Learning Updates
Year 1
Here’s what we’ve been learning this week:
Phonics- Review phase 4: Longer words ai ee igh oa oo ar or ur oo ow oi ear air er
** next week we are starting to ‘Grow the code’ with 4 new graphemes**
Tricky words: was they some come were there sure pure
Sentences: The frog slept in the drum. Splat, the chimp chucks a plum. The bright light was floating in the air. Are you sure the train went to the windmill?
Write: Milk is a good drink
English- ‘The Tiger who came to tea’ story structure: beginning, middle and end.
Making our own version of the story: “Once there was a little boy called Tom. He was having tea with his Daddy when they heard a noise. Ring!” *Spoiler: It was a big, snappy, scaly CROCODILE!!
Writing a sentence: It is not a stick.
Maths- Counting on from any number to 10. Finding 1 more than a number. Number formation
Handwriting- Practicing writing our first and surname (please note, many children are still writing there first name incorrectly if not prompted so any reminding at home would be greatly appreciated).
Art- Self-portraits: Using a photo to sketch half our face.
Topic / PSHE- ‘All about me’: My friends and what they think I am good at
SCIENCE- Our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch
PSHE- Emotions: All feelings are ok. We discussed comfortable and uncomfortable feelings.
Homework: Optional: A self portrait in a medium of your choice: paints, crayons, felt tips, junk- modelling. How about a pizza? Lego? Chalk? Nature art? Shells on the beach? Paints? Box modelling? A fruit salad? Return next week for a star stamp or email a photo to me.
After half term: We will be learning about Florence Nightingale and about nursing then and now. Do we have any parents in nursing who would be able to come in on Wednesday or Thursday afternoon in November?
Have a lovely weekend. Mrs Brandon
Year 2
We’ve had another week packed with learning.
English: We have explored our text map about Florence Nightingale thinking about adverbs and past tense verbs.
Maths: We have continued to explore place value and started our learning about number lines.
Science: We got very hot and sweaty doing a Joe Wicks workout and then thinking about how we felt. We talked about our heart beat, pulse and the body parts used with each exercise.
History: Continuing our topic, we looked at a timeline of King Edmund.
Music: It was great to explore a certain type of song and to improve our singing through this. We also had a drumming workshop on Monday which was excellent. Our musical timing as a group was brilliant!
RE: Tasting different foods related to Rosh Hashanah was a memorable experience.
PSHE: We discussed how rules make us feel safe and how it would feel if someone didn’t follow them. We then made some posters to reflect on our learning.
Art: Our focus continued to be charcoals and exploring different mark making.
PE: Running with Mrs Crook.
Have a great weekend.
Mr T
Year 3
We have had another super week in Year 3. Mrs Dobson and I were just saying how lovely it is to see improvements each day in the children’s focus, listening and following of instructions. We are also delighted to see so many children achieving high spelling scores, reading regularly at home and making progress with their times tables. Thank you, as always, for your support at home – it really does make a difference.
A little weekend mission: please try to read two or three times over the weekend to help secure that all-important Star Reader status. Mrs Dobson has checked the figures, so there is no escaping the statistics!
We also had a small but significant Year 3 victory this week: all of our earring wearers managed their own tape for PE. Well done!
Our learning this week has included:
English: We completed our imitation of the instructional text How to Brush Your Teeth, putting our learning about clear, well-ordered instructions into practice. We also continued our weekly grammar and spelling work and completed a reading comprehension linked to our science learning about healthy, balanced diets.
Maths: Our place value work has continued with numbers up to 1,000. The children have been placing and estimating numbers on number lines, as well as comparing and ordering them.
Science: We explored the five food groups and the importance of a healthy, balanced diet. The children designed their own Eatwell plates, thinking carefully about which foods belong to each group and the proportions we should aim to eat.
Geography: Armed with atlases, we located the countries identified during last week’s research into where different fruits and vegetables come from – discovering just how far some of our food travels before reaching our plates.
Music: The children experimented with rhythm using percussion instruments with Miss Spinks and particularly enjoyed Monday’s enriching drumming workshop.
Art: We have begun an ambitious project inspired by Vincent van Gogh. The children are recreating the landscape viewed from our classroom window, exploring how different pencil marks can be used to create texture and detail.
RE: The children explored the Christian belief in Jesus as a Saviour. They considered what happened at the crucifixion, why this is important to Christians and how it connects to the meaning of the word saviour.
PE: With Mrs Crook, the children explored changing speed and developing control in their movements when running.
French: We recapped familiar greetings and began learning some useful classroom instructions.
Enjoy this lovely warm weather over the weekend!
Miss Murphy and Mrs Dobson
Year 4
Another full week with a build up to the excitement of our trip to West Stow. We were so lucky with the weather and the children were amazing, asking lots of great questions and really engaging with the experience, it was a lovely day. Maybe you could take a family trip there one weekend so the children can show you what they found out.
In our learning this week;-
Maths - we have continued with place value and we have looked at number lines, what clues to look for when estimating numbers to 10,000. We have also looked at quick ways to be able to order and compare numbers to 10,000. With Mrs Harper the children were counting squares to find the area of shapes.
English - we looked at various sentence types and wrote up our focus text. With Mrs Harper the children carried out some reading comprehension on a text called 'Rainforest Calling'.
Topic - we looked at a presentation from West Stow that told us all about the reconstructions of the buildings we looked saw.
Music - Drumming workshop - what fun! The children got the chance to play; djembe, dundun and some bells. They worked on a different rhythm for each instrument and then played them as a whole group and the swapped so that everyone got a chance to play each instrument. They were really good at keeping in time with the instructor.
RE - Looking more at what being a 'saviour'means, the children thought about times they had saved someone and how Christians believe Jesus saved people.
PHSE - Democracy and voting - the children decided on their class school council representatives.
Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs Chittock and the Year 4 team
Year 5
We've had lots of exciting things happening this week. We started our week with an African drumming session. It was rather loud but we were all able to play our separate rhythms on our instruments to put together a performance at the end. We had an amazing session with Dr Matthew Bothwell on Wednesday. The children were enthralled as he showed them video and answered all of their excellent questions. He commented how lovely and enthusiastic they were as he left. He will be back to see us in December - this time with Cambridge University's planetarium! Now I just have to find somewhere big enough to put it......
Congratulations and thank you to all the members of Y5 who applied for, and were successful in getting a Y5 job! We now have 2 school councillors, 4 JRSOs, 2 class librarians, 2 PE pixies, 2 Bookster Bear announcers and 7 CWCers! They are going to be very busy and I'm sure they'll do a great job. They're all keen to get started to help make a difference, which is lovely.
In English, we finished planning our Apollo 11 astronaut biography and have written them up. We had to make sure we were using our plan to help us with the structure, but also remember to turn them into beautiful, grammatically accurate sentences. I have been very impressed with what I have read so far!
In Maths, we have been looking at decimal place value and getting more comfortable with tenths and hundredths. We've also had a go at converting some decimal numbers to fractions.
In Science, we learnt about the phases of the Moon (and of course I showed them the iconic Jaffa Cake advert). In Computing, we learnt about binary code. We had a go at making some numbers in binary code, then played a game to test our skills. We also had a go at a NASA game where we had to drive a rover around Mars. Harder than you might think!
In RE, we thought about where we get our ideas about Jesus from and analysed some metaphorical quotes from John's gospel. There was lots of great thinking - well done Year 5! In French, we learnt the terms for sports clothing.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Miss Rutter, Mrs Nichols and Mrs Marsh
Year 6
What a busy and exciting week we have had in Year 6!
In maths, we have been consolidating our understanding and accuracy when using addition and subtraction, including exploring the inverse relationship between these operations. We have been focusing particularly on checking our calculations carefully and developing confidence in selecting efficient methods.
In RE, we have been learning about how Christians develop their ideas and beliefs about Jesus. We have considered some of the different sources that Christians use to help them understand who Jesus was and what he means to them.
Our PSHE learning this week has focused on the rights we have within school. The children have demonstrated a deepening understanding of what these rights mean in practice and how they help us to understand both what is expected of everyone and what everyone can expect from others. This has led to some thoughtful and mature discussions.
In Science, Mrs Offley demonstrated the dissection of an eye to further develop the children's understanding of how the eye works. This was a fantastic opportunity to connect what we have been learning about the different parts of the eye with how they work together to allow us to see.
In English, we have been preparing to write a diary entry. We have been 'boxing up' our ideas and examining examples of what a successful diary entry looks like. This has helped us to identify the key features, structure and language choices that will make our own writing effective.
In history, we have been learning about the role of women during the First World War. We explored how expectations of women, as well as the opportunities and responsibilities available to them, changed during this important period.
The highlight of the week has definitely been our drumming workshop! It was such fun, and the children thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to experience three different instruments in one session. They were fantastic participants and were even told that they were one of the best and most engaged Year 6 groups the workshop leaders had worked with — a fantastic compliment and something they should be very proud of!
Home Learning
This week's home learning is focused on practising arithmetic skills. Regular practice will help the children to improve both their accuracy and confidence.
As always, if there is anything your child has found particularly challenging, I am available to help them on Monday lunchtime.
Leavers' hoodies: Letters are being sent home today regarding the Year 6 leavers' hoodies. This is something the children really value and are always excited to wear — even when it's 30 degrees!
Have a super weekend, and well done to all of the children for another fantastic week!
Nuala Gilmore
