This week's Learning

Week beginning: 28th June 2021

Good afternoon  This week in maths we have been recapping addition and subtraction using the column method (year 2) and drawing the number (year 1). We have also been doing some multiplication and division within the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, and we are trying to recall these facts quicker each time!

In English we have been writing our own version of the story Grandad's Island. The children have been using emotive and descriptive language and they really are super so far! These will be finished next week so hopefully we can share them with you. 

In history/science we have spoken about memories as a baby and the human life cycle. We all absolutely loved matching our friends as a baby! The children were really good at it! On Wednesday we went to the church to see Canon Christine and Susie. This was lovely and it was great to see the real objects we had learnt about in our RE lessons. Finally, we ended our week with a fab PE session and golden time outside which was a treat! 

As we come to the end of the year we will be having a fun last week with an ice cream factory and other lovely things to celebrate the children's fabulous hard work this year. I will be in touch with details about this next week.

Congratulations to Eva and Harper for getting their awards this week! 

Have a super weekend- let's hope England win! 

Miss Forman 

SPORTS DAY 2021

We had a fantastic sports day to end week 3 of summer 2! All of the children did so well, and what I loved the most is how they all cheered each other on! Here are some pictures with added picnic lunch ones too!

Week beginning: 14th June 2021

We have had a very successful but sweaty week! 

In maths this week the year 1 children have moved onto the block of time. They have been introduced to the language of o'clock, half past, minute hand and hour hand. We have also been telling the time to the hour and to the half hour and we have explored the difference between seconds, minutes and hours. In year 2 we have been comparing the volume of containers, measuring in millilitres and litres, and we have learnt about temperature, thermometers and degrees centigrade. 

In English this week we have answered a reading comprehension on the Greek myth, Pandora's Box. We have also completed some work on the possessive apostrophe with singular nouns which the children have grasped so well! We then read the poem 'The Magic Box' by Kit Wright. The children enjoyed this poem and we really unpicked all of the language and meaning. The children then planned their own magic box poems and we have just finished writing them today! On Monday we will do our top copies and I can then send them out on dojo for you to read!

In phonics the year 1 children have been learning some more alternative sounds which they are really enjoying! The Government did post guidance as to when the phonics screening check will be for them next academic year and so I will be doing this with the children in autumn 2 (November 2021). The year 2 children have been fantastic with their spellings in their work recently, so the effort at home and the SPaG lessons are really paying off! This week they have been spelling words where suffixes are added to words ending in consonant + e, and a short vowel + single consonant. 

In the foundation subjects we have been labelling the features of a church, and using our senses in science- we especially loved the lavender outside out classroom! In history we had a brilliant lesson comparing toys from the past to now. There were lots of fantastic discussions going on and the children were really engaged!

Have a lovely weekend and I hope all of our dad's in Doves class have a great day on Sunday 

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 7th June 2021

Welcome back to the summer 2 term! We have had a lovely week back together, and it was brilliant to hear all about what the children had got up to over half term- the first holiday we have been able to really enjoy being out and about in a long time! 

In maths this week the year 1 children have been counting in 2s, 5s and 10s to count money, they have been using key vocabulary related to time, and describing, sorting and ordering events. We have also explored days of the week, months of the year and special dates in the calendar. In maths this week the year 2 children have been comparing the mass of different objects, measuring mass in grams, and measuring mass in kilograms. We also recapped some year 1 work capacity work, as this is what they would have not covered in the first lockdown (this time last year). 

In English this week Doves class started by writing a recount of their half term holiday! We then moved on to starting the unit of our first topic. Over the next couple of weeks the children will be writing a poem based on the magic box. We haven't yet read the poem as that comes next week, but we read the Greek myth of Pandora's Box. I wonder if your child can remember what happened when Pandora opened the box? Was she meant to open the box? We have also looked at alliteration this week and the children absolutely loved using their names in a positive way. Some really good ones were 'Tremendous, trusting Theo', 'Happy, hardworking Harper' and 'Adventurous, artistic Adem'. 

This week in our foundation subjects we started our history by looking at household items from years ago and comparing them to now. We looked at the washboard, the mangle, a TV and record player! The children couldn't believe that I remember being on my computer when I was their age, and my mum telling me off because she needed to use the phone! One child said "So hang on a minute you were actually in the olden days!" We were having such brilliant discussion on Wednesday and the children worked so hard on their writing that I forgot to take some pictures. Here are some pictures from today when the children matched them: 

Homework this week is to research some facts about the radio and the children's individual spellings.

Congratulations to Eve and Theo on their awards this week 

Have a lovely weekend with friends and family and I will see you on Monday! 

Miss Forman 

Happy Half Term! 

We had a fabulous afternoon finishing off our topic with our own Olympics, taking part in lots of different sports activities 

Thank you for all of your support over the last 7 weeks- the year is going far too quickly! I am really looking forward to our final term together and I wish you all a wonderful week off! 

Congratulations to Harry C and Gracie on their awards 

Enjoy the sunshine next week.

Miss Forman

Week beginning: 17th May 2021

Good afternoon! What another busy week with the term flying by so quickly!

This week in maths year 1 have been partitioning numbers, comparing numbers, ordering numbers and finding one more or one less than a given number. In year 2 the children have been telling the time to 5 minutes, looking at hours and days, finding durations of time and comparing durations of time. The children are really good at knowing which side of a clock is 'past' or 'to' and they have been amazing at counting in 5s to enable them to tell the time by moving the minute hand and the hour hand on their own little clocks. 

In English this week we began our new sequence of lessons. Over these last two weeks of the term we are going to work up to writing a character description on our own designs of Olympic mascots. We spoke about what a mascot is, and then looked at a range of mascots from different advertisements or sports clubs and added description to them. We completed a reading comprehension based on the Olympics and we wrote about the mascots of the Olympic mascots from Rio back in 2016. The children were amazing at this and were even adding similes into their work! 

In phonics the year 1 children have been brilliant at learning the alternative i and o sounds in words such as the words 'milk' and 'wild'. In SPaG this week the children have been looking at sounds at the end of words such as le, el, al and il. 

In our foundation subjects this week we made our designs of our t-shirts into reality! They are looking awesome and the children are so excited to complete them and wear them on our Olympic afternoon next week! We have also been learning about why churches are a place of celebration to Christians in RE, and we finished this week with some javelin in PE! There was lots of powerful throwing I can tell you that- I am very excited to see what the Doves class do in sports day 

Below are some pictures of our lovely debate writing, our D&T this week and our Royal Mail competition entries which have been posted off today! I really hope someone wins from our school!!! 

Have a great weekend everyone and I will look forward to our final week on 'Teams' from Monday!

Happy Birthday Edie and Leia for tomorrow!!

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 10th May 2021

In year 1 this week we have finished our position and direction unit of work and we have moved onto place value (within 100). We have focused on counting to 100, counting to 100 by making 10s and counting forwards and backwards from a given number. In year 2 this week we have moved onto the time unit of work. We have recapped telling the time to the hour, to the half hour, and then learnt 'quarter past' and 'quarter to'. The children are beginning to grasp this well, and they have really enjoyed using our clock outside and the mini clocks practically. So many year 2s got onto challenge 3 (reasoning) today- well done! 

In English this week the children planned their debate based on equality in sport. The topic questions to choose were: 

Should women be allowed to compete in boxing?

Should men be allowed to compete in gymnastics? 

The discussion was brilliant and I have been so impressed with the standard of work and the language used in this sequence of lessons. Some of the phrases I have particularly loved were 'Everyone should be able to follow their dreams', 'You should be able to do whatever you want to do' and 'Women are strong!' When we have finished our top copies I will send them over on dojo! 

In our foundation subject lessons this week we have designed our pandemic heroes stamp for the Royal Mail competition, designed our t-shirts ready for them to be created next week, and we have been practising our colours in French! We have set up our caterpillar area in the class so we can watch them grow and turn into beautiful butterflies! The children can't believe how much they have grown just this week, and one is particularly huge! We are calling that 'The Hungry Caterpillar!'

Congratulations to Violet and Theodore for getting their awards this week! 

Have a well deserved rest this weekend Doves class, and I will look forward to seeing you for another week of learning on Monday. 

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 3rd May 2021

Good afternoon! 

This week in maths year 1s have been describing movement and position. They have been using language such as 'above', 'below', 'left' and 'right' to explain the movement and position of objects. Year 2s have been describing movement and turns. They have taken the maths a bit further and have moved onto using the same language as our year 1s, but also 'clockwise' and 'anticlockwise'. Next week year 1s will move onto place value within 100, and year 2s will learn about time. 

In English this week we had so much fun having our debate on whether summer was better than winter. We had some really good opinions such as you can eat ice cream in summer, you can spend lots of time outside and you can go to the beach in summer. However, the opinions of the against team were really good as they suggested that it was Christmas in winter, firework night, and you can drink hot chocolate more! The children were extremely engaged in this and the language they were using such as 'I strongly agree/disagree', 'I feel that' was superb! We have also used persuasive language to write a letter to Mrs Waters to persuade her to let us have a pool party at the end of the school year! These were absolutely fab and I am looking forward to showing you these 

Here we are in action during our debate:

Finally, our work on the ancient Olympics has been incredible this week. I have been so impressed with the standard of work, and we finished the week with some gymnastics! Thank you for all of last weeks homework- they are really brilliant! Well done Sofia for winning the book voucher with her entry of 'Fing' by David Walliams. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I will see you on Monday! Next week we have a Royal Mail competition to complete, our t-shirts to design, and...... the caterpillars have arrived! 

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 26th April 2021

WOW! What an extremely busy week in Doves class. In maths this week the year 1 children have started a fractions block of work, therefore, they have been recognising one half, finding 1/2 of a small quantity, recognising one quarter, and finding 1/4 of a small quantity. They really enjoyed the practical element of this maths! In year 2 the children have started their measurement unit of maths, therefore, they have been using a ruler to measure objects in cm and a metre stick to measure objects in m. We have also been comparing different lengths and heights, and ordering length using the correct mathematical language. It was lovely to get outside in the sunshine and complete our maths work!

In English this week we have finished our top copies of our information booklets on the Olympics and we moved onto our next sequence of lessons on debates. We discussed what a debate was and I gave the children some examples of debates (some very interesting ideas and opinions!). If you would like to watch some child friendly clips on debates search for 'Judge Jenny' on bitesize and they should appear . These were a real hit this week!

Later this week I gave the children a topic of debate to focus on. 'Should children be allowed on electronics all day?' The children were really engaged and there were lots of discussions to be had! We decided that we being on electronics all day may give us bad eyesight, headaches, we might be grumpy and we should get outside with our families, however, electronics are fun, we like playing games or watching TV with our siblings and technology really helped us out in home school!!! 

Finally, in our foundation subjects we have looked at the lifecycle of a butterfly in science, we have learnt about the importance of sleep in PSHE, been amazing at hockey in PE and we have learnt some colour names in French. 

Thank you for all of the homework and spellings that have been practised this week, and a huge thank you for the VIPERS comments in reading diaries  Well done to our school council, eco council and wellbeing ambassadors today, I am really looking forward to working with you all . 

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend and I will see you on Tuesday 4th of MAY!!!! 

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 19th April 2021

Good afternoon  It has been another full on week with lots of learning going on in Doves class! 

In maths this week year 1s have been making equal groups by grouping and sharing, adding numbers together within 50, and revisiting fact families. In year 2 the children have been counting in fractions, dividing by 2 and revisiting odd and even numbers. I am so pleased with how the children put so much enthusiasm into their maths learning, and they really strive to achieve the different challenges. Below are some pictures of our maths lessons this week.

In English this week the children have been continuing with our sequence of lessons in our current unit of work. They have been writing sentences about Olympic sports, planning their information booklet, writing their information booklet and we have started our top copy of the information booklet. The handwriting and presentation of these are stunning! I really hope the children are proud of their achievements  I am really noticing the children editing their work more, which means they are looking for any spelling, punctuation or grammar errors in their work. 

We love our new VIPERS book 'After the fall' by Dan Santat. I love how the children plead with me to read on or to show them a sneak preview of the next page! This week we have answered questions on vocabulary looking at the meaning of the word 'healed', inference, prediction and explanation. Our explanation question was: 'Has anyone ever climbed a tree or a wall and fallen? If so how did you feel?'

The children have also enjoyed our history lesson this week learning about the similarities and differences between the ancient Olympics and the modern day Olympics. We learnt that the Olympics began in Greece; that there were chariot races, pankration and the athletes were naked to show off their muscles! Women were not allowed to compete or watch the Olympics, and there were no winter or water sports. 

Have a brilliant weekend in the sunshine   

Just a reminder that any school council application forms need to be in on Monday.

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 12th April 2021

Welcome back to the summer 1 term  This week the children got straight back into the swing of things and we began our new topic 'Teams'. We have been looking at video clips of Olympic athletes, writing about what we have learnt about the Olympic rings and what they represent, and what happens to to the Olympic torch. We completed some amazing abstract Olympic Ring art this week- they look super cool!

In maths this week year 1s have been counting in multiples of 2, 5 and 10, making equal groups, making arrays and doubling. Year 2s have been finding a third of a quantity, learning about unit fractions and non unit fractions, exploring the equivalence of two quarters and one half of the same whole, and finding three quarters of a quantity. 

In English this week we wrote a recount on our Easter holiday. Also, we researched Olympic sports using IPads and books which then enabled us to gather information on running, dressage, javelin, rowing, high jump and swimming. There were definitely some favourite sports the children preferred- the clip of the velodrome cycling had them all gripped! I only wish we could go on school trips! Towards the end of the week we answered a reading comprehension on Mo Farah, and looked at the suffix's ed, ing, er and est.

Swimming started this week and wow the children LOVED it! I am sure they will be looking forward to every Thursday afternoon from now on. Homework is back to normal this week- there is a piece of English homework as well as the spellings for each individual child. You can find this on the homework tab.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and I will see you on Monday 

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 22nd March 2021

We have had so much fun this week with our class carnival on Wednesday afternoon, and our PE Easter Egg hunt this afternoon! 

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter holiday, and enjoy some garden visits seeing friends and family 

I am really looking forward to working with the children in the summer term!

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 15th March 2021

This week has been BUSY! The children are loving the topic of Rio, and once again they are very good at retaining lots of facts which is so impressive! In topic we looked at the continent of South America on a world map, we looked at Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf mountain and learnt some Portuguese! I wonder if your children can tell you why the Sugarloaf mountain has its name? How tall is Christ the Redeemer? What is hello, goodbye and thank you in Portuguese? We also made our carnival masks and wow they look amazing! They are full of colour, sequins, feathers and glitter which is everything about carnival! Our carnival experience day is going to be next week, so I am very much looking forward to that and I think the children are too .

In maths this week year 1 have moved onto a weight and volume unit. The children have been measuring mass, comparing mass and measuring capacity. We had lots of fun with water and they have been brilliant at using the correct language. Lots of year 1 children are moving onto reasoning challenges in maths now, so they are really challenging themselves in their learning! 

Year 2 children have been continuing with 3D shape where they have been counting edges, counting vertices, sorting 3D shapes and making patterns with 3D shapes. Again, lots more of the children are accessing the reasoning challenges now which means they are explaining their answers more and showing the answers in a range of different ways. Next week we go into fractions with year 2 whilst the year 1 children complete mini assessment questions on the learning of the spring term. 

In English this week we have been planning and writing our postcard to our family, friends or pets pretending we have been to Rio. The children's imagination has been out of this world! We didn't quite get to finish our top copy writing today as we had to do our comic relief laps of the playground, but I will send these to you through dojo on Monday. I am really noticing that the children are using the terminology more in their writing, which is super and definitely is enhancing their writing abilities. 

We have also been working hard in science learning about the human life cycle! We had lots of funny conversations about what life is like as a baby, toddler, child, teenager and adult. 

Today, the children did so well with their 18 laps for comic relief! I heard lots of jokes and laughter going on as well as some brilliant running and dancing. My hand hurts from all the high 5s! 

I am really looking forward to parents evenings coming up to talk about how your child has settled back into school life and how I can support them further in their learning.

Have a fantastic weekend Doves class. I think spring is back! 

Miss Forman

Week beginning: 7th March 2021

WE ARE BACK! 

The children have made a fantastic return back to school and they should be so proud of how they have remembered the rules and routines and generally how amazing they have all conducted themselves back to school life.

In maths this week we have recapped some parts of home schooling before getting back to following the curriculum units we were on. Year 1 have been adding and subtracting numbers within 50, ordering numbers, looking at then tens and ones in a number, and counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. Year 2s this week have been multiplying using the times symbol, dividing, making tally charts, looking at 2D and 3D shapes and finding the vertical line of symmetry when exploring shape. 

In English this week we have looked at postcards and the features of a postcard. We now know that we need an address, a place for a stamp, some space to write about our adventures or experiences and a lovely picture on the front. Next week we will write our postcards as if we had been to Rio! We have also been writing about Rio carnival, and adding the ed suffix to verbs which turn into the past tense. 

In phonics year 1s are working hard on segmenting and blending phase 5 words and especially those alternative sounds. In SPaG, year 2s have been adding s or es to words thinking about the spelling rule. We have looked at the book 'Living in Brazil' and this has taught us a lot about Brazil and the city of Rio. I wonder if your child can remember this information?

What is the capital city of Brazil?

Which continent is Rio located?

What language do they speak in Rio?

How long does the carnival last for?

What meal time is most special in Brazil?

This week in our foundation subjects we have been designing a headdress/mask for our class carnival. This will be in the last week before the Easter holidays. The children were very excited about collaging using sequins, glitter and feathers. I am sure they are going to look great! 

In RE this week we looked at the items found in a Mandir which was interesting, and we had PSHE discussing things about our lovely mums! Today we had PE and started our samba dance routine for the carnival- It was so much fun! Golden time was wonderful to watch today as the children can have some well deserved choosing time and I could tell they were really happy to just play with each other! 

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope you all have a lovely Mother's Day on Sunday! 

Miss Forman 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I will see you on Monday 4th January 2021 

Stay safe!

Week beginning: 7th December 2020

This week in maths year 1 have been comparing objects and numbers, ordering groups of objects and ordering numbers from smallest to greatest and then greatest to smallest. Year 2s have been completing two-step problems, making equal groups, adding equal groups and making arrays. We have worked so hard in maths to get what we needed to finish this terms curriculum. Next week we will be consolidating the learning through Christmas activities. 

In English this week we have been writing instructions about how to wash hands, and how to make Ship's biscuits. The top copies have really impressed me, and they have been sent on the Dojo pages for you to see. 

All week we have been working hard on our Christmas performance of Born in a Barn. I hope you enjoy it when it is posted next week!

We have a Christmas filled week coming up with lots of fun activities planned- I am really looking forward to this lead up to Christmas with the Doves class!

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 30th November 2020

This week we have been busy practising for our Christmas production of Born in a Barn. The children are so brilliant at all of the songs and actions! This weekend if you can keep practising your lines at home that will be fantastic! 

In maths this week year 1 moved on to place value (11-20). They learnt how to count and write numbers to 20, the tens and ones in each number, and one more and one less than a given number (to 20). In year 2 the children learnt how to compare money, to find the total amount, the difference between two amounts, and how to find the change. 

In English this week we looked at imperative verbs. These are bossy verbs, and we identified these and highlighted each one in a set of instructions. Over the next week we are going to write a set of instructions on how to make Ship's biscuits which we made today! 

In art this week we began to create a collage of The Great Fire of London using tissue paper. In history we compared London back in 1666, to London now, and in science we planted cress heads! 

Have a great weekend Doves and I will see you on Monday. I can't believe we only have two weeks until the Christmas holidays!

 Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 23rd November 2020

This week has been assessment week, so the children have been busy completing some reading, writing and maths papers. I have been super impressed with all of their efforts and they have all been superstars! In English this week we have created the story of 'Katie in London', and we have written character descriptions about Samuel Pepys. Next week in maths year 1 will move onto place value (11-20) and year 2 will continue with money. 

We are really enjoying our Great Fire of London topic, and in history this week the children worked in chronological order to sort the events. Everyone has been so good at remembering the facts! 

We have also started learning our Christmas performance songs which I am sure you might have heard at home too- they are very catchy! Our performance will be sent to you to watch at the end of the term and I am casting over the weekend so watch this space!

Have a great weekend Doves and I will see you on Monday for another exciting and busy week!

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 16th November 2020

This week in maths year 1 have been recognising and sorting 2D and 3D shapes. They have been looking at the properties of these shapes, and repeating patterns. This week was a really practical week and they all loved it!

In year 2 this week we have moved onto money. We have been working practically to explore money, comparing notes and coins, counting money, and finding amounts. 

In English this week we found a satchel in our classroom on Monday. In it was a diary, some cheese and wine, a quill and a picture of St Pauls Cathedral burning. We found out that this belonged to a man called Samuel Pepys and he was famous because he wrote all about the events of The Great Fire of London. Can your child tell you some more things we have learnt about Samuel Pepys?

In science this week we looked at plants and their habitats. We learnt that cacti are in the desert, bluebells are in woodland, sea kale is at the seaside, and kelp is under the sea. In geography we were writing about different landmarks in the UK such as Stone Henge, Edinburgh Castle, Mount Snowdon and Giants Causeway. 

This week has also been anti-bullying week and we completed some lovely work on this. We looked through some photos, and the children had to tell me what was happening in the picture. They definitely all knew what was right and wrong, and I had some wonderful acts of kindness all through the week!

We have watched a great clip about Samuel Pepys this week if you would like to watch at home, and also a fantastic interactive game online about The Great Fire of London. I will post the links below: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VarSSAwiimU 

http://www.fireoflondon.org.uk/game/ 

As always homework is posted on the homework tab with a little explanation.

Have a wonderful weekend Doves!

Week beginning: 9th November 2020

This week in English we have been looking at different types of sentences. We had to decide whether it was a question, a statement, a command or an exclamation. The children did really well with this, and we had a giggle at some of the sentences we thought of- especially exclamation which you can imagine! We then focused heavily on questions and when to use a question mark. We wrote our own questions and answers based on everything we have learnt about places in London and The Queen, and then we made them into lift and flap posters. These look amazing! Look out for them on DoJo next week! 

In maths this week year 1 have been exploring finding the difference as a form of subtraction, then moving onto comparing statements using the inequality symbols. They are absolutely brilliant at comparing using the symbols  In year 2 children have been revisiting number bonds to 20, finding number bonds to 100 from any given number, and adding three 1 digit numbers. I have been really impressed with the presentation of maths work in their books this week. 

In our foundation subjects we created some amazing poppy drawings for Remembrance Day, and we looked through Atlas's and labelled the four countries of the United Kingdom. Finally, we have had a brilliant day for Children in Need 2020! The children took part in Joe Wicks work outs, Yayoi Kusama dotty art, and they made Pudsey biscuits!

Have a great weekend Doves and I will see you on Monday. 

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 2nd November 2020

This week in English we began by reading our class book- Katie in London. It was lovely to look at the pictures and discuss each place Katie and her brother Jack visited with the lion from Trafalgar Square! The children had great personal experiences and memories that they shared with each other. We are going to be creating a lift and flap poster all about London and the Queen next week, therefore, we focused on types of sentences (command, statement, question or exclamation), and we completed a reading comprehension about the Queen so that we can put some information into our posters. I wonder if your child can remember the answers to these questions: 

The Queen's nickname when she was little was Lillibet. Why?

What roles did the Queen take on when she was in the 2nd World War?

When is the Queen's real birthday and second birthday?

The Queen loves Corgis. How many has she had so far? 

In maths this week year 1 have been subtracting, finding a part, finding the difference and looking at the 8 fact family. This is a really tricky concept, probably one of the hardest parts of year 1 maths, but the children are really trying hard. Look at our homework page for information on their homework this week. In year 2 children have been completing column addition and subtraction. Remember to always start with the ones! They have been super focused this week! 

In geography we identified and named some famous landmarks in London, we learnt the main aspects of Judaism in RE, we did some firework art with chalk and glitter, and made some edible sparklers to celebrate Bonfire night. I wonder if your child can remember how many barrels of gunpowder were put under King James's throne before the guards found it?

It has been a lovely first week back, and I will look forward to seeing you on Monday Doves! 

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 19th October 2020

Happy Half Term! 

Thank you Doves for such a brilliant half term, and I hope you have all enjoyed our Enchanted Woodland topic. The children have worked so hard and should be really proud of all of their efforts!

Have a relaxing but fun week off, and I will look forward to seeing you on the 2nd November for a brand new topic!

Week beginning: 12th October 2020

This week in Doves class we have been busy planning our enchanted stories. The children have created their own characters from fairies, pixies and unicorns and lands of adventure at the top of the Magic Faraway Tree! Some of my favourite lands created have been the land of chocolate, the land of sea treasure and the land of only children, no adults allowed! Imagine that! I am really looking forward to making our stories into books next week, and we are hoping to get a chance to read our stories to the children in the Robins class on Thursday afternoon. 

In maths this week we have been busy in year 1 learning about fact families, number bonds within 10 and number bonds to 10. In year 2 we have been adding and subtracting 1s, finding the number bonds to 100 (tens), and finding 10 more and 10 less.

Also, in RE we have made posters of our natural world and how we can respond to its sensitivities and needs. In art we have looked at the artist Andy Goldsworthy and his natural land art. Can the children remember what resources Andy Goldsworthy used in his masterpieces? We went outside and created our own artwork inspired by the artist and photographer! Finally, we have created our Christmas card design which will be sent off to the printers and will be available for you to see in a few weeks! They looked lovely 

Have a lovely weekend Doves!

Miss Forman 

Week beginning: 5th October 2020

This week both year groups have moved on from place value to addition and subtraction. YR 1 have been busy in maths learning about the part whole model. They have been brilliant at using the correct language, and completing the part whole models to show addition. I wonder if your child can draw you a part whole model at home? I would love to see these on Dojo! We had lots of fun making part whole models with hoops outside.  YR 2 have been working on fact families, checking calculations, and learning our number bonds to 100. Can they show you a fact family at home? It might look like this:

5 + 2 = 7

2 + 5 = 7

7= 5 + 2

7= 2 + 5

7 - 2 = 5

7 - 5 = 2

In English this week we have really got into our class book 'The Magic Faraway Tree'. The children have loved listening all about Moonface, Silky, Joe, Beth and Frannie's adventures. We have collated some ideas for our own enchanted stories that we will be writing over the next couple of weeks. In phonics we have been recapping more phase 3 and phase 5 digraphs. 

In science this week we went on a tree hunt to look for deciduous and evergreen trees. I wonder if your child can tell you the difference? Everyone loved getting outside to look at the leaves, and they managed to identify quite a few! 

I think you will all agree that the children performed brilliantly during our Harvest assembly yesterday. I was so proud of them all! Thank you again for the fantastic donations you kindly gave to the Chelmsford food bank. 

Have a lovely weekend Doves, and I will see you on Monday!

Week beginning: 28th September 2020

Good afternoon! This week in Doves class we have been writing Harvest prayers and autumn poems. The children in year 1 used adjectives to describe conkers, coats, hats, pumpkins, and animals in their poems. In year 2 the children used adjectives and similes in their poems. Some of my favourite similes were 'a hedgehog has spikes as prickly as a thistle', 'the combine harvester was a rusty as an old piece of metal', and 'the big orange pumpkin patch is as big as a football pitch'. The children have been working hard on the presentation of their work, in both the Harvest prayers and the autumn poems, and they should all be incredibly proud for what they have achieved! 

In maths this week year 1 have been looking at number lines, and using them to support them with addition. Year 2 children have been counting in 2s, 5s, 10s and 3s. I was super impressed with them! Next week we will begin TT Rockstars and each child will get their log in. 

In addition, as part of our foundation subjects in art we made tree boggarts! This was a lot of fun and the children were fabulous at giving positive feedback to their peers. I have such a creative class!

Week beginning: 21st September 2020

Good afternoon!

This week in maths year 1s have been working really hard to understand the concept of inequality symbols < > =. We are now able to compare numbers using the symbols, and we even got to compare three lots of objects today! In year 2 the children have also been comparing numbers and objects in different ways. They have been using the correct language and the inequality symbols to write number sentences. 

In English we have been using adjectives to describe autumn. We have been using the correct grammatical terminology to ensure that we understand what a noun and an adjective is. Next week we are going to write a poem about autumn, and I can't wait to see what the children produce!

We have had lots of fun with our foundation subjects this week. We have been using water colour paints to paint a maple leaf. The children were really good at blending the colours well! In Geography we were looking at the symbols in maps and discussing what they meant, and in Science we had looked at the structure of a plant, we had identified some common and wild plants, so this week we tried some planting ourselves!

Week beginning: 14th September 2020

We have had such a busy week of learning in Doves class, and we have loved every minute! 

In maths this week year 1 have been counting forwards and backwards, writing numbers as digits and words, finding one more than a given number and one less than a given number. Some children managed to get to the reasoning challenges, whereby they need to explain their maths learning to me, and explain how they know that they have the correct answer.

In maths this week year 2 have been counting to 100, writing numbers to 100 as digits and words, representing numbers to 100, and using tens and ones in a part whole model. The children have been working so hard, and seem to enjoy the fact that they can get onto the next maths challenge which is great!

In English this week we have been writing our non-chronological reports on our favourite woodland animal. WOW! is all I can say! We began the week by writing an introduction, then we wrote the bulk of the report, and finished by editing our work and writing it up neat as a perfect top copy today. The children would love to show you some of our wonderful work:

Thank you for a great week Doves! Have a lovely weekend

 Miss Forman 

Week beginning: Monday 7th September 2020

Good afternoon! We have finished our first full week back in the Doves class. The children have really settled into school life again, and we have been super busy with our learning. 

In maths this week year 1s have been working on sorting objects, counting objects, and representing objects. They have really got to grips with our challenges in each lesson- choosing the fluency challenge first to practice the maths skills, then moving onto a problem solving challenge and reasoning challenge. 

In maths this week in year 2 we have been recapping tens and ones within 50, counting forwards and backwards within 50, and comparing numbers using the inequality symbols. I have been so impressed to see children striving to achieve the three challenges, and really explaining their maths skills to me. 

During our afternoon lessons we have been busy with our new topic 'The Enchanted Woodland'. We have sketched a woodland animal, designed a home for a woodland animal, and we have looked at human and physical geography. I wonder if your child can tell you about human geography and physical geography? 

As always if you have any questions or you need to see me about anything I am always available to chat at the classroom door, or on Class Dojo. It has been great to get to know the children and their personalities this week, and it has been lovely to meet their families. 

Have a great weekend Doves!

Miss Forman