Class News

Internet Safety Day

Posted on Tuesday 06 February 2024 by Jamie Kilner

Today, we have learnt about some key aspects of keeping safe online:

  • I know that some things online may not be true, either accidentally or deliberately.
  • I know it’s important to check with a trusted adult before sharing personal information online.

The internet is such an amazing resource and one we use countless times throughout the day. It can however, be a place that is not always safe and secure. The children in Year 3 and 4 have learnt to be critical users of what we read and that some headlines and news stories may be misleading. We now know how to check the validity of a story and its source.

In addition, we are confident in knowing the dangers of sharing personal details online. We know that there are many platforms on the internet where we may need to share our details and what to do if we are unsure about sharing.

Help at home – Ask your children about some of the fake news stories that we read about today. How did we know that some news stories where misleading? Who should we check with when sharing personal data about ourselves? What might happen if we do share some personal details online?

Pesach in Year 3/4

Posted on Tuesday 06 February 2024 by Jamie Kilner

This half term, we have been learning about Moses and the story of Passover (Pesach). We have learnt about Moses’ relationship with God and how he helped to free the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. We know that Jewish people today celebrate Pesach with a Seder Plate and eat special foods. In class, we had our very own Pesach celebration and tried some different foods from the Seder Plate. Whilst eating we spoke about the significance of each item and thought about how this can relate to our lives.

Supertato

Posted on Sunday 04 February 2024 by Emma Kendrew

This week has been our second week looking at the book Supertato by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet.

We have enjoyed looking out for the Evil Pea, in and around the classroom and school and we have even left out lots of wonderful trap to try to catch him. We have also enjoyed looking at vegetables close up, by completing some observational drawings and commenting on what we noticed.

” The potato is bumpy and rough and wet inside!”

“Broccoli is cold and prickly!”

Maths

This week, we have continued to look at composition, or the numbers within numbers. We have used the Hungarian number pattern (die pattern) to explore making 5.  

Help at Home: Number bonds to 5 game.

  • Put 5 things into a bag.
  • Ask your adult to take some things out of the bag.
  • Then, you take the rest of the things out of the bag.
  • How many things do you have? How many things does your adult have?
  • How many all together?

Phonics

We have learnt our final Phase 3 graphemes this week (air, er) and the tricky words (are, pure, sure). Next half term, we will revisit all the phase 3 digraphs and trigraphs.

Help at Home: Reading books on line via the Collins site. This will help the children with their fluency.

Poetry Picnic

This week’s poem was an eight-line poem called A Little House

I’m going to build a little house,

With windows big and bright,

And chimneys tall with curling smoke,

Drifting out of sight.

In winter when the snowflakes fall,

Or when I hear a storm,

I’ll go and sit in my little house,

Where I’ll be snug and warm.

Next week our focus book is The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson and we will be looking at the Lunar New Year which this year is celebrated on Saturday 10th February.

Reminders

Stay and Learn Sessions-Early Writing- 05.02.24 2.20pm-3.00pm

Please can we also have some more donations for our Waste Innovation Area- we have such a creative bunch of children we are going through lots of boxes, tubes, pots etc. Please think of us before you fill your green bin!

Don’t forget to email if you have any questions if you can’t catch us at the door stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org thank you!

Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman

 

Gobble, gobble, munch, munch, SCRUNCH!

Posted on Saturday 03 February 2024 by Miss Ward

We’ve been busy as usual in nursery over the last two weeks. We’ve been getting our stomp on!

Over the last two weeks our focus story was ‘Dinosaur Roar‘ by Paul Strickland. The children enjoyed exploring our dinosaur swamp, creating dinosaur skeletons and retelling the story through simple pretend play using vocabulary and key phrases from the story.

My favourite was Dinosaur grumpy, I really enjoyed been able to show the children my grumpy face and voice! Which one did you like?

Forest School 

Some of our children have had the opportunity to attend forest sessions with Børn of the Forest. A place where they can explore, create and imagine within the natural world. We’ve made Stickman, dinosaurs and even helped care for our forest by litter picking. We also checked up on our hedgehog house and it looks like its made a nice little home for some very lucky hedgehogs.

This week sound/s was: ‘g’ for Goat ‘o’ for Octopus

Rhyme of the week: Row Row Row your boat and Ring ‘o’ ring ‘o’ roses

Help at Home: How many nursery rhymes do you know? Sing your favourite with your grown ups and make up your own actions. Singing nursery rhymes supports children with their listening and communication skills to prepare them for reading and writing as they get older.

Notice:

We are running low on spare clothes. Early years would really appreciate if you would be able to donate any of the following items that you no longer need;

  • pants (3-4 and 5-6)
  • socks
  • joggers

We hope you have a lovely weekend, here is a clue for next week’s learning. I wonder what it could be?

Miss Ward and Miss Harvey

Getting creative with classical music

Posted on Thursday 01 February 2024 by Mrs Freeman

Each Wednesday afternoon, Mrs Bald teaches music with Year 1. The children have enjoyed listening to and exploring a new piece of music by a British composer named Gustav Holst.

The class watched and listened to Mars by Gustav Holst, a British composer.

Through this music, the composer is telling a story all about the planet, Mars. The children shared their thoughts and asked a few questions.

I wonder if Mars is big or small?

I wonder what is happening on Mars?

Using drums and other instruments, Year 2 were asked to play them in different ways such as a really smooth way or by drawing circles on the drum with their palms.

After listening to the piece of music again, the children thought about how they would travel to planet Mars.

Of course, by rocket!

We must prepare for take off!

3, 2,1 …………………….

Blast Off – ZTGD

Help at home by listening to Mars by Gustav Holst with your child and discuss the instruments that can be heard.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/14ZjT5yjnKQRdKVsqrLzk1x/mars-from-the-planets-by-gustav-holst

 

Science – Plants (light and dark)

Posted on Thursday 01 February 2024 by Mr Nash

As we donned our science hats to start 2024, we turned our attention to plants and their requirements to survive and thrive.

Our enquiry question has been:

Do plants grow healthier in the light or dark?

The children have planned a comparative fair test to observe the results for themselves. They have made their predictions and are looking forward to seeing what happens!

We have chosen to plant cucumber seeds (the fantasy of a fruitful harvest proved irresistible) and will keep 2 plants in the sun and 2 plants in the cupboard. This morning, we gathered our equipment and – one (cu)cumbersome bag of compost and a few plant pots later – planted our seeds.

The children will be observing the plants and recording their progress… watch this space!

Help at home by discussing the investigation with your child:

  • What was their prediction?
  • Why did they make that prediction?
  • How have we made sure our investigation is fair?
  • How often will be observe the plants?
  • What will we measure?

 

Living and Learning – speak out and stay safe

Posted on Monday 29 January 2024 by Jamie Kilner

In Year 3 and Year 4, we have been learning about ways that children can stay safe if they are experiencing abuse.

We watched an assembly produced by the NSPCC and engaged really well throughout. We have learnt about the 5 types of abuse that children can experience and know that this is never OK. We know who we can talk to if we are worried about something and where we can get help if needed.

The Childline website is a useful place to visit if we need help and their phone number is easy for us to remember – 0800 11 11.

Help at home – Ask your child what NSPCC stands for. What are the 5 types of abuse that children can experience. What does each one mean? Who are their trusted adults? Is there an easy way to remember the Childline phone number? Who is Buddy? What does Buddy represent?

A Trip Back in Time – Abbey House Museum

Posted on Monday 29 January 2024 by Mr Nash

Last week, we had the privilege of spending the day at Abbey House Museum.

We spent the morning wandering through authentically recreated streets, exploring Victorian shops and houses. As we toured the museum, we considered how living standards have changed, particularly considering the similarities and differences in shopping then and now.

In the afternoon, the children learned about how household items have changed since the Victorian era. From personal hygiene and heating the home, to cleaning carpets and washing clothes – we were astounded by how much easier things are for us today!

Help at home by asking your child about our visit. How might life have been different as a child in the Victorian era?

Abbey House Museum

Posted on Wednesday 24 January 2024 by Mrs Freeman

At Abbey House Museum, Year 1 stepped back in time and wandered through the enchanting streets, shops and houses to experience life as a Victorian in Leeds. The children compared the standards of living with those of today, and discovered how people lived, worked and were educated in Victorian England.

The children represented our school impeccably and we feel very proud of them all. During the workshop, the class learnt about what life was like for people 100 years ago and how household items have developed over time.

Help at home by chatting to your child about the visit.

  • What can they remember?
  • What did they learn?
  • Which part of the museum was their favourite?
  • Can they name some differences in the ways people lived 100 years ago compared to now?
  • How did people wash their clothes and warm their homes?
  • What were the differences between rich and poor households?

Living and Learning: “I know what a drug is and that some drugs can be harmful.”

Posted on Monday 22 January 2024 by Mr Nash

In Living and Learning, we have been learning about things that can go into (and onto) our bodies and how they might help or harm us. The children have shown fantastic knowledge of when and how to use medicines safely.

“You shouldn’t take tablets if you don’t know what they are.”

“Follow the instructions on the packet. You could ask an adult to help if you’re not sure.”

“Make sure it’s the right medicine for the type of poorly you are.”

We sorted some picture cards into ‘helpful’ and ‘harmful’ and were surprised to see how many products would fit into both categories:

  • Hand sanitiser is helpful for cleaning our hands but is very harmful to put into your body.
  • Sweet treats can be enjoyable in moderation but can lead to tummy ache and tooth decay if consumed in excess.
  • Sun cream protects your skin from the sun but contains poisonous ingredients that mustn’t be ingested.

 

Help at Home

Discuss these scenarios with your child. What could the characters do to prevent danger?