We have had an amazing half term in Hawthorns!
We have really enjoyed poetry, where we focussed on poetic language #and we have also been working extremely hard to complete reading comprehension questions. Our topic this term has been all about the coastline. The children have been leaning about the physical and human features of coastal regions across the United Kingdom, including a detailed exploration of the coastal town of Whitby, in Yorkshire. Ask them how we remember the compass points!
Well done Hawthorns!
In Willows our topic for this term has been Rocks, Relics and Rumbles. This half term we have explored how earthquakes and tsunamis happen and we have become volcanologists to find out more about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
To link with our Geography topic, Willows have studied the book ‘Escape from Pompeii’ and have produced their own newspaper reports about the devastating eruption of Vesuvius.
In our science topic, Rocks, the children have been finding out about; how mountains are formed, different rock types, how fossils are formed and the different types of weathering.
Our focus for RE has been all about Lent and why it is an important time for Christians. The children have found out why and how Christians celebrate Lent and the meaning behind it.
The children have sculpted and painted some fantastic ammonites. They look so realistic!
In Oranges we have had lots of Easter fun with some of our friends from other classes.
We began the morning by working with our friends in Plums and going on an Easter hunt.
We then went on an Easter hunt with our friends in Hawthorns and found lots of eggs the Easter bunny had left.
An eggcellent day!!
This half term we have continued our work on our topic of Coastlines.
In Phonics the children have been learning more phase 3 sounds, reading words with these sounds in and constructing sentences using their ever increasing phonetic knowledge. We have also continued to use colourful semantics to construct phrases.
In Maths we have been recording using tally marks and matching tally marks to the corresponding numeral. We have also continued sorting by type and practised our counting, addition and subtraction skills. We have been introduced to new 3d shapes and have learned their names and properties.
Our Science topic this half term was plants and the children have worked super hard identifying the parts of a plant and tree, discussing what a plant needs to be able to grow and planting their own seeds.
Within Geography we have been learning about the process of erosion. We used sand, water and plastic blocks to create our own coastline and demonstrated how erosion happens. The children understood how the waves (water) crash against the coastline (sand) and cause the rocks/buildings (plastic blocks) to fall into the sea. The children could then order the process of erosion.
In PE this half term, the children have been developing their throwing, catching, batting and kicking skills. They have showed they can throw a ball and attempt to score a goal. They have practiced throwing a ball over a net and enjoyed playing games such as a simple game of dodgeball where they worked as two teams. Even the teachers joined in!
This half term we have also been demonstrating our turn taking skills especially when playing simple games or sharing resources. The children have shown how well they can work together and understand how they need to share their resources/toys and games with their friends in class.
A fantastic half term of learning from our amazing Oranges!!
In the Ready, Steady, Grow project we have taken part in lots of practical activities and have planted a variety of seeds and plants. The children have learnt what seeds and plants need to grow. The children have also explored the different types of fruits and vegetables that grow. The children have explored farms. The children have also learned about animals on a farm and their young. This term the children have explored the following books; The Gigantic Turnip, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jasper’s Beanstalk, Handa’s Surprise, Rosie’s Walk and The Little Red Hen. We have had lots of fun reading the different stories!
The children have been using colourful semantics to explore stories and they have used colourful semantics to help read sentences to describe a picture.
The children have continued with their learning of phonics, handwriting and reading activities.
In maths the children have been working super hard at consolidating their understanding of numbers. The children have used place value counters and base 10 equipment to demonstrate an understanding of place value of 10s and 1s in a 2 -digit number to 20. The children have also worked very hard at adding and subtracting numbers to 10 using objects.
The children have sorted mathematical objects by colour and created AB patterns using fruit. 
In art and design the children have created mosaic flowers using seeds and clay. The results are amazing and we used the flowers to create Mother’s Day cards. 
The children have completed lots of planting experiments and activities. The children have investigated what seed need to grow. They have also completed a vegetable scraps experiment to see if they will grow.
In science the children have been learning all about farm yard animals and their young.
This half term we have continued to enjoy our Frozen Kingdoms topic. We have completed lots of research about the Antarctic and the Artic and the animals that live there, we used this information in literacy to make some fantastic non fiction books including a contents page, index and glossary! We have also spent time in literacy becoming reporters, we have followed the journey of the finding Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship ‘Endurance’ in the news and created our own newspaper reports about it including quotations from explorers themselves.
We have also enjoyed celebrating lots of ‘days’ this half term including Red Nose Day- where we created our crazy hats in DT, World Maths day where we included maths in all of our lessons and completed a tricky maths hunt, Pancake day where we helped our friends in Cherries class following the instructions to make pancakes and had lots of fun flipping them, we enjoyed World Book Day and made some brilliant masks to match our characters.
We have recently started being ‘buddies’ with our friends in Oranges on Friday mornings working with them to play games, reading with them and lots of other activities. We have been excellent role models!
Acorns have had another busy, fun filled half term. In Science we have explored the uses of everyday materials, and investigated magnetism. In DT we designed and made taxis, with working parts. For World Maths Day we created number posters and explored the art of Mondrian. Reception have been learning about shapes and continuing their reading and phonics. We always have lots of fun in Acorns!
Exploring magnetism
Investigating wheels and axles in Design and Technology
Designing and making our own vehicles with moving parts
Number posters and Mondrian shape art for World Maths Day
Reception exploring their vet role-play area
Working on our careful counting in Reception
Creating shape pictures
Exploring our favourite books
