Category: Latest News

The Chip Shop is Open

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Chip Shop opened in the classroom this week as we investigate the food chain from the sea to the plate. The Pioneers wrote their own menus and receipts for food and took orders in from customers who arrived. The customers were met and greeted with a ,”Good Morning Madam. How can I help you?”

The prices were pretty high but the service was excellent. 

We discussed how the fish was processed and filleted and they were interested in which bits were removed before we get to eat it.

We went on to discuss the process of fishing and the Pioneers were full of amazing questions including how the fishermen got the right fish, how did they know it was cod in the net and how they would get rid of things that they did not want to catch.

The Story-Book Wolf Leaves Evidence

Scott Grason-Taylor

We have been reading about wolves and listening to music with a wolf theme. We read Little Red, a version of the traditional tale where the wolf  has his coat removed at the end. The Pioneers made wonderful story maps and wrote lots of wonderful sentences.

This week we found some wolf evidence and we did a little bit of new learning about predators and their habits.

The wolf left behind fur and ear-wax, teeth and a little bit of his burnt tail. It got sizzled when he went down the chimney of the house to try to eat the three little pigs. Some of the evidence was stinky and some of it was a bit disgusting.

We read up on different types of teeth for different jobs and we found out that different animals have different poo. We set about making some wolf-poo adding bones and teeth and feathers. The Pioneers wrote lists of what may be in the poo and we measured the poo to ensure it was realistic in size. 

Music in the sunshine.

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners have explored some wonderful RE learning this week. We have been learning about the messages of the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of The Lost Sheep and identifying the teachings and how they can impact our own lives. We used drama to understand the parables and drew story maps to re-tell key parts and had some very meaningful class discussions.

Our music focus this half-term is musical improvisation. We have been using body percussion to create improved rhythms and instruments to create improvised melodies. We have really enjoyed the creativity and freedom that improvising have given.  This week, we decided to take the instruments outside onto the school field. We got in to teams and along with a conductor, created improvised pieces together. We then enjoyed performing some improvised music to our friends in the sunshine. What a fantastic way to learn.

On Friday, we visited the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough and also spent an hour on the beach. Check out our class page next week for photographs and details of our brilliant trip.

This Thursday will be school Sports Day. Please make sure your child comes to school in their PE kit, wearing the colour of their team – see this week’s newsletter for more details.

Learners Wonderful Performance

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners performed in Church on Friday this week as part of our Family Service at St John’s.

Learners are a class of 5-7 year olds, yet their confidence and enthusiasm was incredible.  Along with their own actions, they sang the popular song You Can Count On me by Bruno Mars. Learners were keen to celebrate their own friendships and recognised that Learners class are a ‘school family’ too. Great job Learners, you are awesome!

In the classroom this week, we have been identifying and labelling different parts of our bodies in science. We then went on a senses walk around school looking out for the things we could see, hear, touch and see. We later identified the food we had tasted for lunch that day. Furthermore, we looked closely at the food we eat and explored how foods were split into different groups. each lunchtime this week, we have been identifying the food groups that we have had on our plates.

In PSHCE we have been thinking about our feelings and emotions. We have been exploring that we all experience different emotions in relation to different situations and experiences. We were able to identify scenarios and draw pictures to show our learning.

In English we are ready to write our own narrative. We have been looking at the story Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and have  each chosen a new animal and planned our series around their own adventure. We are keen to get writing!

Lots of Learners have been bringing in their own fossils from home this week. This term’a history topic of Digs, Dinosaurs and Discoveries has really sparked our interest both at school and at home. We are very excited to go on our school trip to the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough this week, where we will be taking part in a Dinosaur Detective Workshop. 

Play in Pioneers

Scott Grason-Taylor

Watching play developed is amazing. The Pioneers work together to create amazing stories, structures and adventures. Over the year these have become so much more complex and the language used is specific and extensive.
The Pioneers share small spaces and lots of resources to create multi storey buildings and airport runways with moving tracks. They select from a range of loose parts,create fantastic uses for them while sharing this adventure with others. That sharing can be tricky at times and needs careful negotiation.
This week has been quite amazing and full of pretending and fun.
Go Pioneers!
I overheard all of these lines while observing the play.
Are we going on an adventure ?
This is the run way.
A gate needs to open to let us in.
You are alright to go
I landed on the runway
I’m not playing quite yet.

So much learning. Go Pioneers!

Delightful Dinosaur Drama

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners kicked off this week with a drama session with Louise from The Red House Theatre. We were keen to share just how much we had learned in the classroom with Louise, who channelled our facts into drama. In teams , we became a T-Rex, a brachiosaurus, a triceratops and a pterodactyl. We sung about digging for fossils and we enjoyed every minute!

Back in the classroom, we have been learning about Mary Anning in history. We were amazed at her story and could not believe she had initially been left out of the history books because she was a woman and were glad the unfairness of the era was not present today. One of our very own Learners has created his very own museum at home and we were delighted that this week he gave us all a presentation on his amazing findings, bringing in some of his artefacts too. This was learning at it’s best and such an amazing morning. He hopes to be an archaeologist when he grows up and Learners agreed that he will make an amazing one!

In Geography this term we are finding out ‘What it is like to live in Shanghai’. Over the last few weeks we have been drawing maps of Sleights and identifying human and physical features to help make some comparisons. This week, we have been looking at where Shanghai is in the world using Google Maps. Using pictures, we have identified human and physical features of some area of Shanghai and were fascinated by the many tall buildings.

In dance we are continuing to practise dance moves and routines and are looking forward to a final performance in a few weeks.

Weather permitting, it will be Sports Day on Thursday afternoon – see newsletter for more details. Please make sure your Learner has their PE in school and earring are removed before they come in.

 

Making Nests

Scott Grason-Taylor

We continue to learn about the natural world, finding out about animals that hatch from an egg. We first found out about the features of birds and then explored the other animals making a huge list to discuss. The Pioneers were quick to spot that the nest and its spot were good for protection and to keep the precious eggs safe. we found out that nests are built in some odd spots, behind waterfalls and deep in the sand and high in trees. 

From reading, we found out some of the items birds use to make their nests. we wrote our own list and and then went foraging. We sat outside in the sunshine and made our own nests to cradle our eggs. Back in the classroom we made a label to say what would be hatching from each egg. This included snakes and owls and a brontosaurus and a couple of unicorns!

Learning outdoors.

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners have had a great week and have settled nicely back into the classroom after the half-term break.

This week, Learners have enjoyed taking their learning outdoors.

We enjoyed a PE session with Hawkes coaches in the fresh air. Our new PE focus this half-term is tennis. This week, we enjoyed bowling, fielding and trying to knock down the stumps. We really enjoyed the session and cant wait to build on our skills in the coming weeks.

The showers have been scattered this week and we managed (just) to take some of our maths sessions outside. In teams, we counted 20 objects and investigated  how many different ways we could find to share objects into equal groups. we worked collaboratively and, between the group, found lots of different wayswe could share them, taking great care to check our groups were equal. Everyone enjoyed the activity and worked hard back in the classroomto build on this learning.

In PHSCE, Learners have enjoyed identifying  different feelings and emotions and drew pictures to reflect these feelings. 

In English we have been busy sharing stores and writing book reviews. Some Learners have delighted in bringing in their own stories from home for us to share together. We noticed that lots of our favourites were written by Julia Donaldson. Together, we decided to take action and plan our very own Julia Donaldson Day. We impulsively wrote letters to Mr Grason-Taylor asking for the go-ahead to do this. He promptly replied with a ‘yes’ (which resulted in a cheer all round). Learners are now going to seek the advice of our Sleights School Reading Leaders to help us plan this day. Watch this space for further updates on this!

Learners are always so enthusiastic about their learning and love to be able to take action on their own interests and ideas!

 

 

Snail Trails

Scott Grason-Taylor

After reading the beautiful book,”Snail Trails”, the Pioneers were inspired to get up close and observe so wonderful snails. First we looked at them in the classroom and discussed the word “habitat”. We went outside and gathered the things we needed to construct a habitat. One Pioneer questioned whether nettles were a good addition and hypothesised that perhaps a snail has different skin to a human and the nettle would not prickle them.

We made habitat squared and observed the movements and preferences of our snails.  We left the snails and returned to find them under rocks and leaves. The Pioneers knew that they may be hiding from predators, perhaps The Big Bad Wolf. There is a starling living in the drain pipe and a crow who visits regularly so we talked about these being a real threat.

We then took our snails to the forest to release them into the wild. All of the Pioneers chose a suitable release spotted based on their observations of snail activity. 

Back in the classroom, we did some observational drawing and some absolutely wonderful writing.

And we rolled in the very long grass and collected dandelions and their seeds.

 

 

Worms and Bees

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers have spent the week learning more about the creatures who use our forest as their habitat The worms are vital to our soil and the bees are vital for pollination of future crops.

The Pioneers set some scientific questions and through observation they found the answers.

“Which end is the head end?”  The Pioneers quickly worked this out by watching direction of travel.

From further reading,they found out that worms cannot swim or live in water as they breath through their skin. They also learned how to tell the difference between an adult and a younger worm.

We measured our worms and labelled their features.

We had the delight of a visit from a real life bee keeper. She was able to build up our bank of knowledge on bees adding information about how bees communicate with each other. We got to model the process of pollination with big flowers and sticky bee legs.

To finish the session, we sang our wonderful bee song together.

So much learning!