with how mature he was when talking about his learning with Mr Roundtree and me.
- Daniel has impressed me in reading, writing and maths this term.
- Eleni has shown great enthusiasm in everything she does.
- Eliza’s reading and especially her comprehension skills have been really excellent this term.
- Enas has been a really positive, smiley presence in the classroom.
- Eve is a great SEAL role model in the class. She’s a very kind and caring class member.
- Evie’s spelling has been a highlight for me. She’s a walking dictionary!
- Finlay’s artistic skills are brilliant.
- Gurnoor’s smile and laugh have been ever-present this term.
- Kirsten is another person who has done very well in reading, writing and maths lessons.
- Kismat really impressed me with her reading comprehension skills.
- Maggie really impressed Mrs Taylor with her understanding of SEAL concepts.
- Manpreet has shown that she is a confident mathematician.
- Natasha’s learning in maths has also been great this term.
- Nayaab’s readiness to learn has been a model to everyone in the class.
- Poppy has impressed in all subjects but did especially well in a recent maths assessment.
- Rabiya’s progress in reading and spelling has been fantastic.
- Sam works very hard in all lessons. His handwriting is particularly impressive.
- William’s ability to explain his reasoning in maths lessons has been excellent.
- Zakariya’s progress with his handwriting has been superb.
- Zara’s focus in lessons has really improved and I’ve been particularly pleased with her writing.
- Zidaan’s creative homeworks have often stood out this term when we’ve reviewed them as a class.
Finally, a massive well done to Laila who has made amazing progress this term. The improvements in her reading and writing have been amazing. Well done!
I hope you have a lovely holiday and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
Happy holidays!
We have come to the end of our first term!
Can you believe how quickly time has flown?
I am sure you will agree that the children have settled well and become happy, confident learners. We are proud of them all!
Well done, Eessa, for becoming more confident and Hashim for trying different foods. We have enjoyed seeing Jai and Lewis learn to blend and watching Amrit M gain confidence with her numbers. Thank you, Harman and Vedant, for your lovely manners. Well done, Jack and Amrit S, for gaining confidence with their writing. Edris, Evie and Aadil have impressed us with their extra learning at home – we enjoy the things you bring in to show us. Tanvi and Betty have been good friends – helping a new child settle. Sahar joined us this month and has become a great addition to our class. Thank you, Avraj and Leah, for being cheerful and positive members of the class. Sam, Da’wud and Madison have impressed us with their independent writing. We have loved the models James and Sohrab have been busy designing. Thank you, Sukhmani, for your ideas and input into our spider topic. Billy, Klara and Harpreet have been designing board games in the maths area and teaching other children how to play them. Well done, Christina and Simran, for your enthusiasm and Sasha and Matilda for entertaining us with their singing!
Have a great holiday and a happy new year.
See you next term!