WOW! What a busy week we have had in year 1! In English, the children have been writing their own monster stories. I have been so impressed with how creative the children have been, particularly with describing their monster and the setting. I can tell that the children have all had a brilliant go at practising their story maps at home. Learning the stories in this way works wonders, for when the children come to write it down independently!

In Tuesday, we had our WOW lesson in Science, to launch our new topic of, materials. The children were challenged to make a house for the three little pigs, with the materials provided, (some silly). The Big Bad Wolf, then tried to blow their houses down. We had a brilliant discussion about which of the houses were the most suitable for the little pigs and why. Next week in year 1, it is SCIENCE WEEK and we will be learning all about different materials, including, metal, glass, plastic and wood. I wonder if the children can spot any of these everyday materials over the weekend? If so, please encourage the children to talk about their simple physical properties, e.g. hard, soft, bendy etc.

In maths, the children have been practising subtraction within 20. The new learning has been TRICKY, luckily the 30 Tommy Turtles in year 1, love a challenge! Please continue to challenge the children to partition numbers from 0-20, into tens and ones. For example, the number 17 has 1 ten and 7 ones. It is also important to recognise that 17 is made up of 17 ones too. We had lots of fun representing numbers to 20, using marshmallows (ones) and straws (tens). The children loved doing this and I am sure they would love to teach you how to do it at home too!

The children also went to church on Tuesday, to learn all about baptism. Father Peter, kindly demonstrated a baptism to the children and answered the children’s curious questions. All of the staff who came to church with us, were SO impressed with how well behaved the children were and how they took such an interest in the baptism. For show and tell next week, if the children have photos of their own baptism, it would be lovely if they could bring them in. Please feel free to email me any pictures; I know that these photos are very precious.

Star of the Day

Every day I will be picking a star of the day! The star of the day will be someone who has shone Jesus’ light in our classroom and been a kind, resilient and focused learner. As I only pick one star of the day, these children should be very proud of themselves! This week the stars of the day have been: Pippa, Faye, Sophia, Maddie and Rose.

Class Tiger

This week the Tiger has chosen to come home with Maddie. Maddie, the Tiger has been so impressed with you this week! From looking at your books, you would never know that you were poorly for two days! You have caught up with all of your learning and wrote a fantastic description of what happens at a baptism and you weren’t even there! Well done you!

Let’s celebrate

Keep Improving Lizzie Ladybird - For improving so much in your maths. Bella, I have been blown away this week, with how focused you have been on your maths learning. You have pushed yourself to answer trickier questions and have shared your brilliant reasoning with the class too! Well done you maths superstar, let’s keep growing that brilliant brain!

Co-operative Roger Robin - For being such a ray of sunshine. Natasha, you are such a thoughtful and kind girl! You always go out of your way to help others with their learning and are always ready to celebrate another success! Thank you for making our classroom such a happy and loving place to learn!

Notices:

PE kit to be worn on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Please note that the children should wear a full tracksuit, as per the school’s uniform policy - not just shorts. Children are to wear their shorts for Yoga on a Wednesday and indoor PE on a Friday. I suggest that children wear their shorts underneath their tracksuit bottoms, so that they can easily change.
We have Paralympian Craig McCann visiting us on Thursday 13th February. Craig will be chatting to the children about his achievements in a whole school assembly, but will also be setting the children little challenges to complete throughout the day. Please don't forget to keep collecting those sponsors. On this day, the children can come to school wearing any uniform they may wear for out of school clubs or sporting activities - for example dance classes, taekwondo, beavers etc. However, we do ask that the children are comfortable in their uniforms and that they are suitable for school, as they will be exercising in them throughout the day. Normal school trainers should be worn. If you are unsure or your child does not have any uniform from an out of school activity, the children can wear their school tracksuits.
Thank you so much for those people who brought in spare knickers for KS1. We are incredibly grateful!
A kind reminder about show and tell, please can children only bring in things that can fit into their school bag; the cloakroom was full of lots of big bags today. The most important thing is that it is a safe space for the children to move around in. Thank you!

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Lane, Miss Woodrow and Mrs Malley