We have been finding out about the Great Fire of London. We have seen how the firefighting arrangements were very different back in that time and we explored lots of pictures showing what happened at the time.
After being given a range of clues, the children wrote questions about what they wanted to find out. Please see the pictures below with the questions, perhaps you could find some of the answers online with the children so they can share their knowledge in class.
Due to an increased number of absences as a result of families choosing to isolate, we have created a bank of resources that can be used at home to ensure the children are still able to practise their key skills. All of the children will be able to access these tasks and we ask you to help support them as necessary and ensure they are appropriate.
We ask that you support your children to revise prior learning and do not introduce new concepts or ideas that require explicit teaching.
*ALL NECESSARY LOG IN INFORMATION WILL BE SHARED THROUGH PARENTMAIL*
Maths:
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Use this game to practise number bonds to 10 and 20.
This is a fantastic resource for revising taught concepts. Use the tabs on the left ‘Number, Measurement & Geometry’ and try some Year 1 lessons and homework. Please do not attempt tasks designed for a separate year group. We have not yet taught ‘Multiplication & Division’ or anything about time. If there is anything that your children struggles with that requires more than ‘normal’ parental help, please try something else as it may be that your child requires more support in school to secure this skill.
Phonics:
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
This is currently free to use (see details on the website), in the event that this changes, follow this link to the free tasks: https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ChildrensMenu.htm Picnic on Pluto is a good way to explore sounding out, blending & reading. This does not follow our phonics scheme so it is very important to check with the children that they know the sound you select in advance.
Use this website to practise Year 1 Common Exception Words
In the event of a school closure, further tasks will be shared with the children through their Google Drive. All children have been set up with this and are in a Google Classroom with their teacher so can see work that is shared with them. The log in details for this will be shared through ParentMail. Find the Google Drive by going to GoogleChrome and signing in.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/
This website can be used to support phonics and is expanding regularly with new free content. There are plenty of free ebooks that can be read, as well as information about how to pronounce sounds properly. Further resources will be shared on this page periodically.
In the event of a school closure, further tasks will be shared with the children through their Google Drive. All children have been set up with this and are in a Google Classroom with their teacher so can see work that is shared with them. The log in details for this will be shared through ParentMail. Find the Google Drive by going to GoogleChrome and signing in.
During the week we had an afternoon of sorting objects according to the material they were made of. We got a bit confused between glass and ceramic and fabric and rubber but we will now learn about the properties of different materials which will help us with our sorting next time. Take a look at our photographs.
What a surprise we had this afternoon when bells were heard ringing above the roof of Halterworth School and there appeared Santa in our school hall sitting by the Christmas tree! All the children who had worked hard for their teachers since September came to say hello and were given a little present by him. Year R, year 1 and year 2 all took their turn and waited very sensibly. Ho, ho, ho Santa!
We heard that the Queen had responded to our invitation to come and judge the Christmas Knickers competition and today was the day! The children had designed a new Christmas pair of knickers and had written down why they should be chosen. She arrived at 9.30am having stopped to listen to the year 3 drumming concert which she really enjoyed. She had been out walking her corgis earlier but not Samantha, her favourite corgi, because she had a thorn in her paw so she arrived with her wellie boots on (but she did still have her tiara on her head!) She chose two winners from the class who were awarded a little prize. Take a look at the photos.
This afternoon during our RE lesson on Candlelight as a symbol for remembering, we finally got to light our decorated diya lights that we made earlier this term when we celebrated Diwali. We found out this afternoon that the town where Rama and Sita lived, lit their diya lights to welcome them home after they had spent 14 years in the forest. We learnt also that good had overcome evil when Rama defeated the 10 headed demon Ravana who had kidnapped Sita and taken her to his island of Lanka. Candle light is a very important symbol for both Christians at Christmas and Hindus at Diwali. Next week we will find out all about the candles on or Advent wreath and how they help us to remember about Jesus’ birth.
This week the children in year 1 had a visit from the fire service who taught the children how to keep safe in their homes. They learnt about testing Tuesday which meant they had to tell their parents to check all smoke alarms on this day. They also learnt that the batteries needed changing once a year on their birthday! They learnt a rhyme: matches and lighters never touch, they can hurt you very much! I wonder if they can still remember it? They also learnt how to give their address to the emergency services after they had followed this rule: get out, stay out, call 999. They also learnt that the Coastguard is one of the options. Take a look at the photographs from the morning.
Thanks to History off the Page, the year 1 children had a fantastic day today recreating life in a castle. They made candles, purses and pies this morning and practised holding a bow. In the afternoon they prepared for the medieval banquet but first they needed to prepare some music, dancing and jesting. As they sat down for their banquet of bread, cheese, apples and blackcurrant juice they were served by their fellow ‘servants’. Throughout the day they had to speak in medieval language (the grown ups too!).
Thanks to everyone who came to help and who entered into the spirit of the day.
Take a look at these very busy little people!
This morning we welcomed John from West End in Schools dance company. We learnt some Bollywood dance moves and hand movements to accompany our drama of ‘The Ramayana’. He was amazed that we knew the story so well and we got straight on with learning the dance. We loved the music and carried on practising outside at playtime. After play we learnt a Diwali song with Mrs Griffin and carried on with some more drama activities. This afternoon we are looking forward to drawing rangoli patterns in chalk on the school pavements and making a clay diya lamp each. We know that lamps were lit in all the houses to welcome Rama and Sita home and the patterns are a form of welcome too. We will decorate our lamps and light them again during advent then they can be taken home in time for Christmas.
Take a look at these photographs of us performing our dance.
On Friday morning we travelled down to our local town, Romsey, in a coach to visit Romsey Abbey and to take a walk around the town looking for features that make it a town and not a village. We had to follow a photo map in the correct order.
In the Abbey we were met by Chris who took us around and pointed out the treasures that we had on our photo sheet. We found out about the importance of the altar, lectern and pulpit and learnt that stained glass windows told stories from the bible because not everyone could read. When we got back to school we wrote about why we thought the Abbey was a special place to be for Christians.
We will be thinking about city-town-village later this week and we may ask you to visit a city and a village during the half-term holiday so that you can compare what you saw in Romsey town.
Here are some photographs of us in Romsey Abbey. Harvey dressed up in a nun’s habit and he looked like Harry Potter!
The Discovery Den 