Year R   

 We have been learning about the Earth’s tilt this week in science, and how this makes us have the seasons, we had to work out which season it would be when we are tilting into the sun and which it would be when we are tilting away. We also watched and sang the Seasons Song. In maths, we have been continuing to work on more and fewer and the same or equal. We are really beginning to think about how we know something and we are giving our answers in full sentences. Our new text this week was ‘How to catch a star’ by Oliver Jeffers. We have thought about descriptive words and even created our own ideas for how to catch our own star. In art this week we have been creating the planets by colour mixing and thinking about the patterns the colours might make, we have also made our own constellations and decorated our own stars using gems and glitter. In phonics we have learnt 3 new sounds ‘z – zig, zag, zig’, ‘ch- choo sneezes the horse’, and ‘qu – round the queen’s face down her hair and flick’. We also learnt that (unless it’s the name of a country the Queen never goes anywhere without her umbrella. In between all of this we also had a little bit of time to try to get ready for showing you our wonderful Nativity – ‘It’s a Wonky Donkey Christmas’ next week. 

 

Year 1  

Another busy week, I can’t believe it’s December! 

We have had lots of exciting things happening this week. At the beginning of the week we discovered some dragon eggs in our classroom with a set of burnt instructions ‘How to Trap a Dragon’. We thought maybe the dragon was challenging us so we followed the instructions and set up the trap. Then on Thursday a magical Christmas elf came to our classroom and said she had to set free a dragon, our trap must have worked! We are learning about instructions in English and deciding whether we should try to trap the elf. I think it will depend on how much mischief they cause! 

In Maths this week we have loved learning about time. We have been showing and telling the time to the hour, using o’clock. We have also been ordering events in the day and trying to link them to times. 

Our last two weeks are full of very exciting things that we are looking forward to! We can’t wait to share our Nativity with you as well. There will be no spellings or Maths for next week but please continue reading as much as possible. 

 

Year 2  

I cannot believe it is December already, where has the term gone! This week we have been planning, drafting and writing our own space poems, after sharing some great poems during our Reading Subject Showcase on Monday afternoon. I cannot thank you enough for coming along. If you have any questions about it, please do not hesitate to ask.  

Can you write a poem over the Christmas break? It could be about animals, space, Christmas or something else of your choice. Why not enter it into this great competition: https://poetryzone.co.uk/competitions/57510/ Share on your portfolio if you do. I would love to read them. 

In mathematics, we have continued to look at properties of 2 Dimensional shapes: we know can name a variety of shapes and worked on spelling the shape names accurately too. We have also learnt what a quadrilateral is and that there are different types of triangles, including equilateral and right-angled triangles. Check your knowledge - Try this quick quiz: https://firstlook.educationcity.com/content/Activity/index/35434  

In Science wea looking at ASTRONOMY, I have been extremely impressed by our knowledge of space, continue to learn the names of the 8 planets in our solar system, can you recall the facts we’ve learnt about each? 

Our PSHE this week allowed us to think about people who inspire us. These people don’t have to be special leaders, they can be sports people, carers or family and friends that do things that inspire us to be better people or to aim to achieve our best. 

In RE we have explored what happens in a Synagogue and why they are special places for Jews. We have discovered what a tallit and a bimah are and that the Torah is kept in a cupboard called an ark.  

In Music, we continue to listen and learn a song called ‘Listen’ and have also been rehearsing Christmas songs in readiness for our Christmas Performance. 

Please continue to do all the great reading, spelling practise and extra home task you are completing at home. I will be sending some practise challenge papers for you to look at over the Christmas break and will have a reward for those that return them in the new year.  

Thank you all for your continued support and we look forward to seeing lots of you on Tuesday afternoon for our Christmas Performance.  

 

Year 3 

It does not seem possible that it is already December! We have been writing playscripts of scenes from Cinderella this week in English. In maths we have been working on learning the eight times tables. If you are able to please make sure that the children continue to practise the 3’s, 4’s and 8’s that we have been doing this term so that they really consolidate them and don’t forget what they have learnt. The Sumdog times table practise is great for doing this. In science, we have looked at and written about the life cycle of a frog. In RE the children have retold the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. For their geography this week the children found out about some of the main rivers in the Americas and Australia and chose one of these to complete their own research for and wrote a factfile. In French we have been learning how to say the names of classroom items and some colours. We found out about Howard Carter and his discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in history. And linked to this we found out about Nefertiti and looked at a sculpture of her in art. We have also completed our Christmas decorations and they look fabulous on the tree in the classroom.  

 

Year 4 

It was great to see so many parents at our open morning. The websites we use to practice our times tables are on class story. We hope you enjoyed the swan dance as much as we did. In maths we have been dividing numbers by 10 and 100. We have to remember how many places to the left the digits move. In English we have been using drama to plan our stories. We have thinking about what the witches in Macbeth do next. We have been learning about the vitamins we need to keep us healthy and the foods they come from in science. We found out how caves are made in geography. In history we debated if we should assassinate Julius Caesar. Unfortunately, we agreed with the senate! 

The most exciting thing is what happened today. Not only have the school elves been around but we have one in our class. His name is Peter and he arrived in the post. So far he has hidden some books and messed the trays up. We hope he is not too mischievous!  

 

Year 5 

This week, we completed our work on Street Child and have moved on to a new topic where we have been learning about the man who walked between the towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, Philippe Petit. As part of this unit, we completed some research on the Twin Towers and have written our own letters of advice to Philippe. In maths, we have continued our work on fractions, specifically converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers. We also continued to practice short division, using bus stop method. Knowing our timestables well has made this all much easier! In history, we spent some time learning about the importance of global trade and the British Empire. In PSHE, we have spent time learning about E-Safety, specifically cyberbullying. We are all looking forward to FOSA Polar Express Day next Friday! 

Here is the link for next week's homework club:  

https://forms.office.com/e/tRb0P8Cbip 

Reminder deposits for the KS2 End of Year Harry Potter trip need to be in the office by Friday 9th. 

Have a lovely weekend! 

 

Year 6 

This week, we have been busy drafting our own short suspense stories based on Varjak Paw by S. F. Said. We have worked on out ‘show, don’t tell’ skills and building suspense slowly allowing the reader to work out what is going on through the clues given. In Maths, we have recapped converting units of metric measure, converted miles to kilometres, learnt about imperial measure and apply our knowledge to problem solve. In History, we have taken a closer look at two well-known suffragettes; Emmeline Pankhurst & Emily Davison. We have also looked at the view point of the anti-suffragists and studied the timeline that led to the women being to be granted the vote in 1918. In P.S.H.E, we have continued our E-Safety topics looking at social media, the dangers of posting private information and discussing a variety of scenarios. We had a brilliant in-depth discussion and the children asked and answered some really sensible questions.  

 
Here is the link for next week’s homework club: https://forms.office.com/e/tRb0P8Cbip 

This is a quiet space for children to attend after school in order to complete their homework. As always, I am happy to work with children during the week if they need it too.  
  

Here is the link for next week’s maths afterschool booster, I mentioned earlier in the week this will be the last session until after Christmas.  

Maths Booster: https://forms.office.com/e/4z8yqUvCdv  

Please check your parent messages frequently as I will message parents’ directly if I feel it would be beneficial for your child to attend the coming session. 

Coming up next week; 

-Tuesday - Luncheon Club Choir visit to the Methodist church (please note this is a closed event, parents are unable to attend) 

-Tuesday – Last afterschool maths booster 

-Friday – FOSA Polar Express Day – Children can wear PJ’s and enjoying watching Polar Express. Please note this is also our PE day so all clothing must be suitable for PE or a change of clothes please. 

Reminder deposits for the KS2 End of Year Harry Potter trip need to be in the office by Friday 9th. 

Have a lovely weekend everyone, thank you for your continued support.