Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Friday 24th November 2023

Happy Friday everybody - we hope you have had a really good week. Things have begun to get a bit more Christmassy here as we have started going into the hall to practice our Christmas Production - just over 2 more weeks until showtime! We have kept busy back in the classroom, however, looking at different Victorian toys and how they were played with!

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!

• 7th December - Christmas Jumper Day
• 8th December - PTA Movie Night

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 & Miss Smith

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Thursday 16th November 2023

 Happy Thursday everybody! Only a short week but we have been busy creating our own zig-zag story books in English of our own versions of the story of "Rosie's Walk." We have also been working on different calculation strategies in maths. Well done everyone!

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!

• 21st November - Flu Immunisations 
• 23rd November - Individual and sibling school photographs
• 7th December - Christmas Jumper Day
• 8th December - KS1 PTA Movie Night

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 & Miss Smith

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Friday 10th November 2023

 Happy Friday everybody - we hope you have enjoyed a fantastic week! We have been very busy in KS1 - we have continued to look at stories with patterned and predictable language and using these to create our own versions of these stories. We have also been creating model homes using nets in Design & Technology!

Upcoming Events

A few reminders for you in November - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time:

• 21st November - Flu Immunisations 
• 23rd November - Individual and sibling school photographs

KS1 Christmas Production

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 and although we are at a very early stage we thought you might like to make a note of our performance dates & times. They will be:

• Wednesday 13th December at 2:30pm
• Thursday 14th December at 9:30am

Look for a letter at the beginning of December with all the details about how to reserve tickets.

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! We are not able to monitor our emails during the school day so if any collection arrangements change or you have an important message for us during the school day, please contact the school office and they will let us know. 

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille & Miss Smith

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Friday 3rd November 2023

 Happy Friday everybody and welcome back to the second half of the Autumn Term! This week in Key Stage 1 we have been looking at the counting system and how we compare and order numbers in Maths and we have had a week of Philosophy For Children where we explore our thinking skills and giving clear reasons for the opinions that we hold.

Upcoming Events

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

• 21st November - Flu Immunisations 
• 23rd November - Individual and sibling school photographs

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. Just come down the steps to see us!

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille & Miss Smith