Month: November 2021

Excited About Writing…Oh and Reading!

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers have been incredible this week and writing is happening all over the place.

We have now got to grips with sh,th,ch and ng so so may words can be constructed using the phonics we have to play around with. We read Oi Get Off Our Train and then made our own phrases with animals in or on things. We constructed,read and then wrote these and then went off and tried them on our own. The resulting writing was incredible.

We also visited our Library and this will be a weekly event. There was much excitement and learning how a library works. 

Your Pioneer may have let you know about the visitors to our playground. The zebra,elephants,rhino and giraffes were quite a shock to see.Although we didn’t see them in person,the Pioneers were very clear about the clues we should be looking for. We will be searching for clues next week…

We will keep you posted!

 

Friday’s Weekly News

Scott Grason-Taylor

Hello Everybody, 

This week has been another busy one, with lots happening. 

We were visited by Paddy from the radio, who recorded our beautiful singing, many of us joined our first ECO committee meeting and we have started our new design and technology project: sewing. 

We also visited the forest, and created some wonder stick stars using a clove hitch and square lashing. 

Finally, we have some exciting news for you all:

WE ADOPTED OUR CLASS PANDA! Its details will have arrived by next Friday, so we will update you with their name then 😀

A Sporting Week!

Scott Grason-Taylor

I have been really impressed with the progress all the children have been making in swimming. Their confidence has improved greatly and it has been lovely to see some children swim several strokes independently whilst others are swimming with their faces in the water.

The whole class is so enthusiastic for their swimming lessons, even on a cold winters day. Well done everyone!

Adventurers have also been enjoying gymnastics in P.E lessons. We have learnt how to do a pike and straddle sit last week and this week we are progressing to tucked and straight shoulder stands and performing a sequence of movements.

We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather!

Scott Grason-Taylor

This week in Science, we have been learning more about the weather. We have thought about temperatures and how these are reflected in seasonal change. We have made our own weather charts and will be recording the weather every day next week. We also have a class thermometer ready and will be recording the temperature outside our classroom each day and also recording this information on our charts. We have been watching the weather reports in class, but who knows what the weather will do?

On Wednesday, we enjoyed Forest School.  We made some forest memory sticks. We took our time and really focused on improving our skills. We chose a stick and wrapped around some string, using knots to secure each end. This took considerable concentration and perseverance and our efforts certainly paid off! We then attached some pretty leaves and plants to our forest memory stick. The sense of achievement was awesome! 

In English, we have been comparing our own homes to that of Victorian homes in preparation of becoming Estate Agents. We have used our knowledge of Victorian houses  in order to use persuasive language in a way that will encourage a prospective buyer – we are excited to get writing! 

We are excited to be included in Paddy Billington’s “Sleeps for Santa” song on our local radio station and he will be coming to school this week to record us. We have enjoyed practising the song this week and are starting to feel a little bit Christmassy! More details of when this will be airing to follow!

Learners’ Class are such happy, busy Class. 

 

Stuck on the Moon

Scott Grason-Taylor

Last week we had a lot of chat  around the books we read by Oliver Jeffers. A question came up that was unexpected and that was,”Why don’t the penguins fall off the bottom of our planet?”

This week we have found out a little bit about the movements of the earth,the sun and the moon and day and night. The Pioneers love new words and like to say axis and equator and imaginary line.

We took a look at Google Earth and identified the land and the sea and noticed that some of the land was different colours.

We read another Oliver Jeffers book called The Way Back Home and this supplied us with wonderful words to read and play with. We made little puppets to act out the story before writing our own sentences. We talked a lot about our Christian trust and the relationship between the boy and the alien and they each would be feeling. This was outstanding.

We finished the week by answering a question from the book. The little boy was stuck on the moon and how was he to get down. The Pioneers had their own ideas involving trampolines and ropes,parachutes and bird.

The models were are a huge success.

 

 

 

 

A Bright Week in Discoverers’ Class

Scott Grason-Taylor

Hello All,

This week has been bright for many reasons, not just because the sun has been shining:

We celebrated Children in Need on Friday, and raised over £100!

We had a visit from Justin who works with Whitby Rugby Club, to teach us some rugby skills.

We thought about God’s three promises, and recognised that even when we feel we are alone, we can always turn to Him for support.

We celebrated the end of this beautiful week with a celebration worship, which identified many of the wonderful attributes that we bring to not only the classroom, but to others’ lives.

We hope your week is as bright as ours 😀

 

A Great Day in Forest School

Scott Grason-Taylor

The weather was kind to us when we spent the morning in Forest school on Wednesday. As part of our English and History topic the children worked in groups to build a Stone Age house. I was so impressed that they were all very different! Some were built from clay and stones, some from wood and grass. We had near life size houses and mini replicas with stone and clay furniture. The children had to present their houses to the rest of the class and talk about what their best features were.

In art we had a go at dying material using natural dyes such as brambles, blueberries and spinach and used elastic bands to make a tie dye effect. 

 

Busy, busy, busy.

Scott Grason-Taylor

Wow, another busy week in Learners’ Class.

In RE this week, we have been reflecting on the times we have heard Christian prayers and hymns.  We thought about how these songs and prayers made us feel and how they help Christians learn about what God is like.

In maths, we have been getting to grips with money, finding out the worth of each coin and using these to help us problem solve. We are also becoming 10 times table whizzes, – which is our focus times table this half -term.

In English and History, we have been comparing our own homes with that of Victorian homes. We were quite shocked to learn about a time with no TV or games consoles! We were even more shocked to learn that the toilet was outside in Victorian times – this caused a real stir in class!

We have enjoyed printing using paints and leaves this week in Art. There is no shortage of autumn leaves to be collected and we enjoyed using different coloured paints to print. Our leaf creations are beautiful.

Remember, next Wednesday is Forest School day, please come dressed appropriately for the weather with lots of warm layers. We are sure to have a fun day!

Learners’ Class

Colour in our Forest

Scott Grason-Taylor

The week has been all about Pumpkin Soup and our forest finds.

We have told and retold the story and acted it out with the toys,discussing the importance of friendship and how to sort out our differences.

We discussed our Christian Value of Trust and how we can help each other out.

In the forest we scooped out the pumpkins and collected the seed. We foraged for ingredients to cut and mix and stir.

The Pioneers were incredible when collecting and colour matching. It was quite impressive.

Back in the classroom,the Pioneers created their story maps and added lots of writing.

They can write and read so many words now. It is so good.

A week to remember….

Scott Grason-Taylor

In RE this week, we have enjoyed the Bible story ‘Jonah and the Whale’. We discussed the key points of the story and were able to make clear links with God and explain how Christians use the story of Jonah to guide their beliefs. RE is one of Learners’ favourite subjects and the discussions in class are always heart-felt and meaningful.

In DT, we have enjoyed designing, creating and evaluating rockets! They look amazing and will be zooming home at the end of the week. 

We took our maths learning outside this week. Armed with chalk and our learning, we wrote the ten times table in our own space of the playground. This was so much fun. Outdoor learning is always a winner!

On Thursday (Armistice Day) we remembered those who have fought in the War to protect us. We created beautiful fields of poppies, using paints and finger printing. We were very proud of our pictures and displayed them outside our classroom at the end of the day for all to see.

We have enjoyed LOTS of stories together as always this week – we love books!

I hope you enjoy reading about our week!

Learners