Meeting an author
Tom Palmer virtual visit
Today, the children had a virtual visit from Tom Palmer (and his dog Finn) who is an author that writes children’s books.
Tom began by talking about how he got into writing…
As a child, Tom didn’t enjoy reading, didn’t think he was any good at it and didn’t like it until his mum tricked him into it by using football! He began to read comics and newspapers about football and this helped him practise his reading. Tom found that the more he read, the more he enjoyed it!
His love for reading then inspired him to become an author and his ideas for different books come mainly from football, animals and war. “Write about what you love,” said Tom.
Question time!
Some of the children had the opportunity to ask Tom a question such as;
How long does it take for you to write a book?
It depends! Some books take 6 weeks to write and some take 6 months… it depends what I’m writing about and how long the book is.
What gave you inspiration for ‘Arctic Star’?
My wife used to work on HMS Belfast so her stories about the ship inspired me to write about a warship.
Why have you set some of your stories in Leeds?
I set some of my stories in Leeds because I’m from Leeds! Writing about somewhere that I know makes it easier as I can add more detail to my stories.
Have you travelled to the places you have written about?
Yes, I have been inspired by the different countries I have visited. However, travelling around the world is very expensive!
Help at home by researching Tom Palmer’s website. Find out more about the author and explore some of his fantastic books. https://tompalmer.co.uk/
Week 4 – Rumble in the Jungle
We hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday weekend! This week has been actioned packed in Reception. Our focus story has been ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ we have loved exploring the different rhyming words and creating movements to match the animals.
We have been creating our very own rainforests using a range of different materials. In construction we thought of bigger objects we could use, whilst in our creative areas we used different paints to create different trees and animals.
We have used our computer skills to find out facts about different animals that live in the rainforest. We then turned these into our own animal fact files!
We have began a special project! We are learning to sew! This week we have thought about the shape of our animal hand puppets and learnt how to threat the needle. We are using running stitch to stitch the two parts together. Please keep a watch out for how these develop next week.
Our caterpillars are getting quite large now! It will soon be time for them to start the next part of their lifecycle into a butterfly.
School is closed on Monday 15 May for a staff training day. We can’t wait to see you all back in school on Tuesday 16 May.
05.05.23 and 12.05.23
Below are the new spellings for the next two weeks, please practise ready for a spelling test on Friday 19 May.
- table
- apple
- bottle
- little
- middle
- have
- live
- give
- there
- their
Minibeasts everywhere!
Over the past few weeks we have been exploring all things minibeast! We’ve looked for worms in the garden with our magnifying glasses, made our own junk model insects and observed how our tadpoles are starting to change.
We also began to celebrate the upcoming Coronation of King Charles. The children joined in making afternoon tea, got creative using red white and blue to make their own flags and designed their own crowns for our school parade.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Miss Ward
Spelling Quiz
Well done to the Year 1 children who scored 10/10 in their spellings this week!
Please support your child to practise their spellings at home ready for their spelling test every other Friday.
Coronation Day
What a fabulous day we’ve had today celebrating King Charles Coronation. Thank you to everyone who has decorated a crown, they all looked AMAZING which made picking one winner extremely challenging!
We’ve listening to a story about the life of King Charles and watched the special Newsround outside of Buckingham Palace. We’ve created our own portraits of King Charles too. Thinking carefully about size, shape and colour.
Well done Year 1!
Week 3 – Walking Through the Jungle
It has been another busy week in reception! This week our focus story has helped us to learn more about different ways we can move and different animals we may see in the Jungle. We have moved like the different animals in the story and created story maps before writing about the animals using adjectives.
As part of our maths sessions we have been using the song ‘5 little monkeys jumping on the bed’ to help us recognise 5 as a whole and the different parts it can be broken into. We really enjoyed helping the monkeys jump out of the bed!
We have been very busy preparing for the coronation this weekend. We have created our very own afternoon tea and made crowns to celebrate this occasion.
Our beans and caterpillars are growing really well. We have transferred our beans into outdoor planters and we are hopeful that our caterpillars will soon move into their next transition phase.
This week we have focused on the nursery rhyme ‘sing a song of sixpence’ we hope you like it!
I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend and enjoy the celebrations!
Mrs Payne
Living and Learning: I know the importance of staying hydrated.
Year 4 have been discussing the importance of hydration.
breathingsweatingurinatingdiarrhoeasickness
- dizziness or light-headedness.
- headache.
- tiredness.
- dry mouth, lips and eyes.
- passing small amounts of urine infrequently (less than three or four times a day)
- Water is good for the body – keeps joints, bones and teeth healthy, helps the blood circulate, and can help kids maintain a healthy weight into adulthood. Being well hydrated improves mood, memory and attention in children. Check out our learning below.
- Pack a water bottle for school and when you go out. Try a frozen water bottle in summer.
- Encourage your child to drink water before, after and during physical activity.
- Always offer water with meals and snacks.
- Encourage your child to drink water, even if they don’t like it!
Year 3 and 4 went down to the woods today…
This week, along with Born of the Forest, Year 3 and 4 ventured out to a classroom with no walls! Check out how we got on exploring, investigating and learning all about St James’ Woodland.
Be sure to scroll through our time outdoors and chat to your child about it – what did they think of their time outdoors? Did they learn anything new? What was the best bit of their session?
Each Friday, your child will be spending 90 mins in the woodland, whatever the weather – please ensure they bring appropriate clothing.
Year 5 went down to the woods today…
This week, Year 5 were the first class to venture out with Born of the Forest to explore and learn outside in our new outdoor classroom – St James’ Woodland.
It was great to see the children working as a team! Check them out in action…
Each Friday, your child needs to be ready to spend 90 mins outside, whatever the weather!