We are mathematicians
This week in Year One we have been working really hard on their maths learning. We have been using the numicon this week to add single digit numbers to teen numbers. I was really impressed how the children took on this learning and also how they recorded it so carefully in their maths books. By the end of the week we were using the numicon to find all the number bonds to 20. It really helped that we had such a good knowledge of our number bonds to 10!
Well done Year 1.
Help at home by practising both number bonds to 10 and number bonds to 20. Numbots is really good practice for this.
We are biologists!
At the start of this half term, we planted some daisy seeds as part of our science learning. We looked at what a plant would need to grow and how we look after it. We had to be very careful with the seeds as they were very small. First, we scooped some compost into our pot and pressed it down. Then, we put two seeds on top of the compost. Finally, we added some more compost on top and watered it. We will keep track of our seeds throughout the rest of Year 1.
Our seeds on 12/01/24. Our seeds on 25/01/24 (some little seedlings starting to show.)
Help at home by looking out for new plants growing in the park or in the garden. What parts of the plant can you see?
Spring term after-school clubs
*UPDATE*
We do have the following availability for clubs should your child wish to sign up.
The after-school clubs for this term are available for booking. We hope your child/children can get involved with our extra-curricular activities.
Please contact the office if you have any queries about the after-school clubs.
Abbey House Museum trip
Year 1 had a tremendous day at Abbey House Museum which took us back in time to Victorian Leeds. We explored the street and all the shops, including the grocers, the chemists and an ironmongers. After that, we had a wonderful time eating our excellent lunches! In the afternoon, we explored the toy museum upstairs and even Mr McGriffiths found a toy he used to play with! The final part of the day was a workshop with a member of museum staff where we learnt about life in Victorian times. We were able to handle and use the artefacts and we learnt lots and lots.
Children’s Heart Surgery Fund
This week, Lauren from Children’s Heart Surgery Fund came to visit.
Children’s Heart Surgery Fund is our new school charity, voted for by the Junior Leadership Team, and we learnt all about their work and how our donations will support the charity over the next year.
Here are some of our Junior Leaders with Lauren.
We are Historians
History is the focus of our topic learning this half term. During this topic, we will be ordering significant events in our lives and we’ll be discussing them using historical vocabulary.
As the half term progresses, the children will discuss how significant things have changed over time: the food that we eat, the shops that we visit and how trade has changed.
This week, we will be ordering key events in our lives on a timeline, ordering events within living memory (the last 100 years) and discussing the key vocabulary past and present.
Help at home by talking about what shopping was like when you were younger. Have shops changed? How about the way you pay for things?
We are looking for someone (maybe a grandparent) to come into school to answer the children’s questions about how shopping and life in the 1950s is different to today. Please talk to Mr McGriffiths if you have someone in your family who would like to come into school in the next few weeks. Thank you!
PE superstars!
On Thursday in PE we had an amazing lesson! We got out lots of equipment and practised all the skills we had been learning this half term. We did balancing, jumping and moving. We were all very brave and very safe! Sorry the pictures aren’t perfect but they were moving too fast!!
We ended the lesson with our balance challenge. How long can you balance on one leg? We have got so much better at this over the half term! I wonder if you could practise at home!
Have an amazing break everybody and thank you all so much for the generous gifts and words of thanks. I will see you all in the new year!
Merry Christmas,
Mr McGriffiths
Living and Learning: Mental Health
Over the past 3 weeks we have been talking about our feelings and emotions in Living and Learning lessons. We met Maz, who had landed on this planet and wanted to learn all about different feelings. We were able to list lots of different feelings including: sad, upset, excited, shy, happy, worried. We acted out how our body’s would be if we were feeling these emotions to help Maz recognise his own emotions.
We also discussed how we would feel in different situations and that everyone can feel different emotions about the same thing. For instance, many of us would feel scared or worried in the dark whilst it made others feel calm and relaxed. I was very proud of the children for expressing their own individual opinion and being brave to say how it would truly make them feel.
In the final week we spoke about BIG feelings and how some big feelings are just lots of small feelings building up. We read the book Barbara throws a Wobbler and talked about what had happened to Barbara to make her so upset! Finally we spoke about how we could help ourselves if we felt some BIG feelings. We have an excellent breathing technique called finger breathing which helps us calm down. Ask your child about it.
Talking about feelings and knowing where and how to seek help for yourself or others is very important.
Help at home: We’ve talked about how people’s faces and body language can help us to understand how others are feeling. We acted out certain emotions in class. Try to have a go at home.
Lights Camel Action
We are getting excited to perform our Christmas production, Lights Camel Action, this week to three audiences.
Today is our dress rehearsal for the rest of the school followed by two performances to parents, carers and families on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The children have all worked so hard learning lines, songs and dances and we can’t wait to share it with you.
We hope you can join us.
We are artists!
This afternoon, we created our final print as part of our art topic. We had already created a background using tissue paper. We only used primary colours and overlaid the pieces to create different shapes as well as different colours. Inspired by Castle and Sun by Paul Klee, we created a design for our polystyrene sheets and then drew the design carefully on.
Today we rolled out our ink and precisely rolled the ink onto our polystyrene design. Then we pressed the design down onto our tissue paper background and rolled it flat with a dry roller. Finally, it was the moment to reveal what we had created. We were so happy with our final pieces, I think they all look amazing! I love the changes of colour, shape and pattern the children have made. Unfortunately, I was a little busy (and inky!) to capture photos of the process! However, I have included a photo of everybody’s final piece, they should all be very proud of themselves!
Help at home by talking to your child about their own piece of art and how they created it.