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ASH CLASS 2021.2022
Ash Class is a mixed class of reception and year 1 children. Our teacher is Miss Bleakley, and Mrs Hartness is our HLTA.
We are lucky to have our own outdoor learning area and enjoy playing outside come rain or shine! The ethos of our class is to develop happy, confident and independent learners who are willing to try their best and find success in their everyday learning. Every child is unique and we aim to tailor lessons to the individual needs of the children.
On this page you can find weekly updates about our learning and any special adventures we have been on. We hope you enjoy reading about our learning journey!
SUMMER TERM 2022
Weeks Commencing 4th and 11th July 2022
We've had a really busy couple of weeks! We have enjoyed welcoming our new Reception pupils for taster sessions and have already built some good relationships with them! We enjoyed taking part in sports day on Friday 8th July- it was a huge success and the pupils did really well at earning points for their teams! We had lots of laughs and giggles watching the dress rehearsal of the Rowan Class play 'Aladdin Trouble' this Wednesday! They were amazing!
In between all of the fun we have also been working hard in English. The children wrote fab instructions after learning about imperative verbs and command sentences! This week they also write super imaginary recounts as if they were our pet snail Achi-Cheri (as he has had to go and stay with Mrs Tickle for a while). The children imagined he had gone on an adventure inspired by The Snail and the Whale. In maths we have been consolidating our learning on coins and shapes. In addition, the children have also been learning to use a ruler to measure and draw lines in centimeters. In history the children have been learning about Nelson Mandela. They carried out some research and then presented their learning in their own way- they produced great posters and mind maps! This week they have been using role play to explore what life was like with the Apartheid in place in South Africa. They showed great empathy and understanding! The children had another super PE lesson with Mrs Griffiths on Thursdays and enjoyed a lovely calm forest school session with Mrs Tickle last Friday. They were using nature to create collage pictures! I'm so proud of all the children's hard work over the last couple of weeks! Well done Ash class!!
Week Commencing 27th June 2022
This week in Ash Class we have continued learning about and writing our non-chronological reports about giraffes. The children have learnt about the features of reports and have written their own fact files about giraffes! They know so many giraffe facts! In maths we have been learning to tell the time. Reception learnt to tell the time to the hour and half past which was amazing! Year 1 have learnt to the hour, half past and quarter to and quarter past. They enjoyed a big telling the time challenge where they had to read the times written on their friends! In Science this week we have been observing our cress experiments and have been using our 'working scientifically' skills. The children designed their own experiments last week and carried them out this week and have been recording their findings! It's been great to see them so engaged! We have also been learning about the weather and the children recorded their own weather reports! We have been developing our mouse control skills in computing and the children have been creating their own digital artwork- it's amazing! The children enjoyed another fab PE session with Mrs Griffiths on Thursday and are gearing up for sports day next Friday! Our pet snail Achi-cheri has gone home for the weekend with an Ash Class pupil and we are looking forward to hearing all about what he's been up to on Monday! Enjoy the weekend!
Week Commencing 20th June 2022
This week in Ash Class the children have been showing off all the fab learning they have done this year by completing some quick quizzes! Alongside this, we have continued learning about plants in Science and the children have designed and set up their own experiments such as 'Will plants grow if I water them with tea?', 'Will seeds grow in sand?' and 'Will seeds grow if they are immersed in water?' I can't wait for the children to discover the outcomes of their experiments over the next couple of weeks! In maths this week the children have been learning about money. They have been recognising amounts, adding coins to make specific amounts and investigating all the different combinations of ways to make the same amount. In PE this week the children played rounders and Mrs Griffiths was really impressed with them! In computing we have continued learning about using a mouse to click and drag. The children used this skill to complete some coding activities! We enjoyed a lovely afternoon of forest school with Mrs Tickle on Friday in which we explored the mini-beasts on the school grounds. We enjoyed listening to the story of the old lady who swallowed a fly!!
Week Commencing 13th June 2022
What a fab week! We have been learning about non-fiction writing in English this week and the children have been identifying features and preparing to write their own non-fiction reports about their chosen animal. In Maths we have been learning to recognise, compare and add coins. This is something to continue at home as many children were really unfamiliar with real money! We had a fabulous trip to Woburn Safari Park on Tuesday where we saw so many amazing animals! We drove around the drive-through safari, took part in 2 workshops, had lunch in a shady spot, enjoyed watching the penguins swim and even had time for an ice lolly! On Wednesday the children wrote some super recounts about their day! Reception recorded some questions they wanted to find the answer to about some of the animals they had seen! We enjoyed another super PE lesson with Mrs Griffiths and are really developing control with bats and balls. As part of a DT project the children designed and made photos frames for a special person- they are lovely! On Friday we had a peaceful and calm forest school/ art session in the shade where we practised our sketching skills. Another busy and lovely week :)
Week Commencing 6th June 2022
Welcome back from half term! We hope you enjoyed the break and celebrating the Queen's Jubilee! It's been a busy week here in Ash Class. Year 1 children have been working hard in phonics as we recapped their key sounds and skills. They completed the phonics screening check this week and were amazing! In English we have been continuing to develop our comprehension and spelling skills and have been learning about using un- to change the meaning of words. In Maths we have focused on number and place value to 100! We have been counting, ordering, comparing and partitioning numbers to 100! In Science this week we have been learning about some common trees in our local area. The children explored and identified the trees on the school field- they were great! We have also been developing our writing skills this week and have been writing a recount about our celebrations for the Queen's Jubilee, including our lovely tea party as school. The children can talk confidently about what they need to include in their writing to make it amazing and now we are working on editing and checking our work to make sure it is accurate. We enjoyed another fab PE session with Mrs Griffiths on Thursday! It's been a busy busy week!!
Week Commencing 23rd May 2022
As always, we've had another busy week in Ash Class! We have been writing letters to the Queen and painting her portrait! In maths we have been learning about position and direction and have been working hard to use maths words to describe the location of certain objects. We have enjoyed looking after our new pet snail this week too! Achi-cheri LOVES cucumber!
We've been working really hard in phonics to recap and consolidate our phonics sounds and have particularly been focusing on split digraphs and non-sense words this week! We had a big celebration on Friday afternoon to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee! We enjoyed sandwiches, juice and cakes together with Puddleducks and sang the national anthem! What a busy week!
Week Commencing 16th May 2022
This week in Ash Class the children have finished writing their own stories based on The Leopard's Drum by Jessica Souhami. Their writing was amazing and blew me away!! In Maths we have been learning about fractions. The children have learnt to find halves and quarters of shapes and amounts. In geography this week we have been learning about countries in Africa. The children carried out their own independent research to find our about Kenya and Egypt. They considered similarities and differences and recorded these in a venn diagram. I was really impressed with their independence with their research! In Re we have continued exploring Jewish and Christian stories and have recorded what we already know before moving on to find out more! In forest school this week we were introduced to our new class pet- a giant African land snail. All the children were able to hold the snail and learnt about how to care for it. They even got to hold the snail! We voted to name the snail and the children decided on Achi-cheri after a character from The Leopard's Drum.
Week Commencing 9th May 2022
What a super week in Ash class! The children have blown me away with their writing this week! They have planned their own stories based on 'The Leopard's Drum' and have starting writing the beginning of the story. In maths we have been exploring division by sharing into equal groups and the children have started to link their knowledge of multiplication and equal groups to their division problems. In music we have continued to explore music along the theme of imagination and the children have practised accompanying a song using the glockenspiels. In science we have been learning about plants and the children have been exploring, naming and learning about the functions of different parts of a plant. In art they have finished their African Tribal masks which look fantastic! In PE the children took part in a table tennis session which looked like great fun! It's lovely to see their skills develop and improve! We've enjoyed lots of time outside this week too and the children were fab as talking about our class rules and routines as we welcomed 2 new children into Ash class. Looking forward to another lovely week next week!
Week Commencing 2nd May 2022
As always, we had another busy week in Ash Class! In English we have continued our unit based on The Leopard's Drum by Jessica Souhami. We have been describing the characters using adjectives and have been creating new characters ready for next week's sessions. In maths this week the children have been developing their understanding of multiplication and have been using manipulatives to create groups of objects and arrays! Reception have focused on making equal groups and even had a go at solving simple multiplication problems using objects too!! In music we have started a new unit with the theme of 'imagination.' The children have been learning to sing a new song about imagination and even used glockenspiels to accompany the music. In art we have been learning about patterns and colours used on African tribal masks. We enjoyed watching videos of the masks being used in tribal celebrations. In PSHE we have been reading a book called Saving the Butterfly by Helen Cooper and continuing our discussions about refugee children and the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. As part of this work the children created gorgeous butterflies using symmetry. In forest school we enjoyed making tribal necklaces using leaves and string. We had to work hard to thread the leaves carefully without breaking them!
Weeks commencing 18th and 25th April 2022
What a great start to the Summer Term! The children have been introduced to our new geography and history topic- Amazing Africa. They have been recording what they already know about Africa and recording what they would like to find out. They came up with some super questions. In science we have started our new unit about plants. Again, we recorded what we know and what we would like to find out. The children are already really knowledgeable about plants so I can't wait to challenge their thinking! In English we have started exploring a new book called The Leopard's Dum by Jessica Souhami. The children have started to explore the characters, moral of the story and the sequence of events. In maths we have started learning about making equal groups and adding equal groups in preparation for learning about multiplication next week. The children have also been developing their editing skills and have edited their writing about what they would do it they organised a birthday party for the Queen. I've been so impressed with their beautiful and careful writing! We enjoyed using our art skills to create sunset African savanna pictures. They look amazing! In forest school/ science this week we have been observing closely and drawing and labelling leaves and flowers. The children did a super job! What a busy couple of weeks!
SPRING TERM 2022
Week Commencing 21st March 2022
We have enjoyed celebrating careers week this week! We started the week by watching a Rocksteady concert on Monday morning which was amazing! The children were fantastic and have obviously been working really hard. We were then visited by GenR8 who shared a short performance with key messages about friendship. On Tuesday we were visited by Mrs Traynor who talked to us about all her careers and this was followed by a talk from Carrie-anne from Polygon who spoke about her role creating online learning content to a company who restore buildings that have suffered fire and water damage. On Wednesday we had a zoom call with a nurse and then a talk by Mrs Duncan who spoke to use about being a Scientist! On Thursday, Mrs Gilks spoke to us about being a teacher and head teacher and we had another fab PE session with Mrs Griffiths! We were also visited by the local Kimbolton Fire Fighters who spoke to us about being a fire fighters and the qualities you need. We also tried on some of their equipment and used the hoses! On Friday we were visited by Mr Brown who spoke to us about being a farmer and the job that farmers do. We even got to sit in his tractor! On Friday afternoon we also had a zoom call with a local vet and got to ask lots of questions! What an awesome week!
Week Commencing 7th March 2022
Another busy week in Ash class! We have been writing instruction in English and learning about time connectives and imperative verbs! We made jam sandwiches to help us write instructions for how to make a jam sandwich. We worked hard to edit our writing too! We created a museum of Jewish artefacts to share our learning about Judaism. We had a fab Exciting Explorer Forest School day at Great Staughton Primary Academy on Friday. We 'visited' planet Earth, the desert, Antarctica and Space as part of the day and completed a range of activities to deepen our understanding of what an explorer is. We also celebrated World Book Day this week and had a day full of reading activities and sharing our favourite Julia Donaldson books!
Week commencing 21st February 2022
In English this week we have been learning about instruction texts. We explored the features of instruction texts such as recipes and we learnt about imperative verbs! In Maths we have continued to consolidate our understanding of numbers to 50 and recapping how to find one more and one less. We also worked on some problem solving and reasoning questions. In DT this week we continued our unit based on making toast. We used spinners to create a specification and practised making toast to meet the specification. We got to try different toppings! Yum! In PE this week, we developed our team work skills by playing throwing games! We had great fun! We enjoyed our weekly visit to the school library to change our library books and shared what we had learnt from them! In our exciting writing session the children wrote reports about the human body. They amaze me everyday with their knowledge of the human body! In PSHE we had a discussion about the different religions we learn about at school. We recorded our ideas by writing sentences and drawing pictures! In forest school on Friday we went on a hunt for signs of spring and used this to inspire some spring art work! What a busy week!
Week Commencing 7th February 2022
We are loving science at the moment! The children are really enjoying learning about the human body! this week we learnt about the senses and explored which body part we use for each sense. The children used a selection of foods to explore their senses which was great fun! In maths this week we have been developing our understanding of number and place value and have been using our knowledge of addition and subtraction to problem solve. The children have worked really hard! In English they have written their own stories based on We're Going on a Bear Hunt. We had stories about whale hunts, vampire hunts, panthers hunts and more!! In Music we have been exploring some rhythm and blues and learnt a song called 'We Are in the Groove.' The celebrated Safer Internet Day on Tuesday. We learnt about what safer internet day was and why it was important. We also learnt how we can stay safe on the internet. We created our own drama pieces about what we should and shouldn't do with some content shared online. We had a fabulous art session led by Miss Atlay on Wednesday in which we explored using different materials to create self portraits. In PE on Thursday we continued our gymnastics session with Mrs Griffiths and on Friday we enjoyed forest school with Mrs Tickle! We read Superworm which inspired us to prepare our garden for growing vegetables very soon! What a busy week! We all hope you have a wonderful half term!!
Week Commencing 31st January 2022
What a busy week in Ash class this week. In maths we have been developing our understanding of place value to 50. The children have been using the maths resources to build numbers to 50 and have been partitioning numbers into tens and ones. In English we have continued our unit exploring We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. We also read We’re Going on a Lion Hunt and compared the two stories. The children have planned their own stories with repeated phrases. In Science we continued our topic about the human body and have been learning about the human life cycle and how we change as we get older. The children drew their own human life cycles. As part of our Exciting Explorers topic we learnt about the similarities and differences between towns and cities. The children thought about where they live and whether it was a village, town or city. We discussed what we like and don’t like about where we live. We’ve been working hard on our handwriting this week too, with a focus on correct formation and sitting letters on the line correctly. In design and technology we analysed our questionnaire results from our previous session to explore how people in Ash class like to have their toast. We made a giant bar chart to show what the favourite toppings were! We enjoyed having Mrs Grffiths back for our gymnastics session on Thursday in which we focused on balance activities. We also practice head stands. In PSHE this week we have been exploring some of our rights. The children learnt about the right to have their name and identify protected and also about the right to be cared for by your family. We also enjoyed making some skeleton art, using pasta to create the shapes of a skeleton! We found out some super facts about skeletons too!
Week Commencing 24th January 2022
In English this week we have been exploring We're Going on a Bear Hunt. This linked really nicely with our forest school session in which we went on a bear hunt and used the natural resources around us to help tell the story! In Maths we have continued learning to subtract. The children have been working hard to deepen their understanding of subtraction and have used a range of methods such as using a tens frame, using a number line and counting back. In RE we have continued learning about Judaism and have been exploring the meaning of lots of Jewish symbols. In science we have starting learning about the name of different body parts that we can see. Some children were able to also name lots of internal body parts which was amazing! I love the enthusiasm the children have for science this term! In Geography the children have been learning about the names of the 7 continents and 5 oceans. They enjoyed learning songs to help them remember! We had another fab PE session this week in which we developed our use of tactics agility and teamwork. We played a giant came of hungry hippos! It was great fun! In our whole school assembly this week we continued learning about our rights with a focus on the right to have a name and identify and that these are protected. The children also enjoyed a PSHE session in which they learnt about the right to an education. they children shared some great thoughts about why education is important.
Week Commencing 17th January 2022
Another busy week in Ash Class. This week the children enjoyed exploring and comparing texts by Julia Donaldson. We have been reading and discussing The Snail and the Whale and Room on the Broom and have been recording similarities and differences. In maths we have been recapping addition and subtraction and moving on to using larger numbers and quicker methods. We need to recap some key skills such as counting in 2/5/10, partitioning numbers eg 15 is made up of 10 and 5 and quickly recalling number bonds within 10. In topic this week we have been learning about where we live in terms of the village/ town, county and country. The children have been recording their addresses and recording what they like and dislike about where they live. In RE we have started a new unit about Judaism. We explored the story of Moses this week and created a storyboard of the key events. We had a fab PSHE session on Tuesday in which we explored the concept of community. We had another super gymnastics session this week in which we practise and developed our travelling/ movement and balance skills. The children put together a short sequence of moves and showed great teamwork! We enjoyed forest school on Friday in which we were exploring habitats! What a super week!
Week Commencing 10th January 2022
What a busy week in Ash Class! The children have worked so hard! We have welcome Miss Atlay to Ash Class this week. She will be joining us for the Spring Term. In Maths we have been adding number together using different methods such as using a number line and partitioning numbers to make number bonds to 10. In English we have started a unit in which we will be exploring and comparing books by the author Julia Donaldson. Our focus this week has been on Room on the Broom. We have been learning about using adjectives to describe the characters and setting and considering questions we would ask the witch. We also made predictions about what might happen next. In PE we started our gymnastics unit with Mrs Griffiths and in DT we have begun our new topic in which we will be making toast for a friend. Our science topic this term is animals, including humans and the children have shared and recorded what they know so far. I can tell they are really interested and knowledgeable about this topic. Our humanities topic this term is ‘Exciting Explorers and Significant People’. We started this geography focused unit by learning to name and locate the countries and capital cities in the United Kingdom. We have been working hard in our exciting writing sessions to use adjectives to describe! The children have produced some lovely writing and now we are working hard to vary our sentences and tighten our punctuation. We had a fab forest school session with Mrs Tickle on Friday in which we explored the pond and field to look closely and find the strangest looking creatures we could find! What a super week!
Week Commencing 3rd January 2022
What a super start to the new term! We recapped key maths and english skills this week to consolidate our learning. We practised writing and using adjectives to describe the Gruffalo and went on a super trip to Grafham Water Outdoor Centre! We loved the low ropes, building fires and completing a Grafham challenge!!
AUTUMN TERM 2021
Week Commencing 6th December 2021
This week in Ash Class we have continued our poetry unit in English. We have been creating our own poems about our favourite food! The children wrote some fab poems for a class anthology and it made us all feel very hungry! In Maths we are beginning to explore and make sense of numbers to 20. We have been partitioning them into tens and ones, building them using concrete resources and learning to read and write them as numbers and words. Reception have demonstrated super understanding of numbers to ten and have been sequencing them, finding one more and one less, and looking for number patterns. In design and technology, we have continued our moving pictures projects. This week we learnt about how to make a simple wheel mechanism to create moving pictures. The children created some super pictures with moving spiders and flowers! In PE the children have continued their dance unit with Mrs Griffiths and have enjoyed performing and learning new dance routines. We had a wonderful Christingle service on Thursday and in our RE session this week learnt about the meaning of Christingle to Christians and the children wrote some lovely acrostic poems. In history we have been learning about how historians find out about the past and have been reading Samuel Pepys’ diary. The children then wrote their own diaries as if they had seen the Great Fire of London. We have enjoyed practicing our Nativity play in preparation for our carols and tableau performance next week and have been singing the songs in singing assembly. Happy Friday!
Week Commencing 29th November 2021
This week in Ash Class we have enjoyed getting stuck into our new poetry unit in English. We have been exploring poems about food and a great poem called 'The Dinosaur's Dinner' which the children thought was hilarious! The children have been working hard to perform sections of different poems and thinking carefully about what makes a good performance. In Maths we started learning about 2D and 3D shapes. Reception and Year 1 have been learning to recognise the shapes by name and have also been discussing their properties. Year 1 have also explored some irregular 2D shapes. In history we have been exploring what happened after the Great Fire of London. The children have been learning about Christopher Wren and his role in rebuilding and redesigning London after the fire. The children learnt about how London was made safer so that a Great Fire never happened again! They designed a street inspired by Christopher Wren's designs. In PE the children have continued their dance unit and have performed short dances with great enthusiasm. It's amazing to see them improve every week! We have started rehearsals for our Nativity Tableau this week too. We are looking forward to singing and performing soon!
Week Commencing 22nd November 2021
The children have worked really hard this week. It's been assessment week so we have been recapping some key learning and skills. We have recapped our phonics sounds ready to move our learning on next week and we have practised our handwriting. Year 1 had a go as a practise phonics screening and were amazing. In English, the children wrote super stories about a family of polar bears and Reception are beginning to build sentences! We have also been practising lots of oral story telling by sitting in a circle and verbally adding a sentence each to our class story. This is something you can practise at home too! On Thursday the children had another super dance lesson with Mrs Griffiths and I saw them perform their dances- they were fantastic! In PSHE this week we have been thinking about families and friendships. The children shared some wonderful ideas, thoughts and feelings about what it means to be a family or a good friend. We have been developing our digital literacy skills too this week by learning to log into a laptop, open a word document and type our name and a simple sentence. The children were really enthusiastic about this and were so proud of all that they achieved! On Friday we enjoyed a lovely forest school session with Mrs Tickle with a focus on leaves. You may have seen our leafy fox in the Ash playground after school.
Week Commencing 15th November 2021
This week we have enjoyed finishing off writing our own non-fiction books about the Great Fire of London! We have been learning about the difference between facts and opinions and have written lots of facts in our books. In Maths we have been learning to subtract single digit numbers. We started by using objects and the moved onto using a number line to subtract. Reception have been doing lots of practical addition and subtraction in the continuous provision. They particularly enjoyed using dominoes to practise adding numbers together. They were able to count and match the dominoes to the correct number. In PE the children continued their dance unit which had a spy theme this week! With Mrs Griffiths the children were learning to move and dance inspired by spy movements and some great spy music! We celebrated anti-bullying week and completed some PSHE activities. The children learnt the importance of being a 'defender'. This is someone who steps in and tells people to stop if they hear someone being unkind. The children learnt that we all have a responsibility to prevent and stop unkindness and bullying. In art this week we have been learning to change the tone of a colour. We know that we add white to make a colour lights and black to make it darker. We enjoyed using the powder paints to make and change our primary colours! We wore crazy socks for Children in Need on Friday. As a school we made a giant Pudsey face using our donations! We had a visit from some staff from Halifax who are going to match our school donation for Children in Need! They helped us make our Pudsey face and also judged our crazy socks competition! In forest school this week we have been looking for signs of Autumn. We collected some natural objects to use in a maths game on the playground. The children collected twigs, leaves, conkers and berries to play a tens frame game. The aim of the game was to fill their tens frame first! It's been a fab week!!
Week commencing 8th November
In English this week we have continued learning about information texts. We have started writing our own non-fiction booklets about The Great Fire of London. This week we have been writing contents pages, glossaries and headings. In maths we have become really confident adding single digit numbers and have moved onto subtracting. We have been using practical objects to subtract and have also been thinking about other words that mean 'subtract.'
In RE this week we have continued learning about Christianity and enjoyed an enrichment visit to our local church. We learnt about how Christians use the church. We had great fun role playing a wedding and a baptism as well as ringing the bells!
In our forest school session on Monday we learnt all about pumpkins. We learnt lots of facts about pumpkins and all their different uses. We scooped out the seeds so that we can grown some pumpkins next year. In PE we continued our dance topic in which we have been learning to move and dance like leaves. We have exploring different movements to warm up our bodies. In art this week we have been learning about colour mixing. We explored how to make primary and secondary colours using powder paints- messy but good fun!
Week Commencing 1st November 2021
It's been great to have the children back after half term- they have been full of energy and great fun this week! In English we started a new unit about non-fiction books. We have been exploring a range of non-fiction books, identifying their features and sorting books into fiction and non-fiction. We have also been recording some questions in preparation to write our own information texts in the coming weeks. In Maths this week we have been adding single digit numbers together using a range of methods, including using blocks, counting on and using a number line. We've had some really great maths sessions this week! We also had some fab RE lessons and have continued learning about Christianity. We have been learning about what it means to belong, why churches are important to Christians and who Jesus was and why he is special to Christians. In PE this week we have started a new unit of dance. This week we explored how leaves moved and used what we had learnt to create our own dance routines. It was great fun! In science we have continued learning about materials and have been classifying materials according to their properties. I was really pleased to hear some super science conversations going on throughout our lesson this week. We enjoyed celebrating Diwali by making diva lamps. We are looking forward to when they dry so we can light them! We enjoyed singing assembly with Mrs Tickle this week and an assembly about how to stay safe on Bonfire Night. We are looking forward to another busy week next week!
Week Commencing 18th October 2021
We loved forest school this week! We completed some team building activities and were learning to work well as a team! In English we have finished off our unit based on traditional tales and Little Red Riding Hood. We were learning to use adjectives to describe and conjunctions to join sentences together. The children used these skills to write a character description to help to police catch the Big Bad Wolf! In maths we have been learning to compare simple addition number sentences, including number bonds within 10. The children have engaged really well with learning number bonds to and within 10 and they know that number-gator likes to eat the biggest number! The children enjoyed creating some autumn art work and looking for signs of autumn this week too! In PE the children enjoyed playing a follow the leader game and developing their ball skills! They had to pass the ball with good control! We iced some delicious Halloween biscuits on Friday afternoon and are really excited for the Halloween disco!
Week Commencing 11th October 2021
As always we've had another busy week in Ash Class. We have continued our English unit based on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The children have been exploring characters from traditional tales, describing the characteristics of goodies and baddies and have been collecting adjectives to describe the characters from Little Red Riding Hood. In maths we have been partitioning, using part-whole models, adding single digit numbers and sequencing numbers on a number line. I've been really impressed with how hard the children are working. Reception have been building their understanding of numbers to ten and have also practised forming their numbers correctly. They have enjoyed making their own number lines and building numbers using the maths resources. Year 1 enjoyed their last session of Balanceability with Mrs Marriott this week and she was so proud of their behaviour and progress over the last half term. Ash class had their weekly PE session with Mrs Griffiths on Thursday too in which they continued building on their fundamental movement skills. On Friday the children wrote some fantastic stories based on a picture of Cinderella and shared them with each other and they spent Friday afternoon exploring spiders and their habitats with Mrs Tickle in forest school. They created a giant spider web together and had fun learning lots of spider facts!
Week Commencing 4th October 2021
We have enjoyed starting a new traditional tales topic in English this week. We have been exploring different traditional tales, talking about their features and discussing our favourite ones. Then we sequenced the story of Little Red Riding Hood and created a class story map! In Maths we have been comparing numbers, using language such as greater than and less than. We also began looking at more than/less than symbols. We also learnt about ordinal numbers and how they help you put things in order!
In PE this week, Ash class have continued to develop their balance, agility and coordination by practising throwing at a target. They build on skills from previous weeks.
Year 1 have enjoyed another session of Balanceability with Mrs Marriott. The children used stepping stones to build their balancing skills before moving onto using the balance bikes. The children really enjoy these sessions!
We celebrated National Poetry Day with an Ash Class poetry slam!
We loved the Harvest Festival on Thursday too! We took part in a session with Reverend Howson to celebrate Harvest. We took part in singing and listening to poems and readings about Harvest. Ash Class performed a song called 'In my Little Garden.'
We love developing our forest school skills too with another forest school session! We are building independence and teamwork!
Week Commencing 27th September 2021
This week in Ash Class we have continued building on our learning as we worked towards writing a diary from the perspective of Vlad in Vlad and the Great Fire of London. The children have been planning, writing and editing their diaries. In maths we have been consolidating our understanding of number and place value to 10. We have been sequencing numbers and finding one more and one less. The children have enjoyed working practically! We have also focused on number formation which you can continue at home. We have practised getting our numbers round the correct way!
We have been steaming ahead with our phonics sounds this term. Reception have learnt lots of phase 2 sounds and have them to practise at home in their phonics packs! Year 1 are recapping phase 3 sounds as we have identified some gaps. They have phonics books targeted at practising these sounds. Please also use their phonics pack to check they are confident with all the flashcards but particularly the pink ones. In science we have been learning about materials and we went on a material hunt around school. We have been learning to distinguish between an object and the material it is made out of. In DT we have continued our moving pictures project. The children have learnt how to make a simple lever to make part of their picture move!
The children enjoyed another super PE session with Mrs Griffiths on Thursday and managed to dodge the rain! They also enjoyed an extra forest school session with Mrs Tickle on Wednesday afternoon in which they worked with year 6 to complete a treasure hunt! It was wonderful to see the children working so well together!
In history this week we continued learning about life in London in 1666 and have been comparing transport, clothes, houses and what a street was like compared to today. The children are really enjoying our Fire! Fire! topic this term and it's wonderful to see them so engaged with the learning. We also celebrated European Languages day on Monday and learnt some simple greetings in French and how to say 'thank you'. We children were treated to some pain au chocolat at break time!
Next week we will be celebrating National Poetry day so year 1 children can choose a poem they would like to learn to recite ready for a mini poetry slam next week! I can't wait to hear them!
It's been such a busy week! I can't wait to see what fun next week brings!
Week Commencing 20th September 2021
This week we have continued our English unit based on Vlad and the Great Fire of London. The children have been developing some key skills needed to write a diary. We have focused on identifying verbs and writing in the past tense. Reception have been continuing to learn some new phonics sounds and developing their rhyming skills this week. In Maths, Reception have had a focus number each day which they have practised recognising, writing and making using cubes. They have made some super progress with their number formation!
Year 1 enjoyed another Balanceability session with Mrs Marriott on Wednesday. They focused on key balancing skills both on and off the balance bikes! They came back with big smiles on their faces! Ash Class have been working on their ball control skills in PE with Mrs Griffiths this week. After a warm up, they practised dribbling the ball with their feet and played some simple games to practise this new skill.
We have continued our 'Fire! Fire' topic by using a range of sources to find out more about The Great Fire of London. The children used diary entries, videos and paintings to find out about why the Great Fire started and why it spread so quickly! They really impressed me with their super knowledge!
The children have continued their design and technology projects in which they are currently researching and starting to make moving pictures. They created collages this week in preparation for next week's session.
We also enjoyed another forest school session along with Puddleducks! We love forest school!!
The week has flown by! Have a fab weekend!
Week Commencing 13th September 2021
It's been another busy week in Ash Class! We have started a new English unit based on a book called Vlad and the Great Fire of London. This has linked really nicely with our topic work on the Great Fire of London and the children have enjoyed following the story of Vlad and Boxton as they escape the fire! We started the week off with some role play to explore the characters which was great fun! In maths this week our focus has been on numbers to 10. Reception are working through recognising, forming and using numbers to count accurately. They are working so hard to form their numbers to 3 correctly! Keep up the super work! Year 1 have been developing their understanding of grouping and numbers to ten. they have enjoyed playing some challenging games from the nrich website to check their understanding. On Friday the children completed an exciting writing task- they wrote about a dragon who was toasting giant marshmallows! I was so impressed with their lovely writing! This week as part of our art and PSHE sessions we have been exploring the work of Picasso and learning about having a growth mindset. The children have started some abstract self-portraits which look great! They enjoyed another PE session with Mrs Griffiths this week in which they were developing their ball control skills. The children made nature crowns using natural objects. They look fab! Mrs G was very impressed with their listening skills! We also had a fab forest school session this week along with Puddleducks. It's been a busy but super week!
Week Commencing 6th September 2021
Wow! What a busy week in Ash Class! We enjoyed continuing our creative week. We have been exploring a text called Erroll's Garden. We have also been enjoying a poem called 'My Lonely Garden.' These two texts have influenced our learning and discussions this week. We started by exploring the texts and enjoying listening to the poems. We gathered some new vocabulary using our senses and then wrote our own poems! We practised performing our poems outside in the garden! Our reception children have settled so well into life at KPA and have enjoyed having year 6 buddies at break and lunchtimes. They have started phonics sessions and are working hard on listening and rhyming skills! Year 1 enjoyed their first Balanceability session with Mrs Marriott this week and Mrs Marriott shared how proud she was of their hard work and super behaviour! We have been thinking about what it means to have a grown mindset too this week. The children have been discussing and thinking about what someone with a growth mindset might say. We know that if we get better at things when we don't give up! On Friday we enjoyed creating our own garden area along with Oak Class. We worked together to weed, tidy and plan a new herb garden in the Ash flower bed! I was so proud of the children's determination, enthusiasm and resilience! What a fab week!
Week Commencing 30th August 2021
We have been so excited to welcome the children back to school this week and have enjoyed two days back to settle into the swing of things. We have been learning new routines and on team building activities. Over the next couple of weeks we are using a book called Errol's Garden as the focus of our PSHE and English work. We started this week by reading a poem that links to the story and imagining what the garden in the poem looked like. We drew pictures to represent the garden. This week we also wrote our own class charter, discussing and agreeing on class rules to help us have a good time at school. Year 1 also completed some writing about themselves. I was so pleased to see how enthusiastic they were about writing! We enjoyed welcoming our new reception children for part-time sessions this week and can't wait for them to start full time next week! They were so confident and settled into school life really well!
