This week we learned how Antarctica is different to Repton.  We looked at photos of Antarctica and talked about what we could see – a lot of snow!  We noticed how Repton is very green.  We compared roads, houses, (and the lack of) weather, etc.  We also thought about what we would need to wear if we went to Antarctica.  We learned that the scientists and explorers wear special warm clothes, which are brightly coloured so that they can be seen.  They have special goggles, hats, gloves and coats that keep out the wind too.  We cut and stuck clothes into a suitcase to show what we would need for a trip to Antarctica.  We also learned that food has to be delivered to Antarctica as not a lot grows there!  The only foods we could think of that Antarctica could provide was fish! 

Can you tell your grown up what you packed in your suitcase for Antarctica?

In maths we combined two amounts and conceptually subitised the totals up to 8.  We used dominoes to see the amounts on each half, then combined them to find the total.  Some children are able to conceptually subitise the totals of some numbers due to our subitising practise to date.  For example, I see 2 and 4 and I know that’s 6.  We pretended the dominoes were cars and parked them in their own parking space where the numeral was written, that showed their total. We asked questions such as: How many can you see? How many are there in each group? How many are there altogether? We also practised subitising in many other contexts, using dots, on a 10 frame, pictures and playing games.

In English we continued our learning through the story ‘Lost and Found’ and this week we thought about how the character of the penguin was feeling.  We wrote letters from the penguin to the boy, telling him that we felt lonely, or sad or had no one to play with and would he be our friend?

In Monster Phonics this week, we have learned the phoneme 'or’.  It also features in our Hansel and Gretel story which we have read this week. We wrote and read many words with this sound in.

In PSHE, we learned how to look after someone who is poorly. We passed Teddy around our circle and each gave him a hug to make him feel better.  We also sang Humpty Dumpty and thought of ways to make Humpty feel better after all his cuts and bruises.  We thought we could read him a story, give him a hug, give him a plaster or play a game with him. We then made Teddy a ‘Get Well Soon’ card!

We have reached the mid-point of the school year!  We will have parents evenings next term to talk about the progress of your child.  We return to school on Monday 26^th February after the half term holiday.

Have a lovely half term week everyone!