Humpty Dumpty and his aeroplane adventures.
Poor old Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and was scared to climb the wall again. He found a new love for flying paper aeroplanes but wasn’t quite sure how to make them or what to make them out of.
But fear not, Humpty, Year 3,4 are here to help!
During our science lessons, we have been experimenting with paper aeroplanes to find the best material and size plane for Humpty.
First, we checked we all knew how to make a paper aeroplane. To make sure that is was a fair test, we all had to make them the same.
Then we made three aeroplanes out of different materials; paper, sugar paper and card, and tested how far they flew. We found the paper was the best!
Once we knew this, we were able to test which size plane was the best: A5, A4 or A3 sized paper.
We found A3 sized paper aeroplane flew the furthest whilst learning about how a science experiment must be a fair test, making predictions and how to ask scientific questions.
Celebration certificates
We’ve had another great week in year 1 and 2. Thank you to everyone that emailed homework in. The children have enjoyed sharing their learning from home in class today.
As we can’t have our usual celebration assembly on a Friday at the moment, I will be posting the certificate winners on here each week.
For great learning…
Umar – for having a positive attitude towards learning this week. You are an excellent year 2 role model.
For sport and physical activity…
Willow – for amazing moves and enthusiasm in Wake Up Shake Up (WUSU).
For living and learning…
Chloe – for being ready to learn and working hard.
Fabulous Foundation
The children have had another fabulous week in Foundation!
We are really starting to get to know their interests and personalities.
They are all fantastic at following the school rules and classroom routines – I’m super impressed!
Here’s some highlights this week…
WAKE UP SHAKE UP!
Exploring in the water tray.
Our first lunch at school.
Using our senses to explore the classroom.
Next week, our first focus story is Pete the Cat – Rocking in my school shoes! The children will draw pictures of them rocking in their school shoes and come up with some actions to help us retell the story.
In maths, we’ll be introducing our first focus number which is zero and looking at other numbers that are significant to them e.g. their age, house number etc.
Home-Link Challenge
Writing
This week, we’ve been learning about fronted adverbials and using them in our own writing. Louisa has written a fantastic diary entry where she has written from the character’s perspective- Humpty Dumpty. She’s used fronted adverbials with commas and lots of other punctuation too.
Celebration certificates
The children have made a brilliant start to the year after such a long time away. I have been looking forward to this week for ages! All the children have settled and we feel like we know each other quite well already.
As we can’t have our usual celebration assembly on a Friday at the moment, I will be posting the certificate winners on here each week.
For great learning…
James – for super work in writing, starting to join letters.
For living and learning…
Lily – for showing friendship to your new classmates.
Welcome!
Welcome to all our F2 children!
Miss Marsden has been looking forward to this week for ages! It’s been lovely getting to know you and your interests. You all looked super smart in your new uniforms and shiny shoes! I wonder how long they will stay shiny for?
F2 have had a great first week at school! We’ve been busy painting, drawing, 
building train tracks, cooking in the role play area and making cakes at the playdough table.
Every morning, your child will come into school and be encouraged to do their daily jobs independently. They will hang up their coat, find their name, choose their lunch and vote for an end of day story. When you drop of your child, a member of staff will always be available for a quick chat.
This half-term is all about settling in. We will be getting to know each other and finding out about the children’s interests which will guide our learning this term. Our Parent Partners are key in this process, so we really encourage you to start sending photos of any ‘WOW’ moments or new interests your child has at home. Send them to stjameseyfs@speherefederation.org.
Things to remember…
- PE will be every Wednesday – your child should come to school in their PE kit. Our first PE session will be on Wednesday 30 September.
- A pair of school wellies is essential in Foundation! We go outside to play in all weather!
- Your child will need a labelled water bottle each day. Please ensure the bottle only contains water – no juice please!
- At the end of the day (3.00pm), please remember to stand opposite the foundation classroom.
- Don’t forget to encourage independence when your child is getting ready for school!
Have a lovely weekend!
First week back!
It has been fantastic being back at school with our whole class together again. Everybody has come back with a really positive and responsible attitude towards their learning and towards the new rules and routines we have in place. Here are some quotes from of a few children in the class about our first week back at school:
“At first, I felt confused because I wasn’t sure what school was going to be like, but after we were told the new rules I understood and felt better. I’ve enjoyed maths- we’ve been learning about numbers up to 10 million!” Mackenzie Y6
“The bubbles and timings of things seemed strange at first, but now I’m comfortable with it. I’ve enjoyed coming back and seeing my friends and teachers. In maths, we’ve been learning about greater than and less than.” Erin Y6
“This week, I’ve enjoyed reading because I like the book ‘After the Fall’ and we’ve done some research about the history of the nursery rhyme- Humpty Dumpty.” Joe Y5
As Joe mentions, we’ve been reading a book called ‘After the Fall’ by Dan Santat. It is a story about Humpty Dumpty and how he overcame his fear of heights and picked himself back up again. We asked lots of questions about the history of this character and the nursery rhyme; we found out some very interesting and surprising facts!
Supporting reading at home in Key Stage 1
Children will be bringing home a reading book this week. These will be changed once a week to minimise books moving between home and school.
Please return books to be changed on Wednesday. We will quarantine books before putting them back in the system.
The ‘practise phonics’ book (sticker on the front cover) is for children to work on their ‘sounding out’ of words.
Please comment on how your child copes with the books as it may take me a little time to adjust and match books to each child. Year 2s will gradually move away from phonics books and have more freedom to be ‘free readers’.
Children will also choose a library book each Friday.
Help me help your child by reading anything and everything you can. THANK YOU!
Own It app
Has you child got a mobile phone? If they have, do the have the Own It app from the BBC?
The Own It app helps children and young people take control of your online life. It gives them advice when they need it, in real-time as they type. It’s designed to help them make smart choices, feel more confident, and live their best life online.
The Own It app comes with a special keyboard. This can be used like any other keyboard, but it also gives users helpful tips and friendly advice as they write.
There’s also the ability to track how they feel and improve their wellbeing. There are plenty of gifs and emojis so users can express themselves.
The Own It keyboard and app is personal to the user. Everything your child types is kept completely private, and never leaves the Own It app on their phone.
PE days
Hopefully you have read the information in the Autumn for all – Key Info St James’, which also has a link to our uniform policy.
On the days your child has PE, they should come to school in their PE kit. (Track-suit bottoms instead of shorts would be good on colder days. Footwear : black/brown/grey/white flat shoes which are safe to run around in.)
Footwear on PE days could be children’s ‘school shoes’ which are often a ‘trainer’ style anyway, if you want to avoid having to buy 2 pairs of shoes.
Please find below the days each class has allocated PE times, which will be taught outdoors, except in extreme weather.
- Foundation (Miss Marsden) – Wednesday
- Year 1/2 (Miss Harker) – Thursday & Friday
- Year 3/4 (Mrs Welsby/Mrs Rowley) – Tuesday & Friday
- Year 5/6 (Miss Beatson/Mr Mills) – Tuesday & Friday