Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Blog - Friday 29th November 2024

 Happy Friday everybody and oh my goodness, it's December next week! Things are getting close to our Christmas Production so we wanted to share some of the arrangements that relate to this.

Christmas Production Programmes

Our Christmas Production will be on Tuesday 17th December at 2:00pm and Wednesday 18th December at 9:30am. Entry to these performances will be with the show's programmes which you can get at the office on Monday 9th December from 2:45pm and Tuesday 10th December from 8:45am. Programmes are limited to 2 per family and you can get 2 for either day or, if you prefer, 1 programme for each day. Please bring these programmes on the day of the performance to help keep entry quick and simple. We are all very excited to see you there!

Christmas Jumper Day

Our Christmas Jumper Day is Thursday 12th December. On this day, the children can wear their fabulous festive jumpers and donate £1 which goes to our sponsorship of Khadiza in Bangladesh. The charity Action Aid use this money to ensure that Khadiza and the other children in her community enjoy their rights just like all of us at Down Hall. (Articles 28 & 29)

The children will also need their Christmas jumper for our performances (Monday to the rest of the school and Tuesday and Wednesday to parents) so consequently will not bring their jumper home on Thursday but keep them in school until the following Wednesday.

Please be mindful, therefore, on Thursday when you send your child to school about what they are wearing underneath their jumper to ensure that they won't be too cold when they come home. If the children could bring in a plastic bag with their name on it then this would be extremely helpful in keeping everything organised too!

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary for things coming up soon - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time so keep a look out!

• 6th December - KS1 PTA Movie Night
• 10th December - KS1 Pantomime Trip
• 12th December - Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Dinner Day
• 13th December - PTA Christmas Bazaar
• 17th/18th December - KS1 Christmas Production

Maths Homework

This week, we would like you to look at pages 26 & 27.

For Year 1's this focuses on addition. As with all the different operations in maths, as much practice as possible is key in learning the approaches to solving these calculations. Try number lines, try concrete objects - toys, pencils, spaghetti - anything!

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/addition-and-subtraction

For Year 2's this focuses on how addition and subtraction are the inverse of each other and we can use this to check our calculations. So if we work out that 14 + 12 = 26 we also know (without needing to work out) that:

12 + 14 = 26

26 - 14 = 12

26 - 12 = 14

In class we look at this as a triangle to show the relationship between these 3 numbers:

The game below is good for reinforcing this idea:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/number-facts/number-fact-families

Don't forget to keep up all your fantastic efforts with your reading at home - it will make a huge impact on your child's reading development. Keep using the range of questions we have discussed previously as well!

If you have any issues or questions, please, please come and see us at the end of the day. Just come down the steps to see us!

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs Holmes & Miss Smith

Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Blog - Friday 22nd November 2024

Happy Friday everybody! We have begun to think about our Christmas Production this week and have discussed the general story and songs that will make up our show this year. This has been very exciting although we are at a very early stage! Look for a letter soon with all the details about how to reserve tickets.

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary for things coming up soon - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time so keep a look out!

• 6th December - KS1 PTA Movie Night
• 10th December - KS1 Pantomime Trip
• 12th December - Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Dinner Day
• 13th December - PTA Christmas Bazaar
• 17th/18th December - KS1 Christmas Production

Maths Homework

This week, we would like you to look at pages 24 & 25.

For Year 1's this focuses on the signs we use in addition and subtraction calculations. Knowing the names for these signs is very important as is the fact that there are different words for each sign e.g. -, take away, subtract, minus. There are lots of fun games at the site below to further support your child's confidence with these operations.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/addition-and-subtraction

For Year 2's this focuses on subtraction of 2 two-digit numbers. We use the same approach as outlined last week for using lines and dots to represent the tens and ones but this time we make the first amount and cross out the second amount:

If we do not have enough ones to take away, then we exchange a ten for ten ones first:

Don't forget to keep up all your fantastic efforts with your reading at home - it will make a huge impact on your child's reading development. Keep using the range of questions we discussed last week too!

If you have any issues or questions, please, please come and see us at the end of the day. Just come down the steps to see us!

Have a lovely weekend!

Best wishes

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs Holmes & Miss Smith

Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Blog - Friday 15th November 2024

 Happy Friday everybody! We hope you have all had an amazing week!

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary for things coming up soon - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time so keep a look out!

• 19th/20th November - Parent/Teacher Consultations
• 6th December - KS1 PTA Movie Night
• 10th December - KS1 Pantomime Trip
• 17th/18th December - KS1 Christmas Production

Maths Homework

This week, we would like you to look at pages 22 & 23.

For Year 1's this focuses on number bonds to 20. This continues to build on last week's number bonds to 10. We can apply the knowledge that 6 + 4 = 10 to help us know that 16 + 4 = 20. It is good to reinforce how we can spot patterns to help find all the number bonds to 20. Below is an app to explore these bonds by selecting a 10 frame or a 20 frame and then putting the blue and orange aliens in them. You can then use the key pad function at the side to enter your calculations.

https://www.coolmath4kids.com/manipulatives/ten-frame

For Year 2's this focuses on addition of 2 two-digit numbers. When we do this we do partition the number into tens and ones but then represent these by lines for the tens and dots for the ones. This is a progression from actually using the tens and ones apparatus from Year 1. See below for how we set this out to help support the solving of the calculations:

Reading Skills

Every week we encourage you to keep up all your reading at home as this makes such a huge difference. We wanted to spend a little time this week speaking more about reading skills because as the children move through Key Stage 1, particularly in Year 2, it becomes less about "Can you read this?" and more about "Do you understand this?"

Understanding what they have read (or comprehension) is vital for the children as they progress through Year 2 and we support this through our VIPERS reading skills. This stands for:

Vocabulary    Infer    Predict    Explain    Retrieve    Sequence

You can explore these ideas with your child after reading using some of the following question prompts:

Vocabulary - have a good range of vocabulary in order to understand the text

• What does the word _____ mean in this sentence?
• Find a word that means _____ on this page.

Infer - understanding reached through reasoning about what you have read

• Why was _____ feeling _____?
• Why did _____ happen?

Predict - what you think will happen based on what you have read

• What do you think will happen next?
• How will this character's action affect what will happen next?

Explain - what your thoughts and opinions are about the book

• Who is your favourite character? Why?
• Would you like to live in this setting? Why?

Retrieve - discuss the characters, events and setting of the story

• Who did _____?
• Where did _____?

Sequence - order the key events in the story

• Here are 5 events from the story - number these 1-5
• What happened after _____?

We hope this helps you discuss the books your child reads at home as the more they practice these skills the more fluent in comprehension they will become.

If you have any issues or questions, please, please come and see us at the end of the day. Just come down the steps to see us!

Have a superb weekend!

Much love

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs Holmes & Miss Smith

Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Blog - Friday 8th November 2024

 Happy Friday everybody! Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn Term!

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary for things coming up soon - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time so keep a look out!

• 11th November - Flu Immunisations 
• 15th November - Children in Need Non-school uniform Day (Wear something bright!)
• 19th/20th November - Parent/Teacher Consultations
• 6th December - KS1 PTA Movie Night
• 10th December - KS1 Pantomime Trip
• 17th/18th December - KS1 Christmas Production

Maths Homework

This week, we would like you to look at pages 20 & 21.

For Year 1's this focuses on number bonds to 10. I don't think we can overstate how important this skill is. Being able to recognise pairs of numbers that make 10 underpins almost all mental maths calculations and will benefit the children in every area of their maths development. Once you've worked through the page treat yourself to the "Ten Thing Bowling" episode of the Number Crew - an oldie but a goodie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5R0QZfACbo

For Year 2's this focuses on number bonds to 20. This builds on the above Year 1 concept but simply extends this to 20. But really, all you are doing is focusing on the ones of the 2-digit numbers and applying your number bond knowledge to 10 again. We have also been exploring this week how addition and subtraction are the inverse of each other. So if we know that 14 + 5 = 19 then we know that these 3 numbers make up a number family and can also derive 5 + 14 = 19; 19 - 14 = 5 and 19 - 5 = 14. The link below is a good game to further explore this idea.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/number-facts/number-fact-families

Don't forget to keep up all your fantastic efforts with your reading at home - it will make a huge impact on your child's reading development.

If you have any issues or questions, please, please come and see us at the end of the day. Just come down the steps to see us!

Have a lovely weekend!

Best wishes

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs Holmes & Miss Smith

Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Blog - Friday 25th October 2024

 Happy Friday, everybody! Wow! We have finished our first half term in Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Class! All the children have settled in so well and worked extremely hard in our first 7 weeks and we now want them to have a fantastic rest! We had Nikki from the Fire Service come in yesterday and talk to us about people who help us and how the fire service help keep us safe. She also led an assembly all about how we can keep safe this Halloween and Fireworks Night.

Cauliflower Christmas Cards

All the children will have come home this week with their Christmas card design attached to the order form. If you wish, these designs can be turned into not just Christmas cards but mugs, books and wrapping paper too! If you do want to have the design realised into any of these items you need to place the order online first. All the details about how to do this are clearly set out on the form that came home. Once you have placed the order online, you must tick the box indicated and return the artwork and form back to school by Tuesday 5th November so we can send it away to be printed. If you do not wish for your child's design to be made into items then you do not need to return the artwork.

Half Term Homework

As stated at the beginning of the blog, we are very proud of all the children's efforts this half term and would like them to have a good rest. To that end we do not send homework books home during the holidays. It would be useful, however, if you keep up the reading, little and often, to ensure your child's continuing progress in this very important area. 

We hope you have a fantastic half term holiday, whatever you are doing and look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday 5th November!

Much love

Mr Jude, Miss Smith, Mrs Holmes & Mrs Yuille

Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Blog - Friday 18th October 2024

 Happy Friday, everybody! Well it's been another exciting week in Key Stage 1 with World Food Day happening on Wednesday. We had a range of activities that we took part in, from taste testing, making dough, making potato skins and making spring rolls. The children loved all the activities and enjoyed trying new foods out, some for the first time! We learnt about Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, No Hunger, and how the small actions we can all take at a local level can make a big difference! On this note, we are collecting food for Harvest so if you feel able to contribute, please do send in some food for our collection. There are lots of photos of this day in this week's newsletter.

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary in the coming months - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time:

• 25th October - PTA Halloween Disco
• 19th/20th November - Parent/Teacher Consultation Evenings

Maths Homework

This week, we would like you to look at pages 18 & 19.

For Year 1's this focuses on ordinal numbers and patterns. Using the language first, second, third etc and then relating this to 1st, 2nd, 3rd is the main skill you will be looking to consolidate here. This language comes to the fore when describing and extending patterns. Have a go at creating your own patterns, practically and on paper. You can also try this game out as well: 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/shape-patterns

For Year 2's this focuses on solving number problems. The ability to apply all our understanding in addition and subtraction is the whole reason for us learning to become proficient in maths. We teach the children to spot the important pieces of information in a worded problem and notice the words that indicate if we need to add our numbers or take them away. Look carefully at the information on page 18. Maybe your child could also come up with their own worded problems for you to solve?

Don't forget to keep up all your fantastic efforts with your reading at home - it will make a huge impact on your child's reading development.

If you have any issues or questions, please, please come and see us at the end of the day. Just come down the steps to see us! 

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs Holmes & Miss Smith

Tulip, Bluebell & Daffodil Blog - Friday 11th October 2024

 Happy Friday everybody!  We are currently recovering from our amazing science day on Thursday where we took part in lots of fun experiments! We looked at all sorts of effects of vibration as well as looking at dissolving and absorption in class. We had a great day - look for more photos in next week's newsletter!

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary in the coming months - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time:

• 16th October - World Food Day
• 25th October - PTA Halloween Disco
• 19th/20th November - Parent/Teacher Consultation Evenings

Maths Homework

This week, we would like you to look at pages 16 & 17.

For Year 1's this focuses on the number line. The number line is an important tool for identifying how numbers relate to each other, what is more or what is less. The games below focus on developing these skills, in particular being able to identify numbers that are 1 more or less than a given number:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/chopper-squad

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/robot-more-or-less

For Year 2's this focuses on ordering and comparing numbers. Using the signs < (less than), > (greater than) and = (equal to) to compare numbers is an important part of the Year 2 curriculum. As well as comparing numbers we can use it to compare calculations e.g. 4+3 > 2+2.

The link below has a range of short games that we have used in class to support this idea:

https://www.mathbrix.com/skills/comparison

Don't forget to keep up all your fantastic efforts with your reading at home - it will make a huge impact on your child's reading development.

If you have any issues or questions, please, please come and see us at the end of the day. 

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs Holmes & Miss Smith