KS1 – Newsletter – 1.12.23

With great excitement, we had the arrival of a group of elves into Key Stage One this Friday morning. We have all been choosing names for the elves we are looking after in our classrooms and we hope they are as well behaved as the children!

This week Year One have been comparing and ordering in Maths. They have looked at Numicon, Base ten, numbers in words and numerals. They have been comparing them and putting them in order from smallest to largest. They have also been placing numbers on a number line where there are only a few numbers already present. In Year two one group have begun to use the inverse operation to solve addition and subtraction problems. They have been using bar models and part-part-whole models to identifying the missing numbers. The other group have begun to do addition carrying tens, using and drawing place value columns.

We have continued to use the ‘How Airports Work’ book in English. Year One began learning how to have a debate and put their ideas across whilst listening to others. We debated about the pros and cons of building a new, bigger runway at Leeds Bradford Airport. They have also been practising retrieving information from the text and answering questions about it. Year two have been focusing on spelling this week. They have been looking at phoneme families and working which is the correct spelling to use.

In RE, Year One have been looking at how Advent is celebrated in the church. They have learnt about Advent wreaths and what each candle means and also Christingle services and what each part of the Christingle means. Year two have been looking at how Muslim families welcome babies into their faith. They have learned about the Aqiqah, when it happens and the rituals around it such as shaving babies hair and giving money to charity.

Our rehearsals for the Christmas play are now in full swing and the children are enjoying singing the songs. We can’t wait to share it with you, it’s going to be amazing! If your child has some lines to say, please help them by practising them at home. See if they can shout them from the top of the stairs to the bottom!

It’s been a Christmassy feel in Music this week. Year One were making Christmas tree graphic scores. They gave each item on the tree a percussion instrument and followed the pattern playing the sounds. They then created their own. Year Two have continued to learn about the Nutcracker, reading the next part of the story. This week they focused on the Chinese dance and the Arabian dance.

In Food Technology, the children have been making biscuits. They have been weighing the ingredients and creaming the sugar and butter. They practised rolling out and cutting the dough to form the biscuits. In Wood Work technology, the children have been making drawbridges to finish off their castles. They then began to paint them.

We have continued to explore materials in Science. We have been looking specifically at what an object is made out of and writing about what properties it has. For example, a window is made of glass and is hard, smooth and transparent. A metal bucket is opaque, non-flexible and magnetic.

We have been thinking about what technology is used in the home during our Computing lessons this week. We have looked at what technologies we used in different rooms of the house eg Kitchen – oven, kettle, washing machine, Living room – television, phone, laptop, bedroom – alarm clock, lamp…

Year One have been learning about acts of kindness in PSHE. They have thought about what they could do to make other people smile and make them feel special. Year two have been focusing on being good listeners. They have thought about what a good listener does and doesn’t do and why it is important to listen to others.

Congratulations and a huge well done to all those children who took part in the ‘Give peace a tri’ fundraiser and for raising an amazing amount of money!

Finally, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who sent in things for the Christmas Fair. It is because of you all, it is a big success each year.

Next week is week 2:

PE:

Monday – Class 1 and 2

Thursday – Class 1 and 3

Friday – Class 2 and 3

Forest school – Tuesday for all of Key Stage One

Diary Dates:

Thurs 14th Dec- KS1 Christmas performance- Parents-(2 family members only please) 2.30 pm

Fri 15th Dec- KS1 Singing at ASDA- 9.45 am-10.45 am

Mon 18th Dec-KS1 Care Home event at school- Grandparents welcome-10am-11am

Fri 22nd Dec- Break up