We have finally made it to the end of our first half term! We have been so busy getting used to our new routines as a mixed class but it has gone amazingly and the children are really settled and loving our new class. Rio brought in two fun science experiments he had been doing at home to show us!

As an end of half term treat we had been looking forward my dog, Obi, coming in to visit. He loved coming into year 1 a few years ago when I was teaching in there and the children were asking lots about him. He loves to play fetch and chase a tennis ball which the children thought was great. They took it in turns to throw his ball for him and we even did some races on the playground. Obviously Obi won them all but the children did great running too!

We have been finishing off our art project by adding lead printing on the top of our crayons and paint. The art work is a spider web and is inspired by the book the Spider Weaver. We have yet to add a sewing stitch to our art work – this is something that the children are excited but nervous about!

This week Miss Whiteley had arranged for a travelling theatre company to perform for us. The show was about little Vikings and all parts were played by the three actors (and puppets/props). The children were mesmerised by the performance and thought it was hilarious! They sat so beautifully in the dance hall.

Next up this week was a Year 2 growing project, led by Mrs Whittaker and external company leader – Rachel. The year 2 children are taking part in a sustainable growing project and have been preparing the beds ready for planting, and even did some autumn/winter planting of vegetables such as rainbow chard and mizuna.

To finish off this exciting week we all went on a local walk around Alwoodley. We took a map and a tick list to make sure we were noticing things around us. We saw lots of schools, playgrounds, roads, traffic lights, zebra crossings and more!

This week in PSHE we have been looking at safety at home and what could be a danger inside our homes. The children played an interactive game where they had to identify all dangers in each room of the house.

We have been loving our library sessions on a Wednesday with Miss Whiteley. The children are enjoying using the pods sensibly and practicing looking after the books they choose.

In Science we have been working well with our talk partners to discuss our unit ‘materials’. We also took part in a science experiment with materials where we tested them out to see which one was the most waterproof. We poured water on plastic, cardboard, paper, fabric and wood.

This week we have been very practical in our RE lessons and have been thinking about the different ways Christians and Muslims can pray. We have been learning about Christianity and Islam this half term and the children are really interested in noticing the similarities and differences between these religions.

We have also loved being hands on in Geography creating our own cities. We had our Year 2 children working on small maps of our local area, building on their knowledge of maps and our local area. Our Year 1 children worked together to put together a floor map.

We have had such a busy week – we have hardly stopped!

Tuesday we had our amazing forest school day with Mrs Whittaker. The weather was great and the activities we did were fantastic.

After the excitement of our forest schools day, we had a normal day in class followed by our class trip to Leeds!

This week we started our Geography lessons and we used the Year 2’s knowledge of the UK to make a jigsaw. The Year 1 children were able to use the jigsaw/map of the UK and read which 4 countries it is made up of.

Hooriya then went on to create her own city! Just like Leeds.

In PSHE this week we were thinking about ourselves and what we are good at, and what we are proud of. It was lovely to listen to the children speak so positively about themselves and we wrote something we are good at in each petal on the flower. We also looked after Isla the school therapy dog in class on Friday afternoon as Mrs Hirst was at her son’s arts fortnight!

In provision some of the children have loved completing jigsaws with Leon even wanting to give up his playtime outside to finish it off!! Another favourite this week was the spirograph I have brought in for the children – they have loved getting to grips with how it works and creating some amazing pictures!

This week we have really focussed on refining our skills and knowledge on double sided counters. They are a valuable resource to us and we enjoy using them to help us with our maths. We have also recapped using numicon, multi-link, bead strings and ten frames.

On Tuesday afternoon we had an amazing circus skills workshop where we learnt to do lots of cool tricks and acts such as spinning plates, juggling and much more! The children thought he was hilarious!

We also enjoyed sharing stories in a picnic style ‘book-nic’. What a lovely week we have had!

A huge well done to these children who were selected to be part of a book titled ‘This Is Me’. They completed a picture in provision in Reception and have been chosen to be included!

Welcome back to Year 1 and Year 2! The children have had a fantastic week, catching up with old friends and developing new friendships within our class. We have spent time this week getting back into the swing of school and going over our school rules as well as class expectations. Circle time is an important part of our day where the children feel safe to share their thoughts and feelings with each other.

Lots of our focus this week has been on the story ‘The Colour Monster’ – a very well known and liked story. We have completed art work independently, art work as a team, short bursts of writing and lots of talk around emotions.

We also had a KS1 activity afternoon on Thursday where the children joined together in house colours to carousel around different PE activities.

To ease ourselves back into being Mathematicians we have been focussing on our presentation and number formation this week. Lots of our Year 2 students have supported the Year 1’s as maths books are new to them. It has been a super week getting to know the children, their personalities, their likes and dislikes and watching new friendships forming.

We can’t wait to see what next week has in store for us!