Year 1

What an exciting few weeks we have had in Year 1! Our learning garden had a very special visitor when an alien spaceship crash-landed right in the middle of it! We became detectives and made predictions about who might be inside. To our delight, it was Beegu, the little alien from our key English story. After getting to know Beegu’s adventures, the children became Beegu themselves and wrote postcards to their families, telling them all about their time on Earth.

In maths, we have been becoming experts with our rekenreks! The children have been using them to explore one more, one less and number bonds, developing their confidence with numbers. Rekenreks are also fantastic for subitising, helping us recognise quantities quickly without counting. We love using them to show off our growing maths skills!

In art, we have particularly enjoyed discovering the wonderful work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, famous for her distinctive use of dots and patterns. We have experimented with printing using different tools to create both big and small dots. We have also been practising drawing careful outlines in preparation for our final Kusama-inspired pieces.

It has been a busy and creative few weeks, and we are so proud of the enthusiasm, imagination and curiosity the children are showing in their learning!

Coming up:

Next week, we will begin a new story called The Storm Whale by Benji Davies and practise our retelling skills. In maths we are moving on to consolidate our knowledge of 20 by finding missing numbers, counting on and counting backwards.

                

                

Key messages from the Year 1 team: 

• Please ensure your child brings their reading folders in with their reading record and books on Mondays. 

• PE for both classes: Wednesday and Friday. A polite reminder that trainers should only be worn on a PE day (unless they have a club before or after school). 

• Please ensure your child has a book bag - we cannot safely house rucksacks due to our limited space. 

Useful links: 

• This half term’s learning bulletin which contains the knowledge and skills that your child is being taught, key vocabulary and suggested activities/reads. 

Year 2

It has been a very busy two weeks in Year 2 and we can’t believe we are almost five weeks into the school year already! The children are becoming increasingly familiar with our routines and expectations and are building lovely relationships with their teachers and additional adults.

In English, the children have been reading Traction Man. They have really enjoyed following the adventures of him and his trusty pet, Scrubbing Brush. We have been exploring expanded noun phrases and verbs through practical activities. The children are now putting their learning into practice by writing their own character descriptions.

In maths, we have been exploring number lines and developing our estimation skills. This week, we have moved on to exploring multiples of 2, 5 and 10 and beginning to develop our understanding of multiplication.

In science, the children have been learning about polar habitats and researching the plants and animals that live there. In art, we have been exploring the work of Orla Kiely and experimenting with different materials and printing techniques.

Coming up:

Next week, we will begin reading the next instalment of Traction Man as we work towards writing our own diary entries. In Maths, we will begin our new addition and subtraction unit, exploring how number bonds to 10 can help us solve larger calculations

                   

                    

Key messages from the Year 2 team: 

• Please ensure your child brings their reading folders in with their reading record and books on Mondays. 

• Any parent wanting to volunteer with reading would be much welcomed and appreciated so please email the Year 2 inbox. 

• Please practise counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s with your children.

Useful links: 

• This half term’s learning bulletin which contains the knowledge and skills that your child is being taught, key vocabulary and suggested activities/reads.  

• Year group spellings