Staying safe week: water safety
Claire, a volunteer from Canal & River Trust, came to visit Reception and Key Stage 1 to teach us about staying safe near water.
SAFE stands for stay away from the edge.
If you do fall in water, you should float on your back like a starfish trying to keep your head above the water.
There were lots of hazards to spot.
Life jackets and buoyancy aids can help to keep you safe on boats.
Help at home: have a look at these water safety games with your child.
Food Technology: Summer Garden Salad
On Friday, Year 4 made a Summer Garden Salad. The children prepared all the ingredients, assembled the salad and enjoyed taste testing it afterwards.
We chopped most of our vegetables, grated the carrots and boiled the potatoes.
We stayed safe by keeping our fingers away from the knife and taking our time.
After we assembled all of the vegetables, we whisked together the yoghurt, oil and vinegar for the dressing.
Everyone tried it and the majority of us loved it! The dressing made all the vegetables really tasty and we all liked the different colours of all the ingredients.
Help at home by making it again! The recipe has been sent home with the children. Can you add something new? Could you try a different dressing?
Drop Down Morning
Last week, Year 5 have had a drop down morning. We looked back at 3 subjects to recap: History, Geography and Computing.
History
In our History lesson, we revisited the Viking and the Early Islamic Civilisation. The children played Pictionary with their key vocabulary from this unit.
Then, they had picture prompts to help them recall facts about each historical time period.
Computing
Year 5 had the task of sorting their key vocabulary so the word, picture and definition matched. After, they completed a RIC about Scratch coding.
Geography
The children recapped their Year 3/4 knowledge about volcanoes. They labelled the different layers of Earth; found information about dormant, extinct and active volcanoes; and recalled knowledge about geographical vocabulary.
Caterpillars to butterflies
This half term, we continue to be biologists.
We have been learning about different life cycles as part of our science learning.
This has included the life cycle of humans (and other mammals), butterflies and amphibians.
Over the past few weeks, you have probably heard about our caterpillar visitors. We’ve been keeping a diary to record the changes we’ve observed over time.
Week 1
The caterpillars are tiny and black. They are not moving very much.
Week 2
The caterpillars have grown longer and thicker. You can see hairs on them and they are moving more.
Week 3
The caterpillars have attached themselves to the lid and are beginning to make themselves into a pupa.
They build themselves a cocoon to hide in.
Inside the cocoon all sorts of changes are happening.
Week 4
After several days, the adult painted lady butterflies emerge.
Now, the whole life cycle will begin again.
Finally, after observing the butterflies for a short time in their classroom habitat, it was time to release them outside.
The children have loved watching these incredible changes. This learning has helped to reinforce the process and sequence of the butterfly life cycle but also the importance of respecting living things.
Reflecting on Year 1
This week has been transition week in Year 1. The children loved their morning in Year 2 with Mrs Taylor and Mrs Lake. They were very excited to explore their new classroom and get to know their new teachers. During circle time this week, we reflected on what we enjoyed about Year 1 and the children drew some wonderful pictures of their favourite things.
We also discussed any worries or concerns the children had about moving to Year 2. The children gave some brilliant advice on what to do if they are feeling worried.
Help at home by talking to your child about next year and what to expect. If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to contact me.
Summer2: Week5
It has been a fun filled week for reception this week.
The children enjoyed going to see their new teacher on Wednesday. They asked lots of great questions and were excited to talk about their new classroom when they came back.
During the trip on Thursday, the children were fantastic. They enjoyed adventures in the woods, learning more about recycling, hunting for minibeasts and exploring with water.
The children were able to use our word of the week (humungous) to describe the play area.
Maths
The children have been looking at fair and unfair sharing. They are now able to identify when something has been shared fairly. We looked at sharing different amounts of objects between 2,3 and 4 people.
Help at home: by sharing objects out fairly and unfairly.
Reading – performance poetry!
Year 3 have been reading a poem recently called ‘Sky In The Pie’ by Roger McGough.
Waiter! There’s a sky in my pie,
Remove at once if you please,
You can keep your incredible sunsets
I ordered mincemeat and cheese.
I can’t stand nightingales singing
Or clouds all burnished with gold,
The whispering breeze is disturbing the peas
And making my chips go all cold.
I don’t care if the chef is an artist
Whose canvases hang in the Tate,
I want two veg and puff pastry
Not the universe heaped on my plate.
Ok I’ll try just a spoonful
I suppose I’ve got nothing to loose…
Mmm the colours quite tickle the pallet
With a blend of delicate hues.
The sun has a custardy flavour
And the clouds are as light as air,
The wind with a chewier texture,
With a hint of cinnamon there?
This sky is simply delicious
Why have I not tried it before?
I can chew my way through to eternity
And still have room left for more.
Having acquired a taste for the cosmos
I shall polish this sunset off soon,
I can’t wait to tuck into the night sky,
Waiter please bring me the moon.
We picked out the tricky vocabulary and discussed the meanings…
- delicate hues – soft colours
- Tate – art gallery in London
- heaped – piled on
- cosmos – the universe or outer space
We completed a RIC based on the poem too…
Retrieval: answer is in text
Interpret: use clues and knowledge to find the answer
Choice: author’s choice of vocabulary
Finally, we spent some time preparing and performing the poem! What makes a good performance?
- using expression
- adding actions
- intonation & pace
- eye contact and body language
Some of us even memorised the poem! Here’s just a couple of performances.
Help at home by performing this different poem by Roger McGough:
Living and Learning: body image
Body image, as part of our Living and Learning curriculum, uses a focus on self-esteem to promote a positive body image. There is a strong emphasis on appreciating and celebrating everyone’s unique qualities, talents and abilities.
We want to enable pupils to feel proud and confident about who they are and to value their own and each other’s individuality.
Firstly, we talked about what makes us special. This could be something physical or personal.
I’m special as I am kind to my friends.
I’m special because I can do lots of different skipping skills.
I’m special because I try hard on TTRS.
I’m special as I can run fast.
I’m special because I’m good at helping others.
Next, we discussed why we have names and what if everyone was nameless?
If we didn’t have names, we wouldn’t be as special as we are.
We have names because we are unique and special.
We need names as we wouldn’t know who people are.
Then, we considered why we like different activities.
We like different activities because we are different people.
Not everyone likes the same thing because we are all different.
It would be boring if everyone liked the same things.
Finally, we thought about why we look different and what things we can change and what things we can’t change about ourselves.
It’s always great to hear the children discussing and sharing ideas in our Living and Learning sessions and circle times.
Help at home: Listen to this text, Your Body is Awesome, with your child. What is brilliant about their body?
Design and Technology: sewing!
This week, we’re sewing together our two pieces of fabric to create our pouch.
One piece is longer than the other so that there is a closing flap for a button or piece of velcro.
We’ve been very resilient and great team players. Lots of us having been helping our friends to tie the knots in their thread and thread their needles.
Here’s some of our work in progress!
Design Technology: I can use tools and materials to add applique to my product.
This week, Year 5 have been adding applique to their cushions. Applique means ‘pieces of fabric sewn or stuck on to a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. The children were mostly using running stitch to add this. They have been incredibly resilient in this work and not giving up after tying SO many knots.
Take a look at their work:
Help at home: Donate an old piece of clothing that we can use to stuff our cushions. We want to be sustainable and therefore recycle old material. The piece of clothing will be cut up so make sure you won’t want it back!
