This week the children have related some of their English work to our science topic animals and humans. We chose to do owls in particular because some of the children had said that they were very interested in that type of Bird of Prey. They wrote some facts about them and also some descriptions using adjectives. In RWI the children have been assessing their partners work and offering suggestions as to how they could improve their reading and writing. This has been a lovely thing to behold as they approached it very tactfully indeed.
In Maths the children have been focusing on place value of numbers up to 50 and beyond. They have been mastering using grids to find 1 more and less than a number and have applied this when reasoning and problem solving. They then went on to comparing groups of objects and then numbers using the correct comparison signs. They then finished the week ordering up to 3 numbers from the smallest to the biggest and then vice versa.
In music the children have been composing songs which have incorporated instruments with Mrs Tan. They have had a very good go at reading and playing musical notes as a collective.
In RE the children have been looking at Judaism and what Jews believe and what is important to them. There have been some very thoughtful discussions and work produced.
In topic we started the week learning all about Queen Victoria and how they named the period in history we are doing after her. We then dedicated a mini junior bake off to this very important historical figure by making Victoria sponges together. The children followed instructions and weighed, mixed and spooned all the ingredients independently in their group. We had our fingers crossed and luckily the sponges rose and were a success! They looked fit for a queen!
May we take this opportunity to say how wonderful all of the children’s Victorian inventions homework is! Thank you ever so much for supporting your children with this project. We hope you had a lovely time doing it together. They have been displayed outside of the classroom and have sparked discussion from all going up and down the corridor. Work and presentations related to the inventions and their inventors are being done next week with the children.
World Book Day is on this Thursday the 7th March. The children are to dress up as their favourite characters and have been told to bring in their favourite story books from home. We are all looking forward to this one!
A big congratulations to Bonnie for getting star of the week trophy. She has made great improvements with her written work and has shown real determination and concentration during every lesson.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and will look forward to seeing you all for parent consultations on Wednesday!

Mr Mavin

This week some children have been bringing in their favourite fiction and non-fiction books from home to be read and shared with the rest of the class. It has been so nice to see so many tastes and interests when it comes to their preferred literature. We are going to have a comic corner in class too, so if you have any old ones which you don’t mind your child keeping in class we would be very grateful if you could bring them in.
In English the children have read new story books in RWI which have been very appealing to them. Some have been linked to what the children might want to be when they are older, some have read about pirates and fish on the high seas and others have had a story about a scruffy teddy. Something for everybody there! The writing which followed was very thoughtful, inventive and well presented. Towards the end of the week the children have been sending postcards back to a far- away planet where their alien character Beegu came from in their class story. They focused on linking words, descriptions and presentation.
In maths the children have looked at numbers up to 50 when doing place value. They have been identifying, representing and solving problems involving bigger numbers and have looked at in depth what the number is actually made up of. They also looked at how they could represent the number in different ways using. The children have looked at counting in 10’s and 1’s in order to make it easier for themselves when counting and have used apparatus like 10 frames to make the idea more concrete. The children have done some mental maths assessments and have also done some practise with their 10 times tables. They finished off the week looking at 1 more and 1 less than numbers up to 50 and how they could record it.
In science the children did a sorting investigation looking at what animals eat and how we can class them as either herbivore, carnivore or omnivore.
In topic we made a Class 2 museum of all of the Victorian artefacts we had and had a history detective afternoon where we put forward ideas as to what we thought certain artefacts were and what they might have been used for based on what their appearance alongside clues. Then the children were able to handle and use the items in role and then learned more about the artefacts from their museum guide Mr Mavin.
The new spelling lists have gone out today along with Class 2’s new homework project which is in their green homework books.
A massive well done to all of the children in Class 2, especially Jack this week who achieved the star of the week trophy for producing some well thought out work in all of his lessons.
Class 2’s PE slot for next term has changed. It will now be on a Wednesday instead of a Monday and also on a Friday.
I hope that you have a lovely half term break together and I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Mr Mavin

This week in English the children have been reading some lovely stories together in their RWI groups. Some groups have been reading about Pirates, some about bath times and others about play days. They have all read ever so well and are more readily recognising that answers to comprehension questions can sometimes be retrieved from a text. The children have been assessed on their phonics and some children have been moved on to different stages of the RWI scheme. We have also done an independent write linked directly to our Victorian school experience we had at Blists Hill. The children have also been doing some work based on our class story ‘Beegu.’ They have been using adjectives to describe both feelings and appearances of the characters during different stages of the story. The children’s repertoire of vocabulary is flourishing more and more by the day.
In Maths the children have been learning more about adding and subtracting. By using partitioning they have been working systematically through their calculations. They have also tried to fully understand the concept of bar models. More work has been done on related facts and comparing number sentences involving addition and subtraction too. The children have also been assessed on their learning in certain areas through practical activities.
In Science the children have been looking at different parts of common animals. The children then used their knowledge of specific body parts to create their own creatures from a given criteria.
In Topic the children have talked about and written about their trip experiences at Blists Hill. They have also learned about the different jobs the children of their age (and younger) used to do in Victorian times. Not only has it been extremely thought provoking for them, it has made them realise that they may need to do a little more around the house to help you at home.
In PE the children have continued with both outdoor hockey with Embrace and games with Mr Sudlow. Please make sure that your children have the appropriate PE kit including outdoor trainers for a Monday and Friday.
Spelling lists have gone home today. Please see attached for our spelling list if your child has been off ill.
A big congratulations to Kyler for getting star trophy award for the week. He has worked incredibly well in all areas of the curriculum and has set a wonderful example in class.
Have a lovely weekend together and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Mr Mavin

In Class 2 we have loved listening to the children’s prior knowledge about the Victorians (or what they believed the Victorians and that era to be like) each day.
In English the children have continued to flourish in their RWI groups. In some cases they have been encouraged to use simple conjunctions to link their ideas when either writing or using talk for writing. They have moved onto the next part of the whole class story Beegu and have devised instructions on making sandwich.
In maths we have been using very practical means to add and subtract. We have used part whole models, number lines, apparatus and also using a bar model when subtracting. We have agreed ways of double checking our calculations to see if they make sense and have used reasoning well when explaining to our maths buddies. They children have also discovered that addition is commutative (done in any order) and some children have completed problems and explained their reasoning to give themselves an extra challenge.
Our art lesson has been linked to our History topic of The Victorians and the children have learned about the Victorian artist William Morris. They have now started to recreate strips of wallpaper with their own version of his designs. I can’t wait to see them all on display.
In Science the class have been learning about the grouping of animals. They have investigated sorting them based on certain features, characteristics or traits the animals may have. The prior knowledge and reasoning the children gave was very interesting to listen to indeed and it was something of real interest for this class.
In computing the children have been experimenting with the touch pad on the laptop. They have also been using an online learning platform to practise further their Maths and phonics work.
The children have been doing ever so well with their spellings and a new list is in their books. A special well done to both Dylan and Evie Webster who achieved Star of the Week status for lots of effort with their work in all lessons and tenacity even when they found something quite challenging. Well done to you both!
As a reminder, we have our class trip to Blists Hill on Wednesday. Please refer to the letter which went home for any additional details you may need to know.

Have a lovely weekend together and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Mr Mavin