Our new topic: Computing
In this half term, we are starting our next topic which is all about computing.
We’re going to be playing, and making, lots of online and offline games. As this is a computing topic, we’ll be using a range of technology to support our learning including the following:
- Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots
- We’ll be using a variety of directional language such as North, East, South, West and forwards, backwards, left turn, right turn.
- Scratch Junior (a program that we’ll access via our iPads/laptops)
For a really fun online version of Bee-Bots, check this out.
We’ll also be learning about online safety, including the importance of passwords.
Here is a list of some of the vocabulary that will be taught in the coming weeks.
algorithm – a sequence of instructions or a set of rules to get something done
program – a collection of algorithms
debug – to find and fix errors in algorithms
computer – a type of machine that can follow instructions and do useful things
password – a string of letters, numbers or symbols which give you access to something (eg. a computer, a service like Numbots)
personal information – information that can be used to identify you (eg. age, school, address, password)
appropriate – something that is suitable
Living and Learning – Saying please and thank you
This week, we have been making an extra effort to use our manners.
We know that using simple words and phrases like please and thank you can make a big difference.
Being polite to everyone is very important and can really brighten someone’s day. This links very well to one of our school rules:
We respect everyone and everything.
Can your child remember all three of our school rules? Click on this link and check underneath the positive relationships (behaviour management) tab.
Chick update
I hope you’ve all had a happy and safe half-term. I can’t wait to hear about what you’ve all been up to on Monday.
Sadly, due to the current situation the chick eggs will not be with us this half-term. The farm sends their apologies. They are hoping that we can have them in June – I am keeping my fingers crossed!
On the other hand, Our caterpillars are being delivered sometime next week and we still have our frogspawn – they might even be tadpoles now!
See you all on Monday!
Junior Leadership Team
This week, our Living and Learning has been about democracy- this included voting for our new Junior Leadership Team (previously named School Council). Well done to all the children who delivered speeches to their classes. Congratulations to all the children who were elected:
Year 1: Lily and Willow
Year 2: Ralph and Kamile
Year 3: Caleb and Jack
Year 4: Ellie and Sianna
Year 5: Evie and Scarlet
Year 6: Cohen and Bella
Spring has sprung!
I can’t believe it’s the 1st of April already!
This week, we’ve made the most of the glorious weather.
Below are just a few snapshots of what we’ve been up to this week.
Click here to watch us exploring in our outdoor area. I hope this video makes you smile as much as it did me.
On Monday, we read a book called The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. After reading the book we talked about what a seed needs to help it grow. We each planted our own tiny seed which was sunflower seed. After we planted our seeds, the F2 children did some instruction writing. The children are very good at caring for the seeds and are eager to water them everyday. We really hope they grow into beautiful sunflowers.
Don’t worry! Mrs Rippon has kindly volunteered to look after the seeds over half-term. I wonder what they will look like when we get back to school.
We have some frogspawn! The children were so excited on Monday morning when they saw the tank. We had lots of wonderful discussions and made lots of great observations. We will put the frogspawn back in our school pond over half term and hopefully when we get back to school we will have tadpoles or even froglets!
The excitement continues after half-term…
We are getting chick eggs and caterpillars! Our classroom is going to be very busy. We have been preparing the classroom for the new arrivals.
Summer 1
After half-term, our first focus story will be The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We will be looking at life-cycles and exploring the life of different minibeasts.
The F2 children will continue to learn the phase 3 sounds in phonics and we will be moving onto number 10 in maths.
Finally a little message from Miss Marsden…
You have all had a wonderful half-term. I am so proud of how well you have all settled back into school life. It has been lovely to have you all back together and I can’t wait to see where the summer term takes us. I hope you all have a fantastic half-term and a lovely Easter.
Happy Easter Foundation!
Easter Service
Thank you to all of the parents and carers who joined to support our Easter service today. It was lovely to see so many of you on zoom.
For those who were unable to join, here is a recording of our service.
Well done to all those children who took part and for all the wonderful singing that was heard around school.
The learning continues in Foundation…
This week F2 have been learning all about the number 9. We watched the Numberblock 9 video and noticed that Numberblock 9 is a square – it has “3 rows of 3.” We made our own versions of Numberblock 9 using cubes. We then made different shapes using our 9 cubes.
To also help with our number 9 learning. Some children counted 9 movements. They used chalk to mark how far they travelled and compared the distances they travelled doing the different movements. We tried 9 giant steps, 9 tiny steps, 9 jumps and 9 hops.
R – “I went the furthest!”
E – “I only got to here doing the tiny steps.”
G – “I went further!”
I – “The tiny steps made us go the shortest.”
Next, week we will finalise our learning on number 9. After half-term, we will move onto learning all about number 10.
F1 Group Time
This week, the children practised oral blending by playing Toy Talk. The children listened carefully to the puppet segmenting the sounds in simple cvc (consonant, vowel, consonant) words and they had to try blend the word together. Oral blending is a key skill which will help them get ready for phase 2 phonics in F2. We will continue to practise oral blending in group times.
On Thursday, the children practised their counting skills. They were given different Numicon pieces and had to count that many Easter eggs. We observed some wonderful counting – well done F1!
PE
When I walked into the hall on Wednesday, I thought I saw lots of dinosaurs! The children used their imaginations and went back in time. The school hall had a prehistoric atmosphere. They talked about different dinosaurs – we had some dinosaur experts! After, the children experimented with different movements and how they might have moved.
Click here to watch our dinosaur movements.
Home-Link Challenges
Living and learning – rights and responsibilities
In this week’s living and learning lessons we have been talking about rights and the responsibilities that come with them.
Encouraging children to be responsible and increase their independence is important.
We matched some rights with the responsibilities that go with them.
Children have the right to play, and they have the responsibility to play safely and sensibly with their friends.
Children have the right to food, and the responsibility to make their own healthy choices.
Children have the right to a clean environment, and the responsibility to do what they can to look after their environment.
Exciting English
This half term, we’ve worked incredibly hard in our Reading and Writing lessons, having lots of fun along the way.
Our class novel has been Zog and the Flying Doctors by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, the sequel to Zog.
Films of both books are currently available on BBC iPlayer. Click on the above links.
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading both stories, making lots of predictions and inferences.
Through our weekly RIC lessons, we’ve improved at fact retrieval, inference and understood authors’ choices.
Each week, there has also been a new fluency text where we’ve practised the act of reading. This week we’ve been reading an exciting text about great white sharks. Texts about plants and Leonora Cohen have helped us with our Science and History learning too.
In our Writing lessons, everyone has been trying their very best with their handwriting and spelling. We’ve also had a strong focus on must dos such as capital letters and full stops.
Our writing about Zog and his friends has not only been fun to write, but fun to read as well. We’ve been editing mistakes and making improvements along the way, giving us all a great sense of pride in our learning.
We may not get everything perfect right away but we’re all reflective and resilient learners. Being reflective and resilient are two of our 8 Rs for learning.
How many can your child remember?
Forgiveness
This half-term our Christian value is forgiveness. Last Friday, the children did an activity called ‘Fizzy Forgiveness’. The children dropped their tablet in the water and watched it fizz. When doing this, the children thought about a time where they might have had to forgive someone or somebody might have needed to forgive them.
