Week Beginning 15th June

We have had a busy week looking at the germination process in Science and
currently have two investigations underway! One is looking at how seeds and bulbs
both change as they grow, and another is an experiment to see whether a seed will
still grow without some of the key things we have learnt they need such as air,
water and sunlight. In History, we began to look at the significant events that
shaped Florence Nightingale's life and placed them on a timeline. Garnet class also
enjoyed their final gymnastics session with coach Mark this morning and their
balance, flexibility and core strength have really developed across these sessions.
It was so lovely on Wednesday this week to celebrate Thank a Teacher Day and we
are all so thankful for any cards, messages or kind gestures that were shared with
the KS1 team. We feel very thankful to have such wonderful and appreciative
children in our phase.

Week Beginning 8th June

It has been a busy week in school with lots of great learning taking place! The children began an investigation in Science where they planted a bulb and a seed and compared the similarities and differences. We have planted our bean seeds with some wet kitchen roll in a transparent bag in the hope to observe that these conditions mean our seed will still germinate! We will observe our seeds on a weekly basis and record this in our 'Bean in a Bag' diary! We began our History unit by looking at and making inferences from sources about Florence Nightingale and the children had so many wonderful predictions and prior knowledge about what she did. We have also been feeling immensely proud of our Year 1 and Year 2 RWI children who completed their phonics screening checks this week and really showcased how hard both they and the KS1/EYFS teams have worked to support them in learning the invaluable skills of decoding and reading. Thank you to you at home too for all your support with ensuring that your child is reading on a daily basis.

Week Beginning 1st June

It has been lovely to welcome the children back into school for our final half term of the year! We got off to an exciting start with our KS1 Sports Day afternoon on Tuesday. Despite the thundery ending, the children demonstrated excellent sportsmanship, speed and agility throughout the session and we were so impressed with all of their determination. In Maths this week, both Year 1 and Year 2 have been looking at positional and directional language using keywords such as 'quarter turn', 'clockwise' and 'anti-clockwise'. Our new CLPE and phonics groups have started and our new books are 'Leaf' by Sandra Diekmann and 'Slug Life' by Moesha Kellaway.

Week Beginning 11th May

We have had sun, rain and even hail which was very useful for our Geography
investigation into temperate weather conditions and the unpredictability of our UK
weather! The children presented their data in multiple ways including bar charts,
pictograms and even using bean bags in columns to show the differences in
temperature each day. In CLPE, the children have started their emperor penguin
information texts and wrote a note of advice to Pattan in ‘Pattan’s Pumpkin’ about
what he should do next with the huge pumpkin he has grown. We have also enjoyed
celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week and have looked at 5 super ways
of promoting positive mental health habits.

Week Beginning 4th May

We celebrated David Attenborough’s 100th birthday today by watching a clip of his ‘Frozen Planet’ series and then had a go at narrating another polar clip ourselves! The children wrote wonderful descriptions about the emperor penguins in their Antarctic habitat and I really think we have some future presenters and broadcasters in the mix! In RE this week, we looked at why churches can be special places to Christians and in Geography we set up an investigation to prove that we live in a temperate climate. Year 2 continued looking at halves, thirds and quarters in Maths whilst Year 1 consolidated their knowledge of doubles and grouping.

Week Beginning 27th April

We have had a fun week reflecting back on our trip in our Science lessons and continuing our work on polar region and the animals which reside there. In Geography, we explored the word 'climate' and how it links to the weather in the extreme locations of the equator and polar areas. The children have also been completing laps around our school field as part of a 'mini-marathon' challenge set by Mr Nicholson which they have all been so determined and resilient in completing. 

Week Beginning 20th April

We have had many celebrations in school this week including Earth Day and St George's Day! It was wonderful to acknowledge these special events with the children and discuss them further in our classrooms. In Maths, Year 1 have begun their multiplication unit where they have been counting in 5s and 10s and Year 2 have started their unit of fractions by looking at halves. We saw some amazing work produced in Geography including labelled maps with countries that lie along the equator and in RE also where we looked at places that are special to us. Finally, of course, today we went on our long awaited trip to the Natural History Museum in Tring! The children loved exploring the various galleries and taking part in polar themed workshops where they handled specimens of animals and got to ask questions. They were a pleasure to take and the sunshine was the cherry on top of a lovely day! Thank you so much to our parent volunteers who were a fantastic support to us on such a busy day.

Week beginning 13th April 

It has been wonderful to hear all about the children's Easter holidays and get back into the swing of learning! We have had a jam-packed four days including starting our 'Hot and Cold Places' unit in Geography unit and continuing this theme in Science by looking at polar animals and regions. Maths has also seen the children complete lots of practical activities including measuring mass, volume and capacity as well as recapping their numbers to 50 from last half term.