The Courier

Our in-class igloo has provided great opportunity for imaginative role play. We have looked at videos of arctic animals and talked about how they survive in the extreme cold.

In handwriting we have introduced cursive s and i - beginning to learn about straight letters.

In maths we have learned about ordinal numbers and started to learn about bonds to 10 and beyond. We have been practically investigating to show pairs that total 10.

We have been learning about different weather and linking these to the seasons. We have labelled weather symbols and talked about how we dress appropriately for different weather conditions.

In handwriting we will be introduced to cursive n and m continuing ‘Rupert the white sheep’ straight line letter family.

Our focus texts in literacy will be A Little bit of Winter, and Ridiculous.

We will be writing captions, sentences and completing sequencing activities. We will be learning more about animals that hibernate.

st      nd      mp      nt      nk      ft      sk      lt      lp

• Reinforce digraphs/trigraphs and blends introduced at school.
• Practise cursive letters in name writing – reinforce capital letters at the start of first and last names.
• Practise saying the days of the week and months of the year in order.
• Look for signs of winter and talk about how the seasons change.
• Practise identifying numbers in real life contexts.
• Explore ways to make 10

Some children have asked if they can bring in cuddly penguins and polar bears to display in class. This is a great idea to support our topic work, so feel free to send them in.                

We are currently trying to encourage the Reception children to select one of the main choice options at lunchtime more regularly. This seems to be working positively for many children who are now choosing to have a main choice meal several times a week.

We had a great week in 1Q this week. We are learning about nocturnal animals in English. We used our teamwork skills to find information about different nocturnal animals including bats, badgers, otters and hedgehogs. We then presented our findings from our collaborative learning to the rest of our class.

In Art, we made some bats using our cutting and sticking skills. We also had a very exciting visit from Warwickshire Fire Brigade who gave us lots of safety information including 'Stop, Drop and Roll'.

In Geography, we have been studying the weather and we thoroughly enjoy changing our weather calendar throughout the day. 

As part of our English topic of 'Nocturnal Animals', we have been watching videos, reading information and writing about the amazing creature that is the badger. In Art we used a Pointillism style skill to create texture and patterns on our stripy nosed badger faces before displaying them peeking out amongst the undergrowth like we saw on the film. Watch out for further creative critters as our learning continues ...!

1S and 1Q welcomed Rugby Fire crew into school. We learned about the importance of smoke alarms through an animation featuring Freckle and Dexter and they showed us all how to 'Stop Drop and Roll' if our clothes caught fire. The children were full of questions for the team and were thankful of the goodies to take home so they could share their learning with their families. 

In Science, Year 2 have been learning all about how to care for themselves through exercise, hygiene and eating healthy. This week they have been busy sorting foods into healthy and unhealthy foods using the Eatwell guide. The children have started to plan how they will prepare and cook their own healthy pizza.

Class 2E and 2W have had fun exploring the nature of clay and how it can be used to make sculptures. They have used their hands and simple tools to help them create interesting shapes and textures with the clay.

2W found places on the world map to find the sources of fruit and vegetables that we eat. They then considered how the produce is transported to us.

2W recognised the 'el' spelling in words in a story that we read together . We then categorised how the 'l' sound can be made in four different ways.

In PSHE we have been thinking about things we are good at in our Dreams and Goals topic. We had a range of different ideas from swimming to football, maths to lego, drawing and creating to being a good friend and helping our parents at home.

It was lovely that every child felt the confidence of feeling successful at some thing. We then thought about what the steps to success are - what skills have been put in place, what characteristics do we have that have enabled us to be successful. Suggestions include practise, listening, using our imagination, trying again, listening to advice, learning from mistakes, thinking of others before ourselves and having the interest and motivation to want to improve.

A really interesting session where the children realised no-one is just good at something - there are steps that they have put in to achieve that succes. Having designed our success bookmarks, the photo shows us all sitting together to discuss our own individual steps to success.