As it is the final week of our 'Let it Grow' topic, we will be revisiting all of our previous big idea questions to see if the children can remember all the things we have found out about!

This will include talking about:

What do plants need to grow?  Plants need water, sunlight and nutrients to grow. 

Where does fruit grow?  Fruit grows on bushes, trees and vines.

What vegetables grow underground?  Some vegetables grow underground such as carrots, potatoes, parsnips, turnips and onions. We call these root vegetables. 

How do trees change?  Trees and leaves can look different in different seasons/weather.

What do worms do?  Worms dig tunnels underground, they eat and poo which gives the soil nutrients and helps plants to grow. 

See if the children can answer any of these questions at home!

We will also be discovering who Vincent van Gogh is and looking at some of his famous paintings and using them to inspire our own creations. We will be looking at flowers, learning the names of some flowers and having a go at being an artist painting flowers!

Here are the great text's that we will be sharing:

 

• (F2) We have noticed a huge dip in children accessing doodle maths regularly - please let us know if you are having any issues with the app or need your login details again. Mrs King always says little and often with doodle maths- it will be a homework expectation in Year 1 so best to try and keep up the momentum playing regularly now. Let us know if you need any support with this. Keep your eyes peeled for a competition that will be starting before May half-term! 
• We hope everyone has a lovely half-term, we break up from school on Friday 26th May and return to school on Monday 5th June. 

 

This week we are focusing on our big idea question's:

Where does fruit grow?  

Why are fruits and vegetables good for us?  

We will be finding out that fruits contain seeds and investigating this in the classroom by cutting into different fruits and vegetables. We will be talking about how fruit grows on trees, bushes and vines and revisiting what plants need to grow. We will also be tasting different fruits and describing how they taste as well as creating our own fruit kebabs (using great fine motor skills to chop and slice). 

We will talk about how we stay fit and healthy, keeping active and eating lots of fruit and vegetables because they contain lots of vitamins and minerals. 

The great stories we will be sharing with the children this week:

 

 

 

 

Anything fruit, vegetable or growing related! We love seeing what you get up to on tapestry and the children love sharing photos with their friends in school. 

Here are some ideas: 

• We will be sending home a fruit reading log in your child's book bag this week-each time your child reads, or a story is shared with them sign their reading diary and get them to colour in a piece of fruit. If they can colour all fruits before Friday 10th June... They will get a prize!
• When at the supermarket can you name the different fruits and vegetables? 
• Can you make your own fruit salad using your favourite fruits?
• (F2) Can you help to write a shopping list using your phonics/Fred fingers to chop up the word to hear all the sounds. Phonetical spelling in Reception is fine e.g. apul (apple), tmarto (tomato), froot (fruit).

• Enjoy the bank holiday weekend (hopefully a sunny one!)
  Send us photos of what you get up to/any coronation celebrations on tapestry if you would like to.
• Thank you so much for your donations of seeds, plants and compost! We are incredibly grateful, and it will really help bring our topic to life! 
• (F2) All children will have speedy sounds or a reading book in their bag - please make sure these are being shared at home to build up their confidence, fluency and get them ready for their journey in year one.  We are so proud of how well they are doing with their reading. Thank you for all of your support with this at home. Any questions, please ask 😊

 

This week we will be talking all things gardens! We will be finding out what plants and flowers need to grow and why worms are so important for keeping our soil healthy!

 We will be answering these big idea question's: 

What job do worms do? 

What are roots? 

What can we grow in a garden?

We will be sharing these wonderful stories: 

 

 

 

Can you have a go at one of these home learning challenges? Or anything else plant/growing/garden related. You could send in a snap of your favourite park/garden to share with your friends in school. Can you spot any signs of spring when you are out and about? Take a photo and send it in on tapestry 😊

 

 

• Mrs Boon will be holding a phonics meeting for her F1's that will be starting F2 in September on Thursday 27th at 3pm - come along to find out all about how your child will be continuing to learn phonics this term and ways you can support their pre-reading skills at home. Thank you for your continued support 😊

 

 

 

Our final week of our 'Mad about Mini beasts'  topic! We are so impressed with how much knowledge the children have soaked up during this topic and how interested they have been to learn about lots of different teeny tiny creatures! 

We will be reviewing all of our previous big idea question's (see if the children can talk about these at home)

What is a mini-beast? 

What is the lifecycle of a butterfly? 

Why do spiders spin webs?

What job do bees do?

And talking about our new big idea question's:

What are the signs of Spring? 

How do people celebrate Easter? 

We will be sharing these wonderful stories and re-telling them drawing story maps:

 

Here are our words of the week we will be sharing with the children in F1:

Here are the words of the week we will be sharing with the children in F2:

Talk about the signs of spring - can you go on a walk and spot any of them? Send your photos in on tapestry for a show and tell session this week. 

You could sing along to our songs of the week:

 

• We look forward to seeing everyone at parent's evening this week (Monday 27th or Wednesday 29th)- if you're not sure of your time please check with a member of staff. 
• We break up for school for the Easter holidays on Friday 31st March - we hope everyone has a lovely Easter break and look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Monday 17th April.
• Check out the whole school 'design an easter egg' competition here - which is needed in school by Wednesday 29th - if you need another template let us know. 

This week we are talking all things spiders! 

We will be exploring these big idea question's:

• Why do Spiders spin webs?
• How many legs do spiders have? (Spiders are not classed as an insect because all insects have 6 legs!) 
• What is a predator? What is prey? 

We will be sharing these brilliant books to help bring our topic to life:

 

 

And of course singing and signing to these classic nursery rhymes: 

 

 

Last week, the children in F2 were learning about 3D shapes and their properties. We looked at these different shapes - cube, cylinder, cone, cuboid, pyramid, sphere.

We went on a 3D shape hunt in the classroom and found our globe that was a sphere, boxes that were cuboids and dice that were cubes!  Here are some ideas to support this learning at home - we would love to see what you get up to on tapestry! 

• (F2) The children are doing amazingly with their phonics - please make sure they are reading their RWI books or practising their blending book/speed sounds at home too. The school expectation is at least three diary entries a week (this can include sharing stories together too). Keep up the super work F2! 
• See if your children can talk about/answer the big idea question's of the week at home:
  -Why do Spiders spin webs?
  -How many legs do spiders have? 

The start of 'Magnificent mini-beasts' topic has been a hit with the children. We are finding out what different mini-beasts are called and talking about what they look like (colours, how many legs they have, if they have a shell to protect them etc). 

This week, the big idea question we will be exploring is:

Can all mini beasts fly?

We will be sharing this wonderful book which tells us all about different creepy crawlies and how they are truly awesome in their own unique way.

We will also be reading this story: