Year One Blog: Planet Earth

This week we have been teaching Beegu about our planet Earth. We have learnt lots of facts about Earth. Did you know that Earth is called the Goldilocks planet? This is because it’s not too hot, not too cold, not too dry and not too wet which allows life to grow. We grouped the facts we had learnt and wrote information pages about Earth.

Next week we will be retelling the story of Beegu.

In science we have been learning about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. We created a food chain to show what different animals eat.

In geography we carried out a continent case study, focussing on the continent Africa. We located some of the different countries of Africa on a map, famous landmarks and learnt about what food comes from Africa. We enjoyed trying the different foods with pineapple and couscous being particularly popular.

We hope you all have a restful weekend,

Miss Luetchford and Mrs Sharon 🙂

Year Two Blog 19th November 2021

Dear Parents/Carers

We had a very successful MUFTI day on Thursday. Thank you to all for your kind donations.

For Spelling Shed this week the children are focusing on the /l/ or /ul/ sound spelled –el. Challenge words are up again so the students may continue to practise.

In maths this week, the children have deepened their understanding of subtraction using the column method. We have used dienes to practise exchanging.

In English, we have begun guided reading after reading The Green Ship. Guided reading teaches children to better understand text through teaching a series of comprehension strategies.

 

Year 2 will now be working hard in the lead up to our Christmas show. Can the children please continue to practise their lines at home. Each child should have taken home a copy of their lines along with their costume letter. All costumes need to be in the week of the 29th November. If you have any difficulties in finding the items for your costume, please come and speak to one of the KS1 team.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Miss Bennett, Mrs Bibby, Mrs Killy and Mrs Glanville

Year One Blog: Dear Diary

This week we have been learning how to write a diary entry. We looked at different diaries and as a class labelled each of the key features. We learnt that diaries have a date at the top of the page, begin with ‘Dear Diary’, are written in the first person past tense, include some descriptive vocabulary and end with ‘Love from’. We wrote diary entries as Beegu, describing her time on Earth. Next week we will making an information page about our planet Earth.

In maths we have been learning about subtraction. We have learnt how to count backwards and draw pictures to calculate how many are ‘left’.

In geography we have learnt about different landmarks around the world. We have loved seeing the photographs of the children at various places, please continue to send them in.

A huge well done to our school councillors Clemmie and Patricio for selling our salt dough decorations as part of the fundraiser for Shelter. Thank you for all of your donations, we will share the total raised with you next week.

This week we have been learning the following sounds:

igh (fly high)

i-e (nice smile)

Attached is the link to the Spelling Shed for the children to be able to revise these sounds: https://play.spellingshed.com/#/login

We hope you have a restful weekend,

Miss Luetchford and Mrs Sharon 🙂

 

Year Two Blog November 12th

Dear Parents/Carers

This week has been a very busy week! We made a wonderful class wreath of poppies for Remembrance Day, baked some delicious Challah in R.E and created beautiful fireworks artwork.

On Thursday, we had a very special school Mass to celebrate Remembrance Day. The children were interested and respectful when learning about this special occasion.

In maths this week we continued our learning about subtracting a 2-digit number from a 2-digit number. We have done subtraction without exchange and have started to look at exchanging. In English, we planned and then wrote an information report about Remembrance Day.

At St Matthew’s we are attempting to become as paperless as we can and because of this the spellings are no longer sent out on paper. However, for whatever reason, if you need a paper copy, please let me know and I am happy to prepare this. This week we have another round of challenge words (these will be left up for 4 weeks) and the /l/ or /ul/ sound spelled ’-le’ at the end of words.

Looking to next week, Year 2 have a MUFTI Day on Thursday 18th November. Can the children please bring in a donation if they choose to wear their own clothing. This donation will go towards the charity Shelter.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

From Miss Bennett, Mrs Bibby, Mrs Killy and Mrs Glanville

Year One Blog- Science Museum Explorers

This week we had our school trip to the Science Museum where we explored the pattern pod, garden and space exhibition. The children loved seeing all of the items linked to space exploration of the past and future. Thank you to our parent helpers for accompanying us on the trip.

In English we have continued reading our text ‘Beegu’. We looked at different moments in the story and begun to think about Beegu’s motives and actions. Next week we will be writing a diary entry as Beegu.

In maths we have continued with comparing addition number sentences.

In phonics we have been learning the following sounds:

a-e (make a cake)

ay (may I play)

Attached is the link to the Spelling Shed for the children to be able to revise these sounds:https://play.spellingshed.com/#/login

Next Wednesday, our School Councillors will be selling Christmas decorations on the KS1 playground. The children made and decorated these decorations in class and all proceeds will go to the charity Shelter.

Years one and two, have started preparing for their Christmas Show ‘The Angel Who Nearly Missed It All’.

All of the children have taken home a letter describing what clothing is required for their costume, along with a copy of their line(s) to practise at home. If you have any questions  please come and speak to one of the KS1 team and we will be happy to help.

Next week it is the turn of the Roaring Rockets’ table for Show and Tell.

We hope you have a restful weekend,

Miss Luetchford and Mrs Sharon 🙂

Year Two Blog Friday 5th November

Dear Parents/Carers

I hope you have had a restful half term. The children have shared some of their half term break highlights with us and it sounds like lots of fun was had.

Spelling Shed is back this week with two lists. This week we have words ending in –ed and homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings). We are encouraging the children to spend at least 5 minutes a day engaging with Spelling Shed.

In maths this week, we have continued column addition and also dived into subtraction. The children have learnt about a variety of different methods we could use when solving a problem.

In English, we read the Green Ship. It is a wonderful book written and illustrated by Quentin Blake. This book will be used for Guided Reading this term. We also looked at adverbs and practised using them with verbs in a sentence. Next week we will read Journey. Our new topic will be focused around this book and the children will be exploring different journeys.

In Science, we started to look at Animals Including Humans. The children have reflected on their knowledge so far.

This half term we will be learning and rehearsing our Christmas production. The children in Year 2 will be doing the acting parts. This week we have started to learn the first few songs of the productions.

From Miss Bennett, Mrs Bibby, Mrs Killy and Mrs Glanville

Meet Beegu

Welcome back, we hope you had a restful half term.

This week we have started our new core text ‘Beegu’.

In the story Beegu is a kind and curious alien who crashes on a strange and mysterious planet (Earth). We learnt about Beegu’s experiences on our planet  and thought of adjectives to describe her appearance such as ‘bright yellow’. We also thought about how Beegu might have felt and generated adjectives to describe her emotions such as ‘lonely’. We wrote lost posters describing her characteristics and appearance, to help her family find her.

In maths we have been learning how to add two numbers together. We have drawn pictures to help us in our calculations.  Next week we will be continuing with addition and subtraction.

In science we have started our new unit ‘Animals Including Humans’.

Below are links with videos and a quiz that the children can complete at home about each type of animal to consolidate their learning:

Mammals- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z6882hv/articles/zp92xnb

Birds- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z6882hv/articles/zyd6hyc

Reptiles- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z6882hv/articles/zyd6hyc

Amphibians – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z6882hv/articles/zc6br82

Fish – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z6882hv/articles/zxgq2hv

In phonics we have been reviewing the following sounds:

ea (cup pf tea)

ee (what can you see?)

oi (spoil the boy)

oy (toy for a boy)

Attached is the link to the Spelling Shed for the children to be able to revise these sounds: https://play.spellingshed.com/#/login

This week your child has taken home their login details to access their Discovery Education account: https://www.discoveryeducation.co.uk/

There are lots of educational videos, games and activities for the children to work through linked to our learning in school.

We hope you have a restful weekend,

The Year One Team 🙂