Hello everyone, we hope you all had a lovely well-earned rest this Easter. We have had a great first week back!
This Week
As part of our main teaching, we celebrated two very special days for our country, Queen Elizabeth’s birthday and St. George’s Day. We learnt that the Queen has 2 birthdays: one in April and one in June. This is because the birthday in April celebrates the day she was born and the birthday in June is her official birthday, when the weather is usually better for public parties and parades.
The children enjoyed listening to a story called ‘The Birthday Crown’ written by Davide Cali. In the story, there is huge excitement at the palace as it’s the Queen’s birthday. Mr. Wiggins, the Master of Ceremonies, has been hard at work organizing the celebrations where everything is ready, but for one thing. The Queen still has to choose the perfect birthday crown! We also enjoyed talking about celebrations that are important to the children and tried to imagine how the Queen celebrates her birthday.
To celebrate St. George’s Day, the children first found out a bit more about who St. George was and who he is important to. St. George is the patron saint of England and the children learnt that he was a brave soldier. In the story behind St. George’s Day, we heard about how a village was scared of a dragon who tried to capture women from the village. One day the King’s daughter was taken by the dragon and St. George rescued her. Ever since that day, people have celebrated St. George. The children learnt that people sometimes dress up and re-enact the story of George and the Dragon. People may fly England’s flag called the St. George Cross, wear a red rose which is the national flower of England and they might also do a special English dance called Morris Dancing.
In our phonics this week, the children consolidated their learning by revisiting previously taught graphemes oa, er, igh, air, oi, ear and ure. They were using their phonic knowledge to help them read words containing these sounds and then practised applying what they had learnt in their writing.
As part of their Maths learning, the children were learning to count beyond 20. They did this by recognising the pattern of the counting system. The children were using the idea of saying how many tens a number had and how many more e.g. the number 23 is 2 tens and 3 more.
In PE this week, Mr. Smith began a new unit in PE looking at Dance. They started by exploring different movements using different body parts. They then thought about how to put different movements together to create a simple sequence. They very much enjoyed apply their previously taught skills about using different body parts to help them with their new learning.
Next Week
- The children will become scientists and focus on the areas of growth and changes.
- We will enjoy reading the story ‘The Tiny Seed’ by Eric Carle to help us with our learning about how seeds grow.
- In Maths, we will be learning to use the language of first, then and now to help us add 2 amounts to make a total.
- In Phonics, we will be learning how to read and write CVCC words. These are words that are made up of consonants (C) and vowels (V) e.g. back.
- In Jigsaw this half term, we will be learning about relationships.
Supporting your child at home
- Reading with your child at home will significantly help them to develop their understanding of letters and sounds, as well become better readers and writers. The Monster Phonics books are designed to support the children with their learning and it is important that the children read these regularly however, additional books outside of Monster Phonics books will also help. Please write comments in your child’s reading record to let us know how your child has got on with their book.
- When talking with your child, encourage them to connect one idea or action with another using a range of conjunctions e.g. ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘because’ – “I like that game because it was lots of fun.”
- Plan games which involve partitioning and recombining sets. For example, throw 5 beanbags, aiming for a hoop. How many go in and how many don’t? By doing this, you will help your child to explore the composition of numbers.
Any other information
- WARM WEATHER – In warm weather children will need a named sun hat. If appropriate, please apply long lasting sun cream before they arrive at school. Please can you make sure that a named water bottle is in school every day.
Mrs. Fisher and Mr. French
Willow and Lilac Class Teachers
