Week beginning - 28th October 2019

Welcome back after half term - I hope you all had a lovely week. 

In Maths this week we focused our learning around measuring, specifically height and length. We began by estimating the length of an object and then applied our understanding and ability to measure accurately. 

In English, the children were introduced to a new fiction text, Vlad. Vlad is a flee that lives between the ears of his friend Boxton, a rat. Boxton and Vlad both lived when The Great Fire of London took place. The children have been learning about a variety of features from the book, including identifying the conjunctions.

We have been real scientists this week too. Focusing our learning around materials. We began by identifying materials, following on from this we discussed the properties of materials through an enquiry-based research lesson. The following day we looked at the difference between an object and the material it is made from. Finally we began to consider, through research, materials that are suitable for making houses with. This will lead us on to designing and making homes over the next couple of weeks. 

Week beginning 14th October 2019

On Tuesday we were delighted to welcome so many families to our Reading Cafe, sharing ‘Leaf Man’. What better place to share it than our Forest School area. The story was read around the fire pit whilst the children snuggled on the log benches with their Mums, Dads, Granny’s, Grandads and siblings. The children had the opportunity to implement their ability to summarise stories. Mrs Baker then shared with everyone, the activities available. 

Activity 1, leaf identification! The children used a key to identify the leaves that can be found in the Forest School area. 

Activity 2, leaf measuring! The children were encouraged to use blocks, rulers and tape measures to measure a leaf of their choice. This activity exposed the children to a variety of units of measure. The children were then encouraged to use mathematical terminology such as: largest and smallest.

Activity 3, Pumpkin Soup! Miss Blake made a large pan of Pumpkin Soup for the children and grownups to try. While trying the soup, the children were expected to refer to their senses and record this accordingly. This activity required the children to retrieve prior learnt knowledge because they used their senses when evaluating drop scones. Most of the children loved the soup which made Miss Blake very happy, although I do believe the crusty bread helped sell it! 

Activity 4, create your own leaf animal! Using leaves of the children's choice and PVA glue, the children were invited to create their own leaf animal. We saw all kinds of variations, they were fantastic. Following on from this, the children were asked to write a story about the adventure that their leaf animal went on. The children were encouraged to magpie ideas from the Leaf Man story if they wanted to. 

Activity 5, Reading! A wide selection of books were available for the children to share with their families. 

Miss Villalba and I would like to thank everybody that was able to join us, the enthusiasm and engagement shown was evidently high. The children had a superb morning and were lucky to be able to share it with you. 

On Wednesday we went on a shape hunt around school. Following on from our learning on 2D shapes this week, the children were challenged to identify 2D shapes in real life. They  did a great job, this led to discussion about 3D shapes too! 

Week beginning 7th October 2019

In Maths this week we have been creating our own patterns! We created our own patterns as well as continuing patterns that had already been created for us. The patterns we created on Wednesday helped us to begin learning the 2 times table!

In English we have continued writing our newspaper reports. They are looking super and we look forward to sharing them with you next week.

On Wednesday we undertook some enquiry based research to find out about what happened in 1666. The children used a variety of sources to find out the information. The sources included: newspaper reports, books, internet websites, sound buttons, key word sheets and fact files.