Ink cartridges

The school has raised £91.70 via Recycle4Charity - thank you for your support in this!  You are encouraged to keep donating your used ink cartridges and there is a collection box in school.

It has been lovely to watch the children beginning to settle into life at Abberley this week.  We have been busy learning our class routines and having lots of new experiences like our first PE lesson and Celebration Collective Worship.  We have been very proud of how all the children have tackled these new challenges - great work Wrens!

We have also introduced our topic for this half term "Down on the Farm".  The children received a letter from Farmer Bob and were able to give him lots of good advice about which animals he should keep on his farm and why some animals such as dinosaurs and polar bears would not be suitable!  We have also enjoyed reading the book "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins in Drawing Club.  We had a great afternoon building a fantastic obstacle course of the farmyard in our outdoor area to act out the story.

The children are bringing home their phonics homework book today.  In the book you will find a sheet that has the phonics learning we will be covering next week.  There is no expectation to complete any written homework in the book. However, if you could spend a little time looking through the phonics learning each week with your child it will support their learning in school.  The children are also bringing home their first library book.  Please can you ensure that both these books are returned to school each Friday.  Thank you!

Have a lovely weekend and fingers crossed that the rain stays away.

This week the children have been enjoying The Story of Paddington Bear. They have explored some of the vocabulary from the book such as fierce, voyage and gleaming and have learnt what these words mean.

In maths this week our main focus has been on numbers to 20. The children have practised counting forwards and backwards to 20 from different starting points. They have also been practising writing these accurately, ensuring their digits are not reversed or transposed.

In D.T. we have been exploring different fruits and vegetables. They discovered that fruits always grow above ground, whereas vegetables can grow both above and under the ground. The children sorted different fruits and vegetables based on where they grow.

In computing, we started to discuss what personal information was and how this should be private when online. For example, full names, addresses and where they go to school.

Important information:

PE is on a Tuesday and a Thursday so please ensure PE kits are in school on these days and those with long hair have it tied up.

Outdoor Learning is on a Monday. Please send your child to school with appropriate clothing for the weather, especially as it starts to get colder. If you want them to bring in their wellies they can, if not we have spares at school.

The children will have brought home a library book and also their Little Wandle reading book. Please enjoy the library book together. The Little Wandle book is for your child to read to you and practise their reading. Children will also have brought home their reading records. There is information inside of these on how to use it.  Little Wandle reading books must be back on a Tuesday.

Year 2s have 1 page of their mental arithmetic book to complete by Wednesday. They also have 15 minutes of TTRS due on Wednesday too.

In D.T. this half term the children will be designing and making smoothies. If your child has any food allergies that we're not aware of then please let the office or myself know ASAP. Thank you.

Timetable

Monday: Wellies and appropriate clothing for outdoor learning

Tuesday & Thursday: PE kits - please can those with longer hair have their hair tied up ready

In English this week, we have started our new book called The Whale by Ethan and Vita Murrow. It is a fantastically illustrated picture book which the children have thoroughly enjoyed so far. We have been using the pictures to determine the story as it has no words! We have focussed on the setting for the story and the children have been coming up with descriptive words and phrases to support what they can see. They will be using these next week to write a descriptive paragraph about the setting.

In maths, we have started looking at place value and what each digit in a number is worth. The children have been using counters and base 10 equipment to make numbers and then partitioning them. Place value is an extremely important topic as it helps to underpin most of the maths that the children will encounter.

In PE, the children started their new topics of basketball and golf. In Basketball, we focussed on being able to bounce and control the ball before moving on to dribbling. We also learned how to do a controlled v bounce.

In art, our topic is drawing in 2D and then 3D. We started by reminding ourselves how to sketch correctly, adding tone. Tone means light and dark. We add tone by shading and adding marks for darker areas and leaving areas white or erasing marks to show lighter areas and reflection.

This week has marked our first full week together in the classroom and the children have settled in extremely well. They are adapting confidently to the new routines and dynamics of the group and it has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm for learning across all subjects.

• English – We continued our study of Rose Blanche. The children have been developing their vocabulary through writing poems and sentences, which will support them later this half-term when they compose a diary entry.

• Mathematics – The children quickly grasped Roman numerals before progressing to reading and writing numbers up to one million. Their confidence and accuracy have been very impressive.

• Design & Technology – Our new project on designing and making a bag began this week. Pupils carefully deconstructed tote bags using seam rippers to explore how individual pattern pieces are joined together to create a finished product.

• Religious Education – We explored the “big picture” of the Bible, considering how our school concept cards connect to summarise its overarching story.

• Geography – The focus this week was on the Alps, where pupils investigated both human and physical features, including recreational activities and the natural landscape.

• PE – In basketball, pupils refined their passing skills and applied them in game scenarios. In golf, they learnt about par and had the opportunity to practise their putting, with some even achieving birdies, bogeys and holes in one.

Children have now had their reading records for a week and as we move into the second week, please support your child by reading with them regularly and ensuring their diary is signed each week, ready to be handed in on Friday morning.

Please see below information within the community but independent of the school