Topic – Computing
This half term, we’re computer programmers!
Our current topic, computing, focuses on creating and debugging programs and algorithms.
An algorithm is a sequence of instructions or a set of rules to get something done.
The children have really impressed my with their ability, skilfully tackling challenges on Scratch Jr.
As the weeks progress, we’ll each be designing and creating a quiz game, and evaluating its success.
Help at home by exploring our topic vocabulary with your child.
algorithm – a sequence of instructions or a set of rules to get something done
program – an algorithm or algorithms which can be run by a computer
to debug – to find and fix errors in algorithms
computer – a type of machine that can follow instructions and do useful things
command – an instruction that can be used in a program
You could try Scratch Jr. at home!
Living and learning: I recognise that friends and family are important.
Year 3 have been learning about what makes a healthy relationship with friends and family. We began by looking at some attributes that may, and may not, contribute to a positive relationship. As a class, we organised these on a chart. The left side represented all the attributes we absolutely do want in our relationships, and the right side showed those features that we don’t really want to see.
The children then went on to create a personal poster, showing themselves and those close to them (friends and family). They then decided which positive attributes are involved in their positive relationships. There were loads of brilliant ones that were consistent across the whole class, such as kindness, fun, happy, patient and hardworking.
Help at home:
Discuss with your child their attributes and how they contribute to happy, healthy relationships with friends and family. Maybe set a personal goal by identifying one attribute to develop further.
Living & Learning – Family and Friends
This half term we’re using resources from MindMate to support our learning in Living & Learning. They have lots of resources that are useful for families too – check them out here: MindMate for parents
Today we’ve been thinking about why family and friends are important to us and what qualities we need to have to have healthy relationships with our friends. We’ve enjoyed debating whether you always have to be fun to be a good friend and whether you always need to be happy to have a healthy relationship.
Love was the most common reason that our families are important to us and we spoke passionately about our families helping us through hard times.
Maths in Year 1
Wow! In Year 1 we’ve been diving into some fantastic Maths! We’ve been using our number bond facts to master subtraction with confidence. Take a look at our amazing learning below!
Help at home: practise your number bonds within ten. Find all the ways of making numbers 1 to 10.
e.g. Here are all the ways we can make 7 by adding two parts:
1 + 6 = 7 6 + 1 = 7
2 + 5 = 7 5 + 2 = 7
3 + 4 = 7 4 + 3 = 7
The Gruffalo Song
As promised the children performing ‘The Gruffalo Song’ in Nursery as some of them had a little stage fright on World Book Day.
Can they sing along at home with you?
Science
Circulatory System
Year 5 and Year 6 have been exploring the blood, what it is made of and how it works. We have learnt about red blood cells, white blood cells and plasma and what their role is.
We have been really creative and acted out how the blood works, travelling through the lungs to collect oxygen, moving through the heart and being pumped out around the body distributing oxygen and nutrients. The children really enjoyed the lesson and can hopefully tell you all about it at home.
Help at home – Ask your child about what the red blood cells, white blood cells and the plasma do. Can they draw you an image to show their understanding of how blood moves around the body?
World Book Day
Thank you for coming into Nursery and sharing some of our World Book Day activities with the children. We love reading in Nursery and it’s fabulous to see the children so passionate about their favourite stories.
We’ve also been enjoying stories in the sunshine at forest school this week.
Next week, we’ll continue with our ‘growing theme and will listen to ‘Oliver’s Vegetables‘ by Vivian French. We’ll be talking about the different foods that we eat and where they come from.
Help at home: We’re learning all about Number 3. Can they find a way to represent 3 at home? They might bring you 3 objects (they don’t have to match), they could draw 3 marks or clap 3 times.
Forest School
Year 3 are really enjoying their forest school time so far this half-term. After learning about the importance of nature time in reading lessons last half-term, the pupils know the benefits of learning outdoors and the positive effects it can have on our mental health. With the weather slowly getting better (we hope), we’ll try and get outdoors as much as possible to make sure we are keeping happy and healthy.
Help at home:
Please remember/remind your child to pack a spare pair of clothes and wellies every Friday!
A school Trip to the Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum
On Wednesday, we had a fantastic time at The National Railway Museum. We were so excited to go on on our first ever school trip – especially travelling by coach! All the grown ups were super impressed with how well-behaved the children were. Well done, Reception class.
We enjoyed looking at different trains and making comparisons of old and new. We had lots of fun watching the miniature railway and it led to lots of great discussions about trains, tunnels and transport. We even played a game of spotting Mrs Kendrew and Mrs Rippon at the miniature station! We also had fun sitting on the Japanese Bullet train.
To end our wonderful visit, we drew our favourite train of the day!
The Hundred Decker Rocket
We’ve been reading The Hundred Decker Rocket, by Mike Smith.
The story inspired lots of discussion around keeping our planet clean and why this is important.
In our writing, we designed our very own rocket deck that we will be making next week- this is where we need your help…
Please send your child into school with an empty shoebox next week. The children will be creating their very own deck, based on their designs.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith
Living and Learning – Strong emotions
In Living and Learning this half term, we’re learning about emotions and friendships.
We’ve talked about recognising emotions in ourselves and others and the benefits of speaking openly about them.
We discussed 6 key emotions
- Happy
- Excited
- Tender
- Scared
- Angry
- Sad
Empathy
What is empathy? Empathy is being able to know how someone else is feeling, even when you aren’t in the same situation. Sometimes we call empathy being able to “put yourself in someone’s shoes” and see things from their view.
We explored some situations in which children may have different emotions to one another. It’s important to be respectful of those emotions and acknowledge the importance of sharing them. Keeping feelings to yourself can have a negative impact on your mental wellbeing.
Where can I go for help with my emotions?
- talk to a trusted adult at school
- talk to a trusted adult at home
- talk to a friend
- put your worry in the Living and Learning box
Help at home by encouraging your child to express their emotions. Use the feelings wheel (above) to help. Compare the words in each segment of the feelings wheel – for example, does irritated feel different to furious?