W/C 25^th March

This is the last week before we break up for the holidays and so we are finishing our maths unit on capacity. We will be measuring the capacity of different containers and then finish our learning on comparing the capacity of containers.

We have a big focus this week on our DT project called ‘Taxi’. This links in with our Bright Lights, Big City topic as we are investigating wheels on vehicles before designing our own London Taxi making sure it has wheels, axles and a chassis. We will then make our Taxi that we have designed thinking about our design criteria such making it move. We will then evaluate our Taxi to see if it moves, does it move smoothly, does it look appealing and what we would change next time!

We also have an Easter egg inter-house competition and have had a football skills workshop this week.

w/c 18th March

Maths

In maths this week, we have been learning about measuring mass; we have compared items using heavier and lighter and we have measured the mass of an object using cubes as our unit of measurement. We have also started to look at capacity, and have learnt the difference between the capacity of a container and the volume. 

English

This week, we have been writing a letter in the first person, imagining that we are Zoo and telling Dad all about the Sky Garden - everyone has worked very hard and completed some fantastic letters!  

Wider Curriculum

In Science, we have looked at what a weather forecast can tell us bringing together all the measurements of temperature, wind, sunshine, cloud and precipitation we have learnt about this term. 

In Geography, we compared London to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We noticed many similarities, like both cities have parks, palaces and zoos, but also how different the architecture is, and the differences in transport services in the two cities. The children then tried to decide which city they would rather visit and why.

We also visited the Earth Trust as part of our learning this week. The children had a fantastic day, looking for signs of Spring, building nests and dens for the animals we might find in the woods and some close encounters with the sheep and lambs at the farm. We were very fortunate with the weather, and must also say a huge thank you to all the parents that came to help out.

w/c 11th March 

English

In English this week we have been writing in the First Person as Zoo from The Sky Garden story. We have pretended to be Zoo looking out his aeroplane window at the Sky Garden and thinking about what exclamations and questions he might ask, for example, "Wow! What an amazing sky garden down there!" and "Who planted all those beautiful flowers?" We also begun to look at the sort of letter that Zoo might send to someone, telling them about what he saw and his adventures with his new friend Funni. We planned our letter on Friday. Next week we will be beginning to draft the letter which will explain what Zoo saw, and also how he felt. 

Maths

In maths this week we have been learning about length and height. We have measured the length of things using objects such as cubes and paperclips as units of measure, and then moved on to using a ruler accurately to measure things 'to the nearest centimeter'. We have completed this unit (a very short one!) so next week will be moving on to our new unit - Mass and Volume. 

Wider Curriculum

In Computing this week we grouped shapes in a variety of different ways by thinking about their common properties. We thought about how humans program computers to group things into different categories.

In Geography this week the children learnt about giving directions using North, South, East and West, and also how to use a compass. The children had time outside in the playground to work with a partner to follow directions using their compass to guide them. 

On Monday we had an exciting circus skills workshop!

On Friday we had a visit from Rock Steady which was lots of fun! We had an exciting assembly where we got to listen to some fantastic music, and learnt about the different instruments that make up a band including electric guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and a microphone to sing into. Later on that morning the children also had a workshop back in the hall with the RockSteady visitor and got to join in clapping along with some different beats and some children even got to have a go playing the instruments! 

Remember we have our exciting trip to the Earths Trust next Thursday 21st March 2024. Please review the letter that was emailed home which tells you what you need to dress your child in and what your child needs to bring along on the day. 

w/c 4th March 

English

In English this week, we have finished writing our stories. The children have produced some fantastic work and should be very proud of themselves. We will be staying with The Secret Sky Garden next week, but thinking about the story from Zoo's point of view. We will eventually be writing an informal letter in the first person, imagining that we are Zoo, telling dad all about the garden and his new friend Funni.

Maths

In maths, we have finished our block of learning about numbers up to 50. We have consolidated our knowledge of 10s and 1s, and thought about 1 more and 1 less within 50.

Next week, we will be moving onto a new block of learning about measuring beginning with length and height.

Wider Curriculum

Our science this week has been about temperature; we have learnt how to use a thermometer to measure the air temperature and recorded our results. In geography we have been looking at aerial photographs - next week we will be learning about directions, from left and right to North, South, East and West.

Finally, we have loved all our World Book Week activities. We have some fabulous new books from the Roving Bookshop for our classrooms, we have learnt how to draw like Axel Scheffler, and even designed book tokens. 

W/C 26th February 2024

Thank you so much to all of the parents who came to our Reading Breakfast this morning in Beech and Maple. It was wonderful to see so many of you come and support your child in engaging with books and reading. 

Maths

In maths this week we have been focusing on numbers 0-50 and counting in groups of 10. We have learnt that it is much easier to count large amounts of objects if they are grouped into packs of 10. We have been using tens frames, base 10 equipment, and maths straws to do this. We have also been using part-whole models to think about tens and ones and how to partition numbers. For example, in the number 47, there are 4 tens, or 40, and 7 ones. We also played some games with partners to guess numbers by telling them how many tens and ones there were in the number and asking them to make the number and tell us the answer. Please see the example on the maths working wall. 

Next week we will be using a number line with numbers 0-50.

English

In English this week we have continued with our story The Secret Sky Garden. This week we have created a plan, and begun to draft a retelling of the story. We have been focusing particularly on using time adverbials such as 'One day', 'First', 'After that', using conjunctions 'and' and 'because' to join clauses together, and using lots of wonderful adjectives to describe how Funni has been feeling throughout the story. The children have made a brilliant start on these, and we will be continuing them into next week. 

Wider Curriculum

This week in Computing we have been thinking about grouping of data and labels, and how things can be organised and programmed into the internet. 

In Geography we have been looking at maps of London, and thinking about transport to travel to London, and what we would want to see if we were to visit. Ask your children what famous landmarks they would like to visit in London! The children had a chance to explore a website called Visit London on the iPads this week too. 

We are looking forward to an exciting week of World Book Day activities next week! 

W/C 19th February 

Maths

In maths this week we are deepening our understanding with our range of subtraction methods we learnt before half term. We will be subtracting using number bonds to help us, counting back using a number line and subtracting to find the difference. We will be using the same examples as before half term. 

English

We are introducing our new story this week- 'The Secret Sky Garden'. We will be exploring the characters feelings at different points and building up a bank of adjectives, for example, lonely, upset, calm, content. We will then be introducing exclamation marks and using them appropriately in an exclamation sentence, making links to the story. 

Wider curriculum

In science we explored daytime and night time hours across the seasons and thought about what we could and could not do after school due to the number of daylight hours. For example, in summer we could use a paddling pool, have a picnic and go to the park but in winter we would spend more time inside after school. We used a chart to help us think about the number of daylight hours across the months of the year. 

In Jigsaw (PSHE) we thought about what keeps us healthy.

Finally, in our History and Geography lessons this week we have been finding out about the Great Fire of London. We have learnt lots of facts, and thoroughly enjoyed our workshop on Thursday, when we were visited by Samuel Pepys. We heard an eye witness account of the Fire, found out more about his diary (and his wine and cheese), practised being part of a chain gang that would have tried to extinguish the fire, created some fantastic artwork and discovered just how hard it is to write with a quill pen! We ended the day with some 17th century dancing - thank you to our special visitor, we had a great time.

w/c 5th February 2024

Maths

In maths this week we have been looking at subtracting within 20 using number bonds, counting back, finding the difference, related facts, and missing number problems. We have been using our previous knowledge of subtracting within 10 to make links to support with our maths learning this week. We have been using a variety of concrete and pictorial resources including base 10, number lines, bead strings, and counters with tens frames.

After half term we will be consolidating our learning from this week, and deepening our understanding around these lessons. 

English

In English this week we have been consolidating our previous learning and focusing particularly on the features of a complete sentence, using correct punctuation in questions, and joining sentences and clauses using the conjunctions ‘and’ and ‘because’.

Wider Curriculum

In Computing we have continued to use the Beebots to give commands so the Beebots can get from one place to another.

In Art this week we have used our collage pieces to make some abstract collograph prints showing a variety of lines and shapes. After half term we will be making another collograph based on weather motifs to continue our Rain and Sunrays Art project. Every week we continue to practise our handwriting; focusing on making sure we are holding our pencils correctly, forming lower case and upper case letters correctly, and that the letters are sitting on the line appropriately.

We hope you have a lovely half term and we look forward to seeing you after the break!

w/c 29th January

Maths

In maths this week, we have been adding within 20. 

We have used the things that we know from

our addition within 10 to help us. We have used other strategies to help us, including using a number line and counting on. We have also realised that our number bonds to 10 can help with number bonds to 20, and we have been working systematically through these.

Next week, we will be beginning to subtract numbers within 20.

English

This week, we have been writing our explanation piece to tell our reader what a meteor shower is. We have really enjoyed sharing our knowledge.

Next week, we will be consolidating the skills we have learnt this term - using question marks and joining sentences and clauses using "and."

Wider Curriculum

In Art we have continued to explore texture; we have chosen a range of materials to make a collage which we will use next week to make a print. In Geography, we have been learning the difference between a village, a town and a city and identifying the nearest of these settlements to us. In Science, we looked at how animals adapt and change their behaviour depending on the season - next week we will be looking at the weather. Finally, in ICT we have been using the Beebots to learn some debugging skills.

w/c 22nd January

Maths

In maths this week we are looking at the number line to 20 and thinking about where numbers are positioned. We will then move our maths on by comparing numbers and ordering them using the language greatest and smallest along with using our number line to help us. 

English

In English we are using our focus book 'Look Up' to write an explanation piece. We will write what a meteor shower is! We will build this learning up across this week by first finding out what a question is, what a question mark looks like and write our own questions so by next week we can answer the question - 'What is a meteor shower.' 

Wider curriculum

In Science we have thought in more detail about deciduous trees and learnt about the changes that happen to an apple tree that is deciduous and changes through the 4 seasons. 

In PSHE we are continuing to think about our goals and achievements and what we need to do to get there! 

In topic we are learning about the physical features of the United Kingdom and to describe them, for example, 'a lake is a body of land surrounded by water.' 

We continue to practise our handwriting every week too! 

w/c 15th January

Maths

In maths this week we have continued our focus on numbers 11-20 and thinking about how they are made up, for example 17 is made up of 1 ten and 7 ones. We have also been looking at one more and one less than the numbers 11-20, for example one less than 14 is 13, and one more than 18 is 19. We have continued to use a range of different resources to support our maths learning and understanding, and in particular this week, using base 10 equipment, counters, and number lines 0-20 to help find missing numbers. Next week we will be continuing using number lines, and also comparing numbers and adding by counting on.

English

This week in English we have been orally rehearsing, planning, and then writing an informal letter based on the book Look up by Nathan Bryan which we started last week. The letter is written in the first person and present tense, so we are pretending to be just like the main character in the story, Rocket, inviting others to join us to watch a magnificent meteor shower. We have discussed the main features of an informal letter and what information we need to include, for example the address and name of who it is for, what we are inviting them to, where they need to meet us, what day and time, and who the letter is from.

Wider Curriculum

In our Geography based topic ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ we have been looking at the four countries that make up the United Kingdom and discussing where they are on a map, and what their capital cities are.

In P.E. this week and last we have started our Gymnastics unit, and learning to move our bodies safely in a variety of ways. The children learnt how to do two types of rolls last week - a ‘log roll’ and an ‘egg roll’ and practised jumping in different shapes, for example straight jumps, and broad jumps. This week the children refined these skills and used low apparatus including mats and benches to perform their sequences.

w/c 8th January

Welcome back! We hope you had a lovely break, we are excited to begin our new topics this term...

Maths

In maths, we have started to explore numbers between 11 and 20. We have been looking at how these numbers are made up, with 1 ten and a number of ones, for example 13 is 1 ten and 3 ones. We have been making the numbers with different resources and noticing what is the same and what is different, making sure we are confident in using the associated vocabulary - tens and ones.

We will be continuing with this next week.

English

We have read a new book - Look Up by Nathan Bryan, and been fascinated by the meteor shower that Rocket, the main character, is waiting to watch. We will be writing an informal letter imagining we are Rocket, to invite someone to watch a meteor shower with us next week. To make sure we can do that successfully, we have been writing sentences in first person and present tense this week. We have also thought carefully about the features of an informal letter and the information that we will need to include in our letters.

Wider Curriculum

We have started our new topic, Bright Lights, Big City, this week by exploring landmarks. We have looked at ways to categorise them and used google maps to explore some local landmarks. Next week, we will be learning about the countries that make up the UK and their capital cities.

In science, we have started our new topic, Seasonal Changes, by looking around us to see how we know it is winter - the leaves have no trees, it is cold and frosty for example - and we have thought about what will change as we (eventually) move into spring. 

To compliment our science, our art this term is Rain and Sunrays; this week we have looked at the symbols sometimes used in weather forecasts and used a range of different materials to represent them.

This term, we will be exploring London in our Geography based topic "Bright Lights, Big City." We will look at landmarks, physical and human features, understand the countries that make up the UK, and think about continents and oceans. We will also be learning about maps and compass directions, and a significant event in the History of the City of London - the Great Fire of 1666.

In Science we will be exploring the weather and thinking about seasonal change, and hot and cold places around the world.