: Blog items
Date: 7th Dec 2023 @ 1:29pm
Year Two have further been exploring descriptive writing and today focused on describing settings. We used adjectives and adverbs to describe what we could see, hear, smell and imagine what it might feel like. We worked in groups to create a bank of ambitious vocabulary that can help us when we come to write our Christmas story soon.
Date: 7th Dec 2023 @ 1:02pm
Year 3 had a visit to our very own library, The Attic! We all picked a book that we wanted to read and found a comfy spot to enjoy some relaxing reading time. We then had a chat about what books we had picked, why we picked them and what they were about. We can't wait to go back and keep improving our reading skills.
Date: 7th Dec 2023 @ 9:02am
This week, we learned about what enterprise means. We were then told that we had an enterprise project for the school Christmas Fair. Next, we went into Redcliffes and made reindeer food ready to sell at the Christmas Fair in a few weeks time.
Date: 7th Dec 2023 @ 7:49am
In dance this half term we have been looking at the ceremonial war dance 'The Haka'. We have discussed the significance of the dance and how it is used by the All Blacks New Zealand rugby team to challenge their opponents. We then took the steps of the dance and learned them over the past couple of weeks. We have performed the dance in unison and cannon - our final lesson will be to challenge the other Year 6 class.
Year 2 - Subtracting two digit numbers
Date: 7th Dec 2023 @ 7:30am
This week we have continued our addition and subtraction unit by looking at subtraction two digit numbers. We begun the week by exploring subtraction when it doesn't cross a ten, remembering the importance of starting with the ones. Throughout the week we have further deepened our understanding to subtracting two digit numbers when it does cross a ten exchanging one ten for 10 ones so we can subtract the ones before subtracting the tens. We explored how our whole is the same, it has just been represented in a different way. For example, 72 can be shown as 7 tens and 2 ones or 6 tens and 12 ones. We have enjoyed using a range of concrete resources which has helped us with more abstract calculations.
Year 2 - Which ship can hold the most weight?
Date: 7th Dec 2023 @ 7:27am
Last week, we conducted an experiment as part of our Everyday Materials unit to test which ship can hold the most weight? We made different sized boats using tin foil and placed counters on the top, counting how many counters it took until the ship sunk. This week, we used our results to use an online program to record our data in a block chart. We thought about the axis and giving the chart a title as well as inputting our own data before we interpreted our results using the chart. We found that the biggest ship could hold the most weight whilst the smallest ship held the least. This is because we can spread the weight.
Date: 6th Dec 2023 @ 7:06pm
This week we have learnt to use our knowledge of number bonds to find parts, and represent them using the subtraction symbol. We focussed on the meaning of the subtraction symbol and used part whole models to support us to write the related subtraction facts and start to build our understanding. We then moved onto answering missing number problems, subtracting by taking away and subtracting using a number line.
Year 1 Features of our school grounds
Date: 1st Dec 2023 @ 2:16pm
Today we began our Geography lesson by recapping on the key words urban and rural and features of each. We found the differences between rural and urban areas and recapped on the type of settlement we live in. We then began to learn about the features of our school grounds. We discussed the features we expected to find around our school grounds and considered how we were going to record our findings. Whilst outside, we completed our sheet with a partner and we discussed our findings together as a class. We then looked at aerial views of our school grounds. We identified and labeled the key features of our school area using words, pictures or Seesaw to create labels.
Date: 1st Dec 2023 @ 9:38am
This week, our journey into Anglo-Saxon Briatain continued with a discussion about the Vikings. The Vikings were invading tribes from Norway, Sweden and Finland, who attacked northern Britain during the Bronze Age. In this lesson, pupils learned about different events and had to decide how much of a threat the Vikings were to the Anglo-Saxons. In groups, pupils created 'living graphs' of the period.
Date: 1st Dec 2023 @ 9:30am
This week, pupils in year 5 created a quiz game on Scratch. They coded an algorithm using 'selection' to make a 'true' outcome and a 'false' outcome depending on the user input. Pupils tested their programs and debugged it to make it run better.
Date: 1st Dec 2023 @ 9:12am
A few times a week, we gather in a circle for 'Music Circle Time'. Sensory activities is of great importance to our children. Just as taste, textures and colours aid a child's sensory development, so does music. The children love using the maracas and drum tambourines as we encourage them to keep the beat to a particular piece of music. The children love to explore with the maracas, and get the cause and effect of shaking it softly or vigoursly.
Date: 1st Dec 2023 @ 9:04am
Each morning we spend a little bit of time warming up our hands and fingers and encouraging our fine motor skills in our Dough Disco sessions. 'Dough Disco' is a fun activity for the children which combines the use of play dough with a series of hand and finger exercises designed to improve fine muscle control. The movements develop children's fine and gross motor dexterity, hand-eye coordination and self-esteem. The children are really beginning to enjoy this session and are becoming more confident with the different actions used during these sessions.
Date: 1st Dec 2023 @ 9:00am
Today we welcomed Bailey and her owner Vincent to our classroom for the first time. Bailey's Book Club in Year 2 is such a huge success and we are lucky enough to have a little time with her every Wednesday. The children enjoy watching her owner, Vincent throwing the ball to Bailey outside our classroom. A few of the children gave Bailey a treat and even brushed her fur, which they got so excited about.
Year 4- Laurel's Reading Champions
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 7:57pm
Well done to our new Reading Champions in Laurel. You have read three times this week and been on Reading Plus for half an hour. Hopefully there will be more pupils in Laurel that can earn their Reading Champion badges! Keep up the good work!
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 4:02pm
Today we had our first of three Forest School sessions. In this session we spent our time lighting fires, making hot chocolate and using thinsg found in nature to create headbands/wreaths. The weather was cold but the sun was shining and we had a great time.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 3:00pm
The children explored the skill of chiaroscuro in art which means 'light- dark'. We looked at how to use charcoal to create shadows and then used rubbers and chalk to create highlights. We will sue these skills in our fianl piece.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 1:39pm
On Thursday 9th November and Friday 10th November, the children in Acorns have been looking at poppies and exploring the pictures and key words associated with Remembrance Day.
The children were very busy painting poppies and making poppy cookies. They also explored the different materials that were used, with adult supervision and support, to make a poppy ready to plant in our Remembrance Garden.
Finally, on Friday, the children went and planted the poppies in our Poppy Garden.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 1:21pm
This week the children in Acorns have been exploring the celebration of Bonfire Night. We listened to the song of Guy Fawkes and looked at bonfires and fireworks. We created a 'bonfire' style tuff tray where the children pretended to toast marshmallows on the bonfire. The children enjoyed getting creative making their own bonfire night pictures and fireworks. We also looked at firework numbers and some of the children could order the numbers 1-10, which is a huge achievement for our children. We encouraged communcation through repeating the numbers aloud and pointing to them at the same time.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 1:17pm
This week Acorns have been having a spooky time in class!
We listened to the story Room on the Broom, looked at spooky objects, which encouraged us to use our fine motor skills, did some pumpkin craft and made spooky potions. We also enjoyed exploring the inside of pumpkins and the different textures it has. We used widgit cards to encourage communication for the story 'Room on the Broom' and also for the key objects for Halloween.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 12:17pm
In Nursery we have started to have Bucket Time to support the development of the childrens communication and language skills. The chidlren watch and listen as an adult explores what is in the bucket and models language and explores ideas. The children really enjoy Bucket Time and are fully engaged to find out what's in the bucket!
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 11:31am
This week's theme was based on the story 'Handa's Surprise'. We enjoyed exploring new colours, texures and fruits. We had lots of fun painting with fruit and adding the different fruits to a basket just like in the story. We looked at using our fine motor skills by threading laces through different fruits and vegetables.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 11:26am
Nursery visited outerspace this week! We read the story "The Way Back Home" by Oliver Jeffers about a boy who finds an areoplane and flies all the way to the moon! He runs out of petrol and meets an alien whose spaceship has broken down! We learnt all about the different planets and used balloons to print some planets. Outside we built a rocket using the bricks and went on lots of adventures to space! One day we discovered some aliens in our garden and we talked about how they might of got there. We also used magnetic shapes and building blocks to build our own rockets. We had to think carefully about the shapes we needed to make a rocket. Its been a very busy week!
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 11:21am
This week we had our theme of 'Transport'. We had lots of creative fun: painting with cars, construction tuff tray, racing the cars around road numbers and messy play car wash. We encouraged communcation using makaton and widgits for: car, road, bus, plane, train, digger, right, left, forward and backward.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 10:30am
We had some very exciting visitors - the owls!
We met Tike, Casper, Bugs and Twiglet. The owls were all very different. Tike was a burrowing owl who lives underground. Casper has huge brown eyes which can see for miles. We enjoyed watching the flying demonstrations and were amazed at how silent their wings were when they flew. We were lucky enough to hold Twiglet - the youngest of all the owls.His feathers look just like the bark of a tree so he can camouflage himself from predators. He had sharp talons to help him catch his food too.
We spent the afternoon painting owls, using pegs and pom poms.
Date: 30th Nov 2023 @ 10:20am
During our time exploring the outside area, we enjoyed looking at playing with the different resources and looking at the different areas. We do love the great outdoors and having a good play!
