Y1 16.10.16- Literacy, maths and art this week

We have now started learning about Castles! The children have learnt about the different features of castles such as what a portcullis is; why some castles have moats and what arrow slits are in the walls. They are using the information they have learnt to answer questions and write some fantastic sentences where the focus is on capital letters, full stops and making sure that what they write makes sense. 

In maths we are thinking about our number bonds to 10 and 20. I taught the children the number bond song and we worked together to add numicon to our maths working wall to aid their learning.

This week we will be using our knowledge of number bonds to add and subtract one digit numbers.

In art we have started looking at the art of Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. Kandisky's art was made of vibrant colours and many shapes. We are focussing on his concentric circles to make our own abstract trees.

Y1 16.10.16- Praise assembly and reading targets

I praised the whole class this week for their concentration in lessons. They are showing that if they manage their distractions they become absorbed in their learning.

Individual children that were also praised were-

Ella- for her question writing about castles.

Tilly, Erin and Imogen for showing great concentration in literacy.

Jasmine- for her determination with her cursive writing

Kurtis- missing number bonds to 20.

The whole class really enjoyed going to the book fair this week and thinking about what books they enjoy reading. As you will see in your child's reading log I have stuck in a group reading target. This is something that the children can work towards when reading at home and at school. For example it may read 'I can read new words by blending sounds together'. This means that when reading with your child you may notice how they are breaking down the words in to sounds and then trying to form the words. If you see them doing this then please do write this in the comments section. A number of parents have mentioned that their child does not like reading at home. The children do work incredibly hard at school and I expect most of them are very tired by the time they get to bed time. If you can read with them on a daily basis then that is brilliant, school or home books can be read to develop a love of reading. It is such good practice just to share books with them, if you read to them they will still learn a lot from your reading.


 

Whole School Monday 10th October 2016

Whole school Monday 10th October 2016

Yippee! The Book Fair arrives this week - perfect timing for some christmas shopping!!!!!!The children will all be visiting the book fair with their class, and I am sure they will come home full of excitement about books they have seen, so do pop along and buy a book or two!!!

We really appreciate the support you show us each year at the book fair, not only encouraging your child's love of reading but, every time you buy a book, we earn commission in vouchers to buy new books for the school library and the guided reading library. Great isn't it?

We rely heavily on this source to maintain a high quality, up to date library full of the latest reads and best sellers! This ensures that ALL children in the school have access to a well stocked library to explore and foster a love for books!


Thank you in advance for your support and generosity!

Mrs. Johnson 

Y1- 10.10.16- Amazing home learning and Forest School today

Wow! Today we all got a chance to look at the children’s home learning. It was fantastic to see the range of different learning that the children chose to do from stories, to descriptions and labelling of the pictures. I was impressed with the handwriting standard also. This is definitely a focus at the moment. So with this in mind home learning that is brought in really needs to be a focussed task where your child spends time forming letters, trying to spell phonetically and using their imagination. Instead of the children just bringing in their favourite toy, can they write a story about it? 

In Forest School today the Autumn and Winter group learnt how to safely light and extinguish a fire. Every child had a go at making a spark using a fire steel. We spoke about what we need to make a fire, safety around a fire and what happens to wood when it burns. The children ate some delicious popcorn and then had the important job of putting out the fire.

Harvest celebrations 7th October

Thank you to everyone who took part in The Prince of Wales Harvest celebrations yesterday. The children did a great job in presenting their songs, poems and art work to parents. Also the children have been busily cooking this week using our produce from the orchard, the goodies were sold in the café during the afternoon and they all went down a storm!

The harvest art work will be up next week so do please pop by the school hall to look at your child’s work if you were unable to come along.

The local food bank received two boxes of food from the school and it is looking like a good amount of money has been raised for the Kingfisher ward, who has asked the school to purchase some electrical equipment for children’s bedrooms.

We will keep you updated.

Y1 5.10.16- Harvest celebration week

Yesterday the school was visited by Imo and Kiran who explained about what Harvest is like in India. Year 1 worked with Imo outside to make beautiful Rangoli patterns on the playground using chalks and seeds. After this we went inside to help Kiran with the whole school piece of art work. It was year one's job to add colour to the artwork by block printing. There were some lovely stamps that they could use and the children really seemed to enjoy this!  On Wednesday afternoon we will have Mr Farrington in the class to show us some of the farms in India. The children will learn about the animals that Mr Farrington has seen on his travels.

As well as learning about what Harvest is like in India the children have been thinking about what happens in our own country. They have been writing about some of the things that happen such as the combines in the fields and apples dropping from the trees. To contribute to the harvest cafe on Friday Year 1 have been busily making apple cup cakes using the apples from the school grounds.

On Friday you are invited in to watch the children sing their harvest song at 9.15am. In the afternoon we will be taking the children to the cafe at 1.30pm to buy one of the delicious items that have been made (30p donation for this would be appreciated). Then from 2.30pm you are welcome to come and take your child to the harvest cafe where you can also taste some of the treats that the other classes have made. If you do this please make sure that you sign your child out with a member of the Year 1 team.