Autumn 2

Class 1 and 2 have continued to impress us in Autumn 2! We have been delighted with how they follow school routines and adapted quickly to new changes in the timetable. They are all trying so hard with their learning and making good progress!

This half term has been all about ‘Toys.’ We started the term with a wonderful week celebrating Diwali. The children created some detailed Diawali pictures. We then taught the children all about The Gingerbread Man through the use of Talk for Writing. Children really enjoyed bringing the story to life through the use of actions and props. We then worked together to innovate the story. Children shared some wonderful ideas!

In the next part of the half term we looked at toys from the past. We thoroughly enjoyed our toy day when a visitor came to our school from Clifton Park Museum. Catherine from the museum shared some toys from the past and the children thought about what materials they were made from and how the toys worked. We have then read stories linked to toys and the children have painted pictures of toys from the past.

We have ended our half term with our lovely Christmas performance Whoops-a-Daisy Angel. The children tried so hard to learn a variety of different songs including actions. We are so very proud of how well they performed the songs to their grown-ups. A wonderful experience for all!

This half term we have continued to use our phonics programme Little Wandle. The children have started to learn digraphs and trigraphs including word building and new high frequency words. All children have continued to make progress. In addition to this, children have been taking home a phonics book and library book each week.

In Maths we have looked closely at shapes and angles. The children enjoyed talking about the properties of shapes and finding angles within shapes and around the classroom. Children looked at number and compared using language including greater and fewer. We have also looked at the composition of numbers 6, 7 and 8 and how we can make those numbers in different ways.  

Overall the children have taken part in some wonderful learning opportunities and continue to impress us. We can’t wait for next term!

Autumn 1

Well, what a lovely start to the school year. The children have really settled in well and have quickly learnt the routine of a full school day. Those new to the school feel like they have already become part of the furniture – including Miss Newman!

We have done so much already this term. We began by discussing our families and what makes us unique, creating beautifully detailed self-portraits. We talked about who we loved and what we enjoyed doing. We have considered our emotions and what makes us happy or sad and how we can calm ourselves when we are angry and upset. We have also learnt the importance of kindness and acceptance, with lots of discussion about how to take care of each other and the new people we meet, inspired by the story ‘The Suitcase.’

Later we met ‘The Little Red Hen’ in person and she gave us clues to her story. We then learnt her story by heart and my my, we have some brilliant Talk for Writing children! We baked bread just like the Little Red Hen and learned all the new words in the story. We then changed her story with our own version set in a zoo with lions, tigers and fruit bats! As the season has changed from Summer to Autumn we have watched the leaves turn beautiful colours and collected all the treasures Autumn brings us. We went on a gorgeous Autumn walk, had hot chocolate and made an Autumn wand and then we created a class recount about our adventures.

In maths, we have learnt more about subitising in the world around us, beginning our journey discovering what numbers compose of. We have spent a long time decomposing numbers 3. 4 and 5 and have become very familiar with what makes up those numbers. We also learnt about patterns in nature and practised making repeating patterns and spiral patterns. In addition, we looked at position and direction and considered the map of our school and our place in it.

We have also been learning new circle games and practising working as a team.  In addition to our self-portraits, we have learned about the artist Rothko and how he used colours to express emotion. We used our colour mixing skills to create artwork inspired by Rothko. Over the term, we have learnt old and new songs and learned to sing together as a group.

In the last week of term, the children enjoyed a walk to our local church for Harvest festival where they got to sing the Harvest songs they had been learning as a class.