Circle Time
This week in Circle Time, we talked about changes, especially the upcoming move to a new year group. We shared some of the things we’re excited about, like new classrooms, teachers, and learning topics, as well as a few things we’re feeling a bit worried about.
We also talked about how important it is to share our feelings. We reminded ourselves of the different people and tools we can turn to for help, including trusted adults, our classmates, our class worry box, and of course our class Worry Monster, Winnie! It was a great chance to support each other and remember that it’s okay to feel a mix of emotions during times of change.
Help at home: Talk to your child about what they’re looking forward to and any worries they may have.
Sun safety
As the weather gets warmer this week, here are a few reminders from our previous communications.
Sun safe reminders
- Bring a named sunhat every day.
- Ensure your child has a full water bottle (named) at nursery every day.
- Parents and carers must apply cream before nursery.
- Please put your child’s name on their sun cream.
- Put sun cream in your child’s group basket if you want it applying at lunchtime. Please don’t leave it in their bag.
- Collect your child’s sun cream at the end of the day.
- Help us out by using ‘All day’ cream and applying at home
Thankyou for your continued support.
1A – Topic – cylinder silliness
During the last lesson of Topic, we learnt that the cylinder was the strongest 3D shape because it doesn’t have any corners. We laid books on top of a paper cylinder and counted 12 books before it collapsed. We had such a fun filled afternoon this afternoon experimenting further with the strength of the cylinder shape.
Everyone made their own cylinders using paper and masking tape. The children displayed such awesome team work and everybody was so willing to help one another. It was lovely!
Once all our cylinders were made, we taped all of our groups cylinders together to find out whether adding more cylinders weakens the structure or strengthens it. We laid books on top of our super-structures and counted to see whether they could hold more or fewer books than one single cylinder. We found that amazingly, our super-structures weren’t just a little bit stronger… they were MUCH stronger!
After that, we went one step further still – we used the super-structures we had made and created a super-duper structure by taping all of them together. It was buzzing in the classroom! Everyone was so excited that we were going to try and see if the super-duper structure would hold the weight of a person! We had a brave volunteer who stepped up. We could hardly believe it – the super-duper structure worked!!!
Help at home: Why don’t you try the experiment at home? You could tape paper cylinders together to find out how many you need to hold the weight of different members of the family.
Design & Technology: Go-karts!
In DT this half term, we’re designing and making our own go-kart prototypes using a resource called TechCard.
To get familiar with the resource, we enjoyed using some spare pieces to practise skills like folding and scoring.
Help at home: see if your child can tell you the definitions for: designing, prototypes, folding and scoring.
A lovely day for a game of cricket!
The sun was shining down on our PE lesson today as we got to work improving our cricket skills. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working on our batting skills – accurately holding the bat and hitting with accuracy. Today, we were improving our bowling skills using the hit and point technique. The children worked in small groups and created a game with a scoring system depending on whether they managed to hit the wicket or some cones when bowling. The children then developed this further to include batting. All the children ended the session with a game of Kwik cricket.
Help at home: Can your child explain some of the bowling and batting techniques they’ve been working on over this half term?
Transport
We continued our interest in transport this week using the ramps inside. The children used ramps and tubes to see how far their cars could go. We used a number track to check which car went the furthest, first to 5 and then to 10.
We learnt how to fold paper to create our own paper aeroplanes. It was quite difficult but we kept trying and were really pleased that we did. Outside we tested out our planes from various places. We wondered if they would go further if we set them off from the top of the slide?
Outside this week we practised our throwing, we aimed for some number on a target with the bean bags. We recorded our scores with tally marks on paper.
We used team work skills and our fiddly fingers to create some bridges, balancing the lolly sticks on the paper cups. We then tried to balance small figures on top. It was really tricky but we got better at it each time we tried.
Help at home
This weeks maths focus has been talking about our daily activities and using words to describe when things happen such day, night, morning or afternoon. We looked at our daily routines and tried to sequence the events. Try to use some of this language at home, too. What happens in your house in the morning? What do you do as part of your bedtime routine? What comes first, next, last? What day is it today? Do you go to Nursery tomorrow?
Reminders
- Our Nursery registration closes at 9.10am. Please ensure that you arrive to Nursery between 9-9.10am to allow us to begin our learning activities on time. Thank you.
- Please send your child with a rain coat to Nursery everyday; the weather is very changeable at the moment.
- We have lots of water bottles that don’t have children’s names on – remember to check that your child’s hasn’t worn off. You may also want to check cardigans and jumpers, too.
- Please ensure that your child’s sun cream is in their group basket if you would like it applying at lunchtime.
Living and learning : relationships
We have be learning about healthy relationships and boundaries in our Living and Learning sessions over the last few weeks.
We read a story called ‘More than one friend’. It made us think about leaving people out, having more than one best friend and being ourselves in friendships.
Friendships should make us feel happy and safe. If children have worries about friends, we encourage them to Start Telling Other People. Talking to an adult they trust – at home, outside the family, or at school.
Seaside Poems
This week, we’ve explored differences and similarities between cities and the seaside.
Literacy
We’ve been reading Seaside Poems– collected by Jill Bennett. We used the poems to explore features of coastal environments- the seaside.
Later in the week, we were introduced to our word of the week: city.
We sorted pictures of cities and the seaside.
We revisited the name of the city we live in and some features that Leeds has, that makes it a city.
In our writing, we also compared the environments of the city and seaside. We wrote about what we would see in each.
Maths
We have deepened our understanding of numbers up to ten by engaging in various activities:
- Combining two parts to form a whole number
- Dividing numbers into two equal groups
- Exploring doubles and non-doubles to understand odd and even numbers
Phonics
This week, we’ve continued to focus on phase 4 words with long vowel sounds.
In provision, we’ve been reading words on boats and matching them to the correct picture.
Art; Watercolour landscapes
We’ve been painting coastal landscapes, using famous existing paintings as our inspiration!
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Thunderstorm.
Science
We tested whether foil boats float by constructing them and setting them gently on water. Then we loaded them with counters or toy cars to see how much weight they could support before sinking.
Check out our other learning…
Reminders and Dates
Monday 16 June, 6.00-6.30pm- Zoom: Reception to Year 1 information meeting. This remote meeting is an opportunity for you to meet the Year 1 teachers and to find out a little more about Key Stage 1.
Wednesday 18 June- Class photos.
Wednesday 2 July, 10.00-11.30am- Meet your new teacher. Your child will visit their new teacher this morning.
Thursday 3 July- Class trip to Nell Bank.
Friday 4 July, 3.15-4.15pm- Rec/KS1 FOSP summer disco.
Tues 8/ Thurs 10 July, 8.35am or 3.15pm- Learning journey drop-in.
Friday 11 July, 9.15-10.30am- Sports Day.
Swimming
Rainbow- 25 June, 9 July
Sunshine- 18 June, 2 July
Year 3,4 Class News
Today, we have had a drop-down morning where we spent time learning all about Buddhism. The children learned where and when Buddhism began and the core beliefs of Buddhism. We spent time learning about the festival of Wesak and how Buddhists celebrate.
Help at home by asking your child to recall some of the knowledge they have learned.
Design and Technology – stable structures
This half term, KS1 are taking part in some Design and Technology.
First, we looked at the design process.
PLAN – MAKE – EVALUATE
This week, we have been looking at what makes a stable structure.
A stable structure is strong, has as flat base and is free-standing.
We moulded playdough into different 3D shapes and made predictions about which would be the most stable and why.
In our classes, we placed each structure on a flat surface (a whiteboard) and tipped it. We measured how high we could lift the board until the structure started to roll off.
In 1A and 1/2B, the pyramid was the most stable. In 2C, the cuboid won!
After this, we made some structures using paper and masking tape. We balanced books on each structure to see which was the strongest and most stable.
The cylinder was the strongest because it does not have any corners or weak points. This meant the weight of the books was distributed more equally.