This week, we continued our English learning on the Journey. We made paper lanterns, similar to those in the story. We had to follow instructions very carefully! We also created our own poems by using descriptive language about the magical carpet scene. Next week, we will be continuing the story of Journey by writing our own adventure stories.
In Maths, we have concluded our topic of numbers to 1000 and place value. We will now be moving on to addition and subtraction, including the column method. We also have a continued focus on times tables, particularly the 4s and 8s.
In RE, we created our own prayers to be displayed on a new prayer wall in our classroom. The children wrote prayers in different forms e.g. for thanks, forgiveness, help and praise. We have also really enjoyed sharing our Angelus homework with the class, which is now either on display or in our new class RE folder.
Have a restful week and don’t forget to check our Goggle classroom for this week’s homework,
The class are settling in really well with everyone arriving at school happy and ready to start the day. This week we have concentrated on securing our daily routine including our handwashing, prayers, register, group circle time, singing, stories and lots of learning through play. Not forgetting snack and lunch time!
We particularly concentrated on making friends and learning everyone’s names during our group time.
Maths Challenge
Below is a maths challenge for the weekend. This will give the children an opportunity to bring something in from home:
• Find a small plastic container (a container small enough to fit inside your child’s book bag). • Talk to your child about the sorts of things which will fit in the container. • Make a collection of tiny things together and see how many will fit inside the container – 1, 2, 3 or more? • Talk about things that are the same about the objects – for example, they are all small. • Talk about the things that are different – the colour, what they are used for, are they soft or hard? • Bring the container and some of the items that fit inside it to school so we can all share and talk about them.
Make sure your child’s name is on the container.
I shall look forward to some interesting conversations next week! Enjoy your weekend.
The current RE theme is now reconciliation. Networks of friendships and relationships enable human beings to live together. Children and adults need to reach out and repair damaged relationships.
Christians believe that, in Jesus Christ, the world has been reconciled to God. Through and in Christ, every human being is offered the power to reach out in forgiveness and peace, to receive and offer reconciliation.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
“It is called the Sacrament of Reconciliation” because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: “Be reconciled to God.” He who lives by God’s merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord’s call: “Go, first be reconciled to your brother.” The Sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true “spiritual resurrection”, restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God.
To respond to this, think about areas in school life where it might be necessary to restore broken relationships. What opportunities are there in class for restoring relationships when misunderstanding or hurt arises? How is reconciliation truly celebrated?
Prayer and Reconciliation
I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I have set your ordinances before me. I cling to your decrees. O Lord; let me not be put to shame. I run the way of your commandments. for you to enlarge my understanding. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes. and I will observe it to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep your law And observe it with m whole heart. Amen
Psalm 119: 30 – 34
Your home learning task for this topic is linked to our learning about choices and consequences. What choices have you had to make recently? Did you make the right choice? How did you choose and what were the consequences? Fill this grid with your ideas.
Please bring in your work as and when it is completed, and by Wednesday 22nd June. They will be on display, as currently with the Pentecost work. The children enjoy sharing their work and look at everyone else’s on the wall.
PENTECOST
The RE topic for the first four weeks of the summer term in year 3 is Pentecost. We will learn about the Ascension, how Jesus promised his disciples the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit was spread amongst His followers. We shall explore how the Holy Spirit inspires Christians, spreading energy; and how the Gifts of the Holy Spirit help Christians lead good lives and serve others. A new way of living was established after Pentecost. Reflecting deeply and carefully about this topic will help children understand how their daily lives are influenced by the Holy Sprit and scripture.
These are the key words and themes of the topic: fire, warmth, wind, energy, power, gifts, Holy Spirit, Rosary, Glorious Mysteries, Pentecost
In Luke, 4: 18-19, we are reminded of how we should use the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve others and our community:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasises our share in this Pentecostal gift:
“Those, who with God’s help, have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it, are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.”
(CCC Prologue 3)
Prayer and Reflection
Father, pour out your Spirit
upon your people,
and grant us
a new vision of your glory,
a new faithfulness to your Word
and a new consecration to your service,
that your love may grow among us,
and your kingdom come:
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Prayer of preparation for Vatican II)
Home Learning
Think about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Wisdom – that is the gift to be sensible and not to jump to conclusions but be thoughtful.
Understanding – enables people to be compassionate and to take time to find out and be able to appreciate what is happening.
Counsel – means using wisdom and understanding to come to a good decision about something.
Fortitude – there are times when everyone needs to be brave in standing up for what they believe to be right and holy.
Knowledge – without knowledge you cannot make right judgements or have an understanding. It takes practice to have true knowledge.
Piety – this is about reverence and respect for God, for one another and for oneself.
Fear of the Lord – this gift enables people to recognise the awe and wonder of God and be amazed by the love and goodness of God.
R E Homework
Create a montage to depict one, some or each of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Demonstrate how the gift is, or the gifts are, used by believers today to serve others. You may want to quote from the scripture we will be reading at school to show how people are inspired by the Holy Spirit to use and share these Gifts.
Matthew 28: 1-10, John 16: 5-7, 1 Corinthians 12: 4-8, 11, Acts 1: 6-11, Acts 2 1_18, 43
You may want to draw your ideas, or create a collage, or use another medium to represent your ideas. You could include symbols of the Pentecost on your piece of work – flame, wind, a dove, the colour red.
We look forward to seeing your individual pieces of learning, which are due in by Wednesday 11th May.
This half term we are exploring the theme homes and family. This is a sensitive theme. The experience of ‘family’ in society today is varied, with many joys and sorrows. Whatever the experience, family still remains the first place for growth and development, the basic social unit.
For Christians the pattern and ideal of family life is found in the Scriptures. God is the loving parent of the human family and Jesus was born and lived in a human family. While offering ideals for family life, it is important to acknowledge and respect the real experience of some children which is not ideal.
Word of God
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.” (Colossians 3: 12-15)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
“In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centres of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia Domestica: the Domestic Church. It is in the bosom of the family that parents are by word and example… the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children.” (CCC1656)
Prayer and Reflection
Father, creator of all, you ‘ordered the earth’ to bring forth life and crowned its goodness by creating family life. Teach us the beauty of human love, show us the value of family life and help us to live in peace with everyone. Amen.
What an exciting start to Year 1 we have had. It is wonderful to have the whole class back together with such enthusiasm for what the year brings. The class have settled in very well and it’s lovely how positive they enter the classroom with readiness to learn. With the developing outdoor area, we are making the most of the weather taking learning outside for some lessons.
Over the summer, I transformed the classroom to support Continuous Provision to enhance child initiated learning. I believe this has helped with the transition from Reception to Year 1. The children will have ‘challenges’ to complete throughout the week in the different ‘zones’ of learning. The amount of challenges will build throughout the year. For the Curriculum Overview, you shall find a link on the right hand side of the class blog. The journey to Continuous Provision is very exciting and allows the children to repeatedly secure their understanding of learning throughout the week.
Year 1 is a big Phonics year. Entering Year 1, children are ‘expected’ to be secure in all Phase 3 sounds, ready for learning alternative sounds in Phase 5. Phase 4 is a very small phase where no new sounds are introduced, but supports children to read quicker. Please continue to read with your child and encourage them to recognise Phase 3 sounds within words.
If there is anything you would like to discuss, I am happy to speak at the end of the school day (from a distance). 😀
It is wonderful to have all of the Year 2 children back in school. They have returned with great enthusiasm and have all been very sensible as they keep themselves and their families safe by staying in their protective bubbles in school. Well done to everyone!
Individual reading
This week, I have read with all the children and given each child reading materials in their book bag. When your child is ready to read something new, they can put their reading log in the class basket and they will be able to choose something else. We have a quarantine system for returned books, which means that they will be left for a minimum of 72 hours before they can be chosen by another child.
Home learning
We will continue to use the Google Classroom for home learning this year. Your child’s existing log-in will provide access to the Year Two Google Classroom and more details can be found on the Year 2 Home Learning Quick Link. Home learning is posted at 2pm on Friday, to be completed by 8:30am on the following Wednesday.
As ever, if there is anything that you would like to discuss, you are very welcome to speak with me at the end of the school day (socially distanced, of course!).
Information relating to weekly home learning is posted on the Google Classroom at every Friday at 2pm. Most home learning is then due to be returned on the following Wednesday.
Each term, your child receives a home learning grid that includes exciting activities that can be completed at home throughout the term. We look forward to celebrating this home learning with your child when they bring it into school. More information can be found on the Google Classroom.
Ongoing activities for your Year Two child
Spellings
Spellings to be learned before starting Year Two can be found here:
By the end of the year, the children need to confidently know the multiplication and division facts for the 2x, 5x and 10x tables. Free games to reinforce these skills can be found here: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Google Classroom
The children have joined the Year 2 Home Learning Google Classroom and their login details can be found in their Reading Record.
You can access Google Classroom here: https://classroom.google.com/c/NTQ3MTA1NTg0ODc2
This link will only work if you are logged in to your child’s own school Google account. You will not be able to access the classroom if logged in to Google with a parent’s account or that of another family member. Further information can be found on the Year 2 Quick Link, where you will find a handy Google Classroom guide should you have difficulties logging on.
During this topic we will cover this somewhat sensitive theme. The experience of ‘family’ in society today is varied, with many joys and sorrows. Whatever the experience, family still remains the first place for growth and development, the basic social unit. We will look at questions such as:
What does the word ‘family’ mean to you?
What people do you associate with ‘family’?
What joys and sorrows do you remember of family life?
For Christians the pattern and ideal of family life is found in the Scriptures. God is the loving parent of the human family and Jesus was born and lived in a human family. While offering ideals for family life, it is important to acknowledge and respect the real experience of some children which is not ideal.
The following scripture summarises perfectfully what we want to God to reveal to us:
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.” (Colossians 3: 12-15)
We will ask ourselves:
In your daily life, how can you be ‘clothed with compassion’ or ‘with love’?
In practical terms, how can these be expressed?
At the end of the topic, we aim for the children to respond to it by asking themselves and each other:
What positive message about the family of the school is put across in the classroom?
How does the school ensure that when it welcomes a child, it welcomes that child’s family?
In what ways can the partnership between home and school be developed?
I’m sure the children will tell you more about the topic as it progresses over the next four weeks. Do ask them what they have been learning- it’s always nice to include you too.
I hope you are all well and looking forward to your child’s first day at school.
I have posted two new videos on the Memo section of Tapestry. A hello from Mrs O’Connor and Mrs Reid and also a video tour of the classroom and outside area. I hope both these videos will help your child prepare for their first day.
You may also wish to watch this hand washing video with your child. We will be learning the song at school.
Rub the palms, one two Rub the knuckles, one, two Rub the insides of the fingers And the back of them too Rub the thumbs one, two And the nails one, two Now it’s time to rinse them Happy clean hands for you
I am conscious that some children may find separating from their parents a little challenging. If your child is at all anxious, please prepare your child as much as possible with lots of positive encouragement. Reassure your child that we will have fun playing together and making friends. When you say good bye to your child, a little tip would be to wave briefly and say “See you soon”.
I am very much looking forward to meeting all my new Reception class children and getting to know their families. I’m also very excited and have been busy at school making sure the classroom is ready.
Many thanks to those parents who activated their child’s Tapestry on-line learning journey and completed the ‘All about Me’ section . I enjoyed reading about all the fun activities the children enjoy at home and also finding out what is important to you and your child. If you haven’t already activated your account, it would be great if you could find the time to do this in the near future. I often send information and messages to parents through Tapestry. Please do not hesitate to email the School Office if you are encountering any difficulties. Emails are checked periodically and queries can be forwarded to me. I am also happy to re-send a Tapestry activation email if you wish.
School Office email: admin@stadrians.herts.sch.uk
I’ve created a short video for you all to help you get to know me a little better.
I hope you enjoy the video and the story of the The Colour Monster. I will be in touch again with more videos next week.
On behalf of Mrs Sallis, Mrs O’Connor, Mrs Reid, Mrs Heffernan, Mrs Ruffell and myself, I would like to say a big thank you for the kind and generous gifts. We were overwhelmed by your generosity.
This week both Reception groups continued to protect their ‘bubbles’ but also enjoyed celebrating together.
On Tuesday, we watched the Year 6 End of Year Leavers’ Mass together.
Today, we held a joint ‘Sports Day’. The children competed against each other in relay teams. Races included running through hoops, pass the bean bag and a sack race. The children also enjoyed a well deserved lolly and enthusiastically participated several fun dance games.
May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support throughout the year. It has been an honour and pleasure teaching your children. They have been a credit to you all and adapted so well to the recent changing circumstances.
Wishing all the children a continued happy and successful school life at St. Adrian’s.
