Welcome to Class 1

Taught by Mrs Crowther, with Mrs Broadhurst supporting Mrs Crowther.

Summer Term 2018

Welcome back and I hope you have had a lovely Easter holiday and are ready for the term ahead.

During this final summer term we shall start by learning about Wild and Endangered Animals.

We kick started the topic with an amazing trip to Flamingo Land Zoo where we got to go out and see the animals themselves. This has enabled us to learn about animals, their lives and where they live and has also enabled us to love at conservation and how we can look after the world. During the visit we learnt about some Weird and Wonderful creatures, as well as what is meant by predators and prey, what camouflage is and how the animals use it in different ways.

We handled a Corn Snake, a Madagascan Hissing Cockroach and a Tenrec. It was fantastic and the children were all extremely brave. After lunch we went on a tour of the animals in the zoo and got to see the Parrots, Lemurs, Meerkats, Baboons, Black Rhinos and the Tigers. We even got to see the Tigers eating their lunch, it was a fantastic experience. The children were very well behaved and polite throughout the day and had a fabulous time.

In Literacy we have explored many fiction books about wild animals including ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, ‘he Tiger who came to tea’ and ‘Dear Zoo’. The children really enjoyed ‘Dear Zoo’ and wrote their own version of the story, choosing their own animals and adjectives to describe them.

As part of money in Maths we looked at the different coins and used Numicon to help make different amounts. The children were then asked to use the coins to make an amount of money to pay for a biscuit and a cup of squash for snack.

Whilst learning about dinosaurs before half term we got talking about volcanoes. This was at the time of Mount Kilauea erupting in Hawaii. The children were fascinated by the pictures and this led to us learning about volcanoes and how they work. We then used are DT and Art skills to build 3 volcanoes of our own and paint them. Once they were dry, we then did a science lesson and went outside to make them erupt! The children measured the bicarbonate of soda and poured it into the coke bottle (which was inside the volcano). They also measured red and gold glitter and added that in. Once they had done that they used a measuring jug to get the right amount of distilled vinegar, washing up liquid and red food colouring. I explained that the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda would react together and come bubbling out of the top of the volcano. They were very excited! They put the funnel into the top of the bottle and then poured in the mixture, leaping back with squeals of delight when it erupted like Mount Kilauea.

Our next topic is ‘Mad about Minibeasts’. We shall be looking at their habitats, some of their life-cycles and see what creepy crawlies we can find around school.

2017 -2018

Welcome to Class 1! This is the Reception class and we have fun everyday exploring and learning new things. The children have settled in extremely well and are enjoying life here at school. They have built strong relationships with their buddies and are building strong friendships with their peers.

The children have started playing Police and Ambulance games, which is leading us to learn about ‘People Who Help Us’ after October half term. We will also be learning about Winter, Christmas and the history of Christmas around the world and of course we will be preparing for our Christmas nativity, which the children are all extremely excited about.

What you need to remember

• PE kit – indoor and outdoor kit. Indoor kit – t-shirt and shorts. Outdoor kit – jogging bottoms, jumper and trainers. They can be left in school during term time and taken home at holidays.
• Coats, Hats and Scarves – so we can go outdoors even if it’s a bit cold.
• Reading books and Phonics books – need to be in school every day.
• Show and Tell – There is a rota on Class 1’s window.

Home Learning

If your child achieves a task at home, please let us know, you can simply note it down on a post it and send it in with them and we will include it in their Learning Journey’s. Over the years we have had all sorts including:

• Riding a bike with no stabilisers for the first time
• Helping a parent/adult with a job around the house
• Being really polite at a wedding/christening/party
• Climbing up the stairs one foot to one step at a time
• Building a model
• Cooking/baking
• Gardening
• Drawings/work done at home

Continuing your learning at home is extremely important. Here in Reception we strongly suggest little and often. The children have all received their reading books and we encourage them to read to an adult four times a week, even if it’s just for 5 minutes – it doesn’t need to be the whole book. We hold a reading challenge in school, which the children also enjoy taking part in.

In Reception the children also have a maths target, called SMIRFs (Space Mission Instant Recall Facts) and the children will need to practise these throughout the week, we will then check them on a Friday and if they know them we move them onto a new target. The children in Reception are thrilled at being turned into little astronauts and are keen to move up the planets already! We have been doing SMIRFs for several years now and we have found they have helped to improve children’s knowledge and that it has in turn helped their arithmetic and speed in answering questions.

We thank you for your continued support! If you have any questions, please contact us.

Phonics

Articulation of the 44 phonemes is really important as the correct pronunciation enables your child to blend sounds together more easily. Click the link to hear the pronunciation of the sounds:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqhXUW_v-1s&feature=youtu.be
• Phonics Play – https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
• BBC bitesize – http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/
• Family Learning – http://www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html
• CBeebies  on tablets is also very good.

Class 1 Gallery

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