My Family
We’ve talked about how all families are different and special and made pictures of our families using pebbles.
Poetry Basket
Each week we will be learning a new poem. This week our poem was called Breezy Weather.
Breezy weather. Freezy weather.
When the leaves fall, we all fall together.
Breezy weather. Freezy weather.
When the wind blows, we huddle together.
Next week we will be reading our first focus story ” The Three Little Pigs”. We will be using story props to retell the story.
Reminders and Notices
PE– Is on Monday please send your child to school wearing their PE kit and trainers they can fasten themselves.
Sharing Books– Sharing books were sent home this week. Please can these be returned on Wednesday for the children to pick a new one.
Family Photo-please can I remind you to send in a photo of your child with their family so we can add them to our class display. You can send in a copy of your photo or email it to:
stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
Have a happy and healthy weekend
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Miss. Feldman, Mrs Linton, Mrs Cairnes and Mrs Small
Library Day Update
Hi,
I just wanted to let everyone know that our new library time will be on Tuesdays.
If your child would like a swap their library book, please ensure they have it packed before Tuesdays.
Living and Learning: I use good manners
This week’s Living and Learning was all about using our manners.
Good manners are the thoughtful words and actions we use to show kindness and respect to others.
We discussed what we already do to show good manners such as smiling and saying please and thank you.
We discussed how our manners make our school a nicer place and help everyone to learn.
The children shared lots of fantastic suggestions for showing good manners, such as:
It’s rude to interrupt someone unless it is an emergency- Frankie
I always smile at other people- Zubie
I look at people when they are speaking to me – Austin
Help at home: Chat about times when you have used good manners.
The Great Big Book of Families
We’ve had a busy week using our focus book The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith.
We’ve talked about how all families are different and special and made pictures of our families using pebbles.
Our word of the week was family the children have really enjoyed using this during their learning.
“My family live in a house, we have 5 people and daddy is the only boy.”
“My family has lots of people in it.”
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 our poem was called Breezy Weather.
Breezy weather. Freezy weather.
When the leaves fall, we all fall together.
Breezy weather. Freezy weather.
When the wind blows, we huddle together.
Phonics
This week, we have learnt the phonemes (the sounds a letter makes) i,n,m and d.
During our phonics learning, we listened carefully to the initial sound in a word and sorted objects by the sounds they begin with.
Help at home: Look out for a ‘learn at home’ sheet which recaps the phonics learning from the week. Please look at this with your child and complete the activities.
Reading practice
Reading daily at home is an essential part of your child’s reading journey. If you have any issues logging onto Collins eBooks, please let me know. Please make sure your write in your child’s reading record and return it every Thursday.
Maths
This week, we’ve focussed on perceptual subitising (recognising the number of objects without counting) up to 3. We’ve been learning how to use our fast eyes when looking at small sets of objects.
Reminders and Notices
PE– Is on Monday please send your child to school wearing their PE kit and trainers they can fasten themselves.
Sharing Books– Sharing books were sent home this week. Please can these be returned on Wednesday for the children to pick a new one.
Family Photo-please can I remind you to send in a photo of your child with their family so we can add them to our class display. You can send in a copy of your photo or email it to:
stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
Have a happy and healthy weekend
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Miss. Feldman, Mrs Linton, Mrs Cairnes and Mrs Small
Super Writing!
Our first piece of writing is a diary entry, inspired by our class novel (Survivors by David Long). Our goal is to create a short recount of events happening in a made up survival scenario. The ideas from the children have blown me away! We have one child who took a dangerous short cut during a desert marathon, another who parachuted and landed inside a volcano, and some that have even ended up lost in space! The children are really into their writing so far and have just finished day one of their entries. Here are just two of 21 brilliant entries:
Doubles
In Mastering Number this week we’ve been thinking about doubles. Specifically, we’ve been looking at:
- 2 x 6 = 12
- 2 x 7 = 14
- 2 x 8 = 16
- 2 x 9 = 18
The children have quickly picked up how to check their doubles using their fingers.
Help at home – ask your child to teach you how you can use your fingers to help you work out your doubles facts.
Book Club
We started our book club with a recommendation from Freddie. Freddie has been enjoying the book he chose from the school library last week and there is now a waiting list for it!
We shared some of the challenges we’ve completed this week in our Reading Records and reminded ourselves of all the different activities we can choose from. After that, we enjoyed some independent reading in various spaces in the classroom.
Help at home – help your child be ready for next week’s Book Wars we will be having at Book Club on Friday next week. See your child’s Reading Record for full details.
Living and Learning – I use good manners
This week in Living and Learning, Year 1 have been thinking about good manners.
Manners are the kind words and actions we can use to show respect and kindness to others. They help us to treat everyone fairly and link to the British value of respect and tolerance.
We talked about how it feels when people are polite or impolite. Being polite makes everyone feel happy and cared for but being impolite can make people feel sad or left out.
The children had lots of brilliant ideas about good manners:
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Saying please and thank you
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Being kind and helping people
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Holding doors open
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Sharing
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Saying good morning and giving a smile
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Being welcoming to others
We agreed that good manners help us to get on with each other and they make school a happier place for everyone!
Help at home by thinking of a time you used good manners today. How did it make you and others feel?
Music
In music this week, children have been naming key features of a ballad and using musical vocabulary to do so.
The children listened to the following songs and produced artwork to demonstrate their understanding of each song and the key messages portrayed.:
- Space Oddity by David Bowie
- Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers
- On my own by Smantha Barks
- Everything I do by Brian Adams
- I will always love you by Whitney Houston
Help at home – enjoy listening to these songs together at home.
Science – Exploring Basic Needs for Survival
This half term in Science, Year 2 have started a new topic all about what animals need to survive. We are building on our Year 1 learning, where we explored different animal groups. Now we are thinking more carefully about their individual needs.
All animals need some important things to survive:
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Food
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Water
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Air
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Shelter
Jolyon – “All animals need to have shelter and stay warm to survive.”
Zubi – “Shelter is somewhere that animals can go to be protected from the weather.”
Last week, we began by looking at mammals. We talked about how humans are mammals too, and thought about the things we need to stay alive and healthy. Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring the survival needs of other animal groups, including birds, fish and reptiles.
Help at Home: Ask your child about our new Science vocabulary.
