Festive Fun in Year 2
Today, Year 2 had a very special surprise – a visit from Santa. The children were so excited and loved sharing smiles, laughter and festive cheer.
We also enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner together, which was a lovely chance to sit with friends and celebrate as a class.
To finish our festive day, we shared the much-loved poem ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, enjoying the rhythm of the words and the magical story it tells.
It’s beginning to feel very Christmassy in Year 2, and we are all enjoying the excitement, warmth and joy of the Christmas season.
Final Prints Inspired by Paul Klee
Today, we finished our art topic by creating some fabulous final prints.
We used styrofoam to make our own printing plates to create artwork inspired by the artist Paul Klee. The children explored bold lines, shapes and patterns, just like Klee did in his artwork. Their designs were inspired by things Paul Klee often used in his work, such as houses and buildings, symbols, dream-like pictures, and bright, playful shapes.
The children carefully pressed their plates onto paper to reveal their prints and were very proud of the results. They showed great creativity, focus and perseverance, and the final artwork looks fantastic.
Year 3 and 3- Digit Numbers!
This week in Year 3 Maths, we have been learning about the composition of 3-digit numbers. We explored why numbers are grouped into hundreds, tens and ones and how this helps us understand their value.
Using practical resources, the children investigated how a number is built, for example how 342 is made from 3 hundreds, 4 tens and 2 ones. We discussed how regrouping numbers in this way makes it easier to read, compare and work with larger numbers.
The children showed great curiosity and understanding as they explained their thinking and represented numbers in different ways. This strong foundation will support them as we move on to more complex maths work.
To support our learning, we used the MathsBot Base Ten Blocks website to build numbers and explore their composition. This allowed the children to clearly see how 3-digit numbers are made up of hundreds, tens and ones.
Help at Home:
Use MathsBot to build different 3-digit numbers with your child. Ask them to explain their thinking using this sentence frame:
“There are ___ hundreds, ___ tens and ___ ones.
The number is ___.”
This will help reinforce place value understanding and mathematical language at home.
Sculptures
This week, Year 3 were excited to finally finish our Art topic for this half term. We have been creating sculptures inspired by the artist Wassily Kandinsky.
We began by learning about Art History and exploring who Kandinsky was and how he created his artwork. Before starting our final pieces, we practised using different materials and mediums, learning how they can be combined to create interesting effects.
The children sketched several sculpture ideas, carefully thinking about colour theory and how to use form and space in their designs. They then used these plans to create their final sculptures, showing creativity, problem-solving and imagination.
We are incredibly proud of the finished pieces — check them out below!
Help at home: Use the Art Vocabulary sheet and ask your child to talk about their sculpture. Encourage them to use the vocabulary when describing how their work was inspired by Kandinsky. E.g. I used warm colours inside the shapes I chose. I made sure to create space within the sculpture by leaving gaps between the shapes so each part could be seen clearly.
Describing a Monster
We have been superstar writers in year 2 this week!
As well as writing recounts, we have learning about expanded noun phrases and using them to write amazing monster character descriptions.
Inspired by the monster in ‘Not Now Bernard’ by David Mckee, we collected nouns and understand that a noun is a person, place or thing. We then made our nouns more exciting by adding adjectives to describe the noun.
We know that if we are going to use two adjectives, we need a comma to sperate them.
Hasel is a cheerful, joyful monster. Elsie
She has long, sparkling teeth. Luna
He has scary, dangerous horns on his head. J
Help at home: Can your child give some examples of nouns and adjectives. Maybe they could write a description of a character of their choice.
PE
During this busy time of year, we often have to get creative with our lessons. Today, the KS1 children were using the hall to rehearse for the Nativity next week. We had a blast playing a combination of tennis and padel in the classroom. The children were able to demonstrate control and a delicate touch. In addition, we made sensible decisions with our choice of shot.
We had such fun.
We ended with a quiet meditation to finish the week with a positive mindset.
Writing
We’ve been writing using figurative language this week in Year 6.
Firstly, we learnt to identify various examples:
Then, we strived to use figurative language in our work. We wrote about one of these images…
Here is an example of some fantastic work written this week:
Christian:
At the brink of noon, leaves fluttered down from the trees. The smooth stream flowed like a snake whilst the trees gently arched over. Leaves lay on the ground like a blanket. The scenery was a beautiful fusion of orange and yellow leaves. Nervous leaves coated the undergrowth in a crispy texture giving it a snug and tranquil feeling.
Help at home – write about one of the images with your child. Can they remember what each example of figurative language is and give an example? Why is figurative language used by authors?
Feeling Festive
On Wednesday, the Nursery children enjoyed making their Christingles.
A Christingle is a symbolic orange decorated with raisins on sticks, a red ribbon and a candle. It is used in church services, around Christmas time, and represents Christ as the Light of the World. Each part of the Christingle holds specific Christian meanings.
Orange: Represents the world.
Red Ribbon: Symbolizes Jesus’s blood and love.
Four Cocktail Sticks: Represent the four seasons or directions (North, South, East, West).
Fruit: Symbolizes God’s creation and blessings.
Candle: The central symbol of Jesus as the Light of the World, bringing hope into darkness.
Sculpting with Soap!
To conclude our art topic this half-term, Year 5 have been creating sculptures made from bars of soap. The children began by sketching a few real sculptures, made by our key artists (Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Thomas Price). Then, the children used inspiration from each sketch to make a new sculpture of their own.
The children had a range of mediums to use: a spoon; a pencil, a paperclip; other piercing tools; and a wet paper towel. Everyone listened very carefully when the process was modelled by their teacher and followed each step well. Pupils really enjoyed this hands on task, and have gone on to make multiple soap sculptures each! Here are some images of the children carefully carving:
Help at home:
Some Year 5 children have already explored this activity at home with other family members. Maybe this is something you could do, too? Here’s a list of equipment you’ll need:
- soap
- pencil
- wet paper towel
- dry towel
- spoon
Living & Learning – I can give and receive compliments
This week we’ve been thinking about the power of compliments. Compliments are wonderful to receive and lovely to give. We thought about how “I like your hair” might not be as meaningful to someone as “I admire how creative you are.”
Fortunately, Year 4 had lots of compliments to share with each other. Here are some of the most popular words used:
We also thought about how we might react when someone compliments us. We talked about how we might feel embarrassed but how we also might respond by saying thank you, smiling or giving a compliment back.
These are the words we thought of when we thought about how we might feel when someone gives us a compliment:
Help at home: A well-placed compliment can make someone feel valued, seen and appreciated. For children and adults alike, receiving genuine praise can boost self-esteem and strengthen emotional well-being. You could play a compliments game at home, taking it in turns to compliment someone in your family. Challenge your child to explain what makes a compliment a meaningful one.