Kingfishers in action!

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Kingfishers in Action!

Autumn Term 2021

Week 6

In maths this week, we have been learning more about addition and how to do it. We have tried out a few pictorial, visual and concrete methods including a part whole model, bar models, counting on and using partitioning.

The Y1s have been finding out about working systematically – moving one number at a time when creating number bonds to 10. The Y2s have been finding out about adding multiples of 10 and counting on in tens from a given number.

With our visit to see Dippy fast approaching, we took the opportunity to find out a bit more about fossils. Using a workshop made by the education team at the cathedral, we joined in with role play about Mary Anning and even got our hands on some real fossils. On Wednesday, we all went to Norwich cathedral to see Dippy the Diplodocus. The children were very well behaved – on the coach and at the cathedral, even when we had to wait for our turn. Once inside, the children impressed with their knowledge and enthusiasm.

We are looking forward to showing you more of our learning in our books on Monday.

Week 5

This week, we have been continuing our research to support our fact file writing about Alpington. Many thanks to all of you who sent leaflets in – we studied them in groups and worked out what features they had in common – for example, a map of ‘How to Find Us.’

We visited St. Mary’s church to carry out a sensory exploration. This combined Science, RSHE, RE and art. We talked a lot about textures and temperatures, birdsong and big lorries, candle smoke and compost, and windows and walls. After using our senses to explore inside and outside, we made some rubbings of tree bark, brickwork and plaques. Finally, we sketched the church from our snack spot. The children were really well behaved and enjoyed spending the morning doing our learning out of the classroom.

In maths this week, we have been looking at number bonds in a variety of ways and using that knowledge to think about related facts. The Y1 children used their super recall of number bonds to 10 to work out number bonds to 20. They have also been finding new ways of recording their learning by using part whole models and the addition sign. The children made a marble run to demonstrate how a part whole model works – with two entry points, descending to a single collection point. This allowed us to put for example, 3 marbles in one side and 5 marbles in the other, ending with a total of 8 marbles. They also used chalk on the playground to create their own number line to practise jumping on for example, start on 2 then jump on 5 (finishing on 7).

The Y2 children have been thinking about what else we know from a given calculation. For example, if we know that 3 + 5 = 8 then we also know that 30 + 50 = 80. They have also been using maths in their play. They could only use the train set if they ‘paid’ for the tracks. They had to keep track of their spending though, as they were only allowed £150 to make a route that a train could keep travelling around.

In phonics we have been using ‘ou’ in cloud, ‘ay’ in say, and ‘a-e’ in cake. The Y1 children used the new spelling of a familiar sound ‘ay’ to practise their spellings and we had a chat about where the names of the days of the week come from.

Week 4

This week, we have been working together to write a fact file about England as practice and preparation for writing a fact file about Alpington.

On Wednesday afternoon, we went for a walk around the village to plot important community locations on a map, and to talk about the variety of types of homes we saw. The children have learnt about the importance of community spaces, indoors and out, to support village life in a wide range of life and day to day events. They have also built a super bank of vocabulary linked to our topic which will soon come in handy.

Following on from our learning about the Sikh Gurdwara, we decided to make our own Nishan Sahib – a flag of welcome – to show that our classroom is a place where everyone is welcome and will be treated fairly. You can see some examples of our flags on our classroom door.

In maths, we have all been using the greater than, less than and equals symbols to compare groups of people, objects and numbers. The children have learnt that, thinking about the symbols as a crocodile’s mouth, the greedy crocodile likes to eat the bigger number. We used a practical activity to make different and same sized groups then used these to compare. The children then had the opportunity to choose their level of challenge in varied activities, ranging from manipulating numbers and symbols to rolling out playdough shapes to give fairy tale characters a greater or lesser amount of their favourite food.

Week 3

This week we have been looking at maps and atlases to see if we can find local and wider UK places. We have been learning about the difference between a village, town and city and we have been trying to use topic vocabulary, such as: continent and country, accurately. We have also had an initial attempt at drawing ‘the UK’ – this was before any teaching or looking at a map – just to see what the children thought or knew.

The children have been talking about places they know about or have visited in our local area, and have been thinking about what they like, or don’t like, about living in a village.

In phonics, the Year 1 children have been revisiting some problem graphemes (spelling choices) from their learning last year. On Friday, we read the book Quick Quack Quentin and tried to help Quentin find alternative choices to use in his Quack when he lost his A.

The Year 2 children have also been revisiting some problem graphemes. On Friday, they took their learning onto the playground to read and write words with ie making the ee sound.

In maths, the children have been continuing to learn about the value of numbers using place value equipment (tens and ones), cubes, numbers and by comparing using more/greater and less than.

Week 2

We have been finding out about the Olympics – Ancient and Modern. Here is a sample of our writing about the Ancient Greek Games:

Week 1

The children have returned to school with amazing enthusiasm and are keen to learn, play and catch up with their friends.

We have been finding out about ways to stay safe online and have made posters and a little video. You can watch this on Stream using your child’s login details.