Welcome back and happy new year!

We have had a great first week; settling back into the usual routines and it feels like the children were never away!

This term our topic is ‘Our Amazing World’.  We have begun by looking at maps and asking the question ‘What is a map?’  We read Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins and plotted the story into a map in order to recall and retell it together.  We also acted out the story using real objects to represent the farmyard, such as the mill, haycock, beehives and pond.  The children retold the story by walking around, over, through and past the various obstacles.  We then progressed into turning the real objects into a picture map on a giant piece of paper.  The children gained a good understanding of what a map is and how it is used.

In maths we have explored zero and consolidated numbers 0 - 5.  We sorted different representations of these amounts into sets whilst explaining why we chose the set they were in.  We subitised dots in different arrangements up to 5.  We also made our own dot cards by dabbing 1 - 5 on the cards in different ways.  We then played a game to challenge our partners to subitise the amounts on our cards.

We had a fabulous day of baking on Tuesday when we made bread rolls!  The children weighed and measured the ingredients, left it to prove and then formed the rolls to cook and then eat in the afternoon.  They were delicious!  You can see photos of these below.

In PSHE we learned about different ways to keep healthy. We talked about eating healthy foods, exercise and washing our hands to keep the germs away.  We did a great glitter experiment, where one child put glitter on their hands (to represent germs), then shook hands with other children, who then shook hands again.  The glitter ended up over everyone’s hands; showing how germs are spread.

In Monster Phonics this week we learned the alternative ‘oo’ sound (as in book).  Tricky Witch has changed Cool Blue’s oo to oo in some words.  We read Little Red Riding Hood which contained lots of oo words.

We also attended our very first Celebration Assembly this week, on Friday afternoon.  Each week some children will win awards for Respect, Pride or Success or receive a leaf for the Tremendous Tree for good behaviour.  You will be invited in via a message on Parent Hub the night before, if your child is due to receive one.

Have a lovely weekend and we will see you next week.