Spring 2 - Week 1 

Well, what a wonderful first week back at school we have had! Spring 2 has started with such enthusiasm for the children.

Our big question for this half term is: What’s it like to be an explorer? We have been exploring Polar regions and the explorer Robert Scott.

This week in English the children have been exploring acrostic poems. We explored a poem with the focus words SOUTH POLE. We read this poem and explored the features of an acrostic poem. We learnt actions to help us recall the poem.

We then thought of our own acrostic poem (HUGO) and explored lots of different acrostic poems. The children then explored lots of different adjectives linked to polar regions and wrote planned and write their own acrostic poem with the focus word ARCTIC.

In maths year ones have been exploring doubles, near doubles and subtraction facts using their number bond knowledge.

The foundation children have also been exploring doubles and combining two groups.

In PE this week we have started dance and are exploring a penguin dance to fit our explorer topic.

The year 1’s have also been exploring Henri Matisse in art, Sukkah in RE and beginning to explore plants in Science. We have been super busy this week!

The foundation children have also enjoyed exploring all about Robert Scott, looking at polar region books, looking at polar animals and making arctic scenes. They have also enjoyed being explorer in our explorer role play area and so much more!

We have had a wonderful first week. 

Have a great weekend

Foundation /year 1 team.

I was invited to attend the official opening of the Looe Police Station Enquiry Office and I was delighted to be able to take one of our Year 6 pupils with me.  We met Alison Hernandez who is the Police Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall and the Acting Chief Constable, Jim Colwell as well as many of the police officers and local councillors and people who give their time and skills to make Looe the wonderful place that it is.  Our pupil was asked if she would like to cut the ribbon and she was delighted to be asked.  It is a very proud moment when one of our pupils is able to talk so well and enjoy the company of people who are important to our lives and who welcomed her as a very valued member of our community.  It was a lovely event!

During the Spring Term we have been exploring the History of Ancient Egypt. In English we have been rewriting the tale of the Egyptian Cinderella. We have been looking at the similarities and differences between this story and the traditional tale of Cinderella. It prompted some excellent discussions about how the main characters were treated and how this would have made them both feel.

In Art we have been finding out about Egyptian Hieroglyphs and using these special symbols to write our own names. We have also been using different materials to create portraits of Tutankhamun and have looked at patterns and colours when creating our own pharaohs designs. 

We went on a fabulous trip to the Box Museum in Plymouth where we were able to explore Ancient Egyptian artefacts and experience being curators.  

Week 5

Well, we have reached the end of yet another half term- and what a fantastic one it has been again! The children are progressing so well.

This week in English the year 1 children have been planning and writing a fact file . They have written facts all about pigs. The foundation children have been exploring parts of an owl and labelling them, writing captions about owls and using their phonic knowledge so well.

In maths the year ones have continued to explore addition within 20. The have worked hard to remember number bonds to solve tricky addition calculations. Foundation children have been exploring odd and even numbers and have mastered odd and even numbers to ten really well.

This week the children have also been reading tricky words, writing captions ad sentences, using their arts and craft knowledge to create beautiful pieces of art.

Today we had a Chinese New Year Day. All of our activities were based on Chinese New Year. We learnt lots of wonderful facts and explored wonderful; things about it. We were then super lucky to have a community Visitor, Eva, come into class. She told us all about Chinese New Year. She then showed us how to make Chinses lanterns and dancing dragons. To finish off Eva and her husband Kindy made us spring rolls to try – they were yummy! What a great day.

We have explored so much amazing learning this half term- we are ready to relax and refresh ready for next half terms jam packed learning adventures!

We wish you all a wonderful half term and look forward to seeing you all on Monday 19^th February.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Foundation /year 1 team. 

We love to fundraise here at Looe Primary and when we can link it to learning we like it even more!  Before Christmas, we took part in the Children's Hospice South West Santa's on the Run Fun Run.  We were delighted to raise £444.10 on that day and it was such a good afternoon with an elf in attendance and also some snow to slow everyone down as they were running.  it was a lovely way to head into the festive period and thank you to all of the parents and family members who joined in too.  The hospice will use the money to continue to support children, young people and their families living with life-limiting health conditions. 

On Friday, we took part in the NSPCC Number Day.  This year it was linked to our multiplication app TTRockstars, so we invited staff and pupils to dress as rockstars for the day.  We had some of the most amazing outfits and I am sure you will agree, they all looked fantastic.  We think Mrs Davies should come to school dressed like that every day.  Thanks to Mrs Davies' organisation, we raised £140 on the day and the children were delighted.  This money will help the NSPCC to continue running their Speak Out, Stay Safe Programme.  The children spent the day applying their maths skills to every day situations.  

We always enjoy an opportunity to dress up and have fun and these events show just how good we have become.  Thank you to everyone for their support and donations to these worthy causes.

As this week is Children's Mental Health Week and Online Safety Day takes place tomorrow, 6th February, we will enjoy more opportunities to consider our own lives and the lives of others, both in school, locally and in the wider world. 

Week 4 

This week the children have been exploring animal fact files- we started the week off with a special visit from Hugo the pug. Mrs Gregory kindly brought him in for the children to learn lots of interesting facts about him. Mrs Gregory told us some fascinating facts and the children also asked some amazing questions!

The year ones then started to explore features of a fact file and plan one all about pigs. The foundation children read the story The Owl babies and then explored writing adjectives and started to explore the parts of an owl.

In maths this week the year ones have been assessed on their end of unit understanding of numbers within 20 and were then assessed before their next unit of addition and subtraction within 20. The children worked so hard. They have also been exploring adding from different numbers using number tracks, part -whole models and ten frames.

The foundation children have been exploring numbers 6, 7 and 8. They have recognising, making and matching these numbers really well.

Today we had NSPCC number day and we were maths rock stars! WE completed lots of different maths activities whilst raising money for the wonderful NSPCC cause.

We have had another full week of so much learning and fun!

Can I just also say a massive thank you so much for my kind birthday wishes , cards and gifts, I felt very special on my birthday!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Foundation /year 1 team. 

Spring term 

We have begun the year with lots of exciting learning in year 1! Our big question this term has been 'are we the same as animals?' and we have really enjoyed our learning around this topic. 

In English, we had a very special visitor to launch our new English learning journey where we will be writing fact files. Mrs Gregory brought in her wonderful pug Hugo. The children loved meeting Hugo and came up with some brilliant questions. For example: "Why is Hugo's tongue so long?"

In Computing, we have been learning how to take good pictures. We have been thinking about keeping the camera really still and making sure everything is in the shot. We also drew some animals on the playground for us to practise taking pictures of. 

In PSHE, we have really focused on our teamwork skills. We have talked about how we work together well and practised this in different ways. One of our activities was to work together to make a paper chain rainbow and I think we did a fantastic job! 

Year 1 have kept up their fantastic attitude to learning and we are looking forward to what the rest of the spring term holds! 

Year 1 team

What does it mean to be an explorer?

This term, the children are learning all about significant explorers and their expeditions.  We will be learning about Ibn Battuta, Matthew Henson and the most famous, Neil Armstrong!

During our topic, we will also be learning about habitats.  We have already looked deeply into microhabitats and what animals need to survive.  

In English, our story is Jack in the Beanstalk that the children are enjoying!  In Maths, following on from our money unit we will now be completing multiplication!  This unit will last up until and beyond the half-term week!  The children now have logins for TT Rockstars so any practise on their 2's, 5's and 10 times tables will be much appreciated!!

Next half term, we plan to do a trip to the Sardine Factory and incorporate the features of Looe.  I will send out dates as soon as possible for this as we may require some parent helpers!  We are also going to have a "pretend expedition" however, I will let you know the details closer to the time!

Please can you ensure that your child brings in their reading records every day please as we read with the children all of the time and they may be missing points for their reading karate bands if the reading is not logged!

Many thanks for all of your support this term!

Mrs Brewer and team.

Week 3 

The Children have worked so hard this week and have accomplished some amazing tasks.

This week the year one children have spent some time writing their innovated stories. They have really tried hard to use their phonic knowledge to write longer sentences that included adjectives and conjunctions. The foundation children have worked hard at looking at a picture from The Tiger Who Came to Tea, they then verbally used adjectives to describe the picture. Then using their phonic knowledge, they tried really hard to write small captions to match the picture. All the children have achieved amazing English work this week.

In maths the year one children have been exploring how to use a number line to 20. They have been using their number knowledge to identify missing numbers and have mastered estimating where numbers should be on a number line when a number line is blank. They then used the greater than, less than and equals to symbols to compare numbers within 20. The foundation children have been exploring measure this week. They have been exploring bucket scales and suing the bucket scales to weigh different objects. They started by trying to use objects to balance the scales. They then estimated what items would be heavier and lighter. They finished the week with measuring how many cubes heavy an object would be. All the children have achieved amazing maths this week!

The year one children have also explored capital cities in Geography and placed them on their UK maps from last week. They also explored aerial photographs and used key words to describe different characteristics of different countries. They have been exploring collages in art and have designed and created wonderful collages of our school value animals. In RE the children have continued to explore Judaism and this week learnt all about Hanukkah.

This week foundation children have also been writing CVC words and using their phonic skills and practicing their writing, They have been using their funky fingers to thread string to make amazing animals, they have used their amazing observational skills to look at pictures of different animal sand then draw and paint them. We have had some wonderful pictures. The children have completed so much more too!

Another wonderful week in Foundation/year 1!

Notes:

We are delighted to be welcome Mrs Lydon to class from Monday. As you remember Mrs Podmore left in December and Mrs Waring as worked hard to find the right person to replace her and we are excited to welcome Mrs Lydon to the team.

Hugo the dog will be visiting on Monday to start our new English topic. Please refer to our previous email.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Foundation /year 1 team.

Week 2 

Another wonderful jam-packed week of learning has taken place in foundation/year 1 this week!

The children have continued to explore the story of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The children have changed this story to The Elephant Who Came to Tea. The foundation children have spent time this week using their phonic knowledge to wrote adjectives to describe a character from the story and the year one children have spent time planning their own version of the story using ambitious vocabulary and then they have started to write their own stories. All the children have been working so well.

The year 1 children have also been continuing to explore numbers within 20. They have used base ten to help their knowledge of tens and ones when exploring teen numbers. They have worked hard to find one more and one less and today they have started to identify numbers within 20 on a number line. 

Foundation children have been exploring numbers to 5. They have been subitising and spent lots of time this week exploring one more and one less up to 5. They played a bus game with Mrs Gregory and loved it.

Year 1 children have also been exploring carnivores, herbivores and omnivores in Science. They have been exploring the UK and what countries make up the UK. They have been weaving and exploring patterns in DT and discussing goals in PSHE.

The foundation children have also been writing captions and practicing their writing skills, sorting animals into groups such as how many legs they have. Using their problem-solving skills to match animals that have been separated, using their observational skills to paint a parrot and so much more.

All children have been working super hard in phonics and are progressing well.

In PE this week the children continued to explore jumping in gymnastics and this afternoon they continued to explore different ball skills with Bobby our coach.

We have had another fun filled week and are looking forward to next week.

Gentle reminder please write in the children reading record when you read with the children at home.

 Foundation/Year 1 Team

Well, the children have settled back into school so well. We have had an amazing week of exploring and learning.

Our class have started a new story this week: The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The foundation and the year one children have been loving this story. We started the week with exploring the story and the story map. We then had a tea party in class with our favourite teddies. We invited the tiger, we didn’t think he would come….BUT he did!! We were so excited! The children thought it was Mrs Gregory but Mrs Gregory was busy doing jobs with Mrs Waring!! The tiger was so cheeky and drank the children’s milk and the water from the tap! Foundation and year one children explored sequencing the story in groups and in their English books. They have all explored adjectives and thought of great ones to describe characters of the story. The year ones have used adjectives and conjunctions in their sentences. We also imitated the story as a class and changed the story to one of our own!

The year ones have also been counting within 20 and exploring teen numbers. They have explored continents and oceans in geography and also mapped where different animals come from in the world. In DT the year ones explored different materials and paper weaving.

Foundation children have loved exploring the ice outside this week. They have loved leaving water out at night and investigating it the next day once it has frozen. Foundation children have found icicles and ice crystals and have loved the patterns. They have also been exploring numbers 0-5 in maths and writing CVC words and name writing on the writing table. They have role played being vets in our vet’s role paly area and have sorted animals into adult animals and their young. They have also been busy using water colours to paint different animals. They have explored so much more! We have had a very busy and learning full week!

All the children have completed PE skills this week using their bodies in different ways and learning new ball skills with Bobby the coach.

All the children explored what they are good at in PSHE this week and it was lovely to see all the children sharing their passions and goals.

We really have had a wonderful week and are really looking forward to next week.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend

Foundation/Year 1 Team

Week 6 

We are nearing the end of term, but our amazing learning journey continues!

We have been busy rehearsing for the Christmas performance in the afternoons this week and we are so proud of the children sitting, listening, confidence to speak in front of people, coordination when they dance and of course learning so many songs! We cannot wait for you to see the performance next week!

This week the foundation children have continued to read the story Buddy’s Rainforest Rescue. Foundation children have been working hard to draw a character from the book ready to label and write small captions next week. They have been exploring Christmas with the nativity set and lots of books all about Christmas. They have been matching and sorting Christmas characters in maths and exploring 2d shapes. They have been using their funky fingers to complete Santa and Rudolph pictures. They have worked as a team to complete our class globes and put Brazil and the UK on the map. In the role play area they have been Santas helpers and have ordered Christmas presents played at being the elves to warp the presents and practiced writing the tags! The children have been using playdough to finish Christmas pictures and SO much more!

This week year 1 have worked hard to write our class imitated story. We changed the story from Buddy’s Rainforest Rescue to Rainbows Rainforest Rescue- Rainbow was a parrot. The children worked hard to use their phonics top write part of the story. They the worked hard to innovate the story and plan their own. The story has now changed to Grey’s Ocean Rescue! Next week the year ones will spend time carefully writing this story using the story maps they planned. In maths the years ones have been exploring 2d shapes and have worked hard at recognising, sorting, and making patterns!  

We have had a great week in Foundation year 1.  

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend

Foundation/Year 1  Team 

Friday 1st December. 

Year 1 came into a big surprise this morning! We had two elves underneath our Christmas tree and they've decorated the whole classroom. We have already discovered that they are very cheeky elves and we look forward to seeing what mischief they get up to in our classroom! 
We have really been enjoying our topic. Our big question is 'what kind of place is Brazil?' We've been thinking like geographers and finding Brazil on the globe and talking about why it is so hot there. 
In science we have been learning about the seasons. We were talking about what clothes we can wear in each season, and we all agree we need a big coat this time of year! 
We are now in the lead up to our Christmas performance 'Children around the World' and we are so excited to show it to an audience. 
Year 1 are absolute superstars and I look forward to the festive period we will have together! 

Miss Bolger.