Jump Start Jonny gave us all an experience to remember this week when he bought his JSJ 2025 Tour to our school. It was incredible for our children to interact and join in with JSJ in real life (rather than him being on our screens in class as he is on an ordinary school day!)

All of the children - and staff, were in awe as JSJ jumped, leapt and WHOOPA-ED his way through his action-packed and very funny routines. The whole school was literally buzzing with energy and full of smiles and laughter.

Thank you and well done also to Miss Evmorfopfoulos, Miss Midaoui, Miss Aggarwal, Miss Reike, Miss Dexter and Mrs Indge for participating so enthusiastically in a VERY silly JSJ challenge too! The children all found it hilarious! :)

We have launched our Early Years Mastering Number Parent Project. This exciting project shares some of the resources and learning that we will be doing in school and provides parents and carers with some fun games that they can use to support their child at home. It was fantastic to welcome so many parents and carers, giving them the opportunity to learn how to play the games with the children, whilst having fun with maths! 

We have also provided every child with coloured counters to use at home during the project to support their learning. Please can we have the counters back after Easter to use with the next year group. Keep sharing your maths home learning with us on SeeSaw! :-)

Our Early Years children were filled with excitement as they welcomed the farm (and the sunshine - yay) last Wednesday!  Farmer Danielle and Farmer Angie returned again this year, bringing a wonderful selection of gorgeous and friendly animals, including goats, lambs, ducks, hens, guinea pigs, mice, and even a super cute six-week-old calf who didn't yet have a name!

A firm favourite was Tricksy, the escaping goat, who had everyone giggling with her cheeky antics! The children had an amazing time stroking, holding, and learning about the animals. Some of the children had a go at brushing the pony and feeding the lambs. 

Farmer Danielle was full of praise for our children, saying they were impeccably behaved, listened beautifully, and were an absolute joy to share the animals with! We couldn’t be prouder of them all, well done Early Years!

Our Early Years children have been engaged in a variety of exciting learning experiences over the past few weeks! In RE, they explored Shrove Tuesday and Lent, discovering the tradition of making and eating pancakes. The children created a tally chart to predict their favourite toppings before making and tasting their own delicious pancakes. They then wrote fantastic sentences describing their pancake-making experience and their favourite topping! 

The children have also been learning about Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese artist famous for her use of polka dots. Inspired by her artwork, they created their own masterpieces using cotton buds, bottle lids, and other circular objects found in the classroom. After discussing how famous artists sign their work, they proudly added their own signatures to their creations.

We were incredibly grateful to Mrs Bi, who went above and beyond to teach the children about Ramadan and Eid. She shared stories, photographs of her beautifully decorated table, and answered the children’s thoughtful and respectful questions. She also brought in different prayer mats, explaining their significance and how they are used, some children had a go on the prayer mat. The children were fascinated to learn about the delicious foods enjoyed during Eid, and they even had the chance to taste dates! It was wonderful to hear some of the children's own Ramadan and Eid experiences and to see them showing respect and interest in one another’s traditions.

This week, we began learning the traditional tale of The Little Red Hen. The children explored different versions of the story and enjoyed retelling it using props and small-world resources in preparation for next week’s oral storytelling. They also investigated different types of bread and even made their own! Through this activity, they learned about where ingredients come from, how bread is made, and the importance of weighing when cooking. In Maths, they expanded their weighing skills in other fun ways, including weighing themselves on giant balance scales!

Our Bumblebees, Caterpillars, and Dragonflies have been learning all about Spring and new life. We all went on a nature walk around the school grounds, looking for signs of spring. However, we have agreed that the weather just can’t seem to make up its mind yet!

It has been a fantastic few weeks of learning, exploration, and creativity in Early Years, and we look forward to some more busy learning!

Year 1 have had a busy and exciting few weeks back in School this term! In science we have been investigating, drawing and labelling the different parts of a plant we can see.  We have also planted seeds and are carefully ensuring they have everything they need to grow in the hope that they might begin to germinate! We have also been labelling the parts of the body such as head, fingers and feet.  We had fun lying on the floor in different positions and asking our partner to instruct us in a particular pose, which we then described.  We also explored how our bodies change after exercise and recorded our results, including our heart rate.

In geography we have been focusing on the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom. We have used aerial maps to find and label each one which produced some interesting discussions. We have also been applying directional language to navigate our way around school using a compass and learnt about the first four points on a compass: north, south, east and west. We really enjoyed learning how to use this new equipment!  

In keeping with the United Kingdom theme we have also been investigating traditional music from each country of the UK and have so far experienced jolly Morris music, a passionate Welsh Male Voice Choir and the powerful and uplifting Bagpipes. We drew pictures and wrote adjectives about how each piece of music made us feel.

Following on from Beech's brilliant dance at the recent Dance Festival, Oak and Silver Birch are participating in a weekly dance workshop led by Mrs Douglass from the Schools Sport Partnership, based on Florence Nightingale. They are having a wonderful time telling Florence's story through the medium of dance. 

In our Mastering Number sessions we have been investigating odd and even numbers and what to expect when adding 2 to odd or even number. We have also been making up our own 'First, Then and Now' stories. In maths we have been working systematically applying our knowledge of number bonds up to 10 and extending them to 20, for example, "If I know 5 + 3 = 8 then I know 15 + 3 = 18". We have also been focusing on fact families, using part-whole models to help us with our addition and subtraction number facts.

Over the last two weeks each of our Year 2 classes spent an exciting day in London!  Hazel class were first up and started their trip at St. Paul's Cathedral and finihed their trip at Tower Bridge. Holly and Willow started their trips at Tower Bridge and ended their day at St. Paul's Cathedral.  

We travelled up to London by coach, looking at famous landmarks along the way out of the window.  First, we explored Sir Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral.  We listened to our guide as they explained what happened to the cathedral during The Great Fire of London, what survived and how it was rebuilt after the fire.  We walked around the cathedral looking at the amazing sculptures, memorials and mosaics.  We had a chance to role-play how the fire was fought and sat down right under the dome on the floor looking upwards.  We also got to lie down looking up at the ceiling of the dome, focusing on the incredible artworks.  It was a really special experience.

We then walked through the City of London and arrived at Pudding Lane. We were able to explore the outside of The Monument and its significance in remembering The Great Fire of London. We sung London's Burning at Monument Square and then went and explored Pudding Lane, thinking about how it has changed over time. We were even able to stand in the exact spot the fire started!

Our day was not over yet! We then walked to Tower Bridge, stopping along the Thames Path to soak up the sights and sounds of London! We climbed 211 steps, stopping at various points along the way, until we reached the viewing platform where we stood on top of a glass floor, looking down to The River Thames below!  We also saw amazing views of London and spotted lots of famous landmarks!

ALL of the children were exemplary  role models for our school and we are extremely proud of them! 

Despite each day being very long and tiring the children had a wonderful and unforgettable day, which will live long in their memories.