28 September 2022
In last Friday's assembly, Mr. Steele and myself (Mr. Gale) used the phrase 'bursting with pride' to describe how well our fabulous children have settled in to the new academic year. In every corner of the school, there is a hive of activity and with radiant smiles adorning faces, the learning atmosphere is truly special.
In Nursery, we are very proud of our Friendly Frogs. They have settled into Nursery life beautifully and are working very hard! Our youngest learners have been busy developing their personal and social skills, learning nursery rhymes, working on their fine and gross motor skills, counting and problem solving... but above all else they are having FUN!
Meanwhile, Reception have also made a truly wonderful start to the new academic year. PE has been a particular highlight with children becoming ‘bubbles’ then playing ‘Silly bananas’ followed by stretching to cool down. The children have also enjoyed an exciting obstacle course and adore the different provisional areas in the Reception unit. In PSHE, Reception welcomed some very special small visitors aged 2 months and 5 months. The children learnt about how babies like to look at faces best of all and so smiling faces are very important. The children played with toys which help develop a baby’s eyesight and hearing. They also learnt how to bath a baby too. Thank you to our little sisters from two of our families who were very good natured and well behaved!
In Key Stage 1, Year 1 children have been busy sorting different objects into colour, shapes and sizes applying amazing mathematical language. Also in Maths, the children have been recognising numbers up to 20 and building towers to represent that number. They had to count the multilink accurately to check their impressive towers. In Science, Year 1 have been on a material hunt finding lots of wonderful examples in and around their classrooms. In PE, the children have been practising their passing skills. As well as this, the children have already completed some very impressive pieces of writing. In Computing this week, Year 1 have been learning that technology is anything made by people to help us and they demonstrated their understanding during a collaborative card sort activity. On Wednesday, Year 1 came back from lunch to find a BIG mess! They followed the clues to find out what had happened. They discovered a bus had been in the classroom and left them a book! They read the story ‘The Naughty Bus’ together and discussed what had happened whilst making predictions and answering questions about what they had read. Fortunately, they then made traps and signs to stop the Naughty Bus from getting up to any more mischief!
Meanwhile, in Year 2, wonderful active Maths sessions have taken place including a place value question hunt and number ping pong (applying the terms 'more' and 'less' accurately). Also in Maths, the children used concrete manipulatives to show tens and ones; they even managed to challenge their teachers! Moreover, in PE, Year 2 have started their first sport... cricket! Catching was the first skill they enjoyed perfecting- with a specialist coach. As part of their new topic in Art, Year 2 went outdoors to complete some fabulous observational drawings in their sketch books.
In Key Stage 2, in Science, Year 3, were given forcemeters to have a look at. They had a discussion about what they were and what they could be used for. The children then participated in an experiment to find out if it takes more or less force to move an object over a bumpy surface rather than a smooth surface. The children used the forcemeters to pull a 500g weight across a number of surfaces. They used the forcemeter to measure the force in Newtons. The children have also really enjoyed their first hockey sessions in PE. Last week, they were learning how to hold the hockey stick safely, how to dribble the ball and how to hit the ball across a distance. Last Monday, the children enjoyed an active place value Maths lesson where they had to pair up 3-digit numbers in both figures and words; this was completed outdoors to add extra challenge! Year 3 have also made a wonderful start to their times table daily lessons- singing, dancing, chanting and games have been popular ways of applying learning so far.
In Year 4, children have made an excellent start to their Science topic of states of matter. So far they've successfully decided whether objects are solids, liquids or gases, with excellent discussion using scientific language and have studied the particle arrangement in solids, liquids and gases. Naturally, they had to act as particles in each state of matter! In Maths, the children have been working hard on refining their times tables knowledge. They particularly enjoyed times tables practise in the sunshine during an active Maths lesson, within which they had to find fact families for multiples of 3. Year 4 have also enjoyed trips to the library for storytime and have been very engrossed in their texts during independent reading time- you can’t beat the feeling of getting lost in a new book! Earlier last week, in Music, Year 4 enjoyed learning to sing ABBA’s ‘Mamma Mia’. In this week's lesson, they learnt how to play the glockenspiel to accompany the song. Great work Year 4!
In upper Key Stage 2, Year 5 have enjoyed Netball sessions with a specialist coach to start their PE learning for this half-term. Meanwhile, Year 5 enjoyed learning Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, in Music- dancing was compulsory! The children have been working well in Maths…so well in fact that they have been up teaching at the front when they have been reviewing written methods. Year 5 have also been getting active and playing musical Maths; the children danced around the class, and when the music stopped they worked with a partner to complete problem solving questions. Meanwhile, in Science, the children have made a super start to their new topic by exploring and discussing the properties of different materials and recapping the states of matter from their learning in Year 4.
Finally, in Year 6 the children have made a marvellous start in Maths and have completed an array of challenging place value tasks; it’s great to get stuck into a challenge! In PE, the children have demonstrated wonderful skills on the Netball court! They have refined previously taught skills from Year 5 and advanced onto collaborative games involving an accumulation of different skills related to the game. Year 6 have also started their first text, Skellig! As part of this, they have sketched detailed garage settings, with figurative language annotations. They have used their sketches to help them to draft their first piece of descriptive writing- the children are hooked! In History, pupils are engrossed by the ancient Mayan civilisations and have been busy studying Mayan inventions and comparing and contrasting their rituals and way of life to the modern day.
What a very busy start to the new academic year!
Please note, out of respect and in-line with the national guidance during the ten days of official mourning, we refrained from sharing any celebratory posts on social media. Our channels will now operate as normal, once again.
