An owl adventure
Today, Year 3 and 4 met both birds of prey and exotic creatures. This morning, all the children came face to face with three different owls and a Harris hawk. The children were very excited to take this opportunity to hold the smallest of the three owls – the burrowing owl.
All the children were extremely mature and handled the owls with great care and respect.
We were amazed to see the size of the brilliant eagle owl. The children gasped as it flew around the hall.
We all loved the barn owl! The children commented how much heavier it was compared to the small burrowing owl. Watch it fly…
The children loved seeing the Harris hawk. It was brilliant watching the Harris hawk catch its food in mid flight, as Ryan threw it up in the air. 
This afternoon, we met the exotic creatures. Meeting and holding the python was the most exciting part of the day for most. All the children were extremely brave and asked insightful questions to learn more about their favourite animal of the day.
We also met and held a leopard gecko, some cockroaches, and a giant frog.
Chris the coach
We love having basketball coaching with Chris every Wednesday. Today, we learned how to pass the ball around the opposition. It was trickier than we thought!
Living and Learning – I receive compliments in a sensible way.
We have continued to think about compliments. Our Living and Learning statement this week is I receive compliments in a sensible way. We have talked about how it is important to compliment how other people behave and their qualities, rather than what they look like. The children enjoyed saying positive things about each other.
Reading journals
Year 5/6 have been excited about using their reading journals at home. Here is a good example from Millie. She’s written a summary of a book she read at home.
Remember to record your thoughts about characters in them.
Rainbow Factory Volunteers
To support us on our trip to the Rainbow factory on Wednesday 18 April, we’d like five parent volunteers. If you’re able to come along and help us on the trip, then please let a member of the F2 team know.
Thanks.
Well done, Ruby!
Ruby had a very successful weekend at the Jorvik Swimming Gala, representing East Leeds. Ruby works incredibly hard, she trains multiple times a week and her hard work is paying off. This weekend she won five medals: one silver, two bronze and two fourth place.
Well done, Ruby. We’re very proud of you!
Topic book review
Thank you to the parents who were able to join the year 5/6 topic review session on Monday. The children were able to talk at length about their work, the work of their classmates and the learning that has taken place during this topic.
We agreed on some highlights:
- the Askham Bryan trip
- researching and classifying animals
- reading and following instructions to create a heart
This week, we shall be learning about adaptation and evolution as this ‘big topic’ comes to a close.
Homework – number stories
All year 1 and 2 classes had some fantastic homework to share this week. Number stories are all around us. Help your child at home by talking to them about numbers and calculations, looking for them in everyday life.
World Book Day
Although the snow tried to ruin World Book Day this year, children still found the time to share their books with each other.
Home Link – Shapes
As part of the Maths EYFS curriculum, children need to be able to talk about the shapes of everyday objects. They’re encouraged to play with shapes and to spot familiar shapes in their environment. As they become more confident, they may begin to name 2D and 3D shapes and be able to talk about their properties (e.g. number of sides/corners, straight/curved).
This week, we’d like you to talk all about shapes. Here are some ideas of activities that you might like to do together.
- Go on a Shape hunt inside or outside (e.g. clock – circle). Take photos of the different shapes that you find.
- Make a shape picture. What would be a good shape for a… door, wheel or a fish’s tail?
- Find a selection of objects in the house that you could dip in paint to print with. What shape print does it make?
- Push different shaped objects into playdough – what shape print does it leave? Are there straight lines or curved lines? Are there some lines that are long/short?
- Collect some objects you can find in your house that are 3D shapes, e.g. cereal packet, crisp tubes, boxes of tea, oranges and DVDs. Sort them out into groups of the same shapes. How many objects do you have with corners? How many round objects do you have? How many have curved edges or sides?
- Take part in a shape scavenger hunt. See if you can find: 5 round objects, 4 tall objects, 3 objects with straight sides and 2 objects with more than 4 sides. Take a picture of what you find.
You can watch Mr Maker’s shape video and a song all about shapes.
You may have lots of other ideas too! Please make notes of the vocabulary that your child uses to talk about and describe the shapes that you find and let us know. It’s really useful information that helps us to plan next steps for your child’s learning.