This week’s bible story
Our friendship with Jesus: John 15:12-15
Jesus calls us his friend and He wants to be in a relationship with us. In the Bible, we see the friendship of Jesus and his disciples develop. Although their intent was to serve and follow Jesus as Master, He calls them friends. Jesus’ love and sacrifice for those He walked with is the ultimate example of a relationship. Though we may show it differently, we show our friends how much we love them by the actions that we take.
Jesus calls us friend and He wants to live in a relationship with us. This means that He wants us to get to know Him and He wants us to share our lives with Him – every joy, every care, every hurt, every triumph.
Reflection:
We show our friends we care by the actions we do and how we behave towards our friends. Think about how you can show your friends you care this week and how you can share your week with them.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that we will always have a friend in Jesus. Help us to be good friends to our friends and show them that we care about them.
Amen
Science
In Science we have been identifying materials. We have been investigating which materials would be the most suitable to make a tent. The tent needs to be strong and waterproof. We tested fabric, plastic, tin-foil and tissue and recorded the results.
We found out that plastic is the most suitable material as it is strong and waterproof.
Living and Learning: mental health – understanding our emotions
This week, we have been learning how to recognise and describe different feelings in ourselves and others. The children were able to name a range of emotions/feelings and talk about times they had felt them themselves or recognise a feeling in a friend.
“When I was in Reception and I was going to come into Year 1, I felt nervous,” said Alba.
“I was amazed when my mummy set up a surprise for me,” said Emily.
“At lunch time I noticed my friend was feeling sad so I gave them a hug and I played with them,” said Kiara.
Afterwards we acted out some of the emotions. We thought about where in our body we might experience the feeling. What might happen to our face when we experience the feeling. What might happen to our body when we experience the feeling.
When we are anxious we might bite our nails.
When we feel nervous we might feel funny in our tummy.
When we feel bored we might put our head in our hands.
When we are feeling happy we might have a big smile on our face.
If we feel angry we might cross our arms and scowl.
We all practised experiencing a range of emotions.
Nouns means names
We have been learning a song to help us remember what a noun is (sung to the tune of the Heinz Meanz Beanz advert).
Nouns
Every person, place or thing
Needs a name and so we sing
Nouns means names
Help at home by talking about nouns and how they are all around us! Don’t forget proper nouns (Monday, Christmas), abstract nouns (happiness, excitement) and pronouns, which replace a noun in a sentence (I, we, she).
Reading books
We are encouraging the children to be independent and choose their own reading book. This takes a little longer so we have started to change some books on a Monday and Tuesday. If your child has read their book and would like it to be changed before Wednesday then please put their reading book in their bag. If your child would like to keep their book until Wednesday that is also ok.
Harvest 2021
Our Harvest festival was a great time to give thanks and to celebrate altogether – especially after the last year’s events..!
Class novel – The Enchanted Wood
We have started our class novel, The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton, and all the children are enthralled already. It is a classic, which you may have read yourselves or have a copy of at home. Read along at home, if you like, or you could ask your child which characters we have met so far and what they like about the story.
This week’s bible story
Four friends help a paralysed man: Luke 5: 17-25
If I asked you to tell you one of the things they liked doing best of all, I imagine it would be playing with their friends. Have a think about your friends and think about what you feel is special about them. In our story, we hear about how four friends help a paralysed man.
Reflection:
Think about the story.
Were there good friends in it?
Think about your friends.
What makes a good friend?
Think about yourself.
Are you a good friend?
Prayer:
Dear God
We thank you for our friends and for the happy times we share with them. Help us to be a good friend to them. Teach us how to play fairly and to share. Help us to recognize loneliness in others and show friendliness towards them. We know that you are our friend and will be with us always.
Amen.
Phonics screening check
The phonics screening check determines how well a child can use the phonics skills they have learned in year 1, ensuring that they are on track to become fluent readers.
The check was cancelled by the government for year 1 children in June 2021.
In December 2021, the phonics screening check will be taken by all children in year 2 instead. Year 2 pupils who do not meet the expected standard in the autumn check will take the statutory check in June 2022, alongside year 1 pupils.
The phonics screening check contains 40 words divided into two sections. Both sections contain a mixture of real words and alien words.
The children are encouraged to add sound buttons or use phoneme fingers to read a word. Here is a video showing how we do this.
You can help your child at home by reading anything and everything!
This week’s bible story
David and Jonathan: 1 Samuel 18-19
Friendship is a precious gift. Everyone wants to have friends. If we are fortunate, we will have a group of close friends, people with whom we can share our lives. However, sometimes, things go wrong. There can be disagreements that lead to friends falling out and maybe not talking to each other altogether. When David was a young boy, he had been told that one day, he would be the future King of Israel. As he grew up, David became famous for defeating the giant, Goliath, and for being a skilled soldier. He also wrote many songs that are recorded in the Book of Psalms in the Bible.
When David was a boy, a man called Saul was the King of Israel. Saul had a son who was called Jonathan. David and Jonathan became great friends. One reason was that Saul (Jonathan’s dad) was the present king and David was going to be the future king. David was also a great soldier and King Saul became very jealous of him! Another reason is that, if the usual practices were followed, Jonathan would have followed in his father’s footsteps as the future king – not David! Jonathan had a good reason to be jealous of David!
Reflection:
It would have been very easy for Jonathan to be jealous of David. Instead, he always protected him – sometimes, even saving David’s life!
How do we treat our friends?
Do we get jealous when they are successful or if they are better than us at something?
Or do we encourage them? Do we stand up for them? Do we feel happy when something good happens in their lives?
In David’s case, he really did get by ‘with a little help from his friend’.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for friends whom we can trust.
Thank you for friends who stick with us when we need them.
Please help us to be a friend to anyone in need.
Amen.