Newsletters

Data Collection Sheets

On Thursday, your child brought home a Data Collection Sheet. Please take a few moments to check that all the information we hold for your child is correct and update any details that may have changed.

Once you have reviewed the form, please sign and return it to school, even if no changes are needed, as this confirms that the information we have on record is accurate and up to date.

Holidays During Term Time

Regular attendance is one of the most important factors in helping children succeed at school. Every day in the classroom provides valuable learning experiences that are difficult to replace. We kindly ask families to avoid booking holidays during term time wherever possible so that children can make the most of their learning and enjoy every opportunity to Love, Grow and Flourish Together.

Please note that holidays during term time cannot normally be authorised and will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

This week in Wrens we have been thinking about our homes and we have created some great artwork of houses.  Our junk modelling area has also been very popular with some great creations  of not only houses but also robots, vehicles and musical instruments.  The children have also enjoyed a STEM challenge of finding a way to get Humpty Dumpty down safely from the wall. There were some fantastic ideas including stairs, parachutes and creating a bed for him to land on!

The children are making great progress in their daily phonics lessons.  We are now learning to blend CVC words and have introduced our first tricky words, which are words that cannot be sounded out phonetically.  They are also really enjoying their guided reading sessions.

In maths this week we helped Squawk the parrot to practice his counting skills.  We came up with a set of rules for careful counting.

• Say the numbers in the correct order.

• Count each object once (it can help to move the objects or place them in a line).

• The final number is the stopping number and tells us how many we have altogether.

We practised our counting skills both inside and outside the classroom.  I wonder if you can find some interesting things to count at home.

This week, we carried on our work on the book The Girl at the Front of the Class. To start the week, the children took part in some drama and hot seating to help them understand the characters of Layla and Adam, asking each other questions and thinking carefully about their characters. They also explored some new vocabulary from the book and from an example story, which is based on what they will eventually be writing themselves. Towards the end of the week, we thought about Layla's character in more depth, considering what she feels on the inside as well as how she looks on the outside. The children will use these ideas to help them write a simile poem.

In maths, we started by estimating on number lines. We made giant number lines around the classroom, which the children used to practise adding on missing numbers. We then did a little more work on comparing numbers. Following on from this, we looked at ordering numbers and completed some problem-solving challenges linked to this.

In science this week, we explored bulbs and how they grow plants. We dissected some bulbs so that the children could see all the different layers and parts inside. Then in small teams the children had a research question to investigate, such as “How do bulbs survive over winter?” and “How do bulbs make new bulbs?” before sharing their findings with another group. We then went outside for outdoor learning and planted lots of daffodil bulbs around the school grounds, ready for spring.

In geography this week, we started to explore the features of a coast. The children spent lots of time talking about their own experiences of visiting the coast and sharing what they had seen on their trips. This provided a great starting point for thinking about the different physical features that can be found at the coast. Such as the coastline, sea, cliffs and arches.

Timetable

Monday (outdoor) and Thursday (indoor) - PE

Tuesday - Outdoor Learning. Please send your child to school with appropriate footwear and clothing for the weather that they can change into.

Thursday - Little Wandle reading books will be sent home. Please return these by the following Tuesday.

This week in English, the children have been using drama and role play to help them generate ideas for their dream adventure narratives. They acted out scenes from our class book and immersed themselves in the illustrations, taking on the roles of different characters to explore their thoughts, feelings and actions. This helped the children to develop a deeper understanding of the story and gather exciting ideas for their own writing. Next week, they will begin planning their narratives, drawing on the writer's knowledge and skills we have been developing over the past few weeks.

In maths, we have continued our work on rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000. Once the children became confident with the rounding process, they applied their understanding to a range of reasoning and problem-solving activities, explaining their thinking and justifying their answers.

In geography, we explored who lives and works in Antarctica and investigated the wide variety of people who visit the continent, including scientists, researchers and support staff. The children learned about the important scientific work that takes place there and discussed the challenges people face when living in one of the coldest and most remote places on Earth. We also examined how humans adapt to the harsh polar climate, from specialised clothing and equipment to the design of research stations that provide warmth, shelter and protection from extreme weather conditions.

In science, we continued our learning about rocks by closely examining a range of different rock samples and sorting them according to their physical properties, such as colour, texture, hardness and permeability. The children enjoyed observing similarities and differences between rocks and discussing why certain rocks are more suitable for different purposes. Next week, we will be investigating how rocks make up the Earth and exploring the different layers of our planet. The children are particularly excited about this topic as we will be learning about the Earth's structure in a fun and unusual way.

This week, the children have been writing their own trespass narratives from the perspective of their chosen creature. These stories have been inspired by our reading of The Midnight Fair, our class picture book.

The children have worked particularly hard to bring their writing to life and demonstrate all of the writers’ knowledge we have been developing. They have been using fronted adverbials, relative clauses, dashes, speech, expanded noun phrases and a range of other features to make their writing interesting and engaging. It has been fantastic to see the children making thoughtful vocabulary choices and really getting into character as their chosen creature!

In maths, we have been exploring prime numbers, square numbers and cube numbers. The children have been developing their understanding of what makes these numbers special and have applied their new knowledge to a range of challenges and problem-solving activities. They have tackled some tricky problems this week and have shown great resilience when explaining and justifying their mathematical thinking.

In science, we have continued our learning about evolution and adaptation by finding out more about Darwin’s finches. We learnt about the different finches Charles Darwin observed on the Galapagos Islands and discovered that they had different-shaped beaks. The children then explored how these different beaks are adapted to help the birds survive in their particular environments. Through an investigation, they were able to model how different beak shapes are better suited to accessing different types of food, helping them understand how adaptations can give animals an advantage in their environment.

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