Year 5 had an unforgettable Bushcraft trip, filled with adventure and teamwork! The children learned essential outdoor skills such as trap making, shelter building and basic first aid. They even participated in a mock plane wreckage recovery, adding to the excitement. They mastered fire lighting and enjoyed cooking some of their own meals. The evenings were spent camping with friends and indulging in the classic campfire treat—s’mores! It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to embrace the great outdoors.
Year 2 had an amazing day at Cadbury’s World where we learnt about how chocolate was made . We then had a very exciting tour of the exhibition. Our favourite activities included writing with chocolate, tempering chocolate and eating chocolate! The Cadbury’s bean car ride was also super exciting and the 4D cinema made us think we were on a roller coaster! Thank you to all of Year 2 for displaying brilliant behaviour – we are so proud of you all!
This week we will be continuing with our work on Autumn. We will be focusing on the fiction text ‘Don’t hog the hedge’. The children will recap all all they know about Autumn so far and will look at how some animals get ready to hibernate during the Autumn in time for winter. The story is a lovely text that not only helps the children learn a little more about the season of Autumn and how animals prepare but it also has a message about sharing and being kind towards others. This is especially important at the moment as the children now feel a little more settled and some are struggling to share the resources and play kindly with each other. We will be doing a bit of work on kindness towards each other and how we need to share the resources so that everyone has a chance.
This week we will be assessing the children on the sounds that we have covered since the beginning of the term. We will be looking to see if the children can say the sounds correctly, if they can hear the sounds to blend simple words and if they can put some of the sounds together to read simple words. We will then group the children according to their knowledge and weather they are ready to move on and learn more sounds or need to recap over the sounds already taught. Please continue to go over the sounds every night and add the new sounds sent home on Friday to your pack.
This week, the children will engage with activities that draw attention to the purpose of counting – to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. They have used subitising to identify the number in a set; they will now develop their counting skills to enable them to identify how many there are in a set that cannot be subitised. This connects subitising and counting to cardinality whereby the last number in the count tells us ‘how many’ things there are altogether. Using a ‘circling’ gesture to indicate all of the objects in a set will support children to develop an understanding of cardinality. They will also practise developing 1:1 correspondence, by counting numbers at the same time as moving or tagging the objects. The children will also explore how all sorts of things can be counted, including sounds. Singing counting rhymes will give them opportunities to hear, join in with and develop their knowledge of the counting sequence.
Can we remind parents that P.E is on a Monday. Your child should come into school dressed in their P.E kit of a red Coundon Primary T-Shirt, a red Coundon Primary hoodie and black bottoms. They should wear suitable shoes for P.E such as trainers. It would really help if your child can do up their trainers by themselves. Please steer clear of laces if your child is unable to tie them up by themselves.
This week, Year 2 enjoyed riding our bikes and scooters for Wheels Day! We were experimenting to see what the effect of exercise is on our bodies. We thought carefully about our heart rates, muscles, breathing and pulse. It was great fun!
In Nursery we have been reading the story Owl Babies written by Martin Waddell.
We have been acting out the story using puppets and have made our own owl babies using feathers and coloured paper. We created an owl investigation table and an owl reading area.
This week we will be starting our topic all about Autumn. We will be talking about the things we already know about Autumn and will be learning lots of new information. We will also be going on an Autumn walk looking for signs of Autumn within the school grounds. As the weather has been so unsettled lately could you please ensure your child has wellies or a change of footwear and a waterproof coat with a hood. Throughout the week we will be talking about all of the changes we notice and will be involved in a wide range of activities that explore the season of Autumn. If out and about at the weekend or on your walk to school you see some interesting Autumn foliage such as leaves, conkers, acorns etc. then please collect it and send it in to school to help with our activities. Talk to your child about the changes to the weather and the environment to support the learning happening in school and to give them the opportunity to share what they have learned.
The children have all now settled in to their phonics sessions and are being introduced to a new sound every day. Your child will continue to bring home the new sounds learned on a Friday for you to practise with them. Please cut them out and fold the card so the sound is on one side and the picture on the other. Go through the sounds each day to get them into the habit of doing their reading activities. Once your child is confident with the new sounds as well as the previous sounds sent home, start to put the sounds together to make simple CV and CVC words such as ‘a-m and g-o-t’. The more confident your child is at blending these sounds then the easier they will find reading once ready for a reading book. Please find below some links to the sounds taught this week.
This week in Maths we will be looking at children recognising the amounts to 3 without the need to count (subitise). We want the children to move away from a reliance of counting and be able to see numbers and know how many their is in a set. This will help your child to develop a deeper understanding of number and will help them to move away from the reliance of using their fingers as they move through the school. We will be using the term “what can you see and how can you see it”. This will help your child to really look at the set and talk about what they can. To support at home, make a collection of different amounts to 3. Can your child say how many there are without the need to count? If you change the arrangement but still have the same amount do they still know how many there are? Do they know how many there are if you take one away?
The weather has been very unkind to us at the minute and we have had an incredible amount of rain. Please make sure your child comes to school suitably dressed for the rain. All children should come to school everyday with a waterproof coat with a hood. The temperature will continue to drop over the next few weeks so please make sure the coat is warm as the children spend a lot of time outside. We go outside in all weathers. If you are sending in hats and gloves then please name these and encourage your child to put their gloves in their coat pocket and their hat in the sleeve of their coat when they take it off so they can easily get to it when they need it. Thank you to all those parents who have sent in a pair of wellington boots for their chid. If you haven’t sent any in please try to do so in order for your child to change in to them in the wet weather and keep their feet dry.
Can we please ask if possible that children come into school in shoes they are able to fasten themselves. We have a number of children coming into school wearing shoes/ trainers that need to be tied with laces and they are unable to do them up. Children in Reception are expected to be able to put on and take off their own shoes to develop independence. They remove their shoes regularly for yoga sessions, for dressing up and to change into their wellington boots. We would be grateful for your help with this.
We are looking forward to another exciting week of learning and can’t wait to discover the season of Autumn with the children.
The children are all doing well in their new phonics groups! Please make sure that your child brings in their reading books and diaries on a daily basis. The children will come home with a new book every Friday and will also be able to access their E-book and quiz through Oxford Owl (Log in details are in your child’s reading diary) Thank you for your support!
Year 1 Team
Twycross Zoo trip – Friday 4th October
Year 1 will be heading out to Twycross Zoo this coming Friday and it’s always a great trip! Lets hope we have some sunshine! Please make sure that your child is fully prepared for the day and has suitable shoes and a raincoat just in case!
This week we will be focusing on the book ‘The Dinosaur’ by Anne Milbourne and Mandy Field. We will be linking it back to the work done last week and further developing our knowledge of dinosaurs and the past. The children will focus on a couple of dinosaurs from the text and will be talking about their similarities and differences. We will also do a range of activities linked to dinosaurs across the seven areas of learning both inside and out including actions, songs, models, pictures and crafts. Talk to your child about what they are doing in school, encouraging them to tell you all the things they have found out about. This will be an excellent time to visit the library and maybe find some stories or non-fiction texts about dinosaurs to support their learning in school.
The children are continuing on with their phonic sessions and have been introduced to the next 4 sounds ‘t, i, n and p’. These sounds will be sent home on Friday with your child. Please cut them out and add them to the sounds your child brought home last week. Continue to go through these every night so that your child becomes confident with them and can read them speedily. Once confident start putting the sounds together to make simple words for them to read such as t-i-n and m-a-t. Below are videos of the sounds covered this week for you to watch with your child and encourage them to join in with.
This week in Maths we will be looking at patterns. The children will be completing patterns already started as well as making some of their own patterns. We will be looking at simple ABAB patterns and will then move on to more complicated ABCABC or ABBABBA patterns. We will use lots of natural resources to make their patterns as well as action patterns. See what you can use at home to make patterns. Your child could use toys/ cutlery or fruit. Can your child carry on a pattern? Can they then make their own pattern. Make it more challenging by making a pattern and see if they can identify the mistake.
On Friday your child brought home a Library book for you to read to them. This is a book that your child has chosen. Try to take time each day to read their book to them. Young children love to hear the same story over and over again. Try and use different voices for different characters and encourage your child to join in with repeated refrains. Reading stories to your child regularly and encouraging your child to have a love of books and stories is the best start you can give your child on their reading journey. Please return the library book each Friday so your child can change their book to get a new one. If books are not returned then unfortunately your child will not be able to chose another book.
As the weather changes for the new season can we please remind you to send your child into school with a warm waterproof coat. Work with your child to encourage them to put their coat on by themselves. It is taking the children a long time to get ready for lunch and home time as many of them struggle to put on their coats and are unable to turn the sleeves the right way. Work on this with them so they can be as independent as possible and don’t get frustrated at not being able to do it. If sending gloves and hats in to school (scarfs are not needed in school as they just trail on the floor and can be dangerous on the equipment) please make sure they are clearly named and your child is encouraged to put their gloves in their coat pocket and their hat in their coat sleeve. We ask that they do not go in bags please as the cloakrooms are tight for space and the children struggle to access their backs when they are all hanging up.
If you need to contact your child’s class teacher, please email on
Our first few weeks back to Nursery have been all about ensuring that the children settle in, understand the rules and routines and begin to establish secure relationships with the adults and their peers.
Well done to all our children for settling so well.
This week we will be focusing on the topic of dinosaurs. The children really enjoyed the monster stories last week and many of the children have an interest in playing with dinosaurs so we have planned in some activities to support these interests. We will be talking about fiction and non-fiction texts looking at examples of both. The children will learn the difference and will carry out a range of tasks linked to both types of texts such as role play, craft activities and helping to write a class fact file. We will be introducing vocabulary such as carnivore, omnivore and herbivore. Use this as an opportunity to ask your child what they have found out about dinosaurs and see if they can share any of the new words they have learned.
Last week the children were introduced to the first four letter sounds m, a, s and d. They should have brought home these letter cards on Friday. Please ask your child to practise these sounds each night to prepare them for when they get a reading book once they know and can blend the first set of set one sounds. We will continue to teach the children more set 1 sounds this week and again will send these sounds home to be practised alongside the other sounds. If your child is confident with their sounds then begin to put the sounds together to make simple words e.g. s-a-d, a-m, m-a-d. This will help your child to begin to read. Below is a link to the parent page for Read Write Inc if you want more information on the program. Below are some videos of the sounds learned this week.
This week in Maths we will be looking at comparisons. We will be comparing height, length, size and capacity. We will be focusing on the language of comparison; bigger/smaller, taller/shorter, more/fewer etc. Can your child use the correct language at home to identify differences. For instance which shoes are longer? Who is the tallest/ shortest in the family?
The children have all settled now into school very well and look very smart in their school uniform. Please check your child’s items so that a name is clearly visible as we would like any lost items to get back to its rightful owner. If your child does not need a big backpack then please do not send one. The children find them quite difficult to carry and they take up a lot of room in the cloakroom. The only bag required for school is a book bag so that any letters, pieces of work or home reading activities can be put in for taking home. Please get into the habit of checking your child’s bag each night and removing anything not needed. Can we remind you that P.E is on a Monday and children should come into school on this day wearing their P.E kit of black bottoms, a red Coundon t-shirt and hoodie and suitable footwear such as trainers. If your child’s trainers could do up with Velcro that would be a great help to the staff.
