An exciting week in year 3/4!

The year 3/4 children have had another busy week of learning! In science we started looking at a week long investigation into the effects of different drinks on tooth enamel. We used eggs to mimic the teeth and placed each egg into a different liquid where they will stay for a week. The children predicted how each liquid will impact the teeth using technical vocabulary such as acidic, sugar and enamel.

In art, the children studied frottage art. They used everyday objects like sandpaper, leaves, slate and lego boards to make rubbings in crayon. They then cut their textures into pieces to create beautiful natural images. Here are some of their incredible examples.

Continue ReadingAn exciting week in year 3/4!

Year 5’s perfect printing!

In art we have been learning how to print. To create our prints, we had to use ink, paper, rollers and some whiteboards. As we don’t need a lot of materials, we could do this at home too. We had to draw a picture and then print from it. We liked how our prints came out because it wasn’t just pencil lines. Our parts of our house drawings (that we copied from last week) came out quite well when we printed them because we drew a lot of detail. We put a lot of effort into our artwork so that it looked good. Have a look at some of our prints!

Charly, Chris and Anoush, Year 5

Continue ReadingYear 5’s perfect printing!

Year 2 Learning W/C 3.10.22

In maths this week, we have been continuing to think about the value of numbers and use our knowledge to compare them. The children have been using the mathematical symbols < > and =. We have also been ordering numbers on a numberline. The children have discovered that looking at the start number and end number of the numberline helps them when they are working out what the intervals represent.

In writing, the children have used the structure of Duckie’s Rainbow to write their own adventure. They enjoying thinking about who their character was and where they would take them! There is an example below.

In art, the children have been doing observational drawings of teddies, thinking about how they can create texture in their work. They looked really carefully and the results were impressive!

In science, we were testing materials to find out which was the best for absorbing water. The children found that kitchen roll and paper towels were good but that foil was not absorbent.

Have a super weekend.

The Year 2 Team.

Continue ReadingYear 2 Learning W/C 3.10.22

Nursery: week 5 (w/c 3rd October 2022)

This week in Nursery, the children have…

  • continued to develop awareness of sounds made with instruments, focusing on the difference between sounds (- communication, language & literacy).
  • compared objects by size; for example, they have sorted objects (such as balls) according to whether they are big or small (– mathematics).
  • continued to focus on developing the foundation skills for fine motor control, with lots of fun activities (-fine motor physical development).
  • developed their skill in rolling a ball towards a target and trapping it when receiving it (– gross motor physical development).
  • considered the importance of using gentle hands and being kind to others (- personal, social and emotion development).
  • learnt about the colour ‘blue’ – once again, they enjoyed watching the CBeebies ColourBlocks programme, this week about the colour blue; they made ‘blue’ collages and explored blue things in the environment.  We also talked about how the word ‘blue’ can be used to describe the feeling of sadness i.e. feeling blue (- expressive arts and design).
  • explored the season of autumn, beginning with a walk in the Discovery Garden and around the early years building.  We will do this again and again over the coming weeks to observe how the leaves on the trees are changing.  Next week, we are also planning to do some cooking – specifically apple crumble – continuing the autumnal theme (- understanding of the world).

Happy weekend to you all!

From the Nursery Team ?

Continue ReadingNursery: week 5 (w/c 3rd October 2022)

Reception Week 5 – Leaf Man

This week we have been exploring the delightful signs of autumn through our story of the week ‘Leaf Man’ by Lois Ehlert. The story has some wonderful images of fallen leaves that land in the shape of a man. He is then blown away in the wind as ‘a Leaf Man’s got to go where the wind blows!’ He is then taken past many other fallen leaves that represent other living things such as ducks on a river, an orchard and much more. The children really enjoyed looking at the pictures and describing what they could see. We learnt the Makaton signs for ‘man’, ‘lady’ and ‘duck’ to help us when retelling the story of Leaf Man.

  • During our letters and sounds sessions this week we have been learning the phonemes for the letters (ck, e, u, r). We have been working hard and now know sixteen in total!
  • For maths we have been looking at pattern this week. The children have been able to continue a repeating pattern in a variety of different ways and have really showed their mastery of this concept. We have used actions, sounds, playdough, number blocks, counting objects, and musical instruments all to show patterns and create our own.
  • ‘Our rights’ has been a topic as part of our ‘personal, social and emotional development’ this week. We talked about our rights at home and school and all the important things we need to keep us happy, healthy and safe. These included being able to play, be warm, have access to water and food. The children had some brilliant ideas in our discussions and were able to articulate their thoughts and feelings.
  • For expressive art and design we have been working on our mark making skills once again, this week we introduced chalks into our bank of resources we have already been using such as felt tips, pencils and wax crayons. The children have used them to make some great pictures on sugar paper, chalk boards and even the playground!

For your information

Your child will be bringing home a library book each Friday. Please talk to them about the importance of taking care of their book and return it to your class teacher each week by Thursday. We can then change it for a new book each Friday when we visit the library.

Please have a look at the attached home learning to find some fun activities you can complete at home. This week our story will be ‘Baby Goes to Market’ by Atinuke.

Have a fantastic weekend ?

Continue ReadingReception Week 5 – Leaf Man

Year 1 Blog WC 03-10-22

In Maths, this week we have been busy learning about greater than, less than and equal to. The children have worked hard to write the symbols and compare two numbers.

We started our first book in English- Mixed up fairytales. The children thought mixing up all of the traditional tales was hilarious and are looking forward to making up their own mixed up stories. Alongside this we have been reading lots of fairytales to the children. Some of the stories they knew already but our new favourites are “The Ugly Duckling” and “The princess and the pea”.

In Science, we learnt all about different types of weather. We thought about the clothing we might need to wear for each weather and also looked at the different weather symbols.

In Geography, we learnt about Scotland. The children found out about Ben Nevis, Loch Ness and Edinburgh Castle. They had a go at making their own tartan designs as well as creating artwork around the Loch Ness Monster.

In art, we used mixed media (crayons, felt tips, chalks and pencil crayons) to create a 2D shape line drawing.

In RE, we compared Christian and Islamic symbols. We learnt why Islamic symbols are important and discussed some of the routines of a Muslim. We also learnt about mosques and compared them to Christian churches.

Thank you for all of the wonderful home learning that has been sent in. The children enjoy looking at their friends work.

Continue ReadingYear 1 Blog WC 03-10-22

Another Great Week for Year 3/4!

This week in science we have been learning about teeth! We have learned about the names of each tooth and their shape. The children used their tongue to count their own teeth and feel the different shapes. Then they used a mirror to look at the shapes of teeth and recreated their own smiles by cutting out tooth shapes on white paper. Have a look at some of their amazing creations!

In art, we have been learning to draw like an artist and this week we have been focusing on shading with pencils. The children practiced using different pencils to shade from dark to light, neatly inside an outline. Then they practiced drawing objects and shading these carefully using their new skills. Have a look at some of their brilliant work below!

We have been so impressed with the incredible quality of home learning! The children have written some excellent letters and brought in some fantastic art work.

Continue ReadingAnother Great Week for Year 3/4!

Another great week for Year 5

This week, I’ve enjoyed planning my suspense narrative and beginning to write it up – I’m creating the first half of the video to ‘Pompeii’ by Bastille. In Science, we investigated thermal insulators by using potatoes that we had to keep warm, which I really enjoyed! Elsie

I enjoyed sketching in my art book – we have creating observational drawings of houses. I made sure to be careful with my line technique, with elegant strokes. I’m really enjoying PE at the moment; in orienteering, we had to orientate around a map and in gymnastics we created partner balances. Jax

5GT

This week we have enjoyed our art lesson. In art, we learnt how to draw houses, in proportion, from a picture. As well as art, we have enjoyed English. This week we wrote our final piece on a suspenseful narrative. We liked the freedom of our writing and got to be very creative. In reading, we loved reading and working with extracts from different books this week.

Maura and Grace, 5LS

During our geography lessons, we have been learning slums and how they are illegal settlements. In maths, we have started learning about addition and subtraction and mental strategies to help us work out the calculation. We’ve really enjoyed our class book, which is called ‘The Light Jar’, as it’s so suspenseful and we are always left on a cliffhanger and wanting to read on. This week in art we’ve been learning about observational drawing, where we used measuring, shape and light pencil lines to draw houses from looking.

Tatum and Flavia, 5MW

Continue ReadingAnother great week for Year 5

Year 6 Newsletter 30/09/22

Photo Permissions

We would love to share lots of photos of your children at school on the blog. Could we kindly ask you to ensure that you have completed the online form to give permission for your child to appear on the blog.

Aspirations – When I grow up

This week, children have been talking about aspirations and thinking about what they want to be when they grow up. We have been exploring how the decisions we make today can influence our futures!

Best wishes,

Miss Baxter, Miss Stone and Mr Tanner

Continue ReadingYear 6 Newsletter 30/09/22

Reception Week 4 – Hoot Owl Master of Disguise

Our focus story for the week has been ‘Hoot Owl Master of Disguise’ by Sean Taylor. Hoot Owl is no ordinary owl – oh no – he’s a master of disguise! And he will use his expert camouflage powers to trick his unsuspecting prey! But, somehow, Hoot Owl’s prey keeps escaping…Will he ever succeed in catching himself some dinner? Can your child remember what Hoot Owl ate for his dinner? We learnt the Makaton signs for ‘eat’ and ‘hungry’. Perhaps your children could show you these signs?

  • We have continued with our letters and sounds programme– we have been learning the phonemes for the letters (g,o,c,k). We have also started learning how to write some of these graphemes too!
  • During maths we have been comparing sets of objects. We began the week using 5 frames to compare which set of objects have more, fewer or the same amount. We have also compared objects by size hunting for big/small and tall/short objects within our environment.
  • As part of our carpet times we have been thinking and talking about using kind hands. We listened to a story called ‘Hands are not for hitting.’ We talked about what we can do with our hands and what we must not do and why.
  • For our expressive arts and design we have been exploring different forms of mark making, in particular this week we have been using felt tip pens to make a variety of colourful patterns such as zig zags, circles, squiggles and straight lines.

Please have a look at the home learning that has been attached to find some fun activities to do at home. It links to our story next week which will be ‘Leaf Man’ by Lois Ehlert. 

Have a lovely weekend! ?

Continue ReadingReception Week 4 – Hoot Owl Master of Disguise