2KL Join in
Thank you to all the parents and carers who came to 2KL’s join-in this afternoon. The class were learning about making sensible predictions in science, linked to the 5 senses.
The lavender was a really strong smell.
The dried fruit (dates) looked like a slug!
I guessed what all the instruments were.
Marvellous maths!
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been working on our knowledge of place value, rounding and exchanging up to 1000.
Ask your child to explain to you how to add or subtract 10, 100 or 1000. Request a tricky one which involves exchanging. We’ve been rehearsing our explanations.
Living and Learning – I can take a safe risk
For our Living and Learning sessions this week, we’ve discussed the importance of stepping out of our comfort zone and putting our hands up to answer questions – even if we might be wrong.
Our classrooms are a safe place to make mistakes so that we can learn from where we might be going wrong. Our brains work harder and grow stronger when we try to find the correct answer and learn from the mistakes we make.
This is just one example of taking a safe risk at school.
Outside of school, other safe risks might be crossing a road, stroking an animal or learning a new skill. It’s all about the pros and cons and accepting the outcomes.
Daily mile!
Each day, between lessons, we take a brain break to do our daily mile. The children really look forward to stretching their legs! The change in activity really supports the children’s ability to concentrate in the following lesson. We love it! Fingers crossed for more dry weather!
Maps and Maths
Map Skills
Not only are we learning to recognise OS map symbols, but children practised an extra maths skill by measuring the distance between two places on a map.
We studied a map of our local area and identified places of interest: our school, the nearest petrol station, picnic areas and parks. The children found particular place names quite amusing, such as Bog Lane and Flying Horse Farm!
To support our learning of our local area, we used a fantastic website called Digimaps for School.
Gold Star and postcard competition winners
Well done to our most recent golden star and our two winners in the postcard competition!
We love reading!
Today, Y5 and 6 enjoyed our weekly love of reading session. Some of us brought a book in from home and loved immersing ourselves in it. Others read a book from school or the First News newspaper. Whatever we were reading, we made sure to discuss it with the people around us and some of us even recommended a book to a friend.
In our reading groups, we had a ‘book club’ with our teachers where we discussed the book we’re all currently reading. We were given a target page that we need to read to before Friday next week – has your child told you what their page is?
Reading is really important to children’s development as a learner – some research even suggests that improvements in reading leads to improvements in other areas of the curriculum such as maths.
You can help at home by encouraging your child to read more often. If you’re struggling to think of books that would be good to read, check out this list of 100 books to read in Year 5 and 6. Also, try talking about reading to foster a love of reading. Here is a few ideas that might get the conversation started…
- Are you enjoying the book you’re reading at the moment? Why?
- Would you recommend your current book to someone else?
- Why did you choose to read what you are reading at the moment?
- What’s the best/worst./funniest/saddest book you’ve ever read?
- Summarise what you’ve read in 20, 10, 5 or 1 word.
- Would you like to be friends with the main character in your book?
- Stop, start, stay – What types of things will you stoop reading, start reading and stay reading?
- Where’s the craziest place you’d like to read a book?
Finally, our library session takes place every Wednesday. Please ensure your child has their library book in school on this day.
Living and Learning – Taking safe risks and responsibility for learning
Our Living and Learning this week has revolved around taking safe risks and taking responsibility for our own learning.
We went on a walk around Scholes which involved some element of risk: crossing roads and walking down muddy tracks. Instead of just telling children to ‘be careful’, encourage them to think about risks and consequences and ‘risk assess’ for themselves.
We’ve also talked about how we are responsible for our own learning, including being organised in class and using learning time effectively.
Junk modelling request
The children love to make models out of recyclable materials. It’s a great opportunity for them to be creative and use their imagination.
Please can you collect and bring in any recyclable materials for our junk modelling area.
Walk around Scholes – our first trip out
We thoroughly enjoyed our first trip of the year today. Ninety children, thirty adults and three class mascots (Cupcake, Spike and Nutkin) invaded Scholes and walked over three miles around the village. We looked for good places to hide our rocks that we had painted in school as part of the ‘Barwick and Scholes Rocks’ game. As well as exploring our local environment, we had some lovely conversations with the grown ups who volunteered their time to accompany us. Thank you!
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The best part was stopping for our snack.
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I liked walking down into the woods.
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My legs were really tired!
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We found loads of conkers.
