This week in F2…

This week in F2, we have started our story, The 3 Billy Goats Gruff.

First, we read the book together, lots of us were familiar with it and loved joining in, especially with the “who’s that trip-trapping over my bridge?”

Next, we had great fun acting out the story…Mrs. Buss was the troll, she was very scary!

Finally, we read the story again, this time using signifiers to help to retell the story.

In literacy we have been sequencing the story, drawing a map of the story and adding dictated sentences (this is when we make up a sentence together, using the correct structure, including capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.)

 In maths, we have been learning our teen numbers.  We know that a teen number always has one set of ten, so we can put that in our head and count on.

In PE we took part in team games, taking turns and cheering our team members on.

In RE we found out that Buddhism is one of the largest religions of the world, it is based what Buddha taught people and they live by 5 important rules. Not lying or stealing are two of them, we discussed why these are important to our lives too.

We also learnt about the famous artist Wassily Kandinsky. He was born in Russia in 1866 and many people believe he was the first abstract painter.  He didn’t paint objects and instead painted colours and shapes, often listening to music so he could try to paint what he heard and felt … next week we will be embracing our creativity and painting in the style of Kandinsky.

As always, we have spent lots of time learning and discovering outdoors…weeding and watering our tomato plants that have started to grow, checking our bug hotel for creatures, making troll bridges and a feast for the goats in the mud kitchen.

 

 

‘Holi’ The Festival of Colour!

On Wednesday this week Foundation Stage had a fabulous morning learning and celebrating all things ‘Holi’ for the Hindu  festival of colour! The children came to school dressed in bright colours ready for a morning of fun, song and dance! We learnt all about Holi traditions and the meaning of the celebration, welcoming the beginning of Spring and celebrating the triumph of good versus evil! We chalked bright and colourful patterns, had fun splatting paint (recapping previous learning of the famous artist Jackson Pollock!) and even had a go at paint throwing! This was lots of fun! We had so much fun dancing with scarves and materials and listening to traditional Hindu celebrational music! Another “best day” in the bag for the children!!!!

This term, Year 5 have been exploring and reflecting on the message Easter brings for the world today.  We have explored the Christian preparations and observance of Lent, as well as the symbolism of Ash Wednesday for this faith community.  In order to make comparisons, the Jewish festival of Pesach was also observed from which the children were able to draw that Easter and Pesach are both festivals of remembrance to honour the sacrifices which have been made by significant figures within each faith community.

To conclude the children analysed, debated and discussed various situations that are ongoing in our world today:

  • Conflict
  • Loneliness
  • Homelessness
  • Wealth and Poverty
  • Illness and suffering

From this the children drew their own conclusions to what the message of Easter continues  bring for the world today…

 

…HOPE, PEACE AND BELIEF.

HOW ARE SACRED TEXTS TREATED?

First the children looked at books that are special to them and identified their favourite stories. Next we discussed the messages these books can teach us.

Then we discussed why religious books are sacred. The children learnt that the word sacred means something is special and connected to God. We looked at the story of ‘The loaves and fishes’ from the Bible. We then looked at the story ‘The milk and the jasmine flower’ from the Gurdwara. We compared the messages that both of these books convey. The final story we read was ‘Noah’s Ark’ which appears in many sacred texts across different religions.

Lastly, the children had a discussion about why music is important to worship. We then listened to music from the Sikh Religion. The children concluded that songs tell stories and music makes us happy.

   

 

 

 

luna new year

As part of our Mandarin music lessons this term. Year 3 were very lucky to learn about the Luna New Year from our Mandarin teachers.

We found out about how important the New Year is and how this special time is spent with families. We discovered the importance of red envelopes and how these are given to younger members of the family with a wish for health for the coming year, as well as containing money.

We also discovered how houses are decorated with lots of red decorations and lanterns and the types of food that are eaten. lots of families spend time making dumplings together before they have their special family feasts.

Year 1 – RE

In Year 1 this week, we were thinking about ‘what makes a place special?’

We first had a class discussion and we shard ideas about:-

What makes a place special?  

Have you got a special place?  

Where is it?  

Why is it special?   

The children suggested many places, such as their garden, park, bedroom, school, soft play, Nanie/Grandpa’s house an also places like football/rugby stadium, rainbow/beavers and places of sports/clubs. 

We decided places were special because they were:-

safe, fun, calm, happy, relaxing and filled us with happy memories.

Any place can be special, it’s about how it makes you feel. 

Nativity

All of the staff were so proud of the children who took part in the Nativity this year. They worked really hard to learn their lines, sing the songs and come on and off the stage the right times. The children also learnt more about the story of the first Christmas and what Christians believe happened at that time.

Here are some of the photos we got of the children.

YEAR 1 – RE

Year 1 have continued to look at promises, but this time in the form of religious promises.

We looked at two different Christian services where promises are made.

First, we looked at a christening  a christening is when a baby is welcomed into the Christian faith. The baby’s parents and friends all go to a church service.  Godparents are friends or family chosen by the baby’s parents. They make a promise to help the baby learn more about being a Christian.

Sometimes in a christening, the vicar will​ dip their hand in some oil. They will then move their hand in the shape of a cross over the baby’s head – a cross is special to Christians as they believe Jesus died on the cross.

The children enjoyed acting out this service, they understood that this is a special and important act, as belonging to a faith gives members a sense of identity.

Next, we looked at a wedding – they take place in a church, where the bride and the groom say vows in front of God and their guests.​  Vows are promises which they make to each other, they then exchange rings which show their eternal love.

Lots of the children had been to weddings and were able to share their knowledge of this special service.​

 

 

F2 Festival of Light!

Wow! What a busy week F2 have had learning all about and celebrating all things Diwali… The Festival of Lights! We have had so much fun exploring our classroom this week, learning all about the story of the first Diwali ‘Rama and Sita’ and immersing ourselves in typical Diwali traditions and celebrations. We have created our own Mendhi hands, Diva pots, explored traditional spices and their smells! Created Rangoli patterns, dressed in special clothes and jewellery, practised our mark making skills and even had a visit to the library to find out more amazing facts on Diwali traditions and ceremonies!

It has been a very colourful and fun week, and as usual the children have all loved getting stuck in with our fantastic activities and topic! Next week it’s the start of our new book…’You Must Bring a Hat‘ and don’t forget to bring one in…(a hat that is!)