Wednesday 30th June

As the end of the school year draws closer the timetable and routine is beginning to become more flexible to accommodate the school performance practises and various other end of year things happening in each class.

This week Class 1 have been writing some 'Wind in the Willows' adventure stories based upon those adventures had by Mr Toad, Mole, Ratty and others. The year 1 children have written up their stories ready to be displayed at the performance so keep an eye out when you come to see it.

Reception this week are looking at the story 'The Sand Horse'. Today they painted watercolour pictures and added images of the horse and the white horses in the waves. They have also been making sand sculptures in a large tray.

Reception have also been looking at 3D shapes including pyramids and cones. Yesterday they had a go at making their own pyramids.

Year 1 have been trying to understand the concept of numbers being made of tens and units.

REMINDER: On Friday the year 1 children will be going into Class 2 for the day in preparation for their transition into class 2 from September.

Wednesday 23rd June

Preparations for sports day were well under way today. The children had their final practise and had a go at running in a lane. We spent the morning having fun with sports day related activities including the relay, jumping in sacks and the egg and spoon race. The children are now fully prepared for tomorrow and very excited.

Sports day will begin at 9:30am at Bussage Primary School playing field. Bring your trainers! There will be a mums race and dads race!!

Welcome to Tammi who has joined us in year 1.

REMINDER: Please come in PE kit tomorrow with a t-shirt that is the right colour for your house team. Scott=blue, Grace= red, Morris= green. Don't forget to bring your PE kit bag back with your school clothes to change into.

Monday 21st June

Today was the perfect day for outside learning. The children enjoyed a game of giant dominoes and playing in the water outside. Please send your child with a sun hat and cream as they do spend a lot of their time outside.

Year 1 have been practising their poem recitals today and Reception have continued thinking about pirate maps and hiding treasure.

This week in maths the year 1's are rehearsing subtraction and using a number line to count back.

REMINDER: On Thursday the children will need to come in their PE kits ready for sports day. They need to wear a t-shirt that matches with their house team colour. Scott is blue, Morris is green and Grace is red. They should be able to tell you their house and colour. If not come and see me!

Friday 18th June

Some of Crispin's new outfits. Above: pyjamas made my Oliver's mum.

Crispin's new school jumper knitted by Molly N's nanny.
A new outfit complete with hat by Thomas' grandma.

REMINDER: Both Reception and Year 1 homework should be completed and handed in each Friday. Reception should complete their sound and word books each week. Year 1 should complete their weekly word lists twice in their spelling books. Words are to be read to your child and they write it down from hearing it verbally. They should not be just simply copying the lists.

Thursday 17th June

This morning the children continued looking at poems but focusing upon 'action' words or verbs. Here are some of the best:

Caterpillar nibble juicy leaves.
Caterpillar scuttle quick.
Caterpillar spin cocoon.
Caterpillar turn into butterfly.
By Joshua R

Rhino charging fast.
Rhino drinking fresh water.
Rhino resting in the sun.
Rhino chewing it's food.
By Tadhg

Bat flying high.
Bat crunching nuts.
Bat squeaking quietly.
Bat hanging upside down.
By Kim

Lion prowling around.
Lion gobbling meat.
Lion roaring loudly.
Lion snoring when asleep.
By Jim

T-Rex eating a dinosaur.
T-Rex running at a tree.
T-Rex sleeping in the jungle.
T-Rex growling at a bird.
By Harry

In Maths we investigated what we could do in one minute. We tried out how many jumps we could do, how many claps and if we could be still and silent for one minute!

Some of the Reception children today decided that they wanted to make microphones and use them for their singing and TV presenting. The 'make your own microphone' in the tent outside proved very popular.

Junk modelling has been very popular this week so please keep the junk coming.

Thank you so much to Thomas' grandma who has knitted a beautiful outfit and hat for Crispin. Thank you to Ollie's mum for making him a fantastic pair of pj's ready for any sleepovers that her goes on. Pictures to follow tomorrow!

Some lovely pictures of the children during the Gnome Hunt taken by Molly's dad.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/adamedwardivorobbins/ESAGnomeHunt?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2ht6Th2oTd3AE&feat=directlink#

Wednesday 16th June

This morning we went to the playing field to practise for sports day. The children are very excited about the sack race and had lots of fun practising their technique! We also practised the running races so now everyone is prepared for the big day. Lets hope it does not rain!

We talked about the '1 goal' campaign that we are taking part in as a whole school. More information on the campaign can be found on the back of your child's scarf piece that they have brought home today. They have until Monday to get as many family and friends to sign their scarf as they can. On Monday we will make a giant scarf in Class 3 and then it will be sent to David Cameron.

This afternoon we continued talking about our UK holidays. The children learnt how to use an atlas and we tried to find the different locations on a map of the UK.

The children have noticed that the ivy is becoming very overgrown in our outside area over the last few weeks. Do you have any spare time during the morning on Tuesday 29th June? We are in desperate need of some parent helpers to give it a prune and cut it back a bit. If you can spare an hour or so between 8:50 and 12:30 then please let me know. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Strong shears will definitely be needed!

Tuesday 15th June

We continued with our topics for the week today. Year 1 learnt about rhyming couplets and had a go at writing some of their own. Reception looked at a treasure map and talked about words to describe its position including in front, behind, next to, around, and over.

We had a ship wreck outside that the children were building including lots of material to create little den spaces.

This afternoon we had a fire practise in the middle of singing practise. The children were very sensible and all went very well. The children are now singing the songs without words.

We started our Geography topic about 'Islands and the seaside' today. The children talked about their photographs and pictures that they had been asked to bring in about their UK holidays. The children talked about where they had visited, what they did there and what they really liked/disliked. Tomorrow we will be using atlases to find the locations and plot them on a UK map.

Monday 14th June

Today Reception learnt how to share and take turns when playing snakes and ladders.


Our new topic for the next 2 weeks has a Geography focus. We are learning about 'Islands and Pirates.' Some of the children designed and made pirate hats today.

We continued our poetry this morning. The Year 1 children were looking at the poem 'Animal Muddle'. We created our own animal muddles including snails with lobster claws and elephants with giraffes necks. We had great fun being so creative.

We are tackling time in maths this week, looking at both o'clock and half past times. The year 1s played a new version of 'What's the time Mr Wolf?'. Setting and matching times with a partner.

Well done to all the children in class 1 who took part in the talent show. They were very brave standing up in front of such a big audience.

REMINDER: Please bring in tomorrow a photograph/postcard/image of a holiday that you have had in the UK.

Friday 11th June

Today the children worked with Mrs Southall in the morning. They continued their work about creation and made a fantastic dance of their own to go with the music. It was really super. The dance moves included resting, the world turning, growth, different animals including flying, water and land etc.

The children all dressed up as famous people today. We had a wide selection of famous people in our class today including David Beckham, Puss in Boots, Dorothy and Doctor Who. The children looked excellent and a lot of work had been put into the costumes. Well done!

Puss in Boots (Iona) won a prize for the best costume.

Thursday 10th June

Today reception created their own under the sea poem. Come and read it in their Literacy books.

Year 1 wrote up their under the sea poem. Each one of them wrote a verse which has been put together as a class book. This is living in the classroom book box and the children are very proud to have their work 'published'!

We have nearly finished looking at the Titanic. Today we learnt about the lifeboats and the survivors. The children were fascinated with the facts and have remembered lots of information including how many lifeboats were on the Titanic and how many people could fit in each lifeboat. The children have really loved this topic and have learnt so much.

Lots of reminders about tomorrow.

- Mrs Southall would like everyone to bring in their favourite story book.
- Dress up as a famous person or in non school uniform (50p)
- Cake sale at play time (20p)
- Bring and buy sale after school: bring along anything you do not want anymore that is in good condition.

Wednesday 9th June

Yesterday the Reception children had a story time with some of the new starters from Bussage Nursery School. The current Reception children enjoyed being called the 'year 1s'! They arrived at 2:30 and came to play and listen to a story.

On Tuesday we also continued our learning about the Titanic and looked at the collision with the iceberg and the following hours after that.This morning was the pet show. Due to the weather we had to hold the pet show in Class 3. Some of the children in Class 1 brought along their pets including Abi and Archie with their dogs and Kim and her rabbit. (Photographs to follow tomorrow)

Well done to Isaac who won the best toy pet!

This afternoon the Reception children had individual photographs and a group photograph taken on the village green. We had some real movie star poses and smiles!

Thank you to Molly N's nanny who has knitted Crispin a fantastic navy school jumper. He looks very smart!

REMINDER: Mrs Southall has asked the children to bring in their favourite story book for Fridays RE lesson.

First day back after half term

We started looking at poetry this morning. The children enjoyed the poem 'Bears don't like Bananas'. We talked about the features of poems. Some children were very knowledgeable about poems that have read before. The children then worked in small groups/partners to learn a poem before having to recite it to the rest of the class. We looked at a variety of poems.

In Maths we looked at capacity and describing containers to keep a magic potion in. The children used language such as empty, nearly empty, half full, nearly full and full. We talked about how we knew when it was half full.

This afternoon we continued with the Titanic and looked at what happened and how the ship sank. The children watched a simple computer recreation of the moments and then wrote about the sequence of events.

There is lots happening this week at school. Tomorrow some of the new starters from Bussage Nursery will be joining us for story time. This will mean that the year 1 children will have story time up in Class 2!

REMINDER: Reception will be having their group photograph taken on Wednesday afternoon.