Spring Term 2023

27/03/23

In English we have continued to enjoy our new book The Odd Egg. We have been using contractions and the subordinating conjunction ‘because’ in our writing this week – awarding certificates to the birds in the story for their eggs using ‘because’ to explain why they deserve one.

Our Maths this week has been focused on measuring length and height. We have been comparing length and height using the vocabulary long, tall and short and measuring objects using non-standard units of measurements as well as centimetres. We have also looked at comparing the weight of objects using scales.

In Geography the children have been learning about the different continents in the World. This week they have been comparing key features of Europe and Africa.

Our Science lesson this week looked at how we can measure the different aspects of our weather – we looked at thermometers, rain gauges, anemometers. We then worked in partners to make our own rain gauges out of large plastic bottles. We will use this, along with a thermometer, to keep our own weekly weather diary so that we can notice weather patterns as the Seasons change.

w/c 20/03/23

In Maths this week, we have been continuing our work within 50 by finding one more and one less than a number and ordering numbers from smallest to greatest and greatest to smallest.

We began looking at our new book in English - "The Odd Egg". The children looked at pictures of all sorts of different eggs and used adjectives to write sentences describing the eggs. Having started the story, the children made predictions about what the different birds in the story were thinking. The children were fascinated by the flamingo pictured in the story, so we watched some footage of flamingos and learned some flamingo facts which we could incorporate into our writing.

In ICT, we have been learning about algorithms and have been trying to make our own. Last week, we tried to give detailed step-by-step instructions to our friends to help them replicate the Lego model we had built. This was tricky but lots of fun. This week, the children helped me to re-write an algorithm for making a jam sandwich. They learned that it is VERY important to give clear, detailed instructions or the results are less than appetising. The children then tested the revised algorithm and enjoyed eating the results.

Our Science lesson was combined with Art this week as the children continued their focus on Summer. This week looked at what people do in Summer - inlcuding going to the seaside. The children used this as the theme for their paper-based collage artwork - producing some great Summer pictures.

w/c 13/03/23

This week has been assessment week and the children have been very sensible and all tried their best. The children have completed mixed maths questions, reading comprehensions and answered science questions. The children should feel very proud of themselves.

Everyone has continued to work hard in phonics lessons and read as frequently as they can. The children have also continued to write their alien story!

In RE, we have been thinking about how Muslims express their beliefs. We have explored objects linked to prayer, including prayer mats and prayer beads.

In Music, we are learning about the importance of music in film. We looked at a clip from the Disney film 'Brave' to help us discuss the importance of music. We thought about how the music made us feel and how the music changed.

w/c 6/03/23

In Maths, we have continued to work within 50. We have been using number lines and adding missing numbers on them. We have been comparing numbers and exploring the number of tens and ones.

In English, we have read our story Beegu and been retelling and ordering it. We have innovated the story by changing the alien character in the story (inspired by our own weird and wonderful sock puppets!) ready to write our own story.

In Geography, we have started to think about what continents are. We have used globes to consider the land area and begin to think about how it is split up into different areas people live. We have used atlases, outline maps, a jigsaw and song to hep us!

wc 27/02/23

In Maths, we are now working within 50. We have been practising reciting the number names from 1-100 and partitioning numbers within 50 into tens and ones. We have been representing numbers in different ways - using manipulatives like counters on tens frames, bundles of sticks and Base10 and we are becoming confident at counting to 50 in 10s.

Our English work has continued to focus on our 'Beegu' story. This week, the children made their very own alien sock puppets and then wrote descriptions of them. They tried to answer the question, "What do aliens eat?" - and they were some very surprising suggestions! 

The children got crafty in their Geography lesson this week - making their very own globes. It was the first week of their new topic which will focus on the World's continents and after looking at some of our school globes, the children made their own.

We really enjoyed World Book Day on Friday. It was great to see everybody dressed up in a real variety of costumes. We got to share some of the stories that the children had brought in with them.

w/c 20/02/23

This week in Maths we have begun to work beyond 20. We have been reciting number names and ordering numbers to 40.

In English, "Beegu" is our new book and so we are just starting to learn about Beegu the alien who has crash-landed his spaceship in our school playground! We have been practising using our 'bossy' imperative verbs when writing instructions on how to care for an alien and when writing our letter of advice to a lost and lonely Beegu.

Our Science focus for this half-term is on the features of Spring and Summer. This week we looked at the features of Spring - the weather, the increasing daylight and the new plant and animal life.

The children are becoming really confident using our ICT programme Purple Mash. They can log on using their username and password, change their avatar, navigate through different parts of the programme, create and save their own work and log off again. We have also been discussing why we keep our passwords private and ways in which we can stay safe online.

wc 06/02/23

In Maths, this week we have continued to work on subtraction number sentences. We have been accurately using number lines to count back to find the answer. We have explored how we can find the difference using subtraction and we finished the week finding related facts.

In English, we had fun thinking of helpful objects our Character Billy could stash in her hair (ready to use to defeat the Beast!) We continued to use the conjunction ‘because’ to explain our choices. We also considered what unusual ingredients the Beast may put in his ‘Terrible Soup’ – including fox tails and bunny rabbits alongside onions and carrots! We finished our week sequencing our story and retelling and writing the beginning and middle of the story. What a great job everyone did!

In History, we made an imaginary journey to South Africa where we sensibly learnt about Apartheid. We thought about how it would feel to be segregated in school and how unfair that would be. We also learnt about how important Nelson Mandela was in the civil rights changes. In Geography, we compared the human and physical features in the town and the countryside.

For Science, we learnt about the lifespan of different materials. We were tasked to try and sort Mrs Wardell’s rubbish! We explained which material the different objects were so we could organize the recycling.

We continued to learn about the Muslim Faith in RE and the Power of the Night and the call to prayer at the mosque. We made and decorated Islamic symbols and listened to Muslim stories.

In Music, we enjoyed Scottish Folk Music and had a fun (and noisy!) time hitting percussive instruments to the beat of a Scottish reel!

Have fun and stay safe for the halfterm break.We look forward to seeing you back on Monday 20th February.

w/c 30/01/23
Our Maths this week hs looked at doubles and we have begun to look at subtraction within 20. The children are really starting to become more confident working within their numbers to 20.

We continued to read "Billy and the Beast" in English. We used it to help us look at turning our writing into the past tense by adding -ed to some of our verbs and we composed our own emails to the main character using the suffixes -ful and -less. Having read to the end of this very exciting story, we were able to explain what the Beast had done, introducing the conjunction 'because' into our writing.

In Science, we focused on which materials were best suited to making certain objects. Having considered whether everything could be made out of jelly (we decided not - it would get a bit messy), we considered why some things needed to be transparent, and some, opaque. 

We used the laptops to navigate more around the Purple Mash site. The children found out how to retrieve their previosuly-saved work, add text to their drawings and listen to the messages I had left for them.

In PSHE, we are thinking about what 'success' looks like. We made our own little treasure chests ready to put tokens of our personal successes in.

The children have been enoying some folk music this week. They learned about sea shanties and these helped them to maintain a regular beat when clapping along. They even had a go at singing in a round. They also listened to some Irish folk music and had a go at dancing an Irish jig!

 w/c 23/01/23

In Maths, we have been continuing our work looking at addition within 20.

This week saw us start our new book "Billy and the Beast". The children have been making predictions about the story and its characters and we have been writing in the present tense.

Science this week saw the children using their knowledge of materials and proerties to sort objects according to whether they were soft or hard, flexible or rigid, transparent or opaque and even whether they would sink or float in water.

In our History lesson the children learned about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and designed their own posters to help explain why Civil Rights are so important.

w/c 16/01/23

In Maths we have been working on place value - identifying the tens and one in a number. We have begun to add ones using tens frames and part whole models. 

In our final week looking at "I Want my Hat Back", the children compiled lists and were introduced to contractions. They also wrote their own mini adapatation of the story - changing the character and missing item.

The children were very excited to use the laptops this week to practise logging on to Purple Mash, change their avatar and create and save their own artwork. We learned about why we have passwords and why it is safer to use an avatar than real photographs of ourselves.

We continued our science work on materials - focussing on their properties - we even created a song about them to the tune of Frere Jacques.

In PSHE, we have been thinking about what makes a good friend. 

The children's Art focus this Term is on developing their drawing skills through tracing - they have been practising drawing different types of lines themselves and are now working to trace over existing lines to recreate images.

w/c 09/01/23

In Maths this week we have been comparing and ordering numbers within 20.We used Unifix cubes and number lines to help us recognise numbers which are smaller or greater than others.

Our English work continued to focus on our book “I Want my Hat Back”. We have been using the prefix ‘un’ and the conjunction ‘and’ in our written sentences and we have even written and performed our own rap!

In our Geography lesson, the children enjoyed the story of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse and then worked on identifying human features in the countryside.

In History we have returned to our work on Civil Rights. We looked at what makes people different and then at key figures and groups working to make sure we are all treated equally.

The children became investigators in Science – searching around the school to identify what materials different objects are made from.

In R.E. we started to learn about Islam and the Muslim faith. In this week’s lesson we thought about the special book – The Qur’an – and why it is special to Muslims.

w/c 02/01/23

It was lovely to welcome everybody back after the Christmas break. And, although it was just a 2-day week, we got straight back to work.

In English, in preparation for our new book "I Want my Hat Back", we explored a variety of hats - orally rehearsing questions and answers in a game of "Which hat is my hat?". On Friday, we looked at how to write questions using a question mark and practised writing down some of our questions and answers.

In Maths, ahead of this Term's focus on numbers within 20, we reviewed accurate counting skills and counting on from 10.

Science this Term is exploring Materials. In our first lesson we found out that 'material is the stuff that things are made of' and carried out our own investigations. We tried to identify objects in a feely bag just by touch - it really helped us to focus on the objects' properties and use some amazing adjectives to describe how they felt.

Our History lesson was on civil rights. The class had a great discussion about what they felt our civil rights should be, before we shared a beautifully illustrated book by Chris Riddell, "My Little Book of Big Freedoms", which outlined our rights under the Human Rights Act.