This morning in Pine class, children were working together collaboratively, using their skills in reciprocity to finish a giant puzzle. The children from across year 1 managed to complete the puzzle by working together and sharing the pieces. They noticed that it can be tricky to fit the pieces together.
Fantastic collaboration Year One!
Early morning activity before lessons start, completed by Jeremiah, Andrew, Ollie, Alfie, Giada, Callie, Tilly, Akunna, Charlie
In Year One, we have been making Diva lamps to help celebrate Diwali and the festival of lights.
The word Diwali means 'rows of lighted lamps'. Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called 'Diya'. Did you know the festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance?
The children have also been learning about Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and the legend of Rama and Sita. Year One know that the festival is a time for:
spring-cleaning the home
wearing new clothes
exchanging gifts (often sweets and dried fruits) and preparing festive meals
decorating buildings with fancy lights
huge firework displays
The children have been comparing and contrasting this with recent and upcoming festivals and celebrations, such as, Bonfire Night and Christmas.
The children making Diva lamps from a salt dough recipe
"We used glitter to make them pretty and stand out" Tiggy
"We had to mould the shape so that a candle will fit in" Kanishka
On Friday, Year One went to the fire pit and made a bonfire. The children were really excited to see how to light the fire safely and they watched Miss Chappell intently. Next, we carefully toasted marshmallows for the children to try.
"When it had been on the fire the marshmallow went all gooey inside" Zara
"The water made the fire go out and all the smoke came up!" Aaliyah-Shae
Last week, reciprocity skills were being shown daily by the children of Year One! Teachers are thrilled to see children working in collaboration, supporting one another and enjoying learning as part of a team.
Here, the children have been inventing games, exploring outdoor challenges, building, helping one another, making salt dough and the children were also thrilled to see a rainbow appear right across the school! It was an impressive sight and resulted in a lot of rainbow pictures, fun and games afterwards.
"I helped Katlyn with the morning 'time' activity" Alfie
"The rainbow was so huge it went all over the sky- it was made from the sun and the rain" Gabriela
"I really like helping the others build the castle in construction" Roberto
In the outside area of Year One, children have been exploring the wonders of Autumn. They have been discovering the changes that occur during this time of year and have been enjoying using all the autumnal leaves in their play.
"It is fantastic to see the children being so resourceful and working in collaboration with each other to invent games and build exciting things to enhance their play" Miss Hammond
"We had one person collecting all the leaves and then we sorted them out and then they were put in our castle" Giada
"Miss Hammond showed us a leaf flying when the wind blew and then we had a race to see which leaf would fly the most. Some of them went on the roof and really high in the sky!" Connie
Amandeep has impressed the class this week by completing an element of her Learning Challenge. She wrote the poem out in her best handwriting and then recalled the 7 continents of the world from memory!
Keep the learning challenges coming Cherry class; I love to see how you are extending your learning at home!
What a lovely treat we had in Cherry this morning! We had the pleasure of meeting Pikachu, Bonnie's pet chinchilla. The children all had a stroke and saw Pikachu eating his straw, nuts and raisins. "His fur is as soft as silk!" said Amandeep.
The children loved meeting Pikachu; we were amazed to see such an unusual animal and look forward to finding out more information about the species next week.
Thank you to Bonnie's Mum for taking the time and effort to bring him in.
Well done to the fantastic Ameerah and Laicey for being Star Writers. They wrote brilliant acrostic poems about fireworks using onomatopoeic words and adjectives to describe fireworks.
Ameerah stated, "I know why I'm star writer because I tried hard to use adjectives and join my letters...that's one of my targets!"
What a fabulous morning Year 2 had at the Fire Station last week! In relation to our recent topic about the Great Fire of London we went to investigate the Fire service in comparison to the past. We began the morning by learning about all of the different things Firemen are called out for, such as frozen lakes, stranded animals and car accidents.
Suddenly, we heard a loud ringing, the fax machine printing and feet stomping... The Firemen were being called out to a live emergency there and then in front of our eyes! They rushed to put their special clothing on and jumped into the Fire engine. Sirens blasting, they raced out of the doors as quick as a flash.
It was very impressive to see how quickly they were ready. Luckily, it was a false alarm (another case of burnt toast) and they were back to the station within 15 minutes to continue our session.
"I cant believe we got to see a real 999 call happening" Joshua
We then had a chance to sit in the Fire engine, try on their huge, heavy helmets and check out all of the equipment used in real emergencies. This included the jaws of life which they use to cut up cars!
"I didn't realise firemen did loads of other things as well, I thought it was just Fires." Bobby Peek
Cherry class have loved having regular visits from the gorgeous Theo this term. The children enjoy reading to Theo and it's clear to see the feeling is mutual; he is often found peeking at the illustrations and even dozes off to sleep!
"I love reading to Theo, it makes me want to read with expression so he likes it more." Ameerah
In addition to reading, Theo also likes spending time in the construction area watching the children make their marvellous models! Leigh-Anna particularly enjoyed showing Theo her labelled drawing of the bridge she was about to make.
Well done to Sajida and Bayleigh; they have both earned their very own gleaming medals for their achievements outside of School. Sajida took part in a Panathlon whilst Bayleigh got her medal for Dancing.
We love to hear about all of your extra curricular activities, so keep them coming!
We look forward to welcoming Year 2 parents into School on Thursday 24th November.
Parental feedback overwhelmingly indicated that Maths was the area that you would like further guidance when supporting your children at home. Therefore, we have provided this opportunity for you to speak with the Year 2 teachers regarding maths teaching.
Tea and coffee will be provided at 9am Thursday, followed by the chance to see your children complete their daily Rockstars. After this, there will be a short, informal, session with the Year 2 teachers to discuss methods taught and a chance for you to ask any further questions.
Harry and Joshua are our amazing Star Writers in Year 2 this week! They both produced a fantastic set of instructions using adverbs of manner to add extra detail to each instruction. Not only that, they tried their best to ensure they were using their neatest handwriting. As Harry stated "My target is to start joining my letters so I tried really hard."
Joshua was keen to explain why we need to use adverbs of manner, he said "If I didn't say slowly and quietly the person reading it wouldn't know exactly how to walk into the tunnel and could ruin the whole plan!"
We are extra excited about our Star Writers this week as they are the first to have their work proudly displayed in our brand new Star Writer boards in the corridor!
Congratulations to Joshua who has completed some of this half term's learning challenge! He chose to write out the poem in his neatest handwriting making sure he used some joins. He brought the poem in to show Cedar class and the children enjoyed seeing his hard work. We look forward to seeing other children's Learning Challenges soon!
In maths this week the children have been learning about capacity. They have been making Australian potions, including Wombat Stew and Koala Crumble. The children had to measure out the accurate measurements of each ingredient to make their potions. By the end of the week all children understood that capacity is measured in millilitres and litres and they could read scales that go up in 10s and 5s.
The children worked in partners and groups to make their potions, they showed great reciprocity through their ability to work together and support each other.
"You measure capacity in millilitres" Keira B
"You must put the vessel on a level surface to get an accurate reading" Roxy
Last week the children had a very active and informative day. They learnt all about the importance of staying safe on the roads when riding their bikes or scooters. Excitedly, they came to School with their bikes and scooters and waited patiently for their sessions.
When outside the children took part in a variety of tasks including how to cross a road, how to control their bikes through obstacles and how to brake effectively.
All of the children were fantastic; listened attentively, participated enthusiastically, spoke politely. All of which are admirable behaviours we seek to develop. In addition, 100% of the children said they enjoyed the session which is exactly what we wanted!
"I had so much fun, I love riding with my friends." Hayden
Not only did the children have fun but they were also taught valuable lessons about their safety which previously they were not aware of. As Billy stated after the session, "I didn't know you have to check the drive ways too".
To see the children in action take a look at the video...
This week in Maths we will be looking at division. We are exploring halving numbers and are learning that our 2x table can support us with this. If children would like to show us their 2x table work from home, we will be very excited to see it!
This morning's maths team used cups and chocolate drops to support them with their division calculations.
In Year One, children have been showing their skills in reciprocity and collaboration. Many children have been working together in maths and supporting each other with their times tables, doubling numbers and even investigating with various resources in our outdoor area.
Exploring our 2x table and investigating the outdoor area
"It is wonderful to see the children so interested in their surroundings and eager to explore the activities we have. The children are enjoying creating their own games and working collaboratively throughout the whole year group" Miss Hammond
"To double the numicon we had to find the matching piece and then count them up" Brooke
"Connie worked with me and we made our 2x table with the cards" Freddie
"We made a game to knock down the dinosaurs" Nathan
"If we held the pipe higher the car went down it quicker!" Tyler
"Miss showed us how to times using the smarties!" Zara
Congratulations to Olivia Bundy who has completed the Year 2 Learning Challenge. Olivia chose to focus on the painting by Anna Petyarres. She looked at the style of the artist and created her own picture using pencil crayon.
Well done Olivia - the children of Cedar class enjoyed sharing the lovely work you had completed at home.
In Year One, the children created some large scale art based on Remembrance Day. The children listened to the poem 'In Flanders Field' by John McCrae and painted a range of of poppies.
"The poppies grew on the battlefield and that's why we wear them" Arnez
"We had a 2 minute silence to think about how the soldiers fought for our freedom" Jersey
Congratulations to Nancy Rack who was awarded 2 bronze, a silver and 2 gold medals at the weekend from her dance competition. She was awarded a first for her 'Nursey Rhyme' dance and received a trophy!
Keep up the fantastic work Nancy, you are clearly very talented!
Well done to Kyla, Indie, Billy and Roxy who are the year 2 star writers!
They all wrote a fantastic set of instructions explaining how to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The children made sure they included adverbs of time to begin each instruction and they all ended their instructions with adverbs of manner to give more information.
Congratulations to Ruben who has already completed some of this half term's learning challenge! He chose to write out the poem in his neatest handwriting. He brought the poem in to show Cedar class and the children enjoyed seeing his hard work. We look forward to seeing other children's Learning Challenges soon!
Please find below the Learning Challenge for this half term. Our topic is Australia VS The UK, in which we will be homing in on our Geographical skills to compare the two in a variety of ways.
We look forward to seeing and celebrating any additional work completed at home as part of the Learning Challenge. Also, if you happen to have anything from Australia, please feel free to send it in with the children for us to all examine!
The children in Year 2 had a great day on Wednesday. They were lucky enough to go to see the London Symphony Orchestra perform Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type at the Barbican.
We got a bus and two trains into London and it must be said that the children behaved amazingly! We even decided to give our fellow passengers a little change from the usual hustle and bustle of the tube and sang one of our songs for them. It was very positively received by all with huge smiles all around and even a round of applause!
"I think we've made their day Miss Estall!" exclaimed Charlie.
Once at the Barbican we met with our fellow Year 2 pupils of Mead and eagerly took our seats. Not long after, the music started. The fantastic array of instruments in sight was breath-taking. "I can't believe how shiny they are!" Gasped Olivia in Cedar.
The children had been learning the songs and actions prior to the visit so when they were finally able to perform them in the grand Barbican it was very exciting. It was great to see the children of Broadford and Mead come together to sing the songs and I have to say they did so beautifully!
It was a very exciting afternoon in Year 2. The children headed down to the fire pit with their 3D 1666 houses they had made. They lay them around the fire pit to recreate Pudding Lane. Once the fire was lit the children were able to see how quickly the fire would have spread in 1666.
"Because the houses are so close together, the fire is spreading really fast!" Billy.
After Pudding Lane was ablaze, the children burnt a Guy to remember the Gun Powder Plot. They chanted: Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot.
Finally, the fire extravaganza ended with roasting marshmallows over the fire which is one of the year 2 experiences.
"They are so sticky and gooey because they are warm." Kiera T.
What a busy afternoon for Year 2 - not only did the children witness the Great Fire of London, they saw Guy Fawkes burn and tasted some delicious marshmallows. The children were certainly beaming after their exciting afternoon!
This half term's topic is 'Glitter and Glow', looking at a range of festivals and celebrations. Below is The learning challenge. We look forward to seeing all of the amazing work the children produce.
Today, Year 1 were lucky enough to take part in a lantern making workshop. They were visited by an arts and craft expert, who brought with her bamboo sticks, paper and masking tape. From these simple resources, the children worked collaboratively to make paper lanterns. Their first task was to build the frame. They attached the ends of the sticks using the masking tape- a tricky task!
Keep your eyes peeled on the blog for the next stage of our lantern making!
