The Courier

Some of the things the children have been learning...

It’s hard to believe we have reached the middle of the academic year – time certainly does fly when you’re having fun!

We have introduced doubles in Maths. We have looked at the relationship between simple addition and subtraction. We have used scales to compare weights of classroom objects.

In handwriting we have introduced cursive letters r and u, both part of Rupert the white sheep’s short, straight line letter family.

We have used the stories, The Snail and The Whale and Stickman in Literacy. We have identified rhyme, sequenced main events and completed simple comprehension tasks.

Some of the things the children will be learning in the coming weeks...

Our new topic, ‘Pirates and Mermaids,’ will see us setting sail on some new learning adventures. We will have daily ‘treasure challenges’ and be finding out why pirates love underpants in our focus literacy text.

In Maths, we will be counting on and counting back to solve addition and subtraction problems. We will also be revisiting money and playing shops in role play.

In phonics we have been introduced to blends;

• br as in broom

• cr as in crab

• cl as in clown

• gl as in glass

• fl as in flag

• bl as in black

• pl as in play

• sl as in slug

How to help your child at home…

• Please clarify sounds that are mis pronounced, such as th not f
• Encourage the children to blend words when reading together. Explore rhyming words
• Look closely at letter size and position when practising cursive writing
• Encourage the children to keep a simple holiday diary to share on their return to school. This could be a few photos or scrap book type journal
• Practice writing numbers 0 - 20, correcting any reversals
• Recall doubles to 20
• Compare sizes of familiar objects using simple mathematical language
• Match numerals to amounts

1Q were very busy on Tuesday making Valentine's Day cards for some of the people we care about. This week in Maths we have been doing a recap of what we have learnt throughout this half term and played games to put our skills into practice. In English, we became authors and have started writing our own owl books remembering to always check our work for C.H.I.P.S.

We also had a very exciting and engaging visitor in Year 1, Debra Meftah, where we explored the weather and seasons around the world. This really helped us to consolidate our learning this half term and we even managed to take a quick trip round the world seeing some wonderful animals and weather conditions. 

1S have been practising counting on in 2s, 5s and 10s and working hard to recognise the patterns within this. We have been applying our learning into the recognised format of times tables to introduce the children to multiplying through songs, physical activities and later into our workbooks. Some of our children have expressed an interest in joining the Crescent Times Table Rock Stars community so we have been supporting this on their maths journey too!

Class 2W and 2E have had fun creating their animal sculptures. They carefully observed and modelled the shape and texture of the animals then painted them in the correct colours.

This week has been quite a maths heavy week with some revision sessions of what we have covered since Christmas followed by two end of half term quizzes. As a little light relief, fresh air and exercise, we enjoyed some time outdoors on the activity trail.

In phonics, we reviewed the four ways we have already learnt to make the ‘o’ sound before introducing a fifth way. We enjoyed some dice games, including snakes and ladders, to help us secure correct spelling patterns.

In English, we have been in the ICT suite researching characteristics of an animal of our choice. We then used our findings to write a diary recount from the view-point of our animal - practising writing in the first person, using past tense correctly and including a range of different conjunctions to extend our sentences.  

2E and 2W children continue to work hard to practice their words, songs and movements for their production of Animal Rumble Grumble coming up in March.

Children in 2W have been using imperatives in their sentences to write instructions in the style of author Neil Gaiman. We have focused on using 'bossy verbs' to begin our sentences and adding detail to make the interesting.

E.g. "Go through the calm and quiet house - don't be scared of the dog (he's just excited.)" 

"Never go inside the soaking black well - the water will poison you."

Craft Club were developing their sewing skills this week with a little help from Mrs Dowling’s secret supply of pom poms. On pieces of hessian the children drew their own designs before decorating with stiches and applique. Lots of skills were on show, from the original design drawings to the choice of decoration and materials and the concentration and attention to detail as they worked individually to create their pieces. Really super stitching everyone – but remember to look after those precious pom poms!

This half term's chess tournament final saw James victorious over Matthew in a very close match.

Well done, James!