A busy week!
Outdoor learning day
Of course, the biggest highlight of this week was our outdoor learning day. The children were split into four groups and each group got a go at each of the activities. To end the day, we decided to make a huge puddle and get really wet! The children’s behaviour was amazing and we just had so much fun learning outside. Scroll down to Monday’s post to watch the video.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the F2 children looked at photographs from the day and wrote about what they did/enjoyed.
On Wednesday, the F1 children also wrote about the outdoor learning day in their group.
Maths
This week, our focus number was 19. When watching the Numberblocks 19 video, the children loved that 19 made lots of different crazy shapes. The video focussed on 19 being an odd number. A group of children explored making their own crazy shapes using the cubes.
“giraffes”
“capital letter L”
“wonky bird”
“boat”
We’ve also been investigating which numbers are odd and which numbers are even. We divided different amounts of objects into pairs/groups of two to find out. The children were brilliant at noticing if there was an odd one!
Phonics
We are coming to the end of Phase 4. After next week, we will focus on applying the phonics skills. The children will be encouraged to read and write longer words independently. To support your child, please keep practising the phonemes and tricky words at home.
This week, we talked about not needing to blend every word. I emphasised that they don’t need to segment every word if they know it. This will support their fluency. When reading at home, please encourage this.
PE
Sports day is just around the corner so we thought we’d better start practising. This week, they loved showing off their amazing running, jumping, skipping and balancing skills. It was great to see the children cheering on their peers, saying well done and having a positive attitude.
Some more highlights of the week…
Sharing the biscuits equally at the teddy bears’ picnic.
Our very own mini Euros football tournament.
Sorting real and nonsense words.
Practising our fine motor skills.
Working together to build a bridge for the train.
Making models.
The hula hooping experts!
Home-Link Challenge
Outdoor learning day
Click here to watch some highlights of our outdoor learning day.
We had so much fun!
Active learners
It’s been another busy week in the Foundation classroom.
The fantastic learning just keeps coming!
Literacy
This week, we continued to look at The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith. The children were amazing at retelling and remembering key events. The F2 children designed and wrote sentences about their own decks. We put all of the children’s decks together to make our very own Foundation 2 Decker Bus. Click here to view our bus.
Some children decided to continue their learning and make their own decker bus independently.
Maths
This week, our focus number was 18. Some children explored sharing 18 cubes into different groups.
“2 groups of 9”
“3 groups of 6”
“6 groups of 3”
We’ve also been thinking about halving. To support the children’s understanding, we practised sharing different quantities into 2 equal groups. On the carpet, we tried sharing 7 apples into 2 equal groups. The children noticed that there was 1 apple leftover. They suggested adding one more, taking the apple away, or making another group. After a long discussion, I explained that the number 7 is an odd number. Next week, we will continue to investigate odd and even numbers.
Working at the car wash…
Last week, the children were observed using paintbrushes to clean just about everything in our outdoor area. Therefore, we decided to turn the road into a car wash.
Well, I’ve never seen a car wash so organised. The children loved washing the cars, scooters, and bikes. They were that good, I even thought about getting them to wash mine!
Outdoor Learning Journey Drop-In
Thank you to all the parents who came to the learning journey drop-in sessions. It was lovely to see how proud the children were when they were sharing their learning.
Honesty
This half-term’s Christian value is Honesty. To help us understand what honesty means, we’ve been reading Pinocchio. On Thursday, the children worked in small groups to put the story pictures in order.
Outdoor Learning Day
On Monday, please make sure your child comes to school in a raincoat and their wellies. It could be a wet one!
Home-Link Challenge
Hand to Mouth visit
Last week, we were lucky to welcome Hand to Mouth back into school. Hand to Mouth is a Christian charity that come into schools to work with children to explore Christianity and their own spiritual journey.
Throughout the day, Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 visited a journey where they could explore ‘Christianity as a living faith’. The children visited the journey in pairs and explored different stations throughout.
Throught the day, each class had a visit to learning about different aspects of Christianity as a living world faith.
In foundation, they learnt all about African worship. In the session, they made our very own Kufi Hats and danced around the classroom to some African music.
In year 1,2, they learnt all about different churches and got to make their own church.
In year 3,4, they learnt what worship was and how different this can look around the world.
In year 5,6, they learnt all about justice and what this entailed.
Sunny first week back
What a great start to the final term!
We’ve jumped straight into our new topic which is based on journeys and transport. From booking holidays in the travel agent to being mermaids in the sand, the children have had a fantastic week.
Literacy
Our focus story is The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith. On Monday and Tuesday, the F2 children drew a map of the buses journey. We also looked at different pictures of old buses and compared them with pictures of new buses. The children were fascinated!
“That bus is old because it looks dusty.”
“This bus is older because it is darker than that one.”
“This bus is old because the windows are small.”
The children absolutely love this book! Therefore, we will be continuing this book next week and designing our own decks for our class bus. You could ask your child if they can remember what happens in the story.
Visitor
On Thursday, we had a visitor from Hand to Mouth visit us. We learnt all about African worship. In the session, we made our very own Kufi Hats and dance around the classroom to some African music.
CHEESE!
Maths
This week, our focus number was 17. We’ve also been thinking about doubling. The children know that when we double something it gets twice as big.
Phonics
The F2 children have started Phase 4 of the ‘Letters and Sounds’ phonics programme. In this phase children will use the phonemes learnt in Phase 2 and Phase 3 to read and spell words with four or more phonemes.
CVCC words: tent, damp, chimp, toast
For example, in the word ‘damp’, d = consonant, a = vowel, m = consonant, p = consonant
CCVC words: swim, plum, sport, spoon
For example, in the word ‘plum’, p = consonant, l = consonant, u = vowel, m = consonant
They will also learn more new tricky words. This week, we learnt: said and so.
Here are some more highlights from this week…
We even made our own jacuzzi!
Reminder!
Don’t forget to come along to our outdoor learning journey drop-ins next week. If you can’t remember your session, please ask one of the Foundation team. We look forward to sharing and celebrating all of the children’s wonderful learning.
This weekend is going to be a hot one. Please remember to drink plenty of water, sit in the shade and wear sun cream. Have a lovely weekend and I will see you all on Monday.
Staying safe in the sun
As the weather is getting warmer, we’d like to remind you about keeping your child safe in the sun.
NHS guidance makes it clear that most people do not apply enough sunscreen. If sunscreen is applied too thinly, the amount of protection is reduced. It should be applied to all exposed skin, including the face, neck and ears. The SPF should be at least 30.
It’s really important that children come to school wearing sunscreen and that this is applied just before leaving home.
If you choose an ‘all day sunscreen’, it’s important that it is used according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For sunscreen that needs to be reapplied, children can bring a named bottle into school which they will be able to reapply at lunchtime. Please teach your child how to do this independently. Staff in school will help/guide if needed but as you can imagine a vast amount of teaching and learning time could be lost if staff are applying cream to a full class.
If your child has a sibling(s) in school, they will each need an individual bottle of suncream. Due to the current situation, we cannot be going into other bubbles.
A named hat and water bottle are essential. Please ensure that your child brings both to school every day. We will replenish water bottles throughout the day.
Butterflies and music
I can’t believe we are at the end of another half-term!
On Monday, the children were very excited when they saw five butterflies fluttering around in the butterfly net. Due to Foundation doing such a good job at caring for the caterpillars, all five were a success!
Click here to watch how we set them free.
On Wednesday, the F2 children wrote a sentence about releasing the butterflies. They used the writing process: think, say, count, segment, and check when writing.
On Tuesday, we listened to two contrasting pieces of piano music. When listening to the music, we thought about which colours would best represent each piece. The children took their paintbrushes for a walk and made different marks in time with the music.
Click here to watch the children painting.
You’ve all had a fantastic half-term and I hope you all have a lovely week off in the sunshine!
Fantastic Foundation (as always!)
Science
This week, the children enjoyed rescuing the frozen minibeasts. We heard lots of fabulous conversations. We talked about ice being a solid and when it melts, it turns into a liquid.
“The salt is making the ice crack.”
“The sugar is making it sticky.”
“The hot water melts the ice the best.”
“We need more hot water! The legs are still frozen.”
Phonics
This week, the F2 children have been recapping all of the phase 3 sounds. We have also been learning to read words with more than one syllable (polysyllabic words)
Please continue to practice the phase 3 sounds at home. You could have a go at playing some of the games on Phonics Play. Below are links to some of the games.
Flashcards – supports sound recognition
Tricky Word Trucks – supports reading tricky words
Pick a Picture – supports blending
Login in using Sphere (username) Spher3 (password)
PE
The children continued to learn the fundamental skills of skipping.
We finished the session with some parachute games.
Literacy
The F2 children made ‘I Spy Minibeasts’ lift the flap books. We thought about different habitats and drew pictures of these on the front of the flaps for clues. Some of the children read their books to the class.
Maths
In maths, our focus numbers this week were 15 and 16. The children explored making teen numbers with Numicon.
We also have been focusing on adding more. The children know that when we add more the total number gets bigger. To support our learning with this, we played two games:
Magic Cloth – We counted an amount of cubes (1-10). I covered the cubes with the magic cloth and added a hidden amount of cubes under the cloth. I revealed the new amount and the children had to work out how many cubes I added. They were fantastic at explaining their answers using first, then, and now.
Grid Game- I taped a grid on the carpet. The children rolled a die and filled their column with the corresponding number of beanbags. The first to fill their column won!
F1
On Wednesday, the F1 children explored counting using Numicon. Some of the children put 2 or more pieces together and counted the holes to find a total.
Outdoor Learning Day
It’s looking like it’s going to be another wet day on Monday. Due to this, we are having to postpone our outdoor learning day. This will now take place on Monday 21st June.
Caterpillar News
The children were very excited this morning when they saw the butterfly!
“It’s beautiful!”
“It needs a friend… it is lonely.”
“The wings are symmetrical.”
Click here to see our first butterfly.
Home-Link Challenges
F2
Practise spelling the phase 2 and 3 tricky words. You could practise spelling these using coloured pens, paint or even playdough.
F1
Go on a letter hunt around your home.
Can you find things beginning with the same sound?
Choose different letters and see if you can find 3 objects beginning with the same sound.
Skipping into summer with Skipping School
We have launched a whole school skipping project with Skipping School. Each class has their own class set of ropes and we also have long ropes for every class too. The children are so enthusiastic about it already. There are some tutorial videos below so you can work on your skills at home too!
- Skipping Tips
- EYFS and KS1 ‘Click and Jump’ tutorial
- EYFS and KS1 ‘Big Rope Bouncing’ tutorial
- EYFS and KS1 ‘Double Bounce’ tutorial
- KS2 ‘Double Bounce’ tutorial
- KS2 ‘Speed Bounce’ tutorial
- KS2 ‘Hop and Swap’ tutorial
- KS2 ‘Side Straddle’ tutorial
- KS2 ‘Forward and Backward Straddle’ tutorial
- KS2 ‘Criss Cross’ tutorial
A calm week in Foundation
After a very busy week last week, it’s been a lot calmer this week!
Literacy
The F2 children chose a minibeast to write about. We then used adjectives to describe what they look like and wrote about their habitats. Check out our amazing writing!
Caterpillars
It’s exciting times in Foundation… all of our caterpillars have now made a chrysalis (cocoon). The children know that caterpillars stay in a chrysalis for approximately 2 weeks. I am hoping this is perfect timing before we break up for half-term!
PE
The children started the exciting new ‘Skip into summer’ project organised by Skipping School. The children will be practicing their skipping skills over the next 6 weeks. To get their skipping journey started, Foundation will be learning three key skills: big rope bouncing, click & jump, and double bounce.
Phonics
F2 have finished learning all of the phase 3 sounds! Next week, we will be recapping some of the tricky phase 3 diagraphs and trigraphs. All of the children are trying really hard in phonics and this is evident in their reading and writing – well done F2!
Art
At the creative table, the children made their very own Matisse-inspired collage called The Snail. They cut up different shapes using brightly coloured paper and stuck them in a spiral pattern.
F1
On Tuesday, the children were finding objects with the same initial sound. Mrs Rippon said, “I have found a cccc cat! I wonder if we can find any other things that begin with a ccc.” They showed fantastic listening skills and were super at finding objects with the same initial sound.
On Thursday, they went on a 2d shape hunt around school.
Click here to watch a snapshot of what we do in music. The children love Mrs Small’s music sessions!
Home-Link Challenge
