The National Railway Museum
Wow! What a fantastic day we had at the National Railway Museum and the children were fantastic, an absolute credit to you and our school.
We enjoyed looking at the trains in the Great Hall, including the Mallard, the high-speed Japanese bullet train and the replica of Stephenson’s Rocket. We found The Flying Scotsman in the North Shed and an old sign for Wetherby Train Station, plus a sign for platform 9 3/4!
A big thank you to the parents and helpers who came with us and made our day out so special.
The Hundred Decker Rocket
This week we have been really busy with our focus book The Hundred Decker Rocket by Mike Smith.
We have talked about what we would each have on our own deck on the rocket.
” I would have a bouncy castle because they are fun!”
“I would have an ice cream tree!”
Our word of the week was expedition the children have really enjoyed using this during their learning.
“An expedition is a journey.”
“When we go to the Museum we are going on a expedition.”
Help at home: tell your grown up about an expedition you have been on together, what did you see? Where was the destination?
Phonics
This week in our phonics we have reviewed the digraphs er, air
Help at home: Please support your child with the ‘learn at home’ sheet sent home today. Please also keep accessing the ebooks.
Poetry Picnic
This week our poem was Popcorn
Popcorn, Popcorn, sizzling in the pan.
Shake it up, shake it up,
Bam, Bam, Bam.
Popcorn, Popcorn, now it’s getting hot.
Shake it up, shake it up,
Pop, Pop, Pop.
The Classroom Challenges this week have been
- to make an alien
- to draw an alien with a pen and then use the pipette and water to melt it away
- to make a flying saucer
- to write a list of the rubbish we found left on the table
- to order the images from 1-8 on the washing line
- to draw a map outside and ask a friend to follow it
Also this week we have had our first Forest School session, this was so much muddy fun and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone!
Please can we remind everyone to send their child to school in their PE kits on Friday with waterproofs and wellies in a labelled plastic bag.
Next week our focus book is The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith.
School Trip
We’re very excited about our school trip to the National Railway Museum next Wednesday!
Please can you send your child with a
- Rucksack
- Packed lunch (no nuts or fizzy drinks)
- Water bottle
- Suitable coat
Book bags can stay at home, thank you.
Reminders and Notices
Waste Innovation- Please don’t forget to send in any donations for us to be creative. We really appreciate anything!!
Please can we also ask for any donations of children’s underwear, socks and old school uniform, we work hard and play hard in reception so things can get a little bit messy!!
Stay and Learn Sessions
World Book Day 07.03.24-8.50am-9.20am
Please don’t forget to email any pictures from home stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org thank you!
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Mrs. Feldman
02 February 2024
This week, the spellings are all tricky words.
- oh
- Mr
- Mrs
- looked
- people
- called
Please refer to our school website for some ideas on how to help your child learn to spell the words.
https://www.stjameswetherby.leeds.sch.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2018/01/Spelling-Guide.pdf
Lost and Found
Happy New Year to everyone and a huge thank you for all the lovely cards and gifts we received before the holidays it was so kind of you, we hope you all had a restful Christmas and New Year.
Last week we started our learning in our new topic Fire and Ice, our first book is called Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.
We used the globe to find where the South Pole is and found it is in Antarctica. We talked about how it is a very different place to England as nobody lives there because it is the coldest, driest and windiest place in the world. We made boats and tested them out in the water tray, we even added some ice to be like icebergs, it was very chilly work! We made snow dough and explored how it was like snow because it was fluffy and crunchy.
Our word of the week was: Iceberg, the children have really enjoyed using this word during the week in their learning.
“Look out your boat is getting too close to that huge iceberg!”
“This iceberg looks like a Elsa’s castle!”
Help at home: Tell your grown up at home about where you can find an iceberg.
Phonics
This week we have started to learn the phase 3 phonemes. We have focused on the diagraphs ai, ee, oa and the trigraph igh. A trigraph is when three letters make one sound.
Help at home: Today, your child has come home with a new ‘learn at home’ phonics sheet. The sheets link to all the phonemes we have covered this half term. Please support your child by practising these at home.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite the poem each day. By saying the poem out loud we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line.
This week our poem was 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
In Maths we have been using our perceptual subitising skills (seeing the quantity without counting), moving from dots in a line and arrangements, to a focus on standard dice arrangements. For larger quantities, we have begun to use skills of conceptual subitising, beginning to quickly see the sub-groups within these larger numbers. We have played a game Feed the Penguin to help us.
“I can see a 3 and a 3 it makes 6”
“I can see a 2 and a 2 and a 1, it’s 5!”
“I see 2 and a 1”
Help at home: Play a dice game with your family and show them your subitising skills.
Next week we will continue to use the focus book Lost and Found to support our learning.
Reminders
We will be doing PE on Monday, so please send your child to school wearing their PE kit and trainers. They will stay in this all day.
Stay and Learn Sessions
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child Learning in school.
Early Writing- 05.02.24 2.20pm-3.00pm
World Book Day 07.03.24 -8.50am-9.20am
Learning Journey Drop In’s
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’ learning journal with them.
Times- 8.45am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm (Tuesday and Thursday)
Week beginning 25.03.24
Week beginning 08.07.24
Don’t forget to email your pictures from home stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org thank you!
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman
Welcome back
We have had a very busy first week back in Year 3 and Year 4. We have been ensuring we stick to our routines and recapping on our rules and expectations in the classroom and around school. We have also welcomed Mr Goodwin and Mr Smith who will be based in our classroom from now on.
In writing, we have learnt about subordinate clauses and how these differ to main clauses. We have been able to identify subordinate clauses and we will look to use these in our recount writing next week.
In maths, we have begun using Frayer Models to represent number. The children have enjoyed the challenge that these models bring and enjoyed sharing their findings.
In Living and Learning, we have been learning about drugs and the benefits and risks surrounding them. We have also shared ways of reducing these risks and how we can keep safe at home and school.
Help at home – Ask your child if they can tell you what a subordinate clause is. Can they write a sentence using a subordinate clause, subordinate conjunction, and main clause? Can they check around the house to see if drugs are kept in a safe place?
Bandi Chhor Divas
This week, we have been learning about the story of Guru Hangobind Sahid Ji and how, in 1619, he saved 52 Sikhs from prison. We understand why Sikhs celebrate this event, known as Bandi Chhor Divas and how it links to Diwali. We have also compared this religious celebration with other events, such as Hanukkah and Christmas and how this celebration relate to us.
Help at home – ask your child about the story of Guru Hangobind. Can they remember how he helped free 52 innocent prisoners? Can they retell the Jewish story of Hanukkah and say how it links to the Sikh event Bandi Chhor Divas?
Night Monkey, Day Monkey
We have had another busy week in reception, our focus book this week has been Night Monkey, Day Monkey by Julia Donaldson and Lucy Richards.
We have talked a lot about the things we do during the day at school and those we do at night at home.
Our word of the week was: Nocturnal, the children have enjoyed exploring the different animals that are nocturnal and active at night.
“Foxes are nocturnal, they are awake at night!”
“Hedgehogs are night time animals”
Help At Home: Draw a nocturnal animal and label it.
We have also had so much fun exploring shadows, when the sun eventually can out! The children really enjoyed trying to stand on each others shadows, especially on Mrs Kendrew’s head! They even used objects to try to see the shadow shapes they made on the ground. Great work everyone!
Phonics
This week the children have focused on the diagraphs zz, qu and ch and the phoneme z. we have also looked at words with s added at the end like hats, sits.
We’ve also learnt the tricky words: go, no, to, into, his
Help at home: Today, your child has come home with a new ‘learn at home’ phonics sheet. The sheet links to all the phonemes we have covered this week. Please support your child by practising these at home.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite the poem each day. By saying the poem out load we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line.
this week our poem was Shoes
Before I jump into my bed,
Before I dim the light,
I put my shoes together,
So they can talk all night.
I’m sure they would be lonesome,
If I tossed one here or there,
So I put my shoes together,
For they are a friendly pair.
Maths
In Maths, we have begun to explore composition by focusing on the concept of ‘wholes’ and ‘parts’. The children have explored their own bodies and familiar toys to begin to understand that whole things are often made up of smaller parts and that a whole is, therefore, bigger than its parts. We have made whole faces by adding different parts of eyes, ears a mouth and a nose.
Help at home: Sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to your grown up and tell them some of the parts you have on your body that make up the whole of you.
Next week our focus book is How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers and we will also be looking at the artist Claude Monet.
Thank you to those families who sent in recordings of the children singing their favourite nursery rhyme, they have been lovely to watch. Thank you also to those who came to the Maths Stay and Learn session, please do get in touch if you ever have any questions. stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
Reminders
We will be doing PE on Monday, please send your child to school wearing their PE kit and trainers and all jewellery removed. They will stay in their PE kit all day.
Stay and Learn Sessions
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child Learning in school.
Phonics Phase 3- 16.1.24 2.20pm-3.00pm
Early Writing- 05.02.24 2.20pm-3.00pm
World Book Day 07.03.24 -8.50am-9.20am
Learning Journey Drop In’s
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’ learning journal with them.
Times- 8.45am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm (Tuesday and Thursday)
Week beginning 11.12.23
Week beginning 25.03.24
Week beginning 08.07.24
Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman
PTA disco
On Friday 17 November, we have our PTA disco at St James’ Church Hall. Tickets are being sold every day this week. You’ll find a member of the PTA selling tickets in the playground if you would like to purchase some.
Potion Commotion
We have had so much fun with our book of the week Potion Commotion, we enjoyed hearing about Betty, making her own potion and saving the town from the hungry dragon. We have been writing our own potion recipes and even had a go at making our own, we had so much fun watching them fizz and bubble!
Maths
This week in our maths we have been learning to notice what we can see and how we can see it. We have been using number stories to help us to develop this skill, using the key words first, then, now.
Ask your child to tell you the number story below.
Help at home
Our first book after half term is called Binny’s Diwali where we will be talking about the Hindu Festival of Diwali, we will move on to talk about a different celebration called Bonfire Night and the story behind that. If you go to any light shows, see any illuminations or go to a firework display over the half term break, we’d love to share your photos in class. We’ll use the pictures to support our topic Light and Dark.
Reminders
We will be doing PE on Monday, so please send your child to school wearing their PE kit and trainers. They will stay in this all day.
Stay and Learn Sessions
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child Learning in school.
Maths- 15.11.23 2.20pm-3.00pm
Phonics Phase 3- 16.1.24 2.20pm-3.00pm
Early Writing- 05.02.24 2.20pm-3.00pm
World Book Day 07.03.24 -8.50am-9.20am
Learning Journey Drop In’s
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’ learning journal with them.
Times- 8.45am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm (Tuesday and Thursday)
Week beginning 11.12.23
Week beginning 25.03.24
Week beginning 08.07.24
Don’t forget to email your pictures from home stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org thank you, have a lovely half term!
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman
Spellings 15.09.23
Common exception words
These are everyday words that don’t follow the phonic rules taught at school.
Please learn the words below ready for a test on Friday 22nd September 2023.
are is she
ask love so