What a fantastic final week of Term 3! 

Phonics

This week we have been learning our Level 3 sounds:

‘y’ ‘z’ ‘zz’ ‘qu’ ‘ch’

The children:

• Learnt each sound and its action

• Practised saying the sound clearly

• Practised writing the grapheme

• Blended and segmented words containing the sounds

• Read and wrote simple sentences including these sounds

We are seeing great progress in their confidence when segmenting for writing and blending to read – well done Reception!

Maths

In maths this week we have been very busy!

We have been:

• Using the words “an equal number” to explain when two sets have the same amount

• Practising counting aloud carefully and accurately

• Continuing our learning of 5 and a bit

• Learning about 1 more and 1 less and spotting patterns in our Base-10 number system

• Exploring number bonds to 10, this time looking at 3 parts that make 10

The children are beginning to notice patterns in numbers and explain their thinking using mathematical vocabulary.

RE

In RE we talked about how the Bible says that Jesus taught his followers many things about God and how they should live.

We discussed how Jesus gave people rules (commandments) and how this is similar to the rules we have in school. We then explored Jesus’ Golden Rule. The words of this rule were hidden around the classroom. The children had to first find the words, and then they had to put them in order using the numbers on the back.

We discovered the Golden Rule is:

“Do for others what you want them to do for you.”

We talked about what this means and how we can follow it.
The children thought about times when:

• They felt sad

• They couldn’t do their work

• They lost something

We discussed what they would want someone to do for them in those situations, helping them understand kindness and empathy.

 Art – George Seurat

In Art we have been learning about the artist George Seurat.

First, we discussed:

• What an artist is (and how it doesn’t just mean painter!)

• What makes someone a famous artist

We then explored Seurat’s technique of Pointillism – creating pictures using tiny dots of colour.

The children had a go at using this technique themselves on dinosaur templates. They showed great patience and creativity!

 Drawing Club

This week in Drawing Club we looked at a non-fiction dinosaur text.

We discussed:

• What non-fiction means

• How it is different from a story

After reading, the children created their own dinosaur fact files, including:

• The dinosaur’s name

• A labelled picture

• Whether it was a herbivore, omnivore or carnivore

• How big it was

They showed fantastic independence in selecting and recording information.

Drama Geezers Visit

We were very lucky to have a visit from The Drama Geezers this week!

The children took part in a whole-school storytelling experience. Our class helped create ideas for Chapter 5 of the story.

They used their imagination to decide:

• Where the chapter should take place

• What the obstacles should be

They did a brilliant job contributing creative ideas and working collaboratively.

Understanding the World – Chinese New Year

As Chinese New Year is next week, we began learning about it this week.

We discussed:

• What Chinese New Year is

• Why it is celebrated

• The legend behind the celebration

We then had the opportunity to try different Chinese foods including:

• Rice noodles

• Vegetable spring rolls

• Sauce

The children were very brave in trying new foods!

Star of the week: Congratulations to Talha, who is our star of the week, for always participating during carpet time. Talha will be taking home his certificate and Wilfred the Elephant to write in the book all about his time spent with Wilfred over the next week and will bring him back the Thursday after half term.

Please remember to read with your child, even for just 5 minutes! Please also remember to record it in the reading record. We will only change your child's book if you have read with them 2 or more times in that week! Reading books are changed on Tuesday's and Friday's. Please also remember to have the library book in your children's book bag on Thursday to be changed. 

Any issues or concerns we need to know about, please speak to the Acorn team before and after school or email at: acorn@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk

Hope you all have a wonderful half-term break!