Kingfishers in Action!
Summer Term 2024 - X Marks The Spot!
Week 29 – 6.5.24
Our computing learning for this term is ‘Digital Writing’. We have been learning how to use Word on the laptops. We have learnt how to use the backspace, enter, space, letter and shift keys. We used these keys to type sentences about Pirate Pam’s lost parrot, Curly. We have also practised using the Bold, Italic and Underline buttons before typing.
Secret Mission:
Find out about Grace Darling and her famous rescue. You could try one of these websites:
RNLI https://rnli.org/magazine/magazine-featured-list/2019/november/the-story-of-grace-darling
Royal Museums Greenwich https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/grace-darling
If you use this BBC website, please be advised the video is recommended for KS2 children so please review the content to decide whether it is appropriate to share with your child.
BBC Bitesize https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/zkwq47h
Week 28 – 29.4.24
In maths this week, the Kingfishers have started to learn about fractions. We have talked about a fraction being a small part of a bigger thing or number. So far, we have looked at half and we know that it can also be written as ½. We have learnt that the bottom number of a fraction tells us how many equal groups there are while the top number tells us how many of the groups we are interested in. We have used folding to find half of a shape, and sharing to find half of a number.
Secret Mission:
Pick one of these challenges:
- Help with the cooking at home by cutting ingredients in half – remember to make both halves equal.
- Get a handful of pasta shapes. Count them. If you have an odd number, put one piece back. Find out what one half of the number is by sharing into two equal groups.
- Find all the shoes in your house – how many are there altogether – you could count in twos to find the total – then organise the shoes to show one half of that number. Hint: you could put the left shoes in one group and the right shoes in another.
- Bake a cake or make a pizza – decorate each half in a different way. You could make a batch of cookies or fairy cakes and use a different icing on each half.
If you want to, you could experiment with other fractions e.g. one quarter, three quarters.
Week 27 – 22.4.24
This week, the pirates have set us a challenge to learn map skills and find the treasure. We had to learn about grid references to identify what was in particular squares on a map. We tried to remember that the digits in the grid reference are a bit like an aeroplane – along the runway then into the air. Have a look at the map in the gallery – what can you see at grid reference (D,3)?
The pirates promised us 5 points if we could locate the grid reference of the treasure, so we think there may be more challenges to come.
Secret Mission:
Have a look at some maps at home (car atlas, Ordnance Survey maps etc) see if you can find the grid reference labels. Can you find our school? Can you find your house? Write the grid references for the places you find then share your mission with me on Tapestry.
Week 26 – 15.4.24
In Kingfishers, we are very excited about our new topic. We returned to school after the Easter break to find the tables had all been turned upside down! What had happened? Who had done it? Why?
Eventually, we found a scroll written by Captain Ay and Captain Bea, asking us to identify the types of boats they had captured.
After some discussion we worked out that the Captains are probably pirates and had thought our desks were capsized boats. We think they had ‘righted’ them and captured them for their own use.
We worked together to list as many boat types as we could think of and then thought about the size and shape of each ‘boat’ to suggest what it could be used for.
Later that day, we found a treasure chest full of gems. The Captains asked us to help them find out if the treasure could be shared equally as they don’t want a mutiny on their hands! Unfortunately, they didn’t tell us how many crewmates needed to share the gems, so we investigated lots of different numbers.
Secret Mission – draw and label a picture of a lighthouse – you could choose a local lighthouse or one from further away. If you want an extra challenge, see if you can find out about the sequence of flashes from your chosen lighthouse too (this is known as the ‘characteristic’). You might find these websites useful:
https://lighthousepreservation.org/facts/
https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels
Spring Term 2024 – Inventioneers
Week 24 – 18.3.24
We have been testing the maps we designed by programming EaRL to get from one square to another. We then added 3 wooden blocks to random squares – had we blocked EaRL in? We thought about where to put the obstacles so they wouldn’t block EaRL, but would need us to deviate around them in our programming, much like an obstacle in a video game.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children have learnt to read the tricky words it’s, I’m and I’ll. We talked about what job the apostrophe is doing in these words.
Our new sound this week is /j/ spelt with a soft g (giant), and dge (bridge).
In maths, the Year 1 children have been finding out about numbers between 20 and 50. We started by counting in ones from different numbers – forwards and backwards – we found that counting backwards around 30 was tricky. We moved on to counting in tens and then counting in tens and ones when making two-digit numbers using resources.
The Year 2 children have been using their knowledge of the two times table to find out about dividing by two. We also made the connection between the two times table and doubling and halving.
In Maths Mastery, the Year 2 children have been consolidating their understanding of the number 7.
Our topic learning this week took us on another journey. We learnt about Amy Johnson who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia and also flew during World War 2 as part of the Air Transport Auxiliary flying planes for the RAF when one needed to be relocated.
Secret Mission
Our Summer Term topic is ‘X Marks the Spot’ in which we will be finding out about all sorts of seafaring adventures. Pick one of the following:
Horatio Nelson
Grace Darling
Your favourite real or fictional pirate.
Find out as much as you can about them. Present your information in any way you choose, for example, write your own story, mini-biography, fact sheet.
This week in music, we learnt to sing a new song – Funky Bear Song – and played the glockenspiels to accompany the music. We played quavers for the first time: two notes in the time we would have normally played one.
In RSHE this week, we have been thinking about how we have grown and changed from being a baby. What can we do now that we couldn’t do then?
In RE, we have continued our learning about Shabbat by finding out what Jews do to remember the seventh day of the creation story when G-d rested from work.
As part of our ‘Come as Yourself’ day on Thursday, we had a session where we paid close attention to the movements of our body. We moved like different animals and played games.
Week 23 – 11.3.24
This week, in computing, we have started to find out about artwork in computer programming, for example, the background and characters in a video game. We are making our own maps for EaRL, using unique artwork.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children have learnt to read the tricky words ‘great’ and ‘clothes’. We have continued to learn spelling choices for the /s/ sound, including sc in scissors, st in castle and se in horse. We have also discovered that se can also make a /z/ sound in words such as pause.
In maths, the Year 1 children have been using number lines to subtract, recognising and writing take away calculations.
The Year 2 children have been using arrays, pictures and written calculations to begin to learn about division and have also started to learn the 2 times table. All Year 2 children have got a letter in their Home Book with details about logging in to Times Table Rockstars to practice times tables.
In Maths Mastery, we have been learning all about the number 9. We know it is an odd number and can be made by adding an odd number to an even number. We made and recited all the ways to make 9 using addition: 0+9, 1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5, 5+4, 6+3, 7+2, 8+1 and 9+0.
Our topic learning this week took us on a journey of discovery into the history of transport. We found out that the motor car was invented by Karl Benz, but it might have come to nothing were it not for his enterprising wife, Bertha Benz who drove the first ever long distance car journey. Ask your child what they have learnt about this remarkable lady.
Secret Mission
Make a fact sheet about Richard Trevithick. You could include a picture, his birth and death years, what he was famous for and any other interesting facts you can find.
In our study of Romero Britto, we have looked at some of the portraits he has done of famous people. We talked about similarities and differences between them and then drew our own self-portraits, thinking carefully about placing our pencil lines so that others can see what we have drawn.
This week in music, we learnt to sing a new song and played the glockenspiels to accompany the music.
During open afternoon, we were very happy to welcome mums, dads, grandmas, grandpas and others to come and look at our books and hear about our learning.
Week 22 – 4.3.24
This week, in computing, we followed instructions to predict the outcome of an algorithm. We are getting better at remembering to see directions from the robot’s perspective.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children have been finding out about the soft c sound in words where c is followed by the letters e, i or y for example, city, cycle, celery. We have also been practising reading and spelling the tricky words ‘once’ and ‘two’
In maths, the Year 1 children have been thinking about doubles and half. We played a game with dice – can we roll a double? Several children noticed that they had rolled a number and its double e.g. 3 and 6.
The Year 2 children have been using arrays – pictures where the objects are set out in rows and columns – to see how multiplication written in either order results in the same answer. In this example, there are 15 bunches of bananas laid out as 3 rows and 5 columns.
This can be written as 3 x 5 = 15 and 5 x 3 = 15
In Maths Mastery, we have been learning about odd and even numbers. This week, we found out that even numbers can be made with even+even or odd+odd. We also discovered that odd numbers can be made with an even number plus one and a double plus one.
In our topic learning we have been finding out about Marian Croak – inventor of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) which allows us to make telephone calls over the internet. Ask your child what they have learnt about inventors during this topic – you will be amazed at the links they are making.
For World Book Day, we dressed up and had lots of fun. Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who came in to read with the children in the morning. Each child chose their favourite book from our class bookshelf and wrote a review to help others who may want to read it. We also developed our own ideas for a book and designed a front cover. We have continued to make our reading corner a cosy and inviting place to read – what do you think?
Secret Mission
Find out some facts about pioneer, Amelia Earhart and what made her famous.
Week 21 – 26.02.24
This week, in computing, we made different algorithms using the same four commands in different orders – same but different.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children have continued to use different spelling choices for the /k/ sound. We now know the spellings c in cat, k in king, ck in tick and ch in school. We have also learned to read and spell the tricky words once and two.
This week, we have used sewing as a technique to join fabric together to make our wearable reflectors.
We have had a move round in our classroom in preparation for World Book Day when we will focus on enhancing our reading area. The children noticed a link between our efforts and the computing we have been doing – same but different. Same furniture, different places.
In maths, the Year 1 children have started learning about addition to 20 using number bond knowledge. We know that 4+6=10 so we also know that 4+16=20.
The Year 2 children are continuing to learn about multiplication. This week, we have started to use the symbol x in calculations.
We noticed that you can swap the numbers around when multiplying and still get the same answer. E.g. 3×6=18, 6×3=18.
In Maths Mastery, we have been revisiting number bonds to 10 with the Year 2 children. We noticed that you can make ‘fact families’. We can use the same three numbers to write addition and subtraction sentences. The children pointed out that this was another example of same but different. Same numbers, different order.
Secret Mission
In preparation for the next part of our topic, make a list of as many different types of transport as you can think of. You could draw pictures to illustrate your list if you like too.
Week 20 – 12.2.24
Putting all our learning into practice, this week we wrote algorithms to show that there is often more than one method to solve a problem
In Phonics, the Year 1 children have started learning the different spelling choices for the /k/ sound.
This week, the whole school embarked on a science adventure to investigate which biscuit would be best for rebuilding the witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel. We decided what qualities the biscuits would need to be good for building, made a tally of our favourites (because we don’t want Hansel and Gretel to eat the house again!) and built a block graph to show our prediction of most waterproof. The groups sorted the biscuits decided on their own criteria then each group took one sort of biscuit to test tessellation. Next, we planned a test to see which biscuit is the most waterproof by dunking it in cold water (to represent the rain) and using a stopwatch to time how long it takes before a bit breaks off. Each group carried out the same test on the five varieties of biscuit and then we combined our results. We then made a rough approximation of an average time for each biscuit. Our next investigation was to actually attempt to build a house. From our DT work, we know that structures often need strengthening and stabilisation so we made a flour paste to use as mortar. Finally, we ate some of the unused biscuits! Our results in Kingfishers showed that the pink wafer biscuit would be the best for building.
In art, we have used our knowledge of Romero Britto’s style to draw our house pictures again – this time taking inspiration from Britto to colour them.
We have enjoyed a lot of PE this week. We have tried out different moves in dance, learnt about sticking a landing after a jump with Mr Colbeck, and participated in the dance festival at Hobart working with other children and the Young Leaders.
Week 19 – 5.2.24
In our outdoor learning this week, we used natural materials to create mini environments.
In maths, the Year 1 children have been using the number line to compare and order numbers to 20. The Year 2 children have started to learn about multiplication and division – recognising and making equal groups. In Maths Mastery, the Year 2 children have been practising subitising 6 and making numbers that are greater than, less than or equal to 6.
In computing, we have been putting our knowledge of forward, backward, left turn and right turn to create an algorithm to get from a start point to an end point.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children practised hearing and reading the /ear/ phoneme (sound) using the graphemes (spelling choices) ear in beard, ere in here and eer in cheer as well as the /air/ phoneme using the graphemes air in chair, are in share and ear in bear. We have also learnt to read and spell the tricky words eyes and friends.
We have started to learn about the history of communication from speech and gestures modern technology such as tablets. This week, we had a look at paper under the microscope and then made our own hand–crafted paper using recycled scrap paper. We then wrote instructions to help others make their own paper.
This week in art, we added colour to out Romero Britto style circles then used black felt pens to embolden the section outlines and go over our pattern lines. We then used our scissor skills to cut around the circles carefully ready to go on the wall – wait ‘til you see them!
On Fridays, we have Collective Worship in class and this week’s Bible story was about Jesus calming the storm. We had fun acting out the story as if we were in the boat with Jesus and then thanked God for looking after us in every situation.
Week 18 – 29.1.24
Our outdoor learning and music groups swapped over again this week, repeating last week’s sessions with the new groups. Paper aeroplanes and parachute games for the outside group and orchestral instruments for the music group.
In maths, the Year 1 children have been using a number line to think about which numbers go where and how to find 1 more and 1 less. The Year 2 children have continued learning about money – making amounts and using a number line to calculate change. In Maths Mastery, the Year 1 children have been exploring the composition of the number 8. The Year 2 children have been finding out that even numbers can consist of 2 odd numbers or 2 even numbers e.g. 10 = 3 + 7, 10 = 6 + 4.
In computing, we have been experimenting with forward and backward moves and left and right turns. We have also started to predict what outcome will be achieved from a set of given instructions.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children practised hearing and reading the /oi/ phoneme (sound) using the graphemes (spelling choices) oy in boy and oi in coin. We have also learnt to read and spell the tricky words, different, any and many. We played some games to practise recognising and counting syllables.
Continuing our learning about light, we have been investigating the reflectivity of a range of materials. The children designed an investigation involving a dark tent, a torch and their choices of materials, predicting which would be most and least reflective. Each group of 3 children took it in turns to be the torch holder, the fabric holder and the observer. They then talked together about their observations to rank the materials and give reasons. We then looked together at the materials none of the groups had selected to test and found that the least interesting looking one was incredibly reflective.
In RSHE, we talked about further ways to keep ourselves clean and healthy including handwashing, brushing our teeth, eating healthily and getting exercise.
Week 17 – 22.1.24
It has been a windy week, and our Monday outdoor learning made the most of the weather. We played with the parachute using our power and the wind’s to lift it as we ran underneath. Then we made our own paper planes and decorated them before flying them. In music, the other half of the class listened to Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and played a quiz to identify instruments from their sounds.
In PE this term, we are learning about gymnastics. This week we were jumping and landing, and climbing and holding.
This week in RE, we heard about the main aspects of Muslim creation stories and talked about how the Christian and Muslim stories of creation are similar and different.
The Year 1 children have continued their learning about the numbers to 20. We can talk about the numbers using phrases such as, 11 is made of 10 and 1. We have used different resources to make the numbers including, Rekenreks, tens and ones, counters and ten frames.
The Year 2 children have been using notes and coins to make amounts this week. We used coins to make 10p, 20p and 50p in different ways.
In computing, we used a paperbot to predict where the robot would end up if particular buttons were pressed. We then programmed EaRL using forwards and backwards.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children practised hearing and reading the /ur/ phoneme (sound) using the graphemes (spelling choices) er in swerve, ir in bird and ear in search. We have also been using the spelling choices in the /ow/ sound family – ow in cow and ou in mouse.
We used the facts we have learnt in history about Thomas Edison to write a mini biography about his life. We have also been finding out about Lewis Latimer who was another American inventor, born a year after Edison, and contributing an improved carbon filament to the light bulb.
In RSHE, we learnt about the role vaccinations play in keeping a community healthy. We played a game (based on a clip from Operation Ouch 3m20s – 9m12s) using beach balls to represent a virus. In the first round, none of the children had been vaccinated and would have to pretend to be ill if the ball touched them, as well as pushing the ball onwards. By the end of the round, the whole community had caught the virus.
In the second round, most children had been vaccinated and had to fold their arms, but some children (wearing bibs) represented people in a community who are unable to receive a vaccination for reasons such as age or illness. By the end of this round the ‘virus’ had bounced off the vaccinated members and not been passed on, protecting those people who had not been able to be vaccinated.
For the third round, we added a few more people in bibs who had chosen not to be vaccinated. This time, the vaccinated members stayed healthy, but some of the unvaccinated people caught the virus and passed it on to other vulnerable members of the community.
We talked about the importance of being vaccinated if we can, to help protect ourselves and those people who cannot safely receive the vaccination.
Week 16 – 15.1.24
On Monday, we swapped groups between Outdoor Learning and Music. Those doing music this week played their glockenspiel along to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
This week, we have listened to the Christian story of creation and used our imaginations to draw a sketch to represent the story.
In maths, the Year 2 children have been making amounts using the fewest number of coins by looking for the first coin that is too big and working down in value from there. The Year 1 children have been finding different ways of representing the numbers 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 using Rekenreks, tens and ones, cubes and ten frames.
In computing, we used our new floor robots – EaRL 2 – to test each other. The children worked in pairs with one partner covering their eyes and then suggesting which button their partner must have pressed, based on the robot’s action.
In RSHE, we have been talking about who makes our decisions. We drew pictures and labelled them to show some of the things we can choose for ourselves e.g. what we have for breakfast, what we do at playtime and what to draw during Free Drawing Friday.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children are learning the ‘ur’ sound family. This week we have revisited ‘ur’ in surf, learnt ‘er’ in swerve, ‘ir’ in bird and ‘ear’ in search.
This week we have been learning about the life of Thomas Edison, inventor of the phonograph and patent holder for the ‘incandescent lamp’. Ask your child to tell you what else they have learnt about Thomas Edison. We used fact cards to write a question then played musical facts to ask and answer them. Secret mission – find out about some of Edison’s other inventions to earn a Dojo point.
We finished our week in a really exciting way. After watching a video of a marble machine that plays music, we thought we would have a go at making our own version. First, I challenged the children to create a route for a marble to travel where it would always land in the container at the bottom. There had to be a drop and it needed to work more times than not. Once the groups had achieved this, we removed the container and replaced it with a chime bar. The challenge now was to hit the chime bar with the marble and then find a way of containing the marble so it wouldn’t roll too far. Having tested and listened to each groups’ machine, we played in rotation to make our own improvised music. Despite some marbles not always making their mark, we made good music and can’t wait to experiment some more another time.
Week 15 – 8.1.24
We have been enjoying diving deeply into our new topic – INVENTIONEERS. For timetable information and details about what we will be learning this term, please visit our Kingfishers Class page.
This week, we have started to think about how the universe came to be. This prompted conversations about religion and beliefs, science and history. We wondered what the ‘universe’ includes, talked about the solar system and thought about where the first people on earth would have got their light from.
We continued our thinking about light by sorting sources of light through the ages. The children thought carefully about how some sources of light may be better than others, for example, a lantern provides protection from the wind so the flame doesn’t blow out accidentally.
In maths, we are beginning to learn about money. We have started to talk about the coins we use and how much money each one is worth. We are thinking about how many pence in one pound, making amounts and practising counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10. The Year 1 children have been using dice to find three numbers that total 10 as well as writing 2-digit numbers, counting on in tens and finding the coins needed to pay for an item.
In computing, we are learning about robots and how to program a floor robot to move in a direction we choose. We have also used the Bee-Bot app to practise our skills.
In RSHE this half term, we are learning how to ‘Be My Best’. This week we have talked about things we can do now that we couldn’t do as a baby, how difficult it can be to learn a new skill, the importance of practice, and what we can say to someone to encourage them.
Our artist this term is Romero Britto. This week we have looked at some of his artwork to define his style. We like his bright colours and patterns.
On Monday afternoon, we split the class in half. Some of us had outdoor learning where we enjoyed some time at the fire pit and talked about where our light comes from. The rest of us have been finding and maintaining a beat in music, copying and repeating rhythms and playing the glockenspiel using D, E and F# to play along with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. We will swap activities each week for the rest of this half term.
In Phonics, the Year 1 children are learning the ‘or’ sound family. This week we have revisited ‘or’ in fork, learnt ‘aw’ in crawl, ‘au’ in sauce and ‘al’ in talk.
Autumn Term 2023 – London
Week 13 – 11.12.23
In the final full week of our London topic, we have written a newspaper report about the fire of London using all the facts we have learnt.
We have also started to use paint to depict the flames on our pastel pictures of Tudor London.
We tested our knowledge of the UK by looking through an atlas with a partner. We are practising locating the UK on a map of Europe or the world, naming and pointing to the four countries of the UK, naming their capital cities and talking about some of the characteristics of those countries.
A lot of our week has been taken up with preparing for our nativity performances which were outstanding. The children have worked really hard on learning their lines, remembering where to stand and how to move, singing in unison and joining in with the actions. I am sure they have made you as proud as I am of them all.
We ended our week with a walk to the church to sing carols in the community and finished with a games afternoon. Thank you for your thoughtfulness when choosing games to send in. The children (and adults) had great fun learning new games and playing well-loved ones too. Impressively, there were no arguments and the children did a great job of explaining to their friends how to play their game. As far as I can tell, all pieces made it back into boxes – except for one little Monopoly boot which I will keep safe until it can be reunited with the dog, the top hat and all its other friends.
Week 12 – 4.12.23
In maths this week, we have started to learn about the names and properties of 2D shapes. Some children used these shapes to make patterns and pictures.
This week, we have practised ‘Baarmy Bethlehem’ in our costumes, honing our nativity performance and are looking forward to sharing it with you.
We have continued our learning about the Great Fire of London – this week we have been using sources of information from the time of the fire and thinking about what information they give us about the people, places and event. We looked at a list of residents of Pudding Lane taken a couple of weeks before the fire. This document was a census of sorts, showing the names and occupations of the people as well as how many hearths and ovens they had in order to pay 1 shilling tax for each. We recognised one name from the list – Thomas Farrinor, the baker – and were surprised to see that he had five hearths and one oven. We also discovered that twice as many men were named than women and talked about why this might have been. The second source we looked at was an excerpt from an order by King Charles II, appointing two men to make an exact survey and depiction of the aftermath of the fire. We used this document to look for familiar words in the fancy lettering of the writer and then to identify words we did not understand.
Your secret mission – due in during the first week back after Christmas – is to explore King Charles II’s declaration to the City of London. You will need an adult’s help to read this – there are two transcripts further down the page – but you will be able to use your learning to say why these rules should prevent future fires from destroying the city again. Choose one of the ideas and write about what the suggestion is and why this should help for 3 dojo points.
In art, we have been looking about some of the artwork of Stephen Wiltshire – ask your child to tell you something about him or his art. We are using his style to draw a cityscape of London from 1666. We have then added some oil pastel elements to carefully chosen sections of our picture because next week, we will paint flames over them to depict the Great Fire of London. The oil pastels should resist the paint showing some parts of the buildings still intact.
Week 11 – 27.11.23
This week, we have started to learn about The Great Fire of London. We talked about what is different between a fire in 1666 and a fire now e.g. no fire brigade, no smoke detectors, no engines so they had to use buckets and water squirts, no electricity so candles and oil lamps were used which were dangerous, and houses were often made of wood with thatched roofs.
I challenged the children to look around their home for smoke detectors and ask parents to ‘test’ the detectors – but mind your ears!!
We made a list of words and phrases we could use when talking about history.
We thought about the history learning we have done already and put events in order. We included the year 0 being when Jesus was born to link with our RE learning too. We then used our maths to work out how long ago the Fire of London was and how much further back than that the Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings were.
The Year 1 children have continued to learn about subtraction and have started trying to record a written method using – and = signs. The Year 2 children are extending their learning about addition to think about adding together two 2-digit numbers (the ones first then the tens).
Christmas is on its way… we have put our baubles on the school Christmas tree. After the excitement of the school tree, we couldn’t help ourselves and put up our class tree too. On Friday, we decorated with baubles and tinsel.
Week 10 – 20.11.23
We have had a very busy week!
We have started rehearsing our nativity on the stage – your secret mission this week is to learn your lines. Anyone who knows their lines by the end of the week will earn 3 Dojo Points.
In maths, the Year 2 children have continued to learn about how to use number bonds to add to the next multiple of 10 then add any more. We used a ShowMe video to help follow the steps. The Year 1 children are learning about subtraction – we have used ‘taking away physically’ and ‘crossing out’. We have been telling stories about subtraction calculations.
On Wednesday, we dressed up in our finery and had our Cinderella ball with Robins Class. We had lots of fun dancing the Pavane and other dances, and then watched the CBeebies Panto, ‘Strictly Cinderella’.
On Thursday, we enjoyed welcoming parents and relatives into our class to find out about our learning and the Year 2 children performed the dance routine they have been practising in PE. We also invited children from other classes to come and share their learning and hear about ours.
On Friday, we painted our faces and went to the theatre to see ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’. Next week we will talk about the different ways we have recently experienced stories.
Week 9 – 13.11.23
In maths mastery, we have been identifying and making equal sets – groups with the same number of objects in them. We have used our fingers to make doubles to 5 – matching to check we have the same number on each hand.
In maths, the Year 1s have been practising additon of single digit numbers. The Year 2 children have been learning how to use number bonds to 10 to add to the next multiple of 10 and then across. We will continue to practise this week.
We have used our facts about Wales to write fact files. Your secret mission this week is to find out about Northern Ireland and make some fact cards for us to share in class. Facts could include: physical geography (e.g. mountains, rivers, lakes, natural features etc), human geography (e.g. landmarks and other features built by people), famous people, national emblem/flower/symbol, flag design, national food and anything else of interest. 1 Dojo Point for each fact you bring in to class.
In PE, we have been refining our dance – the Year 2 children will perform this on Thursday afternoon during our school Open Afternoon. We have also been developing our basketball skills – passing and dribbling.
Week 8 – 6.11.23
What a busy week we’ve had in Kingfishers! (Photos to follow next week).
We have been learning how to add using a number track and number line this week. We learnt how to find the first number then make the right number of careful jumps before counting on from the first number to find the answer. We used a game of snakes and ladders to help us learn not to count the number we start on.
We have started to learn some facts about Wales – if you haven’t done last week’s secret mission yet, it’s not too late.
In preparation for our trip on Friday, we started to learn the story of Cinderella. The children talked about everything they knew about the story and we used this to make a story map of the sequence of events.
On Thursday, we took inspiration from Cinderella and our learning about Wales, to make pumpkin and leek soup. The children learnt how to make food safely and hygienically by washing our hands, the surfaces and the ingredients before choosing appropriate tools for peeling, scooping and cutting. Some children weren’t sure whether they would like the flavour of pumpkin but almost all of them were keen to try.
On Friday, we went to Great Yarmouth to visit the Time and Tide museum and Elizabethan House. We took part in a Cinderella workshop where we learnt about how people did laundry before washing machines and helped Cinderella with her chores. One of the stepsisters helped us get dressed up in case we got invited to the ball too. The Fairy Godmother taught us how to dance the Pavanne, meaning peacock, showing us how to bow and curtsy, and helped us to use a quill to write our own invitations. The children were well behaved, engaged in the activities and interested in the historical aspects at both museums. Your secret mission for this week is to find out who the English monarch was in 1666.
Week 7 – 30.10.23
In maths, we have been practising addition and subtraction in a variety of ways. We have also been using known facts to work out related facts e.g. 7+3=10 so 70+30=100.
In maths mastery, we have been thinking about the relative size of numbers to 10. One way we did this was to start with our bodies in a small position and ‘grow’ or ‘shrink’ as we counted from 0 to 10 and back again.
In English, we have explored the features of instruction writing by looking at recipes. The features we found include ingredients list, method, bullet points or numbers and verbs. Your Secret Mission for this week is to find a recipe you like and write a list of the verbs used. Remember, a verb is an action word. This will earn you 2 Dojo points.
This week, we have been learning about Wales – ask your child about some of the facts they have learnt. (Eg. the highest peak, flower, emblem, symbol, flag, capital city, zip line, First Minister, famous person, sheep, castles).
Our Music lesson this week was led by Mr Cooper who showed us how to hold and strum a ukulele. Mr Cooper was very impressed with how well we all listened and followed instructions.
Week 6 – 16.10.23
In maths this week, we have continued our learning about Fact Families. We found out that you can use the same 3 numbers to write subtraction sentences as well as the addition we learnt about last week. For example, 9-4=5 and 9-5=4.
Our maths mastery focus for this week has been using ‘more than’, ‘fewer than’, ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’ when comparing sets of objects and numbers.
We have used our RE learning about how Hindus use their senses in worship to consider how we can use senses to make people feel welcome in our classroom. Here is the recap of our RE learning.
Our RSHE learning this half term has been about feelings. We have used our learning to suggest how various faces might be feeling and how we know.
In English, we learnt about using conjunctions to make our sentences longer. We practised with ‘or’ by writing ‘would you rather…’ sentences with a partner.
Putting all our learning about Scotland and conjunctions into practice, we have written full sentence fact files about the most northerly country of the United Kingdom. Your secret mission is to find some facts about Wales and make 3 mini fact cards. Each card should only have one fact – like the ones we used to learn about Scotland. Make your fact cards and bring them in when we return to school so we can swap them around the class. Facts could include things such as: landmarks – human and physical features, flag, national emblem, national flower, national animal, national food, famous people, capital city, Welsh parliament and its leader, and location within the UK. Here is a picture of some of the Scotland cards we used. For this secret mission, you can earn 1 point per fact card.
In PE, we are learning how to attack and defend by playing invasion games.
On Wednesday, we had a Computing afternoon in our Alpington Families (mixed ages across the school). We did all sorts of activities such as Music Lab, stop/go animations, Scratch coding and programming Bee-Bots.
To round off our week, we celebrated reaching 250 Dojo points with a class treat of a non-uniform day and a ‘no work’ afternoon.
Week 5 – 9.10.23
We can remember our dance routine and add new moves.
In RSHE, we have been talking about what we like about our friends and what ingredients make a good friendship. We played a game called ‘Pass the Smile’. Some children were ‘smilers’ and the rest were sad. As we walked around the room, the smilers would put their hand on a ‘sad’ person’s shoulder and smile at them. The other person would return the smile and go off to find someone else to pass the smile to. By the end we were all feeling happy and smiley.
The Year 1 children have been adding using Part Whole Models. We can say 4 is a part, 5 is a part, 9 is the whole. The Year 2 children have been finding out about Fact Families focussing on addition. We know that it doesn’t matter which order you write the addition numbers in, the answer stays the same. For example, using the numbers 4, 5, 9 we can write 4 + 5 = 9 and 5 + 4 = 9.
This week, we have been finding out about Scotland and some of the characteristics of this country of the UK. The children worked hard to find out facts including physical and human geographical features, national characteristics such as emblem, animal and food as well as the design of the Scottish flag. We also learned the name of one famous Scot – the poet, Robert Burns. Our Kingfisher Secret Mission for this week is to find out about 2 more famous Scottish people. You must find out the name and main role of the Scottish First Minister and one other famous Scot – either contemporary or from history.
We have continued our learning about Hinduism this week by looking at and respectfully handling some cultural and religious artefacts. The children particulary enjoyed trying on some traditional Indian clothing and exploring the Murti up close.
Week 4 – 2.10.23
We have been retelling the story of Goldilocks and the three bears, using actions. We made a storyboard using words and pictures to tell the story in the right order. Mrs York helped us to find out about question words: what, where, when, why, who, how and we used these to write a question about the story.
We used our English learning about question words to write questions about Hindu worship too.
We have seen lots of bridges as we learn about London so we made our own out of paper. It didn’t seem very strong but then we discovered that we could make it stronger by twisting the paper and further strengthen the bridge by joining the pieces together. On Friday, we tested the strength of the two bridges using our wooden building blocks. The flat paper bridge held 135 blocks before collapsing – although it was the masking tape that gave out rather than the paper itself. We collected up the blocks and put them in a tub then placed the tub on our twisted paper bridge. We were able to add even more blocks and, again, it was the masking tape that gave out. We noticed that we weren’t really testing the strength of the paper but how well the masking tape worked. We will need to devise a new test next week.
In maths we have been thinking about comparing numbers using greater than, less than and equal to as well as sequencing numbers from smallest to largest. When using the signs < and >, we talk about it as a greedy crocodile whose open mouth wants to eat the bigger number.
In our maths mastery, we have been practising subitising 6, 7, 8 and 9 by making different representations of these numbers using a dice frame, a ten frame and our fingers. We found out that it is easier to subitise when the 5 is in a recognisable pattern such as a dice pattern, or a straight line.
In computing this week, we have been finding out about the benefits of using IT (information technology). We took on roles such as ‘shopper’, ‘scanner’, ‘price finder’ and ‘calculator’ to see how long it would take without IT. We discovered that IT devices can work together far more quickly than we can because a lot of information can be transferred at once. Your Kingfishers in Action Secret Mission this week, is to find some IT devices around your home that work together to do a job. For 2 Dojo points, find at least 2 devices that work together, draw pictures and label them. For Year 2 children, also explain the part of the job each device does to help complete the task.
