KS1 – Newsletter – 20.10.23

What a fabulous week we’ve all had in Key Stage One this week. We felt very proud to show off your amazing children and all the things they are doing to prospective new parents throughout the week.

We have continued to look at the book ‘Amazing castles’ in our English lessons this week. We kicked off with a battle on the field. With great excitement, the children learned first-hand what it was like to be under siege and how it feels to be attacked. We of course did it with great fun, trying to protect our coloured cubes, whilst trying to attack other ‘castles’ to take theirs.

Year One have used this to imagine that we had a castle in Cookridge and where it might have been. We thought a good plot would be on the field next to the fire station because it’s a high point to look out for attackers. We then thought about who might live in the castle, knowing it was usually a King, Queen or Lord. We designed them and wrote about what they are like. They have been focusing on the split digraphs i-e and o-e in phonics. Year two have been looking in depth at all the features of a castle, why they were there, what they were used for etc.. in preparations for writing their historical novel. They have also been looking at suffixes and how and when to add -ed and -ing endings to words.

In Maths, Year one have been focusing on place value using tens and ones. They have been identifying two digit and representing them using the Base ten. They have also begun to partition numbers into tens and ones. In Year two one group has continued looking at greater than and less than. They have been playing Bingo games and identifying the greater and less than number and using Base 10 with the signs < > =. The other group have continued their addition work, using tens and ones and doing column addition.

In Geography, we were learning about Key aspects of the UK. We learned about the four countries that make up the UK and located and named them on maps. We also began to learn about the capital cities of these countries. We looked at the Union flag and the three saints flags from the countries that make this flag.

We have begun to look at sources in history this week. We have been thinking about what sources people can use to find out information. We have learned that people can be sources and tell us about experiences from the past, but we can also look at old photo, newspapers, diaries, artefacts, transcripts etc… We have also begun to talk about the difference between a primary and secondary source.

Many will think it’s early, but with a Christmas nativity rapidly approaching we have been thinking about what happens in the nativity story and beginning to listen to some of the songs, you have been warned!

In Science, we have begun to learn about categorising and collecting data. We each collected data about our classmates. We decided to find out what colour eyes people in our class have. We were able to then use the data we had collected to answer questions such as ‘How many people have brown eyes’ or ‘which eye colour is the most popular?’

As it is black history month, we have been reading a variety of books celebrating people of colour, for example Rosa Parks. We have done this in our history lessons and also with our reading buddies. In our PSHE lessons, year one have been thinking about how to ‘speak up’ in the right way. They have looked at different scenarios and thought about how they can share their thoughts and feelings, whilst also thinking about the feelings of others. In Year two, the children were thinking about who is special to them and how they care for them. They talked about why it’s important to tell other people they are special to us and thought about ways to show them.

In PE, the children have been learning how to use the apparatus safely. They have learned how to put some of the equipment out and then thought about different ways of travelling over, under, through and across it.

Reading: Just to clarify things for you as reading expectations are slightly different in Key Stage One than in Reception. We do ask that your child reads to you at least 3 times a week. They do not have to read the same book three times. When they have finished reading their book they can change it. We will happily change their book every day. Some children have much longer books and we wouldn’t expect them to read the whole book in one sitting. Just note what pages they have read each time and then change the book once it is complete. If you have any questions, please just ask.

Next week is week 1:

PE: Friday – for all of Key Stage One

PPA day. Forest school – Tuesday for all of Key Stage One

Diary Dates:

Parent’s consultations: 7^th and 8^th November