Class News

Maths – Part-part-whole models

In maths, we’ve been learning about part-part-whole models.

A part–part–whole model shows how a number (the whole) can be split into two or more parts.

For example:
If we have 5 apples, we could show that as 3 and 2.

3 is a part.
2 is a part.
5 is the whole.

Why are part-whole models useful?

• They help children see number relationships clearly.

• They build understanding of addition and subtraction.

• They encourage children to talk about numbers.

  “There are 5 altogether. 3 needs 2 to make 5.”

We’ve been using real objects, pictures and numerals to show different ways to make the whole.

The children have practised describing what they see, helping them to understand that the whole number stays the same, even when split into parts.

Help at home by using everyday items to make different groups and talk about how they combine to make the whole.

PE

Hello

My name is Mrs Freeman and I teach Nursery and Reception every Monday afternoon. This is when the children will have their weekly PE lesson.

I was amazed to see how well the class did during their first session. We discussed how to stay safe and the importance of listening to instructions.

Please see the photos below.

This half term, our sessions will focus on football. The children will be working on developing fundamental movement skills like running, jumping, throwing and catching through some playful activities. We will incorporate simple games that build gross motor skills such as kicking, controlling, and passing, while also fostering social development through teamwork and understanding simple rules.

We have also started some activities using the big parachute – so much fun!

Help at home

Share these photos with your child.

Can your child tell you about their PE lesson?

What did they enjoy?

How did they stay safe?

Reading – Hermelin

This week in Year 1, we’ve been reading Hermelin: The Mouse Detective by Mini Grey. We began by looking closely at the front cover and reading the blurb, then made some fantastic predictions about what the story might be about. After reading, we shared what we liked and disliked. The children loved Hermelin’s clever detective work and the way he helped everyone in the street!

The children had some brilliant discussions and used lots of great vocabulary to explain their ideas.

Help at home

• Ask your child to retell the story of Hermelin in their own words.

• Encourage them to look for clues in pictures or text when reading other stories, just like a detective!

• Visit your local library and see if you can find other books by Mini Grey.

Writing- The Gorm

To help us get ready for our independent character description, we took part in a paired write. Working with a partner gave us the chance to share ideas, improve our sentences, and challenge each other’s thinking.

Our focus was on using expanded noun phrases to add detail and bring our writing to life. Together we looked closely at ‘The Gorm’, a character from Podium: One Ear. We practised choosing precise adjectives and descriptive details to create clear pictures in the reader’s mind.

The children really enjoyed working collaboratively and are now feeling confident and excited to apply these skills in their own independent writing. We can’t wait to see the amazing character descriptions they create!

Performance Poetry!

As part of National Poetry Week, Year 3 have been exploring the power of performance poetry. Our chosen poem was ‘Let No One Steal Your Dreams’ by Paul Cookson , an inspiring piece all about following your ambitions and believing in yourself.

We focused on bringing the words to life by:

• Projecting our voices so that every line could be heard clearly.
• Using prosody, changing the tone, pace and volume of our voices to show meaning and emotion.
• Adding actions to emphasise key lines and help the audience connect with the message of the poem.

The children worked brilliantly together, building confidence and performing with energy and expression. It was a fantastic way to celebrate poetry and to show how spoken word can inspire and encourage others.

Help at home: Practise using voice projection duing home reading  

Living and Learning

 I respect others

In our Living and Learning session this week, we have explored an important and powerful topic – discrimination.

Discrimination is treating someone less favourably, or applying a rule that unfairly disadvantages them, because of a “protected characteristic” such as age, disability, race, religion, or sex.

We spent time revisiting the Equality Act 2010. This is in place to help protect people from discrimination and ensures that protected characteristics are always respected. The protected characteristics are:

• Disability
• Race
• Sex
• Gender reassignment
• Religion or beliefs
• Age
• Marriage or civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Sexual orientation

Help at Home: Ask your child to name the protected characteristics and describe what each one means. Ask them who is responsible for ensuring they are respected and followed. Can they think of any examples where protected characteristics have/have not been upheld?

The Three Little Pigs

We’ve had a busy week using our focus book The Three Little Pigs.

We read the story and made our own houses for the pigs to live in. We enjoyed talking about the story.

‘I have this story, but the wolf runs away at the end.’

‘I would make my house with the bricks, it is strong.’

‘I’ve got no puff left in my mouth.’

Have a happy and healthy weekend

Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Miss. Feldman, Mrs Linton, Mrs Cairnes and Mrs Small

The Everywhere Bear

This week we have had great fun with our focus book The Everywhere Bear by  Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb.

In the story the Everywhere Bear goes on lots of adventures with the children and a huge journey when he gets lost! We added actions to help us to remember the ten different place he went, this helped us to remember and say them all. Great work reception!

Our word of the week has been journey the children have really enjoyed using this during their learning. We also went on a journey around school visiting all the different classes we even visited Miss Beatson in her office. It was so lovely to be greeted by so many happy smiley faces.

Maths

In Maths, we’ve been using Polly Parrot to demonstrate accurate counting. We’ve been reminding Polly to…

• “stop at the stopping number” and recall the the total amount- cardinality
• only count each item once- one-to-one correspondence
•  know that objects can be counted in any order- order irrelevance

We’ve also been  looking at ways to make counting easier, such as moving objects or lining them up. We’ve been counting things that cannot be seen (such as sounds or actions) and things that cannot be moved.

Phonics

This week, the children have learnt the phonemes (the sound a letter makes) g, o, c and k. They have also been practicing writing the graphemes (the written letter).

We have started reading words, by putting sounds onto our phoneme fingers.

We’ve also learnt a new tricky word; is. Tricky words are those we have to ‘look and say’ because they have ‘tricky’ parts that we cannot sound out.

Please continue to use the ‘Learn at home’ sheets with your child, to review our new sounds and tricky words each week.

Have a happy and healthy weekend

Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Miss. Feldman, Mrs Linton, Mrs Cairnes and Mrs Small

Maths – Groups of objects

In maths this week, we’ve been learning about what it means to have a whole group.

• First, we looked at trays of cakes. If all the spaces are full, we know we’ve got the whole group.

• Then, we noticed that a whole group doesn’t have to look exactly the same. A box of eggs with different colours is still a whole group if none are missing.

• Next, we learned about not whole. If something is missing, like a cake from the tray, it isn’t the whole group anymore.

The children have been brilliant at explaining their thinking using stem sentences:

“This is a whole group of ___ because…”
“This is not a whole group of ___ because…”

This is a whole group because all the seats have children sitting in them.

There’s 1 missing. It’s not a whole group.

Help at home by exploring groups of objects:

• At the table, ask your child if the cutlery is a whole group or if something is missing.
• Look in the fridge: is the egg box full? If not, how many are missing?
• When tidying toys, count if you have the whole set.

Writing

This week, Year 6 have been learning about parenthesis and how to use it in their writing.

Parenthesis is the use of a phrase, word or sentence that’s added into writing as extra information or an afterthought. It’s punctuated by brackets, commas or dashes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z7hppg8

Here are some of the examples the children came up with or adapted themselves:

St James’, a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe, is in Wetherby. Valerie

The whole family – even Sam – is going on holiday. Willow

Samuel (who has a yappy dog) liked going for long walks. Chloe

Colin loves watching golf, with his friends. Lily

The school trip (to London) was a disaster. Christian

Samuel (who is a great athlete) liked going for long walks. Freddie

Mr Kilner – who was silly – fell off the ladder. Madeleine

The suitcase – bulging and heavy – wouldn’t fit in the boot. Leo S

The snow (six feet deep) meant we stayed at home. Ayah

The River Wharfe, which flows through Wetherby, is approximately 65 miles long. Leo M

The Amazon Rainforest (home to some of the most dangerous animals in the world) is in South America. Tommy

St James’, a wonderful school, is in Wetherby. Charlina

The dog – a German shepherd – loves chasing squirrels. Teddy

Help at home – ask your child what parenthesis is. Why is it used? Which punctuation do we use and why? Think of some together as a family. I’d love to see/hear what you can come up with at home.