Amazing Animals - Science

This term in Science, Robin Class have been learning about plants and animals. The children explored the different parts of plants and discussed what plants need to grow and stay healthy. As part of our whole key stage learning, we thought carefully about how to look after a garden, including watering plants responsibly and understanding why growing vegetables at home or school can be both healthy and good for the planet.

We also developed our knowledge of animals and humans, with a particular focus on the five senses. During our visit to Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, the children took part in an exciting animal senses workshop where they used sight, touch, smell and hearing to explore how animals experience the world around them. The children learnt fascinating facts about a variety of animals as they explored the zoo using maps and enjoyed seeing many different species, including capybara, tigers, snakes, weaver birds and gibbons.

Back in the classroom, the children were delighted to welcome some very special visitors — bunnies and ducklings. They learnt about how to care for animals, what they need to survive and how animals change as they grow. The children enjoyed asking thoughtful questions and comparing the features of rabbits and ducks to build on their understanding of animals and their habitats.

Noah's Ark

In Writing, the children used their visits to Noah's Ark Zoo Farm and The Bishop's Palace as inspiration for recount writing. They learnt how to organise events using sequencing words and developed their sentence structure by using conjunctions to add extra detail and interest to their work.

A continued focus on effective pencil grip and correct letter formation has had a very positive impact on the quality of the children’s writing. The children are becoming increasingly confident in reading back their own work and making edits and improvements independently when needed. 

Bishop's Palace:

The children particularly enjoy participating in ‘Free Write Friday’, where they have the opportunity to apply the skills they have developed throughout the week alongside knowledge gained through reading and real-life experiences. It is always wonderful to see the wide variety of imaginative fiction and informative non-fiction writing the children produce independently. The children are very proud of their achievements and enjoy choosing whether to take their writing home or display it in the ‘Work to be Proud of’ pockets in the classroom.

The children enjoyed exploring the stories How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers and Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt. Reception and Year 1 children take part in guided reading sessions three times each week using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised scheme. These sessions help the children to develop fluency, expression and comprehension skills through carefully matched texts and structured reading activities. Regular guided reading practice is having a very positive impact on the children’s confidence, accuracy and overall reading outcomes, with the children becoming increasingly enthusiastic and independent readers.

Phonics 
Reception children continued developing their phonics knowledge through Phase 4, learning to read and spell words with adjacent consonants, compound words and words with suffixes such as -ing and -ed. They also learnt a range of tricky words to support their reading fluency.

Year 1 children reviewed and consolidated their Phase 5 grapheme-phoneme correspondences, building confidence in recognising alternative spellings and pronunciations. Across the school, the children took part in daily phonics sessions, guided reading, story time and individual reading to develop fluency, comprehension and confidence.

Maths

Reception have been busy developing their early maths skills through a range of practical, hands-on activities. The children have been building and continuing number sequences beyond 10 and 20, practising verbal counting and spotting patterns in numbers. They have also explored addition and subtraction by finding out “how many now?”, adding more, taking away and working out how many were added or removed. Alongside number work, Reception have been learning about shape by selecting shapes for different purposes, rotating and manipulating them, composing and decomposing shapes, and identifying 2D shapes within 3D objects. The children have particularly enjoyed learning through play, investigation and problem-solving activities.

Year 1 have been developing their mathematical understanding through practical activities, games and problem-solving challenges. The children have been practising counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, helping them to spot number patterns and build confidence with multiplication concepts. They have explored equal groups by recognising, making and adding groups, creating arrays, doubling numbers and sharing into equal groups. As part of their fractions learning, Year 1 have been finding and recognising halves and quarters of both shapes and quantities. They have also been learning about position and direction by describing turns, using language such as left, right, forwards, backwards, above and below, as well as exploring ordinal numbers in everyday contexts.

PSHE – Citizenship and Economic Wellbeing
This term, Robin class have developed their understanding of rules, fairness and belonging within school and the wider community. They have explored how to care for others, including animals and younger children, celebrated similarities and differences between people, and learned about the importance of kindness, respect and working together. The children have also been introduced to simple democratic processes, including sharing opinions and voting, helping them to understand how they can contribute positively to their communities.

The children explored the importance of money and how it is used in everyday life. They learnt where money comes from, different ways to keep cash safe and the role of banks and building societies within the community. The children also discussed the importance of saving and spending carefully and explored a variety of job roles both within school and in the wider world.

History

This term in History, Robin Class explored the local area of Chewton Mendip, observing signs of old and new within the village. The children looked carefully at buildings and the environment around them, discussing how places change over time through both human activity and the seasons. They enjoyed spotting differences between older and newer features in the community and talking about how the village may have looked in the past.

The children also learnt about the history of flight through the topic, “How Did We Learn to Fly?” They discovered important events and people linked to the development of flight and used a range of sources, including photographs, books and videos, to find out about life in the past. The children asked thoughtful questions about significant events and explored how inventions changed over time. They also practised placing key events in order on a timeline, helping them to develop an understanding of chronology and how flight has developed from the first attempts to modern air travel. Working in groups, they designed and created posters celebrating significant individuals that have contributed to the history of flight. 

Computing

In Computing, Year 1 have been learning how information can be collected, organised and presented in different ways. The children explored data handling by recognising that we can count and compare objects using tally charts, pictograms and simple comparisons. They have also been learning to sort and group information by selecting objects based on different attributes and understanding that pictures can be used to represent data. Alongside this, the children have discussed how technology can be used to present information and have continued to develop their understanding of online safety through the E-Safety theme, “ELIM: I am healthy.”

Art – Painting and Mixed Media
In Art, the children explored how paint can be applied in different ways to create a range of textures and effects. They experimented with a variety of painting tools, and began to develop greater control in their painting techniques. The children used and described artistic vocabulary such as thick, thin, wet and dry and enjoyed exploring techniques including dribbling, splattering and dripping paint to create imaginative pieces of artwork.

Music
This term, the children explored music through the topics Down There Under the Sea and Oh So Quiet. They developed their listening and performing skills by singing songs using call-and-response structures, composing new lyrics and adding actions, props and movement to performances. The children experimented with percussion instruments to create sea soundscapes and explored dynamics, timbre and musical storytelling through improvisation. 

Forest School

During Forest School sessions, the Year 1 children explored the theme of animals through a range of creative and hands-on activities. They enjoyed making potato hedgehogs and creating birds using natural materials they collected outdoors, helping to develop their creativity, fine motor skills and understanding of the natural world.