Class News

Science – Lotherton Hall

Posted on Thursday 16 January 2025 by Mr Nash

On Tuesday, we donned our high vis jackets and biologist hats to visit Lotherton Hall’s Wildlife World. Year 2 represented St James’ brilliantly and thoroughly enjoyed their day out.

We started our day with a workshop about animals and habitats. The children were invited to work like biologists by observing some replica skulls, comparing their teeth before pondering what this might tell us about their diet – the carnivores had sharp teeth; the herbivores flat, rough teeth. We learnt about a variety of animals, including penguins, snakes and tapirs.

After the workshop, we explored the zoo. The children were fascinated by a range of animals from around the world. We were particularly enamoured by the penguins and the exploits of Arthur the tapir…

We had a fantastic day out and the children have returned to school with oodles of animal knowledge! This visit prepares us for our next science unit: Animals – Habitats

Help at home by inviting your child to recount their day at Lotherton Hall (Can they use time adverbials? e.g. First, Next, Then, After that, Finally). Can your child remember the habitats we learnt about in the workshop? Encourage your child to work like a scientist by asking questions – what would you like to find out about animals and their habitats?

Living and Learning

Posted on Wednesday 15 January 2025 by Jamie Kilner

I know some drugs can be harmful

Our Living and Learning lesson this week, focused on media messages and influences in relation to tobacco, vaping and alcohol. We assessed the reliability of sources and learned how to access reliable and accurate advice and information about alcohol, tobacco and vaping (e-cigarettes). In pairs and as a class, we discussed what the media messages might make a young person think, feel or do (or want to do). 

During our lesson, we also talked about what children can do if they feel worried. We shared this resource with them and it is displayed in our classroom:

Help at home – Ask your child where they can go should they have any worries.

Exploring Habitats at Lotherton Hall!

Posted on Tuesday 14 January 2025 by Ellie Bye

This week, Year One had a fantastic trip to Lotherton Hall to learn about animals and their habitats. Guided by the educational specialists, we explored different habitats and the animals that call them home.

We compared the skulls of a herbivore and a carnivore, noticing how their teeth are perfectly suited to their diets. The children were fascinated to learn that penguins have sharp tongues to help them grip slippery fish!

This was a great start to our new Science unit about animals!

Help at Home:

  • Explore your garden or local park and talk about the animals and their habitats.
  • Read books about animals and how they survive in the wild.
  • Watch nature documentaries together

Lost and Found

Posted on Sunday 12 January 2025 by Emma Kendrew

Our story this week has been Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers and the weather has certainly helped us learn about cold climates.

In the story, a boy finds a penguin at his door and goes on an adventure to try to find his home, as he thought he was lost. Just like the boy, we explored and learnt about where penguins live and extended our vocabulary by learning a new word: iceberg. We used the globe to find Antarctica and enjoyed finding other interesting places.

“I have found my name Savannah!”

“When I’m big I’m going to go to Tokyo with my dad, I want to see the tall buildings!”

Phonics

We have begun learning our Phase 3 sounds. This week, we have learnt four new digraphs/trigraphs ai,ee,igh,oa.

Poetry Picnic

Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Let’s Put on Our Mittens.

Let’s put on our mittens,
and button up our coats.
Wrap our scarves snuggly around our throats.
Pull on our shoes and fasten the straps.
And tie on tightly our warm woollen hats.
Open the door, and out we go.
Out, into the soft and feathery snow.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Maths – super subitising!

This week we have been practising our subitising skills. This means, we have been looking and saying how many objects we can see – without counting one by one.

Notices

Stay and Learn – Tuesday 14 January 2.20pm – 3pm

Our Stay and Learn sessions are a chance to find out more about your child’s journey through Reception. You can observe some teaching and learning, and pick up some tips to support your child at home. This session is all about Phonics (phase 3).

Living and Learning – I know what a drug is and that some drugs can be harmful

Posted on Sunday 12 January 2025 by Rachael Poole

This week in living and learning we have been discussing how medicines and household products can help us, what the risks are of using them and how we can reduce these risks.

Year 4 were unanimous in their appreciation of medicine as something which can help you “to get better” but noted the risks:

  • that if you take too much of it you may become more ill
  • that you could choke on a tablet
  • you might be allergic to it.

Their top tips to minimise these risks are:

  • keep it in a high drawer
  • if you use a syringe look at the back of the box to see how much you need
  • be slow when you take it
  • always do it with your grown up
  • ask the doctor if you are not sure

Help at home: discuss with your child how you store and access medicine at home to keep them safe.  Can you work with your child to do a ‘safety audit’ around the house to find any risks associated with medicine or household products that could be mitigated?

Maths – Multiplying 3 numbers

Posted on Sunday 12 January 2025 by Rachael Poole

On Thursday and Friday, Year 4 explored how to multiply three single digit numbers efficiently.  We started with a maths story …

The children used the picture to help them to visualise the maths story and then recorded their method for calculating how many counters there were altogether.

As a team, we shared our different methods and discussed which ones were the most efficient.

Our oracy target this half-term is all about using others in the group.  The class worked collaboratively to ensure that they explained their method.  When other learners didn’t understand, they rephrased their explanation and used clear descriptions to help their peers visualise their method. I was really proud of how the children were brave and used our Christian Value of honesty to tell their peers when they didn’t understand their method.  The children showed compassion to each other by being patient and explaining in a different way to make sure that we could all move forward together.

Having discussed and picked apart the different methods, we realised that the pictures helped us to do part of the calculation in our head but if we wanted to be able to calculate with bigger numbers or evaluate maths stories without a picture, it would be useful to find a method we could apply consistently. This lead us to investigate whether it mattered what order you multiply factors if there are more than two factors.

Great teamwork Year 4! What amazing mathematicians and collaborative learners you are!

 

 

Persuasive Text: Clean Up!

Posted on Friday 10 January 2025 by Ellie Bye

This week, Year 1 enjoyed reading Clean Up! by Nathan Bryon, which starts our unit on persuasive writing. The children explored the problem of litter on the beach and how it affects animals. They discussed Rocket’s feelings and how she persuaded others to help clean up. Inspired by Rocket, we began writing about the problem and over the next couple of weeks, the children will try to convince others to help fix it with their own writing.


Help at Home: Talk with your child about keeping our environment clean. Encourage them to spot litter during walks and discuss how we can protect wildlife. Together, we can all be heroes like Rocket!

Learning About the Life Cycle of a Plant!

Posted on Friday 10 January 2025 by Ellie Bye

This week, Year 1 explored the fascinating life cycle of plants! We learned what plants need to grow: sunlight, water and healthy soil. The children planted their own spider plants for the classroom, which we’ll care for and monitor weekly. Later this term, we’ll review and discuss how the plants have changed over time. The plant we are monitoring currently stands at 10cm tall!

Help at Home: Encourage your child to observe plants at home, water them, and talk about their growth.

Living and Learning – I know what a drug is

Posted on Friday 10 January 2025 by Mr Nash

Our Living and Learning statement this week is:

“A drug is a substance that changes the way the body or mind works.”

The children began by sharing what they already know about medicines.

Not all medicines help your health.

Medicines help you to recover when you are ill. To recover is to get better.

Drugs can change your attitude. They can make you angry and some drugs are illegal.

Some drugs can make your body stronger – some people use them to cheat in sports.

Some people need to get medicine every day.

We get medicine from the doctor.

You keep drugs safe by keeping them somewhere children can’t reach.

You can try and help yourself by eating healthily and exercising before taking medicine.

I was so impressed by the children’s previous knowledge of medicine!

Helping someone to feel better

We spent some time thinking about times when we were ill or felt unwell and the things that helped us to feel better.

  • rest
  • water
  • medicine from the doctor
  • warm drink
  • eating healthy food
  • plasters

There are lots of different types of medicine and they’re all useful for different things. Some of them go in the body and others on the body. Some can be bought at the shop by a responsible adult; others have to come from the doctor.

Who can help?

We thought about the people who can help us to stay healthy and well. The children demonstrated fantastic knowledge of people in their communities who can help.

  • parents and family
  • carers
  • doctors
  • trusted adults at school
  • police
  • paramedics
  • air ambulance
  • mountain rescue
  • yourself – keep safe and protect yourself

If you feel unwell, it is important to talk to a trusted adult at home or school. Only a trusted adult should give you medicines.

Help at home by discussing the safety measures you have in place around medicine at home. Invite your child to demonstrate their learning by having a go at this task:

Yoga

Posted on Friday 10 January 2025 by Mr Freeman

This half-term,  yoga and dance are our physical education units.

The children have made a fantastic start to yoga. We’ve learnt breathing techniques to help empty our minds and improve focus. Yoga is all about feeling relaxed and being in a calm state of mind, so we make sure our sessions are quiet and controlled.

The children have been practising yoga poses and transitioning between poses with flow and ease. Below are some examples of our learning so far.

The children have reflected on these sessions, stating they feel really calm, happy and ready for the rest of the day.

Help at home: Talk through the poses learnt with the children so far and practise them together. Make sure you have a calming environment, so that children can really empty their minds and feel peaceful and calm.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.

You can read our full privacy policy, which includes information on the cookies this site uses on our Privacy Policy page