Year 1

What an exciting two weeks we’ve had in Year 1! The arrival of snow created lots of buzz in the classroom, and we simply had to go outside to enjoy it—we were far too excited to stay indoors.

In English, we have started our new book Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion. The children were thrilled (and a little shocked!) to discover that the school’s security cameras caught a lion wandering around The Vineyard. Naturally, Year 1 has taken responsibility for keeping everyone safe and will be creating “Wanted” posters next week to warn the rest of the school about this very curious and very hungry lion. We have been using plenty of adjectives to describe what this mischievous lion might look like and how it might behave so our friends will be able to spot him. 

In maths, we’ve been working hard on addition and subtraction. We’ve learned that there are many ways to represent a number sentence—this is called a fact family. We’ve practised using counters, number lines, number beads and Numicon to help us. Sometimes the addition and subtraction symbols can be tricky to remember and we get them a little mixed up - when you add, the number gets bigger when you subtract the number gets smaller, so please keep practising “quick maths” at home! We love applying our maths to real life situations, especially when it involves role-play.

Last week we stepped back in time for Victorian Day, where we experienced what school life was like in the past. By the end, most children agreed they much preferred The Vineyard to a Victorian classroom!

In DT, we created posters reminding us how to prepare food safely and hygienically, ready for making our fruit kebabs later in the unit.

We’ve also been learning about pets, how to keep animals safe, and exploring the church as a place of worship in RE—just in time for our trip next Wednesday!

  

                     

  

w/b 17.11.25	w/b 24.11.25
Keywords: ambitious adjectives (character traits - sensible, cunning), subtraction, take away, minus, past, Victorian, prefer, hygienic, safe, prepare, pets, Christianity, Advent, religion    Sounds: aw, are, ur, er	Keywords: 3D shapes, 2D shapes, kitchen tools, rolling pin, whisk, knife, grater, peeler, ‘life of a Victorian child’, gruell, factory, rotten vegetables, human body parts   Sounds: ow, ai, oa, ew

 

Messages: 

Please ensure your child brings their reading folders in with their reading record and books on Mondays. If folders are brought in later in the week, we’ll do our best to change the books when possible, but it can be tricky to find time once our weekly routines are underway. 

The reading record should be signed by an adult five times. 

Please make sure your child’s snacks are nut-free as we are a nut-free school. 

The Learning Garden gates will close at 8:45am, where we will promptly be taking the register. If your child arrives after 8:45am, they will be marked as late on the register. If the register has already been taken by the time they arrive, we will inform the office so they can update the attendance.

 

Dates: 

• Monday 24th November: Diamond Class Richmond Museum Trip

• Wednesday 26th November: Y1 St Matthias Church Trip

• Tuesday 9th December: Year 1 Christmas Performance

• Monday 15th December: Sunstone Class Richmond Museum Trip

• Thursday 18th December: Christmas Jumper and lunch

 

Year 2

Pearl and Amethyst Class had a wonderful visit to the Gurdwara. The children were fascinated as they learned about Sikh beliefs, the importance of the Gurdwara as a place of worship, and the values of kindness, equality and community. Turquoise Class are looking forward to their own visit next week!

In English, we have completed our work on Marcus Rashford. After reading Little People, Big Dreams, the children worked hard to create their own fact files about his life and achievements. They particularly enjoyed using the iPads to research extra information on his football career and charity work. In Maths, we have continued our learning on addition and subtraction, focusing on adding and subtracting two-digit numbers. The children have been introduced to the column method, which many are finding a really helpful strategy for organising and solving calculations.

Our History topic this half-term is Significant People. We start with Mary Seacole, and the children are already captivated by her story. They are eager to learn more about the challenges she faced and the incredible contributions she made as a nurse. In Science, we have been comparing woodland and urban habitats. This week, the children created choice chambers to investigate which environment a woodlouse prefers. They loved making predictions and look forward to observing the results next week. In DT, we are learning about pizzas and favourite toppings in preparation for making our own pizzas in December. The children have enjoyed discussing flavour combinations and exploring what makes a balanced, tasty pizza.

The all important rehearsals for our Christmas Nativity have now begun, and excitement is certainly building! All children have been cast, and costume letters have been sent home. Please come and speak to us if you need any support with costumes, we’re happy to help.

Have a lovely weekend!

  

  

w/b 17.11.25	w/b 24.11.25
Keywords: exchange, tens, ones, Marcus Rashford, fact file, proper nouns, Mary Seacole, significant, Caribbean, Crimea, hospitals, anaesthetic, microhabitats, woodlice, fair test, choice chambers.	Keywords: exchange, difference, fewer, minus, subtraction, total, instructions, imperative verbs, time conjunctions, hospitals, antiseptic, anaesthetic, microhabitats, choice chambers, woodlice, Vaisakhi, toppings.

 

Messages: 

• As the weather gets colder and wetter, please ensure your child is being sent to school with an appropriate, named coat. 

• Please ensure your child brings their reading record and books on Mondays to exchange them and so class teachers can check and stamp their records. 

• Reading records should be signed by an adult five times per week. 

• All hair needs to be tied up. Half up and down - needs tying completely back. 

• Please ensure your child has a book bag. We cannot accommodate rucksacks due to our limited space. 

 

Dates: 

• 21.11.25 Nasal Flu Vaccination

• 26.11.25 Turquoise Gurdwara visit, Hounslow

• 03.12.25 Open classrooms, 08.45 - 09.15

• w/b 09.12.25 Pizza making in DT (children bring in their own toppings, more info to follow)

• 10.12.25 Key Stage One Christmas show performance for Y2 families 

• 18.12.25 Christmas jumpers and lunch

• 19.12.25 School closes for holidays at 1.30pm and re-opens Monday 5th January