This week as Scientists, children in Sumatra worked in teams to take part in STEM challenges throughout their topic lessons. They worked really hard and showed that they are valuable members of a team. The children made towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows and buttons and playdough and thought about what makes a strong structure and what structure a strong tower needs.

The children in Tahiti and Fiji  worked incredibly hard showing how amazing they are working in a team showing their resilience and communication skills. They were tasked with trying to create the tallest tower using only spaghetti and marshmallows. The children had to make their design first,  then they used it to make their structure. Not only that, the children discussed how they could make their structure very sturdy and discussed the shape that would help to strengthen their structure.

In English we are writing a narrative piece linked to the text  'The Storm Whale' . This week we have focused on fronted adverbials, alliteration and repetition to make our sentence stackings more appealing. In order to do this, we shared interesting vocabulary.

In Maths, some children began to explore place value by grouping objects in a variety of different ways, such as by colour, size and properties. They practiced counting classroom resources and then placing them in groups as well as grouping objects from a larger group, developing and becoming fluent with their numbers to 10. 

Additionally, we are looking at place value within 20. Fiji started to explore numbers from 10 to 20 using a variety of manipulative resources to help the children understand that we can make teen numbers in different ways, this will support the children to see the full ten and part of the next ten to support their place value understanding. 

Important Information: 

Parent Workshop - Thursday 30th January 3:00-3:30 in the Dock. 

The children in Islands phase have been working really hard in their phonics lessons, learning their sounds and using them to decode real and alien words. During our Parent workshop we will be sending home additional phonics activities and flashcards for them to practise. In addition to that, Oxford Owl provides you with all the support, advice and understanding you need on the Year 1 phonics screening check that the children will be taking in the Summer term. 

All children in year 1 will take part in the phonics screening. Children in year 2 that did not take part in the screening last year, will also take part this year. 

Please find below links to frequently asked questions and additional materials to support your child with the Phonics Screening. 

Frequently asked questions- Phonics screening check (Year 1) - Oxford Owl

Practise Materials - Phonics screening check: 2023 materials - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Homelearning - 

Due to Lauren being out on training Friday- Fiji books did not go out. These will be sent home on Monday. 

Sumatra and Year 1 - Oxford Owl Reading

Sumdog- Homework Set in each child’s Tasks Tab

White Rose Maths - Dated pages. 

Reading - Please ensure your child is reading their book bag books and accessing their Oxford Owl if they are in year 1.