Identity Day
Nursery is not taking part in ‘Identity Day’ on Friday (21.01.22) with school. Children need to wear their usual Nursery clothes or uniform. Thank you
5/6B Dance
The children have been learning about dance this half term. They have been learning a very tricky routine that involves different moves to the beat of a song. The song was very fast and it was hard to keep up, however they have blown me away with how fabulous they are. They were then given ‘creative lead’ and began to put together their own routing, bringing together moves they had learnt and their own ideas. Some children were brave enough to allow me to post their dance on here! Well done everyone.
Odd and even numbers
Understanding odd and even numbers is maths knowledge that underpins many others – place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Knowing what makes an odd or even numbers and being able to identify them is very important and takes time to learn. We often chant the odd or even numbers or sing songs to help us learn them. We have also sorted numbers and representations of numbers into odd or even.
Help at home by talking about odd and even. Is your family an odd or even number? What about your house number or the number of steps to go upstairs? Count cutlery in 2s – odd or even?
Winter and welcome!
It was lovely to meet all of our new children and their families on Monday for their ‘stay and play’ session. We’ve enjoyed getting to know everyone this week and children have enjoyed exploring Nursery and playing with some familiar faces as well as beginning to make some new friends.
This week, we have learnt all about the number one. During group time, we passed around a mystery bag that was full of different items that were all linked to the number ‘one’. We looked at the numeral, a ‘one’ piece of Numicon, one counter on a five frame, one pebble, a hand holding up one finger, a unicycle, a dice, a circle, one brick and a few other ‘one’ related items. Can you think of any more? We talked all about the number ‘one’ and also did lots of actions once. We did one clap, one jump and one hop! See if you can spot the number one when you walk to Nursery, maybe on a house door or a number plate. We loved singing ‘One finger, one thumb‘ although it was quite tricky to remember all of the movements towards the end!
We’ve continued to learn about winter this week, talking about the changes in the weather that we noticed when playing outside. Unlike last week, we couldn’t find any ice in the morning and it was very sunny one afternoon – is it still winter? We talked about things that we might see outside in winter time and the clothing that we need to wear. At story time, we looked at a non-fiction book to find out some more information about winter.
In provision, children have enjoyed exploring winter further with some wintery themed enhancements including a ‘Frozen’ small world area and a wintery themed loose parts area.
Say Hello to the Snowy Animals!
We’ve continued our learning on the polar regions this week, by looking at animals you might find in The Arctic. We were introduced to some of these animals through our focus story, Say Hello to the Snowy Animals by Ian Whybrow and Ed Eaves.
We looked at where we would find the Arctic on a map and globe and saw that it was the opposite side of the globe to the Antarctic. We looked at Antarctica and the South Pole last week, as it featured in our story Lost and Found.
Animal observations…
We’ve been observing penguins and polar bears on zoo webcams and pre-recorded videos. We discussed how the zoo environment is different to their environment in the wild. We observed what they look like, how they move and what they like to do in their enclosures.
Swimming…
Sunshine class loved their first swimming session on Wednesday. Rainbow are really looking forward to their lesson next week! Don’t forget, PE days have changed to Wednesdays and Fridays. Children need to wear PE kits on both days and remember to bring your swimming kit on your days:
Sunshine – 12 Jan, 26 Jan, 9 Feb
Rainbow – 19 Jan, 2 Feb, 16 Feb
Dancing…
In PE on Wednesday, Rainbow class watched a short piece of ballet- Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker. Afterwards, they were asked to name features of the dance/scene/music. We spoke about the movements and what story we thought the dancers were telling:
“I saw running on their tiptoes”- Ella F
“I saw twirling”- Sofia
“They were jumping back”- Poppy D
“They grow bigger and bigger”- Max
“Bells jingling”- Jack
“They had flowers I think”- Vinnie
“I think they are dancing about snowing ‘cause there’s snow falling”- Charlie
“It like Lost and Found- the penguin is lonely!”- Lewi
In the hall, we practiced movements we had seen. We walked around on our tip-toes (great for our balance and core strength) and made sure that when we moved our arms up and down, they were “floaty” and “graceful”, just like the ballerinas! We moved quicker, to tell the story of the snow falling heavier and twirled to show the snowflakes drifting down from the sky. We combined a few of the moves to create a short dance together.
Can your child show you some of the graceful movements from our snowflake dance?
And more…
Take a look at some more fantastic learning from this week:
eBooks…
Thank you to those that managed to get online this week and read your child’s eBook with them. A new book is issued each Friday. This will be a book your child is familiar with, from their reading in class.
There is a ‘collinsebooks’ app that is available to download on Apple and Android devices.
Please let us know if you are having trouble accessing your book at home.
Home-link challenge…
This week, we have completed our phase 2 sounds in phonics. As well as your eBook, we have sent home a number of additional word book sheets. Please practice these at home as usual. If your child is struggling to concentrate on reading at home, try turning it into a game! Here are some ideas:
- Hide and seek- Take 5 or 6 word book words, write them on a piece of paper and hide them around the room for your child to find. They need to read the word as they find it!
- Tricky word detective- How many times can you find a tricky word on the page/in the book?
- Hear it, find it- ‘Sound out’ the sounds of a word you are looking for first, then ask your child to point to it on the page. Your child may then feel more confident to repeat the word back to you, first segmenting the sounds and then blending independently.
Little Wandle has some great resources for parents, including videos and information sheets. Click here to find out more about supporting reading at home.
Diary Dates…
Friday 28 January- School Nursing Team, Reception classes.
Let’s get swimming!
We have finally had children from Reception and Key Stage 1 swimming in our own pool! Two teaching assistants are now trained swimming instructors and each class has had their first lesson this week. There were some nervous children but also lots of excitement.
I loved going with my class.
I have never been swimming but I liked it.
I can already swim but liked going and being active with my friends.
Barwick Maypole celebration – dancers wanted
The Barwick Maypole Committee (barwickmaypolecommittee@hotmail.com) are looking for primary school aged children to dance at the maypole celebration this year. Please contact the committee on the email address above and they will let you know about rehearsals and how to join in the fun!
Give rugby a try?
Living and learning : rights and responsibilities
This week’s living and learning lessons we have been talking about rights and the responsibilities that come with them.
Encouraging children to be responsible and increase their independence is a important (our swimming lessons will help us with this).
We matched some rights with the responsibilities that go with them.
Phonics and early reading – eBooks
We hope you all received your usernames and passwords for Collins eBooks (some year 2s do not need them).
These match the phonics books we are reading in school three times a week. We use our phonics skills while reading books.
There is more information on the Little Wandle website about these reading practice sessions.
Reading an eBook at home is a change for children but most people are embracing it and continuing to enjoy the physical ‘sharing book’ which is to be read together and enjoyed.
If you have any problems accessing them, please contact your child’s class teacher.