Sunshine and smiles…
We’ve been feeling as sunny, bright and full of energy as the weather this week!
Following on from last week’s learning about our past; ‘When I was a baby’, this week we have looked at the present and the skills we have now that we are four or five.
Can you guess what we will be thinking about next week?
We are so lucky to have amazing outdoor spaces here at Scholes. The fabulous weather has enabled the children to enjoy more much-loved time in nature. We have been finding and looking closely at minibeasts and our plants in Foundation’s garden have been growing rapidly. We have taken learning outside as much as possible and kept safe by choosing shaded areas.
Here are some snapshots of our learning this week, in Reception:
Home Link Challenges
- This weekend is The Big Wild Weekend. The Wildlife Trust’s #30dayswild campaign is running across the month of June and encourages people to explore nature. We have sent home a nature sheet to continue wild explorations with your family, at home.
- You may have guessed at the top of the post, that next week we will looking at the future. We will be taking a fun look at the jobs people do and what the children might like to be when they grow up! Interest in jobs, occupations and the lives of others is an important part of ‘Understanding the World’. In preparation for the week, we are asking parents/carers to talk to your child about your own job. Discuss what you do at work or at home.
Finally, you may have noticed your child has taken home a special top-secret creation! 🤫 To all of the daddies, grandads, uncles and others you are choosing to celebrate this Sunday, Reception would like to wish you a very happy Father’s Day.
5/6 S Certificate Celebration
This weeks certificate winners are…
For great learning…
Maisie – your attitude to your learning had been great this week and you’ve also worked well in a group. Well done!
For sport and physical activity…
Jude – you always demonstrate enthusiasm and great teamwork in whatever sport we are doing in PE. Well done.
For living and learning…
Charlie H – you contributed well in discussions about body image and gave sensible answers – you challenged your own self-confidence.
Well done everyone!
Sinking Ships!
We’ve continued to investigate the idea of density this week in Science. The children were asked to design a boat that would hold the most weight without sinking. They were only given plasticine and tin foil. They got their creative hats on and built some great boat designs. They had to think about the weight of their boat – they knew their boat had to be less dense than water density. Some groups increased the surface area of their boats too as they realised this helped with buoyancy. First we tested which boats floated – some boats were eliminated straight away as they promptly sank. I won’t be booking a cruise on any of those boats!
The successful boats went onto the next round where we added cubes to test how much weight they held before sinking. The majority of boats held between 3 and 9 cubes. The winner held 110 before sinking! This was amazing. I think there is a career in boat building on the cards for the winning group!
Living and learning: I know what consent is
As part of our living and learning this week, we have been discussing body image and body confidence. We began by looking at the definition of body image – our idea of how our body looks and how we think it looks to others. This can include feelings and thoughts. Body confidence is about how we feel about the way we look. Our society tells us that there is an ideal way to look. This is called an ‘appearance ideal.’ With that in mind, we need to remember that these ideals are:
- impossible to achieve
- always changing
- unrealistic
We talked about how the media leads to detrimental ways in which we look at our bodies – we make comparisons We need to remember that the majority of images we see through the media have been ‘touched up’ and edited in some way.
The children had to think about how they personally feel about body image and what their confidence levels are like. The task in the lesson was each person had to think about positive things about themselves and which body parts they liked and why?
Where can you go for help?
Talk to your teacher or another trusted adult, in or out of school.
Put your worry in the class worry box.
Talk to your friends.
Contact ChildLine – 0800 1111
Books, Glorious Books
We are very lucky at our school to have a library full of wonderful books to borrow and enjoy. Over the past few weeks, we have been re-stocking our library with some lovely new books. We now have 300 new books on the shelves in the library. Every child has a library session each week where they can select any book they want to borrow and enjoy at home. Happy reading!
Structures
The children have enjoyed looking at different structures. We discussed what a structure is and looked at some famous structures.
We discussed that structures are a combination of materials and/or parts to create a 3D shape.
The children in 1KN have enjoyed exploring making structures using different materials.
This week, ask your child what a structure is. You could also discuss some of our topic key vocabulary: freestanding, base and stable
Design & Technology
In our topic lessons this half-term, we’ll be learning all about design and technology. We’ll follow the process that people working in DT complete in the real world: we’ll research and design our product, we’ll make our product and, finally, we’ll evaluate it.
We’ll making a small prototype of a go-kart using tech card – so we’ll get plenty of opportunities to be creative and practical.
Help at home by asking your child what they’ve been learning about school. Encourage them to use the vocabulary they’ve learnt, too (shown in the below table).
Super Scientists!
This half-term, in our science lessons, we’re studying biology. We’ll be learning all about animals (including humans) with a specific focus on teeth and eating.
Help at home by regularly asking your child what they’ve learnt in their science lessons recently. When discussing their learning, encourage your child to use the correct scientific vocabulary. The below table shows you what words we’ll be using alongside the definition we’ll be using in class.
| canine | A pointy tooth used for gripping food. |
| incisor | A flat, sharp-edged tooth in the front of the mouth that’s used for cutting and tearing food. |
| molar | A tooth used for grinding food at the back of the mouth. |
| enamel | The hard covering of the tooth. |
| digestion | The process of breaking down food. |
| energy | Used to help us move, grow and repair our body. |
| stomach | A bag of muscle used in the first part of digestion. |
| oesophagus | The scientific name for the food pipe. |
Living and Learning : Body image
We’ve been talking about all of the exciting things our bodies allow us to do. We enjoyed listening to this story.
I use my body to play football.
I play with my friends with my body.
My body lets me hug my family.
Skin can get cuts and it can make itself better.
Our bodies let us know what they need to stay well and feel good but they don’t use words to talk to us. They use feelings. They send us messages about what they need through the way we feel.
It feels like butterflies in my tummy when I am nervous.
I feel warm when I am happy.
It hurts when I feel sad.
5/6M Certificate Winners
For great learning…
Marley – What a fantastic first week back. You have been focussed and determined to succeed.
For sport and physical activity…
Olivia – you worked hard on improving your throwing and catching in our cricket games.
For living and learning…
Abigail – you are a fantastic role model. You always do the right thing.