Term 3 

English

This term in English, we have been writing postcards. First, we learned what postcards are and read one that was written to German Wolves by Miss Kent during her trip to London. She visited many famous landmarks, including the Tower of London, where she saw the ravens and the Crown Jewels. We then wrote our own postcards about different attractions in London. Some of us visited the aquarium and saw a variety of sea creatures, while others went to London Zoo and wondered if they might see animals such as “stripy, orange tigers” or even “black panthers”!

Maths

In Maths, we have been learning about place value with numbers within 20. We have discovered that numbers above ten have one ten and some ones. We used ten frames to show this. We have used this knowledge to find missing numbers on number lines, estimate where numbers fall on a blank number line and compare numbers to 20.  We also have been building on our learning of adding and subtraction numbers to 20 using various methods such as number lines, ten frames and cubes to help us answer questions.

Science

In Science, we have been learning about seasonal change, including the changes that occur across each season and how these affect the weather, animals and plants. In our first lesson, we wrote predictions about what we expect to see as winter changes into spring. These included how the weather might change and how nature around us will change, such as the appearance of blossom. Next, we focused on grass snakes and learned how they change throughout the year across the four seasons. We also explored how evergreen and deciduous trees change over the course of the year.

RE

In RE this term, we have been focusing on the key question, “Was it always easy for Jesus to show friendship?” We explored three different stories about Jesus: the story of Zacchaeus, Jesus stilling the storm and the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Through listening to each of these stories, the children were able to recount the events and give examples of when Jesus showed friendship to others around him. We also discussed whether we thought Jesus found showing friendship easy.

Computing

German Wolves have really enjoyed their computing topic this term, which has been all about robots. During our lessons, we have been exploring how robots work and how we can give them instructions to complete a specific task. The children enjoyed learning how a Bee-Bot works, exploring the controls and how they affect the Bee-Bot’s movements. We learned that by pressing the direction buttons, the Bee-Bot follows the instructions given, but we need to be clear and precise, otherwise the Bee-Bot will not do what we want it to do. We also practised our teamwork skills, as the children had the opportunity to be a robot themselves and follow their partner’s instructions, moving safely around the classroom.

Term 2

English

This term in English, we have been writing non-chronological reports about life in the 1950s and life in the 2020s. We began by learning about life in the 1950s and exploring the key features of an information text, including an introduction, clear facts, and a conclusion. We learnt about what children did for entertainment during this time, such as going to the cinema to watch cowboy films and cartoons.

The children produced excellent pieces of writing, focusing carefully on important skills such as correctly formed handwriting, finger spaces and full stops. We then applied these skills to write our own non-chronological reports about life in the 2020s, thinking about how entertainment has changed over time, including activities such as going to soft play and playing on iPads.

Maths

In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting within 10. To deepen our understanding and support problem-solving, such as finding a missing part from a whole, we have used part–whole models. This has helped us clearly see the different values in a number sentence and solve problems with confidence. We have also used a range of manipulatives to support our learning, including cubes, number lines and ten frames.

Towards the end of the term, we have been learning about shape. We learnt the names of a range of 2D and 3D shapes and discussed how to identify them by looking at their properties. We also enjoyed completing repeating patterns by carefully identifying the pattern.

Science

In Science, German Wolves have been exploring the human senses. We learnt that we have five senses that help us to survive, keep us safe and understand the world around us: touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.

We tested our senses through a range of practical experiments. We discovered that having two eyes helps us to see more clearly than if we only had one. We also tested our sense of touch by identifying hidden objects and explored our sense of smell by trying to identify different liquids.

DT

In DT this term, we have been exploring the topic of Shade and Shelter. We learnt about which materials are best for building a strong shelter and explored different types of shelters, such as car ports, tents and bird houses. We were then very lucky to visit Shorne Woods Country Park, where we built our own shelters using sticks, rope and tarpaulin. The children thoroughly enjoyed creating their shelters and even ended the trip with a warm hot chocolate.

Back at school, we continued our learning by designing and making junk modelling shelters, carefully considering what is needed to make a shelter warm and waterproof. We then evaluated our designs, reflecting on what worked well and how we could improve them further.

Term 1

English

This term in English, we have been learning all about riddles! We discovered that riddles are like little puzzles that make us think carefully and creatively. The children enjoyed working together to solve a variety of riddles, using their brains to think outside the box. We explored a model riddle text and identified key vocabulary that helps make riddles fun and challenging. We also learnt about the importance of questions, especially the classic riddle ending of ‘What am I?’ The children then had a go at writing their own questions, coming up with some brilliant examples linked to a toy car. We discussed how adjectives make riddles more descriptive and engaging for the reader and created a toolkit of exciting adjectives to use in our own writing. Towards the end of term, the children will be writing their very own riddles and we can’t wait to see if we can solve each other’s!

Maths

In Maths, we have been exploring numbers within 10. We have practised counting forwards and backwards to 10 using different resources such as cubes, counters, and Numicon to help us show our counting. We have also learned about one more and one less than a given number, using songs to help us remember which direction to go on the number line. We have had lots of fun comparing groups of objects and numbers with the help of Blockzilla, who loves playing with the bigger number. Blockzilla has helped us to use the signs greater than (>), less than (<) and equal to (=) when writing number sentences.

Topic

Our topic for Terms 1 and 2 has been ‘Childhood’, and we have been exploring the question: “What is childhood like now compared to the past?” We started by looking at a range of childhood toys from the 1950s, including teddies, dollhouses, prams, marbles, and toy soldiers. We discussed whether we have similar toys at home today or if there are differences. We also thought about our favourite toys from home and shared them with each other. In addition, we learned about the stages of human life by creating a timeline of the six stages that happen throughout a person’s lifetime. Our favourite activity so far was designing our own personal timelines using photographs, putting them in chronological order. We especially enjoyed seeing each other as babies and comparing how we looked then to how we look now.

Spanish

We have really enjoyed our first Spanish topic of this year learning about different ways of greetings. The children have been excellent at remembering how to say hello, good day, goodbye as well as asking someone ‘how are you?’ in Spanish and learning ways of replying. We have enjoyed learning some Spanish songs using these greeting and we are looking forward to learning even more!

PE

This term in Indoor PE, we have been focusing on gymnastics and exploring how to move our bodies in different ways. The children have learnt to create wide, narrow, and curled shapes on the floor and when using various pieces of apparatus. They particularly enjoyed experimenting with big body parts to form different shapes and practising a ‘champion balance’ after moving confidently across the apparatus.

Term 6 2024-25 

Phonics

English Lions continue to make progress during our phonic sessions. We are blending sounds into longer words and we are writing sentences. We have done lots of work reading red and green words and saying them in sentences. Our letter formation is getting better and neater each day.

English

Our fiction books: ‘What the Sea Saw’, ‘Commotion in the Ocean’, ’Rainbow fish’ and ‘Come away from the water Shirley’ have been enjoyed. We have also looked at a range of poems and rhymes; we enjoyed creating our acrostic poems.

Maths

During our maths activities, we have explored numbers past 20 using a range of resources. Halving and doubling and sorting odd and even numbers has developed our number knowledge. We have also explored composing and decomposing shapes and labelling different capacities.   

Topic

In the afternoons, we have explored activities related to our ‘On the Beach’ topic. We have learnt about how beaches differ from the past to the present; we have looked at the creatures found in rock pools; and we have explored maps and worked out where the land, oceans, hot places and cold places are. During our continuous provision we have enjoyed playing outside, making sea creatures with different construction materials and especially learning different ball skills. During P.E. we continued to learn how to control a ball effectively with different sides of our feet.