It’s been a lovely week in Key Stage One this week and we have begun the rehearsals for our Christmas play. All the children who have been given lines should have brought them home to practise and we would really appreciate your support in helping them to learn them. The dates for the play are at the bottom of the newsletter, along with dates for the Grandparents event and the children singing at Asda. Please note, that each child can only have two grown ups attending the play, as there is not physically enough room for more to attend safely. For this reason, we have put on the Grand parent event, so that they can watch the play at a separate time. Thank you in advance for your co-operation with this.
We have been doing some poetry in English this week and learning what an acrostic poem is. The children then had a go at writing acrostic poems using their names. They were practising using their phonics to sound out words that they needed. In Year One’s phonics they have been learning the /ou/ mouth. Year Two’s phonic sound was /le/ as in table.
In Maths, Year One have been learning Number bonds to ten. They have practised systematic Number bonds, knowing which two numbers add together to make ten and have been completing various practical tasks and games to help them remember. One group in Year Two have been adding two digit numbers using place value charts. The other group have been subtracting in a column, exchanging where necessary.
Having learnt about Jamaica in geography, our inspirational person in history was Mary Seacole who was from Jamaica. We learned the story of how she funded herself to go to help in the Crimean war and how she set up her own hospital called ‘The British hotel’ where she treated her patients with remedies her mum had taught her. The children acted out all the different parts of her story and how she was written about in the newspapers and received an award from Queen Victoria.
Class 2 were very lucky to have a visit from Iris’s Nanny who is a nurse. She showed them all kinds of equipment she uses when she’s nursing from thermometers and blood pressure monitors to torches and stethoscopes. She even brought in bandages and syringes (no needles!) for them to unwrap and use, explaining the importance of things being clean and used only once.
The children were all amazing at observing a minutes silence on Monday for remembrance day. As part of our history, we talked about why we have a minutes silence to remember people who have in the past been in wars and also those that are continuing. We discussed why people wear poppies and made our own. We also heard about the fact some people wear purple poppies to remember animals that have been lost or injured during wars.
Following on from learning about body parts in Science last week, we have been learning about our sense this week. We discussed what the five senses are and how we use them. We identified the parts of our bodies that use each of these senses.
In music Year One have been doing listening mats. They have listened to four pieces of music and have thought about the tempo, dynamics and the mood of the music. Year Two have started to look at the Nutcracker. They have begun listening to the story and have learned about what a ballet is. They marched like soldiers, danced like ballerinas and scurried like mice!
It’s been a fun and messy time in art this week as we got the clay out. The children had a great time, creating thumb pots, squeezing and shaping the clay to create a pot that would be able to contain a tea light.
The children have had a theory lesson in food technology. They were reviewing some of the foods that they have already made this term and have been looking at some other food types that they will be using over this term. In Design technology, the children have continued to make their lamps. This time, they were adding a handle. To do this, they practise plaiting natural materials.
We have been learning about Muslim festivals in RE this week. The children have learned the names of festivals, why and when they are celebrated and have looked at some of the ways these festivals are celebrated.
Diary Dates:
26th November and 27th November: Parent’s Evenings (Please book online now)
18th, 19th, 20th November – Class local walks
11th December 2.30pm – KS1 Christmas play
13th December – Fund raising singing at Asda (Time to be confirmed)
16th December 10am – Grandparent event
20th December – Finish for Christmas
Tinshill Drive
Cookridge
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS16 7DH
0113 386 2500