Autumn 2 Week 4

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Another busy week of learning in Reception Class. This week we learnt about Hanukah, a Jewish festival. The children drew pictures of the temple that was destroyed and wrote some words and captions. They also thought about special things that they have and how they would feel if they were destroyed. They made cards to wish people Happy Hanukah and they made a menorah using their handprints. Wonderful building of temples were created too!

In Literacy, we read the story Whatever Next. The children acted out the story using props and we sequenced pictures from the story. The highlight was decorating a big rocket to use in our space station. The children loved dressing up as an astronaut and boarding the rocket. It was wonderful to  see the children practising their writing in the Space Station when writing boarding passes and writing including letters home to tell mum or dad about their adventures. They also drew and wrote a list of what they would take to space. In our Art area, the children made rockets with squares and triangles that look lovely displayed in the class.

In Maths, we have been learning about repeated patterns. Children have been extending patterns and making their own patterns by using nature objects and objects we use in the class. The children have also been drawing their own patterns. We made noises with our bodies to create patterns.

Each day, we have been working hard practising our class Nativity. Thank you for the costumes that have been sent in. If you have not sent a costume in, please can we have them next week.

In our Ten Ten lesson, we thought about how we are all special and unique. The children wrote what they thought was special about them on stars and decorated them. We through about all of the children’s amazing qualities and how we have special gifts and talents.

Remember to wear one item of purple clothing on Monday.

 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Carey

Autumn 2 Week 3

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This week was Anti Bullying Week. We read the story The Ugly Duckling and spoke about how the ducks behaved. We thought about how the Ugly duckling was just different to the other ducks, he was not ugly. The children took turns to hot seat the Ugly Duckling and answer questions about how he was feeling when he was left out and then how he felt when he turned into a swan. The children did some wonderful pictures with speech bubbles to show how the duckling was feeling.

Then we thought about bullying and what it meant. The children learnt that bullying is when something happens over and over, not just a friend being unkind once. The children made posters to persuade people to be kind and not to bully. Then we thought about what we would do if we we were being bullied. The children drew around their hands and wrote the names of people they would talk to. The children thought about how they were different to their friends and made love hearts with a message about their differences. We talked about how we should not be unkind to someone because of the colour of their skin, hair or what they were wearing.

On our Art table the children made wonderful collages of ducks and swans. Then we learnt about the life cycle of a chicken. The children cut and sequenced pictures and made their own nests using natural materials. As we were learning about things that fly, the children made different things that fly using different materials.

In our outdoor shed, the children have been playing in the shop. They have been writing shopping lists and receipts.

In Maths, we continued comparing weighs of objects and explaining when something was heavier, lighter or the same. In Ten Ten, we listened to the last part of the Creation story and drew pictures and made a dance to show what God has created.

In Phonics the children have been revising the letter formation of the Phase 2 sounds, reading and writing words. It is wonderful to see how children’s letter formation is improving. Thank you for supporting your children with this.

This week we have been busy learning songs for our nativity and practising reading and acting. If your child has lines to learn, please support them with learning them and saying them loudly.  I have sent home a letter to explain what your child will need to wear. Please send these in by Friday 24th November.

On Monday 27th November, we will be learning about Advent. The children should wear something purple. The rest of their clothes can be school uniform.

Have a great week!

 

Mrs Carey

Autumn 2 Week 2

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This week we have been learning about Remembrance Day. We have been learning about how we remember the soldiers who died in the war. The children have been making poppies using different materials including paint with sponges, playdough, collage and fingerprint painting. The children drew and wrote about a special memory they have.  Using the sounds that they have learnt, the children wrote beautiful prayers to ask God to stop people fighting and to look after the soldiers. After assembly, the children went on a pilgrimage around the school with their reading partners to look at the beautiful displays for Remembrance. During November, we think about all the people who have died. Thank you to the people who sent in photos of loved ones who have died.

In Maths, we have been measuring capacity using a range of different resources. The children enjoyed filling containers to show full and half full and comparing what containers can hold more and less. Then we learnt about weight, first we estimated which item was heavier, lighter or if it would balance and then we measured it using a balancing scale. We have been encouraging the children to use the words heavier, lighter and equal.

 

In Phonics this week, we have been revising the Phase 2 sounds that we have learnt this term and using them to write words and sentences. Please continue to practise saying and writing these sounds at home. The children have been using magnetic letters to make words and writing words and sentences about pictures. It has been wonderful to hear the children using their phonics to help them to read.

In our Ten Ten lesson, we continued to learn about the Creation Story. We made up a dance for the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky and the animals in the land. Then the children drew pictures of some of the things God created.

Over the next few weeks the children will be practising for our Christmas Nativity. If your child has been given some words to learn, please support them with this.

Have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mrs Carey

Autumn 2 Week 1

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We hope you had a wonderful half term. This week we have been learning about Diwali. First we listened to the story about Rama and Sita to understand what Hindus are celebrating at Diwali. The children drew pictures of the story and wrote some words using the sounds we have learnt. With blocks, the children built a bridge to go over water like the story. The children also drew around their hands and decorated them with henna patterns. We looked at Rangoli patterns and made them with natural materials and drew some on the playground. In our home corner, we had fun dressing in saris. Using clay, the children made diya lamps and then painted them. Hindus celebrate Diwali with fireworks so we learnt about the Gunpower Plot and we made pictures using chalk and paint. When the rain came, we put powder paint in the puddles to make fireworks. Then we made sparklers and junk modelling rockets.The children loved dancing around and making movements with their sparklers. The children also made posters to tell people how to keep safe with fireworks.

In Maths, we have been learning about measuring. We have been measuring with different resources in the class including cubes, blocks, lego and paper clips. The children have been measuring how high tables and chairs are, measuring each other and measuring and comparing their feet.

In Phonics, we have learnt the letter l and diagraphs ll and ss. The children have been practising reading and writing words with these letters. For the next few weeks, we will be revising the sounds we have already learnt and reading and writing words. Please practise saying the sounds and writing the letters.
In the month of November, we remember people who have died. If you know some who has died, please send in their photographs. Write their name on the back so we can include them in our prayers.

This week we started our Ten Ten topic – Created and Loved By God. We read the beginning of the Creation Story and the children drew and painted the things that God made.

On Friday, we enjoyed meeting our reading partners.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Carey and The Early Years Team

Week 7

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It is the end of our first half term. All the children have settled into the class and school very well. It has been wonderful to speak to you at parents evening this week. If you did not get to see me, I will arrange a time after half term.

This week was One World Week and we learnt about Cyprus. The children made the Cyprus flag and we located Cyprus on a map. Miss Gymer is  from Cyprus, she showed the children a book that her son made about Cyprus. On Tuesday, we learnt about some of the food Cypriot people like to eat and we tasted some. I was impressed at the children trying olives, pitta bread with tzatziki and halloumi. On Wednesday Zachariah’s family made us tiropita and the children and the adults enjoyed trying them. The children were very excited to make a cake called Vasilopitta; it is a cake that is often made on New Years Eve. A coin is hidden in the cake and the person who gets the slice with the coin gets good luck. Well done to Tom for getting the coin! On Thursday, Sienna, Eliana, Panayiotis and Sofia Rose from Year 6 taught the children a Cypriot dance. On Friday, Chloe’s family made us some Cypriot pastries. Then we lit a Greek incense burner which is a religious tradition. It smelt wonderful. Thank you to all the parents for the support and generosity this week.

In Maths, we learnt about the number 4 and 5. Using a 5 frame and a cherry model the children made 4 and 5 with different numbers. Using different resources, the children demonstrated their understanding of adding two numbers together to make another number. The children have been drawing and writing number sentences to show how they made 4 and 5. They also made the number 4 and 5 number block characters.

We have also been learning about Autumn this week. We have been observing the signs on autumn in our playground, looking at the changes of the colours of the leaves and how they are falling to the ground. The children have been thinking about the clothes we wear in autumn. We did printing with leaves, we used buds to carefully add paint to autumn animals, we made autumn soup with conkers and leaves and made playdough squirrels and hedgehogs.

In Religion, the children have been learning about Baptism. Father Shaun came into class and explained the meaning of Baptism.  Through role play, he showed what happens at a Baptism. Then the children all had a turn at acting. Father Shaun asked the children to look at a photo of their Baptism and find out who their godparents are. Please do this with your child.

Our sounds this week were h, b, f, ff. the children have been learning the sounds, how to form the letter and were reading and writing words with the letters they have learnt. Please practise all the sounds over the holidays. We have also been learning the following tricky words: a, I, go and no, the and into.

Have a wonderful half term
Mrs Carey and The Early Years Team

Week 6

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We have had a busy and fun week in Reception. Our topic this week was People Who Help Us. We talked about all of the people who help us at school, at home and in the community.

On Tuesday, we had a visit from fire fighters! The children were excited when they saw the fire engine on our playground. Every child got to spray the big fire hose and sit in the fire engine. The firefighters explained what the children should  do if they ever saw a fire and asked them to check at home for their smoke alarm. Harry’s mum visited to tell the children about her job as a nurse. The children enjoyed trying on the gloves, aprons and listening to all the important jobs that nurses do. On Wednesday, we had a bus driver with their bus visit. The children all had a turn of sitting at the wheel and opening the doors using the buttons. They were delighted to sit upstairs on the bus too! Please click for the photos – Photos

Each day, the children have been acting as vets and doctors in our role play areas and using their writing skills to write down details and prescriptions. They have also enjoyed dressing up as police and firefighters and using different equipment to put out their pretend fires. It has been wonderful to witness the children’s  imagination and the development in their vocabulary. Then the children thought about what they wanted to be when they grow up. They want to be police officers, builders, chefs and many more professions.

In Maths, we have been learning about one less. The children have been demonstrating their understanding by playing musical chairs, singing songs and playing games. We have been learning that 1 less is taking away 1 and the number gets smaller when we take away.

On Friday, the children went to their first assembly. I was very proud of the way they sat beautifully and joined in with the prayer and some of the singing.

The Year 2 children demonstrated how we set up an altar and explained each of the items. We are learning about the church and what is inside. The children made their own altars and churches  using bricks and blocks.

This week we have learnt the sounds, ck, e, u and r. Please practise saying and writing these sounds at home. We have also been practising reading some tricky words. I, a, the, to, no and go.

Finally, we read with our Year 6 reading partners! The children have already developed wonderful relationships with their partners.

Next week is One World Week. The country we are focusing on is Cyprus because we have lots of children from Cyprus in Reception. If you would like to share your knowledge about Cyprus or any traditions you have, please let us know.

Have a lovely weekend.

 

Mrs Carey and the Early Years Team

Week 5

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Our focus this week has been Friendship. We read the story The Rainbow Fish and spoke about the importance of sharing and though about how friends make us happy like in the story. The children have been making friendship bracelets out of different things, making cards for their friends, painting pictures and writing their own names and their friend names. They have been demonstrating qualities of lovely friends in the class and in the playground. On Thursday, we retold the story The Rainbow Fish by drawing story maps. It is wonderful to see the children using the sounds they know to write words about their pictures and messages to their friends.

 

This week we have learnt the sounds g, o, c and k. The children have been practising to write the letters, finding objects that begin with those letters and beginning to read and write words. Please continue to practise saying the sound and writing the letter at home. Each child received a reading book this week. Inside the book, it says your child’s reading day. Please send their books back on that day. The library book is for you to read to your child. The reading books are for your child to read to you. If there are no words in your child’s book, your child should talk about the pictures and tell a story using the pictures.

 

In Maths, the children have been making three in different ways and saying the number sentence. For example; 2 + 1= 3 They have used sticks, conkers, dinosaurs and animals to show this. Then we learnt how to add one more to a number using many resources including a 5 frame and number fans.

On Friday we read the story Noah’s Ark from the Bible and role played the story. Then we made animals and rainbows to retell the story.

Make or print a flag for the country your child or their family are from. Please send it in on Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mrs Carey

Year 6 Week Beginning 25/9/23

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It has been another very busy week in Year 6.

The week started with great excitement and anticipation, as on Monday, the children finally found out which leadership role they had been awarded!

Some of the  children have already been put to work in their new roles- The Laudato Si’ group have met and prepared something for the St Vincent mass on Sunday, the sports leaders have had a meeting with Ms Pringle and the new St Vincent captains, Grey and Lucy, have prepared and led a whole school assembly about the life of St Vincent. The class were all presented with their leadership badges during assembly on Thursday which they are wearing with pride!

In Science, the children continued to explore the question:

Is there a relationship between the type of exercise that you do and the number of heart beats per minute (bpm)?

They organised the equipment that they need and had lots of fun carrying out the test that they had planned the week before.

Today, Year 6 finally got to meet their Reception reading partners. The sun was shining and so the children spent time getting to know one another outside. Year 6 spent some time beforehand reminiscing about the time spent with their own learning partners when they were in Reception themselves and understand that this is is a very special relationship that will continue to build as the weeks progress.

For home learning this week, please write a letter to your reading partner, welcoming them to Pope Paul and telling them all about yourself. These letters will be given to the reception children next Friday.

Please also log on to Mathletics and Spelling Shed for additional home learning. The problems with Spelling Shed have been rectified.

For those of you who are going, I will see you at the St Vincent mass on Sunday. If not, have a lovely weekend!

Ms Pemberton

Week 4

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Another week of lots of fun and learning in Reception!

Our focus this week was growing up from a baby to an adult and birthdays. We are very lucky to have two babies in our class family. Evelyn, Michael’s sister came to visit on Tuesday and Oliver, Freya’s brother came to visit on Thursday. The children asked  lots of questions, for example What do they eat? Where do they sleep? Why do they cry? Then we sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to the babies.  After their visits, the children made a shopping list of what babies need and labelled their pictures with the words including the sounds they have learnt. We have made party lists, party hats, made cakes with playdough and paintings and made invitations for our learning about birthdays. The children have been wrapping boxes for presents, demonstrating excellent joining skills. Then they have been writing labels for their presents.  These skills will be useful when they are wrapping Christmas presents at home! Outside, we made drinks for a birthday party. Then we ended the week with some party games, their dancing was amazing!

This week the children have learnt the sounds i, n, m and d. Each day we revisit the sounds that we have already learnt and we are beginning to blend the sounds to read words. For example, sat, mat, tap, sit and dad. The children are practising the formation of the sounds by saying the rhymes. Thank you for your support with their home learning.

In Maths, we have been learning about numbers 1,2 and 3. We found 1 of lots of items in the class and we practised writing the number 1. Then we found 1 a partner to make 2 and the children played games rolling the dice labelled 1 and 2. The children made numbers using different materials. On Thursday we learnt about the number 3 and made the number using pom poms. We played lots of games where we counted objects and identified the numbers.

In Religion, we learnt about the Bible and how special it is. The children passed the Bible around,  making sure they treated it with love and care. We listened to a story from the Bible about Jesus healing people with his hands. We thought about how we can be kind and caring with our hands just like Jesus.  Then we all reflected on how special we all are to God.

 

The highlight of the week was meeting their Year 6 Reading partners! Every Friday, the children spend time reading and talking to their reading partners.

We have two jumpers aged 5-6 without a name on. If you have lost a jumper, please let us know.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Carey and The Early Years Team

Week 3

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What a busy week in Reception! The children have all started to learn the routines in the class. They remember that our day starts with our morning prayer and song and then a Wake and Shake dance.

Our book this week was The Colour Monster By Anna Llenas. This book is all about feelings and each feeling is associated with a colour . The children enjoyed creating their own monsters with boxes, drawing and painting  monsters. The children thought about the things that make them happy and drew them in a jar. This has been beneficial for the children to talk about how they feel and why they feel that way. Thank you for the family photos, these make the children happy when they look at them in our home corner.

This week we started our Phonics lessons. The children learnt the sounds s, a, t and p. They have been learning to write them using rhymes to remind them of the correct direction. They have been practising in sand, sugar, flour and foam. They have been writing them on small pieces of paper and big pieces of paper. It was wonderful when children started to blend the sounds to make words with the letters they have learnt – at, as, pat and sat. Thank you for supporting your child with their home learning. Please complete the home learning as it will help the child to remember the rhymes. Remember to send the book in each day.

It has been lovely playing games with the children including Snakes and Ladders, matching games and counting games. They love singing number songs and playing number games using our interactive whiteboards.

A highlight of the week was when Mrs Heymoz came to class with her guitar and sang some songs.

We have been learning the Mission Prayer and thinking about how we are all God’s work of Art and he loves us all. The children wrote their names and decorated around them to add to our display.

 

Home Learning

Go over the sounds we learnt this week. Support your child with holding their pencil correctly.  All home learning should be completed in pencil.

Send in wellies with the children’s names on please.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Carey  and The Early Years Team