Autumn 1 Week 8

This week in maths we have continued with our work on multiplication and division. The children started to see the patterns within the 2x, 5x and 10 x tables. They practised their counting in steps from different numbers and used a number square to help them. Again, during our personalised study session, we encouraged the children to use TTRS to practise their recall of these crucial number facts.

In English, the children had a week of creative writing to reinforce the concepts they had learnt over this half-term and worked on applying these skills to a variety of narratives. We looked at expanded noun phrases, commas, possessive apostrophes and time words and wrote a story about a description of a sea monster, a narrative about a little girl swimming underwater. We described the woods for Little Red Riding Hood, and we used time words to describe a caterpillar's journey to be a butterfly.

In Project, we used grid references to plot the journeys of our explorers. For Black History Month, we learnt about the life of Matthew Henson and his journey to the North Pole.

Mrs Canty and Ms Davies

Autumn 1 Week 7

This week in Maths, the children explored counting in steps of 2 and used this skill to solve multiplication and division problems. Later in the week, they applied their understanding to tackle word problems, demonstrating great progress. We focused on using fingers to support calculations like 4 × 2—children held up four fingers and counted in twos to find the answer. We’ve encouraged them to continue practising this strategy at home to build confidence. Times Table Rock Stars (TTRS) and Hit the Button (available online) are excellent tools to support this learning.

In English, the children brought together all their learning about non-fiction texts to write their own informative pieces about a sea creature of their choice. Their work included titles, introductions, subheadings, factual paragraphs, and illustrations. We are continuing to reinforce the basics of sentence writing—using capital letters, finger spaces, and full stops—while also encouraging the use of adjectives and conjunctions to add detail and variety.

In Science, we explored the concept of a balanced diet and why it’s important for our health. The children learnt about the different food groups and identified which foods belong to each category. We also discussed the role each group plays in keeping us healthy—for example, carbohydrates provide energy, while proteins help with growth and repair.

Mrs Canty and Ms Davies

 

Autumn 1 Week 6

English

In our second week about non-chronological reports, we looked at using commas in lists and using possessive apostrophes. We have worked on expanded noun phrases to add interest to our writing. We are building up our skills to our assessed piece next week.

Maths

This week's topic was length. The children have been practising using their rulers to order and compare lengths. They have measured lines to the nearest centimetre and have discovered there are 100 centimetres in one metre. They have applied their knowledge to word problems.

Science

We have continued looking at keeping animals healthy and their diets. In a group, the children sorted animals into three groups; carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. 

Project

As James Cook was a cartographer, the children used map symbols to draw a map of an imaginary island, and they created their own key for the map using symbols. They then created a timeline for the major events in James Cook's life.

Autumn 1 Week 5

English
This week in English, the children have been exploring non-chronological reports. We began by discussing the difference between fiction and non-fiction, then spent time in the library examining a variety of books. The children read a non-chronological report and identified its key features, including headings, subheadings, and photographs.

Maths
In Maths, we continued developing our addition and subtraction skills. Using 100 squares and dienes, the children practised adding and subtracting tens. We then progressed to solving missing number calculations, learning how to use inverse operations to find the answers.

Science
Science was especially exciting this week! The children had the opportunity to hold the chicks, which they absolutely loved. We talked about the life cycle of a chick and what it will grow into as an adult. The children also learnt about a variety of young animals, discovering their names and the adult forms they become.

Project
In our Project work, the children learnt about compass points and had fun navigating around the building using a compass. They also enjoyed making their own wind socks as part of our exploration of weather and direction.

 

Autumn 1 Week 4

In English, in our final week of The Tiger Who Came to Tea, the children used their creative writing skills to plan a story based on an animal visiting their own house for tea. The children then write up their stories using time words to sequence the events - we had some very naughty animals visiting us!

In Maths, we continued to look for patterns in numbers when we are adding and subtracting. We build upon this in Week 5.

In PE, we have started to link sequences together in gymnastics, and we are impressing the teachers with using our feet to pass the ball in Outdoor Games.

Our Project focus was on identifying the continents that James Cooks visited and using a compass to navigate the world - the children enjoyed being pirates and discovering the New World!

Finally, our Science focus was on the lifecycle of a chicken and we were very excited as some of our eggs hatched before the lesson and we also got to see some hatch as the lesson went on. All ten of our eggs hatched and we are very much looking forward to seeing the chicks in our classroom next week.

Mrs Canty and Ms Davies.

Autumn 1 Week 3

This week in English, we continued reading The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The children practised retelling the story, focusing on recalling key events. They also wrote detailed descriptions of the tiger and the story’s setting, using a range of adjectives to enhance their writing.

In Maths, we explored 2D shapes. The children learnt to recognise and name various shapes, as well as count and identify the number of sides and corners each shape has.

During our Project lessons, the children created impressive drawings of ships and were introduced to shading techniques. Additionally, they learnt about the five major oceans of the world.

In Science, the children discovered the importance of exercise and how the heart functions. They participated in hands-on experiments to observe the effects of physical activity on their heart rate, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Mrs Canty and Ms Davies

Autumn 1 Week2

In English, we enjoyed listening to our story, The Tiger who came to Tea, and we practised writing in sentences using capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We have sequenced the story and have also started our Reading Comprehension work using the text.

In Maths, we worked on impressing our teachers with our addition and subtraction skills. We looked at the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, and we used a variety of resources to help us with our calculations like number lines, number squares and our fingers!

In PE, the children started gymnastics indoors and ball skills outdoors. Indoors, the children are learning to develop sequences to include a jump, travelling and a roll. In ball skills, we are developing our hand-eye coordination.

In Project, we learnt about the life of Captain James Cook and his travels as a sea explorer. We discovered he went around the world four times on a ship. We investigated what life on board was like and in art, we tested our drawing skills by drawing an anchor.

In Science, we started our topic of Animals including humans and we discussed how to stay healthy if we were stranded on a desert island.

Mrs Canty and Ms Davies

Autumn 1 Week 1

In English, we shared what everyone got up to over the summer holidays and wrote sentences about our experiences, making sure to use capital letters, finger spaces, and full stops.

In Maths, we explored place value by looking closely at two-digit numbers and identifying the tens and ones. For example, in the number 15, there is 1 ten and 5 ones.

In PE, the children enjoyed playing team games together as a whole cohort. They worked brilliantly as a team and had so much fun—we were really impressed!

In Project, we introduced our new topic Land Ahoy and discussed our Key Concept Question: Who are the sea explorers and what did they discover? This sparked a fantastic class discussion to kick off our learning journey.

Mrs Canty and Ms Davies