Spring 1 week 1 w.b 08.01.24

Happy New Year! It has been lovely seeing all of the children again and hearing all about the amazing things they got up to over Christmas.

The children started the week celebrating The feast Of  The Epiphany. The children learned how the The Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th January and is a special part of Christmas and the story of Jesus’ birth. It marks the day when the Three Kings followed a star to visit the son of God and the first time that Jesus was revealed to the World. Year One wore their special crowns to assembly and took part in a special circle time where we discussed what gifts we could bring this year to our school, family and friends. We had some lovely suggestions such as the gifts of kindness, friendship and charity as well as looking out for people who may need our help. The children wrote down their gifts they would like to offer and shared their offerings with the class.

In Maths this week the children have been identifying the whole amount and the parts. They have used their knowledge of the part whole model to explore different quantities and also how it might be adapted depending on the question that is being asked.

In their Seasonal Learning this week the children have been thinking about Spring being the next season to come. There were some great discussions about what reminds them of Spring and all the lovely things they have to look forward to. A particular favourite was Easter! The children shared their ideas with some keywords and then went off to complete some independent writing in their books.

In Art the children explored what watercolour can do. They used both primary colours and secondary colours in their exploration, experimenting with accidental and purposeful colour mixing. The experimented using techniques such as wash, wet on dry, wet on wet, and mark making. The also looked at an Artist called Emma Burleigh as inspiration.

PE – Please note PE days are now on Tuesday and Friday, so please send your child in wearing their PE kit on both of these days.

Please find below a link to our RHE/PHSE this term.

Life to the Full Plus Years 1 and 2 Spring Term

If you have any trouble with the attached document please right click your mouse/cursor and click on ‘save as’. Once downloaded click ‘keep’ and the document will show.  

Home Learning – due Friday.

Mathletics – please complete activities set.

Handwriting sheet – practice letters sent home. You do not need to send this back as they are also practised daily in school.

Spellings – please practice the spellings with your child for a spelling test next Friday. This also does not need to be sent back.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Poyiadzis and Mrs Barnes

Week 8

Merry Christmas everyone! We have reached the end of term and it has been a very busy last week for us all! The week started with our Christmas Fun day. It was a fabulous day and the morning started with a visit from Santa himself!

 

After party games and Christmas activities in the Class, the children worked up an appetite for our Christmas Lunch! The tables were beautifully decorated and the children had fun pulling crackers and sharing jokes with each other.

We would like to say a Big thank you to all of you for very your generous gifts and  also for all your support this Term! We would like to wish you all a very peaceful and Happy Christmas!

We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 8th January.

Mrs Barnes & Mrs Poyiadzis

Autumn 2 week 7 w.b 11.12.23

We have had a very festive week in Year One! On Wednesday the whole school enjoyed a special Christmas Lunch time! Everyone had lunch served to them by the staff and the table was set with crackers, quizzes and snap bracelets as well as beautiful Christmas decorations!

In RE this week the children continued their learning on Christmas in Poland and made their Polish Christmas Cards. There was lots of skill involved in making these and the children did a great job of putting them together before adding their personalised messages inside. Look out for these when they come home.

To finish off the week the children produced an amazing performance of our Christmas Nativity! ‘Christmas Around The World’ We are very proud of how the children sang, performed and delivered their lines so clearly. Their confidence performing on both days for the school and the parents was exceptional and I think we can definitely say their signing, dancing and expressions showed just how much they enjoyed it. Well done Year 1!

Thank you for the children’s home learning this week, we were very impressed and they have enjoyed sharing their work with the class.

Please remember school finishes on Wednesday 20th December at 1pm.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Poyiadzis and Mrs Barnes.

Autumn 2 week 6 w.b 4.12.2023

It’s been practice, practice, practice in Year 1 this week! The children have had a full on week of getting ready to show you their performance next Thursday. They are doing a great job and are very excited to see you all there.

Our RE focus this week and next is to look at how Christmas is celebrated in Poland. One important Polish tradition is to share the oplatek. This is a thin wafer with the picture of Mary, Joseph and Jesus on it. People pass it round and take a bit. It is a sign of forgiveness. Amelia brought one in for the children to see and did a great job of explaining it to the class. Next week the children will be making Polish Christmas cards so please look out for these!

It was time to say goodbye to our Class Italian restaurant this week.  The children took part in a Class poll to decide what we would like our home corner to change into! After a lot of discussion  we took a Class vote and it was decided that the most popular choice was Santa’s Grotto! We have made a start to getting the Grotto ready and will be adding resources over the next week. We would be very grateful for any donations of spare Christmas items you may have at home such as Santa or Elf  hats, tinsel, wrapping paper, labels  etc…

In Geography the children enjoyed exploring Google Maps and trying to find the School. They located Pope Paul School and also took a closer look at the surrounding areas using the street view. They went all the way down to the train station and wouldn’t let me stop until they could see McDonalds! The children very much enjoyed this and were all eager to say what they could see and give directions to where they live. Unfortunately, we only had time to explore the school address so please feel free to locate your own address if the children ask you to!

Home Learning

Nativity – Please practice lines for one last time!

RE Whole-School home learning. Please see below and newsletter for more details.

Reminders

Wednesday 13th – wear your Christmas jumpers.

Thursday 14th – Christmas performance 9.30am.

Wednesday 20th – end of term, school finishes at 1pm.

There will be no show and tell now for the rest of the term so please do not send anything in with your child. We will review this again in the new year.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Poyiadzis & Mrs Barnes

 

Autumn- Week 5

Year One are having a busy week preparing for Advent and practising for our KS1 performance. The children are doing a great job of learning all the songs for the play and it is a joy to hear the class singing together!

In Re the children have been learning the Hail Mary prayer and praying it together. We also asked the question, Why is Mary a special lady? The children produced some fantastic answers such as caring, loving, kind and went on to label a picture of Mary. They also discussed how Mary is a special lady because she was the mother of Jesus.

In English this week we have been learning about Verbs.- action words! We have talked about all the jobs that Framer Duck had to do and put these into sentences. Furthermore, we looked at sentence structure and rewrote incorrect sentences into their correct form. The children are working hard to remember to use a capital letter at the beginning of their sentence, finger spaces and a capital letter at the end. During continuous provision we have enjoyed making collage masks of characters from the story and we will use some of these for a class display.

 

As a class we have taken part in Circle Time and discussed what makes a good listener. The children took it in turns to listen to each other during Circle time and Show and Tell, waiting patiently and following our circle time rules.

In Geography this week the children have been learning about physical and human geography. They sorted photos into two groups and learnt that human geography is mainly largely built environments, whilst physical geography is mostly natural or semi-natural environments.

To end the week Year 2 treated us to their Shark Tales. Year 2 children wrote a book about sharks and partnered up with Year 1 to read and share their story. It was a lovely afternoon enjoyed by all.

Home Learning

Mathletics – due Friday

Lines for the Nativity – please could you practice your child’s lines with them. We are going to have a practice run next week without prompt cards. If you haven’t sent in your child’s costumes could you please send it in on Monday, thank you.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Poyiadzis and Mrs Barnes

Autumn 2 Week 3

This week in Year One the children learned about the importance of Prayer. We discussed how Prayer strengthens our relationships to God and one another. The children worked in pairs to answer the questions how do we pray? What helps you to pray? What kind of things do we pray for or about? We took some time to reflect on our answers and to offer our own intentions for prayers to include ourselves and others.

In Maths we have been learning about Pentonimoes’. Year One practised making a variety of arrangements of shapes from 5 cubes. A Pentonimo is a shape made by joining five squares together side-to-side. Once they had investigated their shapes they went onto recording the number sentences that each shape represents. They remembered that when thinking of a Pentonimo they need to to Think 5 !

      

In English the children have been learning about Nouns and using them to write independent sentences about what they can see on the farm. They enjoyed writing about the lazy farmer and all of the animals in their text of Farmer Duck. The children were very good at developing their sentences by adding adjectives and showed great creativity in their writing.

In PE the children warmed up by working in groups to steal been bags! They then developed their movement skills by travelling in different ways. They bear crawled, walked backwards, bunny jumped and pulled themselves forward using only their feet. The children were encouraged to travel along different pathways e.g zig zags, curved, straight and circular lines. They showed great skill and control during these activities and enjoyed moving in new ways.

The children have been very busy in Geography learning the countries that make up the United Kingdom. They have been looking at their local area, starting small and gradually getting bigger – Potters Bar, England, United Kingdom, Europe. They are showing great understanding and have enjoyed listening to our Continents song. Please ask them to sing it to you at home!

Home Learning – due Friday.

Mathletics – please complete the activities set.

Handwriting sheet, letter ‘r’.

Nativity Lines – you will find your child’s lines for the Nativity in their blue reading folder. Please practice these with them and keep this copy at home.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Poyiadzis and Mrs Barnes

Autumn 2 Week 3 w.b. 13.11.2023

Year One were very excited to visit the The Wyllyotts Museum on Wednesday afternoon as part of their Topics on ‘ Toys’ and ‘The local area’.  The children walked to and from The Museum very sensibly and talked about all they could see on their way! Members of The Historical Society greeted us and took the children around the Museum to see the various items on display. The museum has a wonderful range of Novelty telephones that the children could interact with as well as a collection of board games, soft toys and dolls.  A special thanks to Mabel who brought in her 100 year old doll that belonged to her Nan. The Museum kindly donated each child with a goody bag and a Quiz to take home. Thank you to our Parent helpers for coming with us. If you are ever passing the Museum we recommend you pop in and see all that is has to offer!

 

As part of Anti Bullying week we have been looking at and discussing our differences. Year One took part in a Circle time  learning how to be respectful listeners. We played the game Fruit Salad to practise our listening skills and to support children in seeing their similarities and differences. On Thursday the children worked in groups to discuss different scenarios where people were treated differently, they had to decide what they would do in that situation to make it right and presented their views to the class.

 

Home learning

Mathletics – due Friday.

Handwriting and letter formation worksheets. These do not need to come back to school.

Reading – 5-10 minutes a day.

Nativity – In your child’s book folder you will find a letter regarding their role and costumes they will need for our Nativity this year. Their lines will be sent home for them to practice next week.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Poyiadzis & Mrs Barnes

Autumn 2 Week 2 w.b. 06.11.2023

Remembrance

The children brought in photos of their family members who have died and they wish to remember especially in the month of November. We took the time to talk about about our loved ones and prayed for them. It was an emotional occasion as the children were reflective, respectful and demonstrated a maturity beyond their years. Thank you for sending in pictures of your loved ones, they have made a beautiful collection on our prayer table.

We ended this week by taking a pilgrimage around our school and a 2-minute silence to remember our loved ones who have passed and also all of the soldiers who lost their lives in the war. The children showed great respect and understanding during this special time. They also made some poppy inspired biscuits this afternoon, they looked great and I’m sure tasted even better!

RE

This week the children started their new focus for this half term which is Advent to Christmas. They learnt about the importance of preparing for something and being able to recognise some of the symbols of Advent. The keywords for this week were joy, hope, love and peace and why they are so important at this time of year. The children particularly enjoyed sharing how they prepare for Christmas in their homes and discussed all of the things they are looking forward to about this special time of year.

Seasonal Learning

This week the children went on an Autumn Nature Trail to discover what they could smell, see, feel and hear. The children really tuned into their senses and were able to pick up on all the lovely Autumn surroundings. They also enjoyed discussing their findings and explaining what their favourite part of Autumn is.

Home Learning – Due for Friday

Mathletics – please complete the activities set. Children’s log ins are in the front of their reading record.

Handwriting and number formation – please complete the worksheets sent home. These are practice sheets so they do not need to come back to school.

Reading – 5-10 minutes a day.

Reminder – Trip to Potters Bar Museum on Wednesday 15th November. This is just in the afternoon so children will be back in time for pick up at 3.15pm.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

Mrs Poyiadzis & Mrs Barnes

Autumn 2 Week 1 w.b. 30.10.2023

Welcome back!

Italian

The children are enjoying their Italian lessons and this week have been learning colour names. They played a fun game where they had to look for colours in the classroom and played find the thumbs up in a colour grid. The children are becoming confident in using their knowledge to introduce themselves and how to greet others in Italian!

PE

In PE this week the children have started their Gymnastics topic. The focus was to step in controlled, elegant movements and create a sequence involving stepping and turning. They watched a video demonstrating this before going on to make their own.  The children also had to work in groups to make tunnels and move their way through the shapes and bridges their peers made. I was very impressed with their smooth transitions and the way in which they navigated their way around.

English

This week the children started their new topic on Farmer Duck. They have enjoyed reading the story which we left on a cliff-hanger! They made some fantastic predictions about how the story might end and are looking forward to finding out what happens next. They were very good at remembering their capital letters, finger spaces and full stops in their writing. The children also enjoyed playing in the farm tuff tray and exploring all the different animals. Well done children!

Remembrance

The children started their learning on Remembrance Day this week and wrote some very special prayers, this will continue over next week. They looked at what Remembrance is and why it is so important, the children showed great enthusiasm and respect during this important session. Over the next week they will also write down the name of a special person they would like to pray for during out special prayer time in school and this list will be kept on our prayer table.

Home Learning

Remembrance – could your child bring in a photograph of someone who has passed away and who they would like to pray for.  Please write the name of the person on the back of the photograph and send it in on Monday.

Mathletics – complete the activities set. Children’s log ins are in the front of their reading record. Due Friday.

Handwriting and Number Formation – please complete the worksheets sent home. These are practice sheets so they do not need to come back to school.

Reading – 5-10 minutes a day.

We will be visiting The Wyllyotts Museum on Wednesday 15th November in the afternoon as part of our topic on Toys and The Local Area. More details of this trip to follow next week.

 

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Poyiadzis and Mrs Barnes

Autumn 1 Week 7 w.b. 16.10.23

What a busy week we have had in Year 1 and a fantastic first half term. Well done children!

We have had an exciting week learning about Italy. We have been learning facts about Italy including population size, currency and food. The children wrote their own menus for the class Italian restaurant and decorated their own Italian flags with collage. On Wednesday we were very fortunate to have Mrs Badini come to talk to the children about where she is from in Italy, Mrs Badini gave a presentation to the children with fun facts about Italy and its culture, famous landmarks and people. On Friday afternoon the children made their very own pizza and couldn’t wait to eat them! They were then treated to some Italian Cannoncini by Mrs Orsi-Harper who came in to make them with the children, they were super yummy! A huge thank you to all of our parents who have come in to support our learning this week. Please enjoy the photos!

 

History

To finish off our History topic this term the children were super lucky to have Mr Massih (Joshua’s dad) come and talk to the children about the future of toys! The children were shown a 3D printer and had first hand experience in watching a toy being printed. They were also fortunate enough to be given a toy aeroplane to take home, just like the one that was printed in class. This was a fantastic opportunity and the children were fascinated by the making process.

As part of our ongoing safeguarding we thought this may be a good refresher for the children. Please listen to the song and discuss it with your child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnroTxz7USI&ab_channel=Wizz

Have a restful and much deserved break. We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 30th October.

Mrs Poyiadzis & Mrs Barnes