Christmas in KS1
The children have been enjoying a lovely festive week in school this week. They performed their little socks off and displayed their singing and dancing talents at both of the Nativity shows. WELL DONE YEAR 1 AND 2!!!
Today, in all classes, we received a mysterious phone call to tell us that we had been sent a very special email. The big man himself, Santa Claus, had sent us an email with a video to watch. It turns out he had been to our school when we were at home last night and he had delivered some gifts to our classrooms for us. We were SO excited and searched for the presents in class. There was one for everyone. We’re even more excited now for the Christmas dinner tomorrow and for the party on Friday.
Merry Christmas everyone from all the KS1 staff.
Help at home: by taking some time to relax and recuperate after a long term and by enjoying some wonderful family time together.
The Jolly Christmas Postman
Literacy
This week we enjoyed the story, The Jolly Christmas Postman.
The children loved seeing the different letters, gifts and cards inside each envelope.
Inspired by the book, we wrote our own postcards with special messages. We learned about the journey of a letter from the post box to our front door and can’t wait for our own letters to be delivered!
Maths
We have looked at 2D and 3D shapes. We made shapes with lolly sticks, found shapes in our classroom, and discussed their properties.
In provision, we used shapes to create pictures. The children were able to talk about the different shapes they had used.
Music
Feeling the Christmas spirit, we listen to Michael Bublé – White Christmas.
We moved in time to the music, listened carefully to the lyrics, and the different sounds and instruments.
I can hear a trumpet. Rupert
I heard high voices. Charlotte
I heard some Christmas song. Heidi
I hear people singing. Asha
I can hear a drum and a tambourine. Sofia
It was really interesting. Finlay
Check out our other learning…
2C – making predictions
This half term, KS1 are reading ‘Not Now, Bernard’ by David McKee. Before reading the book, we had a good look at the front cover and made a few inferences based on the pictures. We had a discussion about what the book might be about before reading it. We used clues on the front cover to help us with this.
We then read the first part of the book. We stopped to predict what might happen next in the story and why. Here are some of our predictions.
How to Catch a Star
Literacy
This week our focus story was How to Catch a Star.
In the writing area, the challenge was to think, draw and write ways we might catch a star.
We had lots of amazing ideas.
I would go in a helicopter.
I would jump on a kangaroo.
I’d go on a rollercoaster.
Maths
This week, we have built on our understanding of the composition of numbers by investigating the composition of 3, 4 and 5.
We composed and de-composed numbers by investigating the part, part, whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2.
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 Mice.
Click here to watch Reception recite this week’s poem
Art
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been inspired by Monet’s series of paintings, Houses of Parliament.
We created our own art work by using blocks to print shapes and make a building silhouette.
Then, we explored using water colours to create the sky. We thought carefully about how different colours can change the feeling of a painting and represent the sky during different weathers or times of the day.
Mine is bright ’cause it’s sunny.
I’m going to make mine look foggy.
I’m using dark blue for a stormy sky.
Help at Home
Spot some signs of winter.
You may choose to take photos, draw pictures or talk about what to find.
Dates
Learning Journey Drop In’s
Tuesday 12 December and Thursday 14 December
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’s learning journal with them.
Times – 8.45 am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm
Children In Need-Thankyou!
The whole of KS1 have really enjoyed our non-uniform day. We were certainly cheerful in a sea of yellow ears and spots. Thankyou for all of your donations. We know that they will be put to good use.
Each Peach Pear Plum
Nursery Rhyme Week
In literacy, we read the story Each Peach Pear Plum.
It was a very engaging book and the children loved spotting the different characters on each page.
Check out our super writing!
We also explored household objects from the past. Asking questions to learn about objects we had never seen before. We were then able to compare these to objects we might have at home.
Home Link
What objects from the past can you spot in the picture?
Compare these objects with the ones in your home.
Odd Socks
On Monday, we all wore our odd socks. This was to celebrate our differences and share the message that we are all different in some way.
Stay and Learn
On Wednesday, we had a wonderful morning exploring maths with our adults.
Thank you to all the adults that were able to join us and join in with lots of maths activities.
It was great to receive your valuable feedback.
Very helpful to know how to help at home.
Wonderful to come to school and get involved in the learning with my child.
Great learning how we can help with their maths.
It was very informative and helpful.
Music
This week in music, the children listened and danced to Boogie Wonderland.
After, they were asked…
How did you feel?
Happy!
It feels like a disco.
I was proud.
I felt like I was in the song.
Excited!
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 A Basket of Apples.
Other learning
This week we have explored lots of nursery rhyme themed activities in our classroom.
Dates for your diary
Swimming
Leaf Man
This week, we have explored all things autumn!
Science
We began by taking an autumn walk around the school field to spot changes in the natural environment.
We collected items to add to our autumn tray in the classroom. We looked closely at the objects and created some observational drawings.
Literacy
We read the book Leaf Man and thoroughly enjoyed looking at the different pictures made using leaves.
Art
Inspired by the book, we made our own leaf pictures. We used a variety of different objects, such as leaves, conkers and sticks.
Maths
Our focus in maths this week has been comparing quantities. We have developed our skills to look carefully and use the language ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’ to describe sets of objects.
We varied the objects ensuring they had different attributes such as, colour or size to draw attention to the number.
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 Five Little Pumpkins.
Watch us recite the poem here.
Dates for your diary
We have changed the timing of some our stay and learn session to incorporate an opportunity for you to meet with your child’s teacher and other parents at a coffee morning.
Stay and learn sessions
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child learning in school.
Maths – 15.11.23 – 09.00 – 10.00
Phonics Phase 3 – 16.01.24 – 09.00 – 10.00 (with coffee morning)
Fine Motor Control and Writing –06.02.24 – 09.00 – 10.00 (with coffee morning)
World Book Day- 07.03.24 – 8.50- 9.20
Learning Journey Drop In’s
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’s learning journal with them.
Times – 8.45 am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm (Tuesday and Thursday)
Week beginning 11.12.23
Week beginning 25.03.24
Week beginning 08.07.24
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Literacy
This week, our focus book was We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
The children were able to use their knowledge of the story to retell it using pictures and props.
Geography
On Tuesday, we went for a walk in our local area. This involved following a map and looking at different symbols to find landmarks.
Philosophy Friday
Did you know, each Friday morning we take part in Philosophy Friday? In Reception, we use this time to focus on asking questions that encourage the children to think beyond the ‘here and now’. We are starting with some ‘Would you rather…’ questions. This week’s question was would you rather live with chickens in a coop or a dog in a kennel?
Kennel because I love dogs.
With a chicken because I like to eat eggs.
A dog because they are fluffy and cute.
Maths
This week, we have explored how numbers can be composed of 1s.
We have will learnt that a ‘whole’ is made up of smaller parts and is, therefore, bigger than its parts.
Phonics
Autumn 1 week 4 has focused on the new phonemes:
ck,e,u,r.
Ck is our first diagraph ( two letters that make one sound).
We’ve also learnt a new tricky word; I.
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 Falling Apples.
Watch Sunshine Class recite the poem here.
Other learning
Stay and Learn
Our first stay and learn session will be on Thursday 12 October.
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about phonics and watch your child learning in school. There will also be a coffee morning after the session.
3,4 B Class News
A wonderful week of learning in 3,4B this week!
In Science we have been looking at animal skeletons and classifying them based on a range of different criteria. The children worked in pairs to do this and worked fantastically in a collaborative way – having great discussions and offering each other help and support when needed.
In Geography this week, as part of our topic- ‘Where in the world am I?’ we have looked at compass points and then applied this knowledge by looking at a map of Roundhay and deciding where locations are in relation to each other.
Help at home by regularly listening to your child read and discussing the content to develop understanding. Feel free to quiz us on the counties in the United Kingdom and the points of a compass too!
The Great Big Book of Families
We’ve been reading The Great Big Book of Families. Through the book, we have explored and celebrated the variety of families.
What is a family?
People who live in the same house.
People don’t have to live in the same house.
They love each other.
Grandma and Grandad because they can live in your house.
In our writing, we created our own family pictures and labelled with initial sounds or words.
Maths
This week, we’ve been using our subitising skills.
When subitising, we can say how many there are in a small group by ‘just looking’ and knowing without needing to count.
We used counters to create our own arrangements of 2 and 3.
Phonics
This week, we have learnt the phonemes (the sounds a letter makes) i,n,m,d.
During our phonics learning, we became detectives by searching for objects with the initial sounds s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d.
Each week we will be sending a ‘learn at home’ sheet, which recaps the phonics learning from the week. Please look at this with your child and complete the activities.
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 Chop Chop.
Within the first 6 weeks of Reception, your child will participate in the reception baseline assessment.
“The RBA is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your child’s early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school, using materials that most children of your child’s age will be familiar with. It became statutory for all schools from September 2021.”
Click here to find out more.
Help at Home
Sound Detectives – Find objects around your house or outside that have an initial sound we have learnt.
s a t p i n m d
Family photos
Over the next few weeks, we will be thinking about our homes. To help support our discussions and art project, please send in one picture of your front door. You can also email photos to the email address below.
