Thursday 5th June

What a great first week back to school. The children have returned to school raring to go for their last half term in Foundation! This half term will all be about getting ‘Year 1 ready’

Some of this week’s learning:

Our big question this half term is:

What do we know about our local area?

This week we have started to read stories by Julia Donaldson, specifically The Snail and the Whale. For a WOW moment we watched the video as well as read the book. The children then used their oracy skills to retell the story. We then moved on to exploring rhyming words. We discovered there are lots of rhyming words in the story we read this week.

In maths we have been exploring shape. We have named and recognized lots of shapes and also explored rotating and manipulating shapes. Today we used positional words to describe where shapes were.

We have explored maps and fitting in environmental features, thinking about whats in our local area and drawing and labeling them, exploring our new RNLI and beach role play area and so much more!

Its been an amazing week of learning.

Gentle reminder that tomorrow ( 6^th June) is an INSET day.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend

The Foundation Team

Julia Donaldson books and learning all about shapes! 

We’ve had a great first week back after half term, and it has been lovely to see that the children have returned with the same brilliant attitude towards their learning.

We have started our new English learning Journey focusing on books by the same author. We have chosen to focus on Julia Donaldson as we love her books in our class! We started our journey by listening to the Snail and the Whale story and then making stick puppets to act it out. We used our oracy skills to show each other what we could remember about the story. Year 1 have also started writing their own fact files about Julia Donaldson. Did you know she has more than 200 books!

In Maths, Foundation have been focusing on shapes. They have been learning about different 2D shapes and exploring these independently. We have spoken about how many sides different shapes have and what they look like. Foundation have also learnt about rotating shapes and how if we turn shapes, they might look slightly different! Year 1 have started their multiplication and division unit by counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. They are already brilliant at this but now they are applying their learning to number lines and number tracks.

Foundation have also discovered our new dressing up box and have loved dressing up this week! They have used their imaginations to make characters. I have particularly enjoyed the fairy princess stuck in the castle story they told me!

Just some reminders/updates: 

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check starts next week. Any practise you can with those real and alien words will really help with their screening. 

P.E days are still Tuesday and Thursday for this half term.

It has been a wonderful first week back and we’re in for a busy but exciting final half term!

Thank you all.

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Thursday 22nd May- End of half term

End of yet another half term! Wow! One more half term to go!

Its amazing to see the children progress and learn so much. We continue to be so proud of them!

This week’s blog is about the trip!

The children were an absolute credit to the school and their adults at home. It was the foundation children’s first trip out at school, and they were just amazing!

We had a great day exploring so many different animals, learning so many fun facts and feeding the farm animals was very giggly! The children were so brave, holding their hands the correct way to feed the animals!

We had lunch in the jungle barn and the chickens kept coming in to try and steal the sandwiches!

What an amazing day we had!

We wish you all a wonderful half-term break and look forward to seeing everyone on Monday 2^nd June

Wishing you a wonderful weekend

The Foundation Team 

Porfell Wildlife Park! 

Foundation and Foundation/ Year 1 classes had a wonderful trip to Porfell Animal Park and Sanctuary! The children were so excited to see all the animals. Our favourites were definitely the meerkats, lemurs, goats and the donkeys! Some of us were even brave enough to feed the animals; it was a bit ticklish! We explored the park and then had a play outside. It was a really lovely day and they did Looe Primary Academy very proud.

We have also been finishing our learning around our big question: How does your garden grow? We have been learning about deciduous and evergreen trees in Year 1, Foundation have been making paper flowers and looking at the lifecycle of a butterfly and we have had lots of fun doing it! We’ve had an excellent half term of learning and the children’s attitude has been brilliant.They are always trying to find out more.

Well done Foundation / Year 1, what a great half term we’ve had. Have a lovely break all and we will see you back after the half term.

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Friday 16th May

Some of this week’s learning:

In English this week, the children imitated the story of Mr Gumpy’s Outing. They decided to change it to Miss Hughes’ Adventure. They changed the characters in the story to a wolf, crab and turtle and came up with some amazing verbs. The children then used the story map with Miss Hughes to write a dictated sentence using their phonic knowledge.

In math’s this week we have explored adding different numbers together in a variety if way and thinking about ‘How many more’ have been added to a number!

In phonics children have been reading and writing polysyllabic words containing adjacent consonants and have been working so hard to word some tricky words!

In PE this week the children have continued to explore balls skills, throwing and catching. They have worked with partners to control the ball and ensure their partner is ready before rolling the ball and then progressing to throwing and catching.

The children have also been exploring the life cycle of a butterfly, using their funky fingers to make parts of a flower, making mini beast jars and so much more!

Gentle reminder that next week is the last week before the half term and Friday is an INSET.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend

The Foundation Team

Story writing and lots of counting! 

What a lovely week in Foundation / Year 1.

Foundation have been focusing on numbers to 20 in Maths and adding and taking away within this. They have done lots of practical activities to support their learning. Year 1 have started their new unit of mass and volume, and we have started this by trying to balance our measuring scales. We have measured how many cubes it takes to make an object balance.

We have also been exploring colour and shape in our art lessons. We drew different overlapping shapes and then used water colours to add brightness. They looked so beautiful!

In English, Year 1 are now writing their own versions of Mr Gumpy’s Outing. We have loved coming up with our own stories through changing the characters and the animals. I can’t wait to read them when they are finished. Foundation have also been writing dictated sentences using the animals from the story. What superstars!

In Geography, we have also started some fieldwork where we drew parts of our outside area and labelled the human and physical features that we could see.

Just a gentle reminder that it is our Porfell trip on Wednesday 21st May.

Well done Foundation / Year 1 for all your hard work.

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Friday 9th May

Some of this week’s learning:

In English this week, the children have been writing dictated sentences. We have continued to explore Mr Gumpy’s Outing and the children have worked really hard to remember a sentence, think about their phonics and write their sentence. The adults are so impressed.   

In maths this week we have been exploring numbers within 20 but have also been exploring taking away within 20. The children have been using mathematical sentences and are amazing!  

During outdoor learning this week, we went on a hunt for lots of sticks in our field, we then used twine and worked as a team to make garden stick men! The children were amazing at helping each other to wrap the twine around the sticks. They then made them even better by using leaves to decorate their stick men.

The children have also been using water colours to paint butterflies, making bean plant life cycles , decorating flowers and so much more!

On Thursday we explored what VE day was and what it means to so many people. We went outside at 12:00 to hold a 2-minute silence to remember and then Mr Whittaker played The Last Post on his trumpet. Today all of our resources were based on VE day ready for our VE Day picnic!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend

The Foundation Team 

Friday 2nd May

Some of this week’s learning:

In English this week, we have continued to explore the story Mr Gumpy’s Outing. The children have sequenced the story with Miss Hughes and then individually wrote key words to match pictures from the story. The children are really progressing with using their phonics to write words.

In maths this week we have been exploring numbers beyond 10 to 20. The children have been building numbers and recognising number patterns. The children have been amazing at knowing that 12 is 10 and 2 more.

In phonics this week the children have continued to learn how to read words with adjacent consonants. They are reading and writing so well and we have seen such progress.

During outdoor learning this week, we learnt all about shadows. We took lots of toys and paper outside and completed some great shadow drawings. We made lots of different shadows, drew around Janets shadow and played chase the shadow!

The children have also been making twirly gardens, designing flowerpots and making their own gardens.

Always a fun filled learning adventure in Foundation!

Wishing you a wonderful bank holiday weekend

The Foundation Team 

Welcome back Foundation / Year 1! 

We’ve had a lovely first few weeks back in our class. We have started our new big question for this half term which is ‘how does your garden grow?’ We will be exploring this in lots of different ways.

In Science, Year 1 are focusing on plants. We have talked about the parts of a plant and different places we might find them.
We have started our new learning journey in English focusing on the story Mr Gumpy’s Outing. We have learnt the story through actions and have now sequenced the story. Year 1 have written sentences to match the sequenced pictures and Foundation have written initial sounds and key words.
We were also very lucky this week as Bond Dance Company came in to do an animal dance workshop with us. This was to finish off our PE unit from before Easter. We absolutely loved it! We really enjoyed thinking about different animals and how they might move.
We have also really been enjoying the sunshine this week! Foundation have been doing lots of activities outside. Just a gentle reminder that because it is so warm the children do need to have a hat and a water bottle in school and if possible, sun cream on in the morning. We will then top this up at school.

Just some reminders for this half term:

PE days are on a Tuesday and Thursday.

Please remember to order lunches on a Thursday ready for the following week.

Please bring your childrens reading records and books on a Friday for them to be changed.

We have the VE Day Celebration on the 9th May from 2:00 to 3:15. You are more than welcome to join us and bring a picnic along.

Thank you everyone!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Friday 25th April

What a wonderful first week back at school.

The children have come back so enthusiastic and ready to explore and learn!

This week in English we have started to read a story called Mr Gumpy’s Outing. As a fun way to introduce this story, we went on an outing around the school. We crept through the KS2 corridor and spied on all the children on our outing, it was so much fun!  We learnt the story using actions and a story map.

In maths this week we have been building numbers greater than 10. We used egg boxes and pom-poms to help us understand that numbers greater than ten and less than twenty have a ten and some more. For instance: 15 is 10 and 5 more.

In phonics this week the children have started level 4. We have been exploring adjacent consonants ( when two consonants make a sound /lk/st/). The children have been reading so well.

The RNLI came into school this week and told us all about staying safe near water. 

On Wednesday we celebrated and explored St Georges Day. The children were fascinated about the story of St George and the Dragon and it sparked a very good discussion about whether it was a real story or not! We completed lots of wonderful activities all about St George.

Today was our Easter Crafternoon, and it was great. It is wonderful when parents come into class and can share some of the fun we have.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend

The Foundation Team 

Friday 4th April 

I cannot believe that we are here at the end of spring term! What an amazing term we have had! So much amazing fun exploration and learning.

This week we have explored lots of Easter craft and learning. The Easter Bunny also left us a letter and some magic beans with instructions that we had to plant them in sand, twinkle our fingers and wait! When we came into school this morning, Easter lollies had grown! We were amazed.

We also celebrated Janets birthday early as her birthday will be during the first week of the holidays!

This term has been amazing, and it has been a joy to teach the children and watch them learn and grow!

We are all looking forward to the summer term and getting the children year 1 ready!

We wish you all a wonderful Easter break and look forward to seeing the children on Tuesday 22^nd April.

The Foundation Team 

This week, we welcomes Open the Book again into school. It was great to see some of the children acting along with the story and, as usual, they made the Easter Story interactive for the audience.

Watch out for the Roman shields.... coming to a home near you this week!

The children have really enjoyed the history and geography topics this year. It has been so helpful to learn about history in a chronological order. After the holiday, we will be linking the end of the Roman era to the Anglo Saxons.  Please feel free to do some research at home. We always celebrate and display these sorts of projects in class.

We return back to school on Tuesday 22nd April.

Have a lovely holiday!
Miss Pittas and the Year 3/4 team

Spring has sprung in Foundation / Year 1!

We have had a great week in Foundation / Year 1.

Our activities have been all about spring this week. We have decorated easter eggs in different ways such as with pastels, collaging and colouring. We have used our funky fingers to pinch pom poms and add paint to a cherry blossom tree and lots of other lovely activities. We have also talked about the signs that Spring is here and my favourite was that ‘daffodils are popping up everywhere!’ Foundation also did some outdoor learning where they collected daisies and added it to their ‘vase of flowers.’ They looked beautiful!

In English, Foundation have continued their learning on Jack and the Beanstalk. This week, they have been drawing their own picture from the story and used their phonics to label the picture. Year 1 have been writing their own Acrostic poems about space. We have been coming up with some brilliant adjectives to describe space and have included them in our poems.

In the Wider Curriculum this week, we have been learning about materials in Science. We discussed the best materials for a piece of furniture and then designed this in our books.

Just a polite reminder that Friday is our Easter Crafternoon. Please feel free to pop up from 2:15 and you are welcome to take your child home at 3pm. Please do not worry if you can’t make it, they will still be able to do the lovely activities.

Thank you!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Friday 21st March

Some of this week’s learning adventures!

In English this week the children have been showing Miss Hughes their hand strength, pencil grip and letter formation by drawing pictures of their favourite parts of Jack and the Beanstalk. The children have then been writing small sentences to go with the picture they have drawn using their phonic knowledge.

In maths this week we have exploring doubles to ten and also odd and even numbers within ten! The children have been working so hard with their maths knowledge.

In outdoor learning we wanted to make our own footprints! We tried to set the activity up outside and oh my goodness the wind!!! So our outdoor learning became squelchy, squidgy indoor fun instead! We all took our shoes and socks off and stood in a tray of paint! We then walked down a long piece of paper to make our class footprints! This was so much fun and the vocabulary the children used to describe the feeling of the paint on their feet was spectacular!

In phonics this week we have finished learning all the level 3 phonemes. This week they were /ure/ and /er/ . The children have been progressing so well with their reading skills. For the next two weeks we review all of level 3 sounds before we assess the children’s knowledge and understanding. After Easter we begin level 4, where we explore adjacent consonants and polysyllabic words containing all of the level 2 and level 3 phonemes!

Another amazing week in Foundation class!

Have a wonderful weekend

The Foundation Team 

St Patrick's Day and Jack and the Beanstalk stories! 

On Monday, we celebrated St Patrick’s Day. We talked about who St Patrick was and where it is celebrated. We also talked about what people do, such as eat Irish food, Irish dancing and Irish parades. We then did lots of St Patrick’s Day activities.

In English this week, Year 1 have finished their Jack and the Beanstalk stories. We were so proud of them that we got the English Lead, Mrs Marshall, to come and read our stories. Year 1 have worked so hard to include all the features of traditional tales and have produced some fantastic work. Well done Year 1. Foundation have also been drawing a picture from the story and then writing key words/captions to match. We have really enjoyed our Jack and the Beanstalk learning that we’ve even made our own Beanstalk in the classroom!

Just some updates:

Comic Relief on Friday. Children can come dressed in their own clothes for a donation of £1.
Easter Crafternoon on Friday 28th March. An email has been sent with information about this.

Thank you!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Learning about aeroplanes and watching our tadpoles grow!

We’ve had another great week in Foundation/ Year 1.

We have been particularly excited the past few weeks as Mr Liddiment has set up our own tadpole tank in the classroom! We have learnt a little bit about the life cycle of a frog and how they change and have enjoyed watching these changes ourselves.

In the curriculum this week, Year 1’s History has been focused on the Wright brothers and the first aeroplane flight. We have been creating freeze frames of the first flight, with one of us being Wilbur Wright, one of us as Orville Wright, one of us as the plane and then an eyewitness. We focused on how the eyewitness would feel to be witnessing something so important. We then talked about what makes an event significant and how certain events have changed people’s lives. Foundation have also joined us by creating their own aeroplanes out of bricks outside. We then used our role play skills to pretend to fly the aeroplanes.

In English, Year 1 have begun to write their own versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, using the features of a traditional tale. I can’t wait to read them when they have finished. Foundation have started learning about adjectives and have begun writing different adjectives in their books to describe the characters in Jack and the Beanstalk.

Well done Foundation / Year 1, another great week of learning.

Foundation / Year 1 Team