Blog 10th January

Welcome back and happy new year to everyone.

We’ve been straight back to business this week with lots of learning and fun!

In our number work, we’ve been deep diving into teen numbers – recognising them, ordering them, counting them and making them with numicon.  Did you know that every teen number is made with ten and some ones?  Through games and practical activities we are all getting very used to this idea. We’ve also been using some really important vocabulary “more”, “less”, “greatest” and “least” to compare the teen numbers we have worked with. Maybe you could look out for teen numbers in the environment over the weekend or maybe you could order some teen number cards.  Alternatively, turn teen number cards face down, pick two and compare the numbers you see.

In our topic work, we have been finding out about winter.  The children have been out on our school field looking, listening and feeling things that tell us that it’s winter.  You can ask us what we found.  Back in the classroom, we looked at pictures of a variety of British birds.  We looked at their colours and features and made some careful drawings which you can see in the gallery outside our classroom.  Over the coming weeks we’ll be trying really hard to recognise these birds by name.  Maybe you could do some bird spotting at home. 

On Wednesday, Mrs Vicky shared a wonderful story with us called Penguin and Pinecone.  Although this is a very wintry story so it fits in beautifully with our learning, more importantly, it’s a story about the power of friendship.  All of the children were touched by Penguin and Pinecone’s growing friendship and could share their thoughts about the things that make friendship special and important.  Have a look at our friendship pot on the window by the computer!  The magic was truly seen on Thursday morning when the pinecone that had been left with love at home time on Wednesday grew into a beautiful pine tree.  The children enjoyed creating their own pinecone nests on Friday morning and wrote special messages of friendship to their pinecone friend.  Why not ask your child to tell this story to you.  

We had a great time in our Thursday PE session when we worked with a partner to make joined balances.  The children thought creatively as they joined hands, legs, feet and backs.  They worked hard and used their muscles to hold these balances still and steady.