Author: Scott Grason-Taylor

A Busy Week in Learners Class

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners have been busy, busy, busy this week. we continue to work hard in maths lessons, this week Year 1’s having been learning to double a number, whereas Year 2’s have been adding equal groups using the multiplication symbol. We have been motivated in English and have produced some great discussion writing answering the question ‘Is there such a thing as a wrong habitat’? Learners are really enjoying this writing unit and have been able to justify their reasons effectively.

On Wednesday, we braved the forest. Dodging the drizzle, we made it down there and collected leaves and sticks to print with in art later in the week. The forest was muddy, but we were dressed accordingly and moved around sensibly!

On Thursday, we celebrated World Book Day 2023. Everyone looked fabulous. We enjoyed sharing stories (even a story from Space), and talked about our favourite stories and authors. We discussed the rights of a reader and were able to articulate our own Learners Class rights of reading!

Please make sure your child has a PE kit in school. Please check kit in the holidays, there are a few complaining that PE shoes are too tight! We are excited for our up and coming trip to Danby Moors Centre on Thursday 23rd March, please check Parent Pay if you haven’t already! As always, please let me know if there are any concerns or questions!

Mrs Brown

Simply Wonderful World Book Day

Scott Grason-Taylor

To finish a wonderful week of learning,we read together and created together and had a lovely time. The mess could have been a lot worse.

We read The Disgusting Sandwich and then found worms and slugs and feathers and green and grey gloop. We all experimented with running our sandwiches over with a tyre.  All sandwiches were disgusting and went home at the end of the day.

As always,we took our Friday trip to the library and it was lively. We read The Highway Rat as we had a Highway Rat in our midst. We talked about the ruff on his shirt. 

Such a great day.

Friday 3rd March 2023

Scott Grason-Taylor

What a busy start to the new half-term Leaders have had!

In English, the children have been working incredibly hard on our new unit – balanced arguments. To start the unit, Leaders explored the features of a balanced argument before applying these features to their own writing. To do this, the children began by researching reasons for and against banning plastic, with brilliant discussions happening as a result of what was found out. This week, as a class, we have began our shared writing, considering if palm oil should be banned. Once this is complete, the children will then independently apply the skills that they have gained throughout the unit to their own independent piece about plastic.

In maths, the children have been busy working with decimals, with a focus on calculating equivalent fractions and decimals this week. 

In history,  Leaders learned about the changing role of police throughout history as part of our crime and punishment unit. They explored a text and retrieved the key dates from it to establish a timeline to mark the changes and key events. They found out that the first police force, which was established in 1829, wore top hats and carried truncheons. We were very lucky that a Leader had brought in her great great granddad’s truncheon, which the children enjoyed exploring. The children also explored a police whistle. We found out that the police did not start using these until later in the 1800s.

In DT, the children have been considering bridge designs in preparation for designing their own bridges. They learned about beam, arch, truss and suspension bridges and considered tension and compression. I am looking forward to seeing where this learning leads the children’s designs.

To finish the week, it was brilliant to celebrate all things books for World Book Day. The children looked fantastic and the day was enjoyed by all.

Have a wonderful weekend!

World Book Day!

Scott Grason-Taylor

Hello families,

Happy World Book Day from Adventurers! We have had a fabulous week full of fun!

On Monday, we had a drama afternoon that focused on the Roman Empire! We became emperors, mosaic makers, crafts people and sellers. It was an amazing afternoon and we all learnt so much.

In maths, we have started our new topic of length and perimeter. It was tricky at first to understand how to measure in millimetres and centimetres but we can now all read and use the rulers brilliantly.

We have also been perfecting our speaking skills in French. We are learning lots and can now speak about things we can do.

Today, we celebrated World Book Day and had so much fun dressing up as our favourite characters. We also created our own bookmarks to help us when we are reading,

Adventurers 🙂

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers made table top representations of the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff and combined a variety of interesting materials to do this. They used cups and paint sticks to make bridges and then went on to explore how to build other structures. The resulting work was incredible.

The Pioneers got to the point of realising that to build a taller tower they needed a wider base and they set to work to build a wall higher than themselves. Of course,what goes up must come down…and it did!

Great team work and communication was involved.Everyone was careful and respectful and supportive. We discussed our Christian value of forgiveness and everyone was helpful when the wall came tumbling down.

This work will continue into next week.

Learners are awesome!

Scott Grason-Taylor

Wow, we have had a busy, busy week of learning. 

On Monday, we explored printing in relief in Art. We drew our design on paper first, then etched our design onto a polystyrene tile. Using a roller we applied paint and printed onto our sketch books. We were amazed and excited to see the results.

This week in PSHE we have been learning about the people and services that can help us in an emergency. We found out how to phone 999 in an emergency and what we would need to do if this happened. Learners were very sensible and serious about the discussions around this and understood this would only happen if a grown-up wasn’t around to ask at the time.

We are continuing to learn more about Islam in RE and Learners are confident in articulating their understanding. This week, we have found out that a place for worship for a Muslim is a mosque and looked at the traditions surrounding this. We were also interested to find out about the five pillars of Islam and how these five things helped to make a Muslim a better person. Ask your Learner to tell you wat these are!

Friday lunchtime was the perfect end to a busy week. As well as our usual lunchtime music in the playground, we enjoyed a multitude of bubbles from our new bubble machine! Happy weekend everyone!

Learners Class 

Amazing Adventurers!

Scott Grason-Taylor

Hello everyone,

We have had another brilliant week in Adventurers class at Sleights and have all been working extremely hard.

In English, we have started to explore balanced arguments. We are writing about whether animals should be kept in captivity or not. We love learning about this and creating our own fact files about zoos on Jamboard using our Chromebooks.

We learnt DT for the first time this term, creating the tallest towers out of paper. It was very tricky to get them to stand up on their own. We look forward to finding out more about structures in the next few weeks.

In Science, we finished our electricity topic by learning about Micheal Faraday. We will be exploring about living things and their habitats next. 

We have been also been going on Jamboard in computing with Mrs Gurney, creating our own superhero posters. This is really fun!

We hope we have another fabulous week next week. 

Adventurers 🙂

 

The Elf Wants a Rocket

Scott Grason-Taylor

The elves left a video and a letter asking for a rocket. The Pioneers made great efforts with glue and string and paper fasteners and tape to create a wide selection of rockets. They created annotated diagrams noting the materials used and their function. This was stunning work.

A delivery arrived of a water powered rocket and this caused great excitement. We took it out on to the field after discussing any possible risks. We found a safe spot away from houses and trees where the rocket may have got stuck.

The Pioneers counted down from 10 to blast off then ran to collect the rocket after each flight.

They successfully managed their outdoor kit and we didn’t make too much mess of the carpet.

Then later in the week our families joined us for a wonderful session of rocket building and story telling.

It was a wonderful week of learning.

Happy Half Term!

Scott Grason-Taylor

Hello families,

Adventurers have had an amazing week at school this week, topping it all off with raising lots of money for the Children Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) by wearing red, creating art and baking lots of cakes. Also, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us for out storytelling morning on Thursday. 

In computing, we learnt how to touch type on BBC Dance Mat. We had lots of fun, eventhough it was a little bit tricky. 

We continued to look at Jessica Hogarth’s wallpaper designs in art and created our own colourful and quirky artwork inspired by where we live. 

In PE, we held a hockey match against each other. This is helping our teamworking skills. 

We have finished writing our Wisp narrative stories in English. Everyone has done a really fab job and have created some really exciting stories. 

Adventurers 🙂 

Friday 10th February 2023

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Leaders have finished a brilliant half term by writing their independent flashback stories in English. It was a pleasure to read them all. Well done, Leaders!

In science, the children learned about voltage and explored the impact of it on the brightness of a bulb. The children made excellent predictions and supported these with their scientific knowledge. 

On Thursday, it was lovely to welcome families into school again to take part in our storytelling morning. The children enjoyed creating their own stories using the story telling props and cards. 

On Friday, we ended the half term by raising funds for CHUF, a charity that supports babies and children with heart disease. It was great to see so many children in school wearing red and for the children to reflect on why we raise money for this cause. A highlight for all children was the whole school cha cha slide for CHUF. 

Have a great half term everyone!