I would like to begin by saying an enormous well done to the children of Class 2 for their celebration assembly performance. They all really enjoyed rehearsing for it and did a wonderful job. It was so lovely to see everyone who came to enjoy their assembly.
The children have done lots of reading this week in school and have been using their new phonic knowledge to try to read unfamiliar words and texts. In their Read Write Inc groups they have moved onto their last non-fiction books of their units and have been writing for purpose in different contexts and styles. The children are currently developing ideas for a new reading area in class and are going to create it next week.
In Maths we have had lots of fun learning about and capacity and volume. They have been solving real life problems involving capacity and volume in various contexts. They measured capacity using non-standard and then some progressed to using standard units of measurement in ml. They were given exciting contexts which included creating a new health drink using ml, measuring potions and also measuring capacity using dried materials as opposed to liquid. Class 6 were very impressed when taste testing their health drinks. Class 2 have also been learning number bond rhymes to make 20 and odd and even songs.
In Science the children have started their investigations into which materials they believe may or may not be good for waterproofing. Next week we have some super science experiments lined up.
In History topic the children have been learning about the games and leisure activities which Victorian children enjoyed. We tried and tested a few along the way and made our own thaumatropes.
I hope you have a lovely weekend together and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Mr Mavin

I would like to start by saying how lovely it was to witness the parent child dinners this week. Thank you so much for coming in to enjoy the Bicton Michelin-starred cuisine and spending some time in your child’s daytime setting.
In class the children have been working on their speaking and listening through whole class sharing time. They have used the 5 W’s very thoughtfully and have tried to find out more instead of just making a statement to their classmates. In Read Write Inc English the children are ready to move onto different book stages as they have just finished non-fiction texts on animals that can swim, parties and snow. They have made sure that when recording their ideas they have used conjunctions and adjectives.
In Maths we have been learning about mass and weight and have done lots of practical lessons using scales in order to predict and compare if items are heavier, lighter or the same mass. We measured in non-standard units of measurement which the children embraced and used lots of mathematical vocabulary and reasoning along the way. We finished the week by comparing masses and responding to questions like, ‘What can you say that is true about the apple and the weights?’
In Science the children have continued with their everyday materials topic by sorting materials by what they believe their properties to be. They have also been learning about transparent and translucent materials.
In History they have had a wonderful time comparing Victorian toys to their own today. They have also been practising their Victorian song which you will hear in the not so distant future.
In PE they have shown off their sports skills involving control, balance and speed with Embrace. They have had various apparatus circuits to master which all looked very exciting.
Well done to everybody for learning their spellings. The new list has gone into the children’s books for next Friday. A huge well done to Elodie too for getting Star of the Week trophy. Elodie has done amazingly well in every lesson and her attitude to learning has been outstanding.
I hope that you have a lovely weekend together and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Mr Mavin

Class 2 have all set a perfect example of how to behave in school and have been using their manners at every opportunity. In class they have enjoyed lots of practical learning experiences and have really enjoyed each other’s company as usual.
In Read Write Inc the children have been reading both fiction and non-fiction in their groups. They have enjoyed sharing their own knowledge and experiences of the wider world into their discussions too related to the texts they have read.
In Maths the children were introduced to further work on length and height through a new picture and information book, ‘Actual Size’ by Steve Jenkins. Here they continued using non-standard methods for measurement at the start of the week by measuring pictures within the book which were life size animal parts which they all found very engaging and very real. Firstly they began to estimate and measure the animal body parts with objects, and then slowly progressed into to using standard cm’s using rulers by the end of the week. We have also worked on creating our class Ostrich for a class height chart. After the children chose the Ostrich as their favourite, we read about the big bird’s height in the book and then measured and drew it for us to compare our own heights and sizes to it on our wall. This is work in progress and should be ready next week.
In History the children have been learning about famous Victorian inventions and inventors as an extension to their wonderful homework projects. Their main learning focus was on the key inventor Alexander Graham Bell who invented the first ever telephone. The children then had a go at making one of their own to try out too with their partners which was amusing to watch when it was time to test them out. Our Victorian tiles are near completion too and wouldn’t look out of place around any Victorian fireplace.
In Science the children have kick started their new topic of Everyday Materials by doing a practical investigation involving sorting materials into different categories as a group and have learned new vocabulary in order to better describe their properties.
The new spelling lists have gone out in books as usual to be done next Friday by the children. It has been so lovely to see the enthusiasm of the children concerning both spellings and their home reading materials. We are so grateful to you all for nurturing their joy for learning in the home too.
I hope that you have a lovely weekend together and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Mr Mavin

Class 2 have done English work this week based on the interests they have brought into the classroom. It has synced brilliantly with our Science topic of Animals and Humans; literacy based work on SHARKS! They have experienced visual literacy from media and simple text sources in the first instance. Then they were reading and retrieving, recording ideas for labelling and describing sharks along with facts about them. In addition to this they have been demonstrating excellent reading and sentence building skills in their RWI groups.
In Maths we have been learning about length and height in our measurement unit. We started off making comparisons and describing lengths and heights using new mathematical language. After sorting ourselves into height order we described and compared three objects at a time using words including longer, longest, shorter and shortest. Towards the end of the week we applied our learning to a maths investigation using non-standard units of measurement. We used metre sticks and toilet paper. Their investigation was to see if we could roughly measure and compare the lengths of four of the world’s best known sharks. We compared their lengths and found out how many of the children one above the other made up the lengths of each of them. By the looks on the children’s faces this was mind blowing and they got the gist of how enormous these creatures are in comparison to them.
In history topic work Class 2 have learned about the awful jobs which children were subjected to during the Victorian era. They focused on chimney sweeps and what the child needed to do and why there was a need for such a role. The children then moved onto their own piece of artwork on a chimney sweep after completing an extended piece of writing about this renowned Victorian job. We finished the week making a start on our Victorian clay tiles using various taught techniques. They have started to look fab before they are painted.
The children did wonderfully well on their weekly spellings again this week. A new list has gone in their books. A big congratulations to Cerys too for getting Star of the Week Trophy for some tenacious work done in her Maths and English lessons and for showing good listening skills in class.
I hope you have a lovely weekend together and I will look forward to seeing you on Monday.
Mr Mavin

The children have had another exciting week in Class 2. They have really enjoyed the story work done in their RWI groups and have also been focusing on fun phonics activities too. This week has also brought World Book Day which celebrated all of the wonderful characters and story books which have influenced and captivated our children’s imaginations. This was a day of the utmost priority in the children’s calendars and we were so delighted to see all of the wonderful costumes which they came in to celebrate that day. Their day focussed on the inspirational author Julia Donaldson who is famous for titles such as ‘The Gruffalo’ , ‘Room on a Broom’ and ‘Stick Man.’ The children started the day by both role playing and talking about their favourite books they brought in to show the class. They then learned about the author and had a variety of her stories read to them with interlinked activities throughout the day. These included making forever reader bookmarks, illustrated story maps, Gruffalo Crumble (baking), clay figure making, making potions and then finally eating their crumble. Story telling is big in our class and it was so lovely to hear the experiences the children have outside of school involving literature.
In Maths the children initially explored counting objects in 2’s (pairs) which then led them to comparing totals and looking at odd and even numbers. They then looked at the patterns of counting in 2’s to 50 and what that looked like on number grids and 100 squares. They ended the week doing the same for counting in 5’s and looked at how this might be shown on their own number lines which they then made with Numicon.
In RE the children have looked at what makes an excellent leader and explored leaders within the religion of Judaism. The story of Moses was a catalyst for great discussion
In PE the children really enjoyed their session with Embrace involving ball and invasion games.
A big congratulations to Paige who won class Star Trophy Award. Paige has made great impression on everybody with her willingness to help others, set a great example and also complete her work on time.
It was so nice to see you all on Wednesday for parent consultations. Thank you so very much for your continued support and remember I am always there with an open door if you wish to chat about anything concerning your child in the future.
I hope that you have a lovely weekend together and see you on Monday.

Mr Mavin

This week the children have related some of their English work to our science topic animals and humans. We chose to do owls in particular because some of the children had said that they were very interested in that type of Bird of Prey. They wrote some facts about them and also some descriptions using adjectives. In RWI the children have been assessing their partners work and offering suggestions as to how they could improve their reading and writing. This has been a lovely thing to behold as they approached it very tactfully indeed.
In Maths the children have been focusing on place value of numbers up to 50 and beyond. They have been mastering using grids to find 1 more and less than a number and have applied this when reasoning and problem solving. They then went on to comparing groups of objects and then numbers using the correct comparison signs. They then finished the week ordering up to 3 numbers from the smallest to the biggest and then vice versa.
In music the children have been composing songs which have incorporated instruments with Mrs Tan. They have had a very good go at reading and playing musical notes as a collective.
In RE the children have been looking at Judaism and what Jews believe and what is important to them. There have been some very thoughtful discussions and work produced.
In topic we started the week learning all about Queen Victoria and how they named the period in history we are doing after her. We then dedicated a mini junior bake off to this very important historical figure by making Victoria sponges together. The children followed instructions and weighed, mixed and spooned all the ingredients independently in their group. We had our fingers crossed and luckily the sponges rose and were a success! They looked fit for a queen!
May we take this opportunity to say how wonderful all of the children’s Victorian inventions homework is! Thank you ever so much for supporting your children with this project. We hope you had a lovely time doing it together. They have been displayed outside of the classroom and have sparked discussion from all going up and down the corridor. Work and presentations related to the inventions and their inventors are being done next week with the children.
World Book Day is on this Thursday the 7th March. The children are to dress up as their favourite characters and have been told to bring in their favourite story books from home. We are all looking forward to this one!
A big congratulations to Bonnie for getting star of the week trophy. She has made great improvements with her written work and has shown real determination and concentration during every lesson.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and will look forward to seeing you all for parent consultations on Wednesday!

Mr Mavin

This week some children have been bringing in their favourite fiction and non-fiction books from home to be read and shared with the rest of the class. It has been so nice to see so many tastes and interests when it comes to their preferred literature. We are going to have a comic corner in class too, so if you have any old ones which you don’t mind your child keeping in class we would be very grateful if you could bring them in.
In English the children have read new story books in RWI which have been very appealing to them. Some have been linked to what the children might want to be when they are older, some have read about pirates and fish on the high seas and others have had a story about a scruffy teddy. Something for everybody there! The writing which followed was very thoughtful, inventive and well presented. Towards the end of the week the children have been sending postcards back to a far- away planet where their alien character Beegu came from in their class story. They focused on linking words, descriptions and presentation.
In maths the children have looked at numbers up to 50 when doing place value. They have been identifying, representing and solving problems involving bigger numbers and have looked at in depth what the number is actually made up of. They also looked at how they could represent the number in different ways using. The children have looked at counting in 10’s and 1’s in order to make it easier for themselves when counting and have used apparatus like 10 frames to make the idea more concrete. The children have done some mental maths assessments and have also done some practise with their 10 times tables. They finished off the week looking at 1 more and 1 less than numbers up to 50 and how they could record it.
In science the children did a sorting investigation looking at what animals eat and how we can class them as either herbivore, carnivore or omnivore.
In topic we made a Class 2 museum of all of the Victorian artefacts we had and had a history detective afternoon where we put forward ideas as to what we thought certain artefacts were and what they might have been used for based on what their appearance alongside clues. Then the children were able to handle and use the items in role and then learned more about the artefacts from their museum guide Mr Mavin.
The new spelling lists have gone out today along with Class 2’s new homework project which is in their green homework books.
A massive well done to all of the children in Class 2, especially Jack this week who achieved the star of the week trophy for producing some well thought out work in all of his lessons.
Class 2’s PE slot for next term has changed. It will now be on a Wednesday instead of a Monday and also on a Friday.
I hope that you have a lovely half term break together and I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Mr Mavin

This week in English the children have been reading some lovely stories together in their RWI groups. Some groups have been reading about Pirates, some about bath times and others about play days. They have all read ever so well and are more readily recognising that answers to comprehension questions can sometimes be retrieved from a text. The children have been assessed on their phonics and some children have been moved on to different stages of the RWI scheme. We have also done an independent write linked directly to our Victorian school experience we had at Blists Hill. The children have also been doing some work based on our class story ‘Beegu.’ They have been using adjectives to describe both feelings and appearances of the characters during different stages of the story. The children’s repertoire of vocabulary is flourishing more and more by the day.
In Maths the children have been learning more about adding and subtracting. By using partitioning they have been working systematically through their calculations. They have also tried to fully understand the concept of bar models. More work has been done on related facts and comparing number sentences involving addition and subtraction too. The children have also been assessed on their learning in certain areas through practical activities.
In Science the children have been looking at different parts of common animals. The children then used their knowledge of specific body parts to create their own creatures from a given criteria.
In Topic the children have talked about and written about their trip experiences at Blists Hill. They have also learned about the different jobs the children of their age (and younger) used to do in Victorian times. Not only has it been extremely thought provoking for them, it has made them realise that they may need to do a little more around the house to help you at home.
In PE the children have continued with both outdoor hockey with Embrace and games with Mr Sudlow. Please make sure that your children have the appropriate PE kit including outdoor trainers for a Monday and Friday.
Spelling lists have gone home today. Please see attached for our spelling list if your child has been off ill.
A big congratulations to Kyler for getting star trophy award for the week. He has worked incredibly well in all areas of the curriculum and has set a wonderful example in class.
Have a lovely weekend together and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Mr Mavin

In Class 2 we have loved listening to the children’s prior knowledge about the Victorians (or what they believed the Victorians and that era to be like) each day.
In English the children have continued to flourish in their RWI groups. In some cases they have been encouraged to use simple conjunctions to link their ideas when either writing or using talk for writing. They have moved onto the next part of the whole class story Beegu and have devised instructions on making sandwich.
In maths we have been using very practical means to add and subtract. We have used part whole models, number lines, apparatus and also using a bar model when subtracting. We have agreed ways of double checking our calculations to see if they make sense and have used reasoning well when explaining to our maths buddies. They children have also discovered that addition is commutative (done in any order) and some children have completed problems and explained their reasoning to give themselves an extra challenge.
Our art lesson has been linked to our History topic of The Victorians and the children have learned about the Victorian artist William Morris. They have now started to recreate strips of wallpaper with their own version of his designs. I can’t wait to see them all on display.
In Science the class have been learning about the grouping of animals. They have investigated sorting them based on certain features, characteristics or traits the animals may have. The prior knowledge and reasoning the children gave was very interesting to listen to indeed and it was something of real interest for this class.
In computing the children have been experimenting with the touch pad on the laptop. They have also been using an online learning platform to practise further their Maths and phonics work.
The children have been doing ever so well with their spellings and a new list is in their books. A special well done to both Dylan and Evie Webster who achieved Star of the Week status for lots of effort with their work in all lessons and tenacity even when they found something quite challenging. Well done to you both!
As a reminder, we have our class trip to Blists Hill on Wednesday. Please refer to the letter which went home for any additional details you may need to know.

Have a lovely weekend together and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Mr Mavin