Nursery children have been engaging in writing with chalk outside, this activity can greatly benefit their physical development. As they grip the chalk and make marks on the ground or chalkboard, they are refining their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The act of writing with chalk also encourages children to use larger arm movements and engage their shoulder muscles, promoting gross motor development. Additionally, writing with chalk in different positions such as standing, kneeling, or lying down helps enhance their balance and spatial awareness. Home learning – children can have a go outside in the park drawing using chalk.
Take a look at what we have been doing this week. We have really enjoyed going outside into the big playground and having a run! We have also been sharing and taking turns with our friends. Everyday we learn through our play. We love to dress up, play on the see-saw outside, read books and play with playdough. During circle time we have also been talking about what our favourite fruit is and we have been continuing to learn about healthy eating. For your home learning… can you draw your favourite fruit and bring it into school to show your friends?
This week we have really enjoyed learning about Easter and what celebrations are. We have started to read the story ‘Were going on an egg hunt’. The children enjoyed painting their own egg, designing a large egg using tissue paper and going on an egg hunt. In Maths we have been learning to write our numbers to 10 and counting backwards/forwards. The children have been working very hard on their number recognition skills. In phonics we have been working on recognising different sounds, reading rhyming stories and singing lots of songs. We have been continuing to work hard on recognising and writing our own names. Please continue to help your child practice writing their names at home.
Here is the link for our story of the week: We’re Going on an Egg Hunt Read Aloud – Children’s Book 🥚 (youtube.com)
Thank you for your support.
Nursery Team
Last Thursday, we enjoyed a lovely day out to the National Portrait Gallery located by Trafalgar Square. As we’ve been learning all about the Tudors in history, this was a perfect opportunity to have a closer look at some of the significant individuals from this period.
We have especially enjoyed getting to know more about King Henry VIII. We took some time to study one of his portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger, a German artist. We studied Henry VIII’s pose in the portrait. He stood with his feet wide apart and planted firmly on the ground. This was a powerful pose to reflect his status as the king. His clothing also reflected his wealth as did many portraits commissioned in the past.
Here we are taking a learning walk through the gallery, reading the information by the portraits, sketching the portrait of Henry VIII and extending our knowledge of the Tudor period in Britain.
We would like to thank the wonderful parents who came along to support us on this trip. It was a pleasure having you joining our learning for the day.
Here are some of the sketches of Henry VIII we drew at the gallery. We aimed to capture his pose and posture, as well as his clothes.
As part of art this term, we focused on portraits. This was linked to our history as we studied portraits of famous Tudor monarchs. We looked closely at elements of portraits such as objects, expression, clothing and pose, and then explored how the portraits communicate mood, feelings and ideas.
Following our class trip to the National Portrait Gallery, we had a go at drawing self portraits in different poses. Have a look as some of our portraits here:
This week in Year 5
This week in Year 5 we are continuing to study North America learning about the different countries and biomes that exist within the continent. As part of this Language we are practicing use figurative language to describe and developing synonyms for common words like big and pretty.
In Maths we have been working with fractions. Comparing and converting so they can be easily worked with. Fractions are closely linked to Timestables and we suggest children use Times Tables Rockstars to support their learning in class.
As part of the LAC topic we went to The Horniman Museum. The trip was to support our learning about North America and we saw many artifacts from the continent.
Notices
PE kits needs to be brought in but not worn on Tuesdays
Reading Records need to be brought in Monday and Friday with 3 tasks being completed each week. Children should be practicing their reading every night and benefit from discussing what they are reading with adults.
This week children and staff wore wearing their own pyjamas and shared their favourite bedtime stories.
We also read and explored the features of different poems before writing our own.
We had a lovely day celebrating World Book Day! It was a fun filled day where the children came into school wearing their own pyjamas and spoke about their favourite bed time stories. We also read lots of classical children’s stories such as: The Tiger Who Came To Tea, The Hungry Crocodile, The Gruffalo and many more books. The children also enjoyed designing their own potatoes with their favourite characters printed on top using colouring pens, we also designed our own story books and created our favourite characters using playdough outdoors. Thank you for all your support at home!
I hope you’re all having a wonderful week! I wanted to share with you what we’ve been up to in nursery this week. We have been diving into the delightful story of ‘The Pig in the Pond,’ sparking the children’s imaginations through role play, word writing, and exciting reading adventures. It’s been such a joy to see their enthusiasm and engagement with the story. Looking forward to more fun and learning ahead!
Welcome back to spring term 2. We have some exciting events to look forward to this half term and the children are really excited about them. We are we are particularly excited in year 3 because we have started to learn to play the ukelele. All children in year 3 will have weekly lessons for ten weeks.
Topic
This half term we will be focusing on the Tudors as our history topic. So far, the children have learned about how the Tudor period began, through learning about the War of the Roses and the impact they have on our lives today. As part of this topic, we will be visiting the National Portrait Gallery to look at portraits of the Tudor Monarchs. Look out for the pictures next week.
Writing
In writing, children will learn write letters using the Tudor period as a context and a recount of the British Navy’s battle with the Spanish Armada .
Maths
We will be learning about fractions and measurement. Much of the learning for the spring term closely links to your child’s knowledge and understanding of their multiplication and division facts, so it is important that you ensure that your child practices his or her times table at home.
P.E.
P.E. will now take place every Wednesday this half term. Please ensure that your child has their full P.E. kit on that day.
Science
For science this half term, we will be learning about the function of the human skeleton and muscles. They will also learn about the function of plants and the different ways they disperse their seeds. Maybe you could support your child by asking them how the acronym SPaM is used to help them remember the function of the skeleton.
Reading
Finally, I would like to remind you about reading. Children’s books are changed every Tuesday and Friday. Please could you ensure that your child reads every day and that their reading records are signed. Thank you to all of you who have chosen to do this regularly.
