We are delighted to share the joy and success of our recent Christmas performance, "Santa's on Strike," presented by the hardworking and dedicated children of Key Stage 1.
The dedication and enthusiasm of our young performers shone through, resulting in a truly fantastic show.
Literacy
Our first key text this half term was the timeless poem "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear. In our first lesson, we discovered a poetry basket in the classroom. The children listened to a variety of poems, sharing their favourites and discussing the reasons behind their choices. Diving into Lear's poem, we explored its fascinating vocabulary, sparking creativity in our young minds. The highlight was the creation of our own expanded noun phrases to vividly describe animals, forming the foundation for our unique rhyming poems.
After our poetry unit, we delved into the picture book, "Biscuit Bear." To set the stage, a special delivery of biscuit bears captured the children's delight. This hands-on introduction paved the way for further exploration.
In our 'mini-apply,' we honed our writing skills, employing interesting vocabulary and expanded noun phrases. We then delved into the features of instructions. Class 5 took on the challenge, making and decorating their very own biscuit bears, reflecting on the effectiveness of instructions in the process.
The children then used the skills they had learned to craft clear and concise instructions on how to make a biscuit bear.
Maths
This half term we began by focussing on multiplication and division. The children became confident using pictorial representations to support grouping and sharing.
We then moved on to statistics, with a focus on tally charts, bar graphs and pictograms. We plotted data on our own graphs and also interpreted the graphs others had drawn. We particularly enjoyed going into the hall and gathering our own data to create a giant pictogram.
We then used our knowledge of division to support our first steps into the world of fractions. We focussed on finding a half, quarter and a third. The children were able to apply this new knowledge to quantities, numbers and shapes.
Finally, we have recapped time and shape at the end of the half term, with children building on what we learned in the first half term.
The children have made Mrs Short and Mrs Eagle so proud this half with their math's work. You're all super mathematicians!
Lira
We started the half term by focussing on poetry to support our work literacy and expose ourselves to a range of poems. We then looked at the non-fiction text ‘How to Help a Hedgehog and Protect a Polar Bear,’ exploring the features of non-fiction texts and comparing them to fiction. The children were able to successfully identify a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. We have then moved on to our Christmas text, ‘How to Hide a Lion at Christmas.’ The children have been making predictions and exploring the new vocabulary in the book.
Topic
This half term our curriculum driver was Art, with a focus on sculpture.
We explored the works of local artist, Barbara Hepworth and Swiss sculptor, Alberto Giacometti. We explored and experimented with a range of techniques, including rolling, pinching, pressing and joining clay using a slip join. We planned and made a maquette of our own sculpture in the style of Hepworth, and for our final piece we designed a sculpture inspired by Giacometti. We made an armature out of tin foil to give our sculpture stability and then used clay to complete our sculpture. We are incredibly impressed by the children’s final pieces.
Science
This half term, our young scientists have continued their exploration of plants through various engaging activities. One highlight has been the children's fascination with time-lapse videos, capturing the mesmerizing journey of plant growth. Venturing outdoors into the playground, our curious minds have explored unusual places where plants thrive. This exploration sparked a discussion about the resilience of nature. The children pondered whether there are any places where plants can't grow.
In the spirit of scientific inquiry, we conducted a hands-on experiment to understand how the environment influences plant growth. Cress seeds became the subjects of their investigation, with batches planted in different locations—some outside, some on the windowsill, and some on paper without nutrients. The seedlings outside were flourishing until the December frost!
RE
In RE we have been looking at the key question 'Why are some places special'.
We started the half term by looking at a Gurdwara, a Hindu place of worship. The children were able to label its identifiable features and then went on a scavenger hunt to find out more information about them.
The children then moved onto focusing on the Sikh Gurdwara. They were confidently able to discuss its features but also the activities that take place there. Class 5 really liked finding out about how Sikhs help their local community at the Mandir by serving food. This made them reflect on how they could help more at home or in school to help others.
To finish off the half term the children looked at a Buddhist Vihara and compared it to a Gurdwara and a Mandir. They found out that one of the main differences was that no praying takes in a Vihara unlike the other two holy buildings.
Class 5 then watched a video where a Buddhist nun explained why she meditated. The children then tried some meditation techniques to see if they could find 'piece of mind' just like the Buddhists monks and nu.
Celebrations
During this half we have had lots of children show the school values and were awarded certificates! We have also celebrated the amazing reading children have been doing at home, with a number of children gaining their first reading badge. Class 5 were also the KS1 reading token winners and enjoyed a film and a hot chocolate to celebrate.
We have had lots of festive activities taking place across the school. We particularly enjoyed our Santa Saunter, Christmas jumper and Christmas dinner day.
Key Stage 1 had a fantastic time at their Christmas party!
Make sure you continue to share your celebrations from home with us by either bringing things into school, on Twitter or on Seesaw - we love to see them!
Next half term we will be learning ...
Have a lovely Christmas!
Stay safe and we look forward to welcoming you back in the new year!