Summer Term: Week 7
This week has been #Maths Week. The activities were enjoyed by one and all and the children ended the week realising that maths is great fun. We started the week by thinking what maths was all about. Is it just about numbers? The children discovered that we use mathematical skills all the time, whether it be making sure we get to school on time, seeing if we have the right money to buy a yummy chocolate bar or having our feet measured for that lovely new pair of summer holiday sandals.
The Year 2 children were transported to Hogwarts and made magical potions, using a variety of measuring cylinders. A delicious smelling witch’s stew was created and the children used their knowledge of 3D and 2D shapes to design an amazing castle. The children have all been amazingly creative.
The Year 1 children have been fantastic mathematicians and have worked collaboratively. They enjoyed lots of under-the-sea themed mathematical activities and challenges and used all the mathematical skills they have learnt this year. They created wonderful under the sea castles and creations – the bigger the better it seems! They looked at 3D shape nets and made 3D sea creatures. They also showed great problem solving skills using tangrams. The children enjoyed their cooking session, weighing their ingredients carefully and followed their recipe with Mrs Bates. They made the most delicious and yummy flapjacks and the week finished with a trip to the beach where they created shapes from pebbles.
Reception highlights this week include measuring their feet using non-standard measures, weighing ingredients to make biscuits and using slime to investigate capacity. They made a paper plate see-saw to demonstrate heaviest and lightest and they made some terrific towers and shapes on the beach today.
Chaffinch and Kingfisher classes have enjoyed exploring shape, space and measure. They built some fabulous structures and then talked about the different shapes they used. In Computer Wizards both classes produced some amazing pictures of shapes on the touchscreen computers and were really proud of their achievements. When asked to describe their picture one child said “a triangle has 3 sides” and another when talking about their picture of a circle said “one big round”. We also looked at photos of shapes in the environment and spotted that a Ferris wheel is a circular shape and that there is a circle in a guitar! The children also explored ordering items by capacity, when pouring and filling containers of gloop in the tuff tray.
The Nightingale class looked at giant shapes taped onto the carpet. The children built around the outline of the shapes, using different blocks and showed great skill and concentration. In Forest School the children requested Miss Dadswell and Miss Sarjeant to be dinosaurs. “Ahh there is a T-Rex coming, run!” shouted one child.
The Robin class children got messy with slime in the garden. To encourage language development the teachers put different things inside the slime for the children to find and name. They have a new wobble board in the garden which the children have enjoyed balancing on and they have also had a big focus on physical development, when practising running races and avoiding obstacles.
The children in the Sparrow class used their hands to pop bubbles during water and bubble play. They also explored ice treasure, which is toy animals in balls that have been frozen which they see and feel as the ice melts. The look of amazement on the children’s faces as the animals appear is an absolute delight.
This has been a busy half term and the children all deserve a lovely break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 7 June for a short but jam-packed and exciting second half of term.
Armelle Wilkinson
Head of Pre-Prep and Nursery
