Summer 1
This half term we’ve been incredibly busy.
In literacy, we began by using our learning on Kenya to write riddles about animals. We completed some research to ensure our riddles were correct and then wrote them for our friends to try and guess. We then moved onto a new book called ‘Lila and the Secret of Rain’. We completed various activities using this book, starting with predicting using the front cover without the title. After finding out the title, we then created our own front covers and blurb. We wrote postcards as Lila telling our friends all about the struggles we were having. We interpreted pictures where there was no direct link to show our understanding of characters within the story. We also used the book to write a comparison of the Kenyan village Lila lives in and Draycott. We used a range of conjunctions to best do this. After completing all these activities, we knew the story extremely well. We were challenged with writing the story of ‘Lila and the Secret of Rain’ but with extra detail. We finished off writing our own travel brochures for people wanting to visit Kenya. This included all the knowledge we had learnt throughout of Kenya unit.
In maths, year 1 children moved onto multiplication and division, where we looked at times tables by counting in 2s, 10s and 5s. We then learnt about equal groups, arrays and doubles. Our next unit was fractions where recognised and found a half and a quarter or shapes, objects and quantities. We finished off this half term by learning about position and direction. We looked at describing turns using vocabulary such as quarter, half and full turn; moving onto describing positions by using terms such as left, right, forwards, backwards, above and below. Our final lesson was on ordinal numbers, where we participated in some competitions to help us with our understanding. It was very fun! Year 2 children started off with fractions by looking at parts and wholes and equal and unequal parts. Finding and recognising a half, quarter, third, three-quarters and whole was our next challenge. We learnt about unit and non-unit fractions, the equivalence of a half and two-quarters and counting up in fractions to a whole. We then moved onto time by recapping o’clock and half past. We learnt how to use the correct vocabulary, such as quarter past and quarter to, minutes past and minutes to, also including 5-minute intervals. We looked at the minutes in an hour and hours in a day to finish off.
Our science units for the summer term are based on habitats. This half term it was ‘Living things and their habitats’. We started off by comparing the differences between things that are living, dead and things which have never been alive. We moved onto identifying and naming a variety of plants and animals in a microhabitat, where we went outside to find examples. We then designed a suitable microhabitat where living things could survive, again thinking about the previous lesson and heading back outside. We found out what animals eat to survive in their habitats and understood food chains by creating our own examples from card. We finished off this unit by understanding the journey food makes from the farm to the supermarket. We enjoyed this lesson as we have several children in our class that live on farms, so they could talk to us about the process. We also linked this back to our visit at the Deer Park where Paddy explained how the milking process works.
In geography, we continued learning about Kenya but this time we linked it to England. We looked at the similarities and differences between them and focused on a day in the life of a child in both a village and city in Kenya, comparing it to our days. To be more specific with our learning, we focused on Draycott, so we could end up comparing it to a Kenyan village. We located Draycott on maps, by using world maps to find Europe and the UK, using a map of the UK to find England, using a map of England to find Staffordshire and then using a map of Staffordshire to locate Draycott. We then identified the physical and human features. After, we had a special talk from our Christian Youth Worker, who we know from him delivering worships in school. He works with a school in a Kenyan town called Bumala’B. He spoke to us about the similarities and differences that he found from his first-hand experience. We then completed the same activities that we had with Draycott using maps and identifying features. Our final lesson of this unit involved us using all our knowledge to compare Draycott and Bumala’B using a Venn diagram. We finished off by inviting our grown-ups in for an African Showcase. We had lots of examples of our work on display and used them to talk through all our learning. We really enjoyed this and it was exciting to show off to our grown-ups!
Art this half term was based on landscapes and cityscapes. We went down the avenue of linking this to our geography unit of comparing Draycott and Bumala’B. We focused on three key artists and their techniques, with the first being Claude Monet. We used a range of his landscape pieces to paint Draycott and his ‘Houses of Parliament’ cityscape to create our own version of London using various resources. We then moved onto Vincent van Gogh and his landscape painting called ‘Plain near Auvers’. This inspired our own artwork, using pastels, to create Bumala’B. Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ was used to create our own cityscape of Nairobi using various resources. The third artists we used was Jean Metzinger. We used various of his landscapes using his mosaic technique to design and create our own artwork comparing Bumala’B and Dracyott. All of our artwork was on display for the Africa Showcase.
Our question this half term in RE was ‘Why does Easter matter to Christians?’. First of all, we looked at Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, as these were celebrated during half term break. We looked at their importance within the Easter celebrations for Christians and what happens during this time. We then learned about Palm Sunday, made our own palm leaves from handprints and lollipop sticks, and then acted this out together. The next event to look at was The Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. We acted out our own last supper with bread and juice, pausing throughout to get the feelings of Jesus, Judas or another disciple. Good Friday was then looked at and the significance of symbols. We ate hot cross buns and discussed why the cross is important to Christians. We learnt about Easter Sunday and its meaning to Christians. We looked at the events leading up to the resurrection and what happened after. This led us into learning how Christians celebrate Easter. We discussed Easter eggs, Simnel cakes, going to Church, eating hot cross buns and so much more.
Our question this half term in RE was ‘Who made the World?’. First of all, we looked at the Christian Creation story and its importance to Christians. We created cartoon strips of the seven days and discussed what we like to do on Sunday, the day of rest. We then learned about Harvest, which we linked back to our prior learning when we looked at festivals. We drew pictures of things we were grateful for and shared why during a circle time. The next lesson was on caring for God’s world. We labelled the different parts of the world that needed looking after and gave examples of how we can take care of each. This linked to our science unit on habitats and how to look after them to survive. We then looked at thanking God for our world by writing our own prayers to Him. There were lots of things we wanted to thank God for that we couldn’t imagine life without. Some of us also made promised to look after and care for the world as a sign of respect to Him and those living on Earth in the future.
Our focus in PSHE was ‘Who is special to us?’. We looked at family and other groups that we belong to, such as beavers, gymnastics, school etc. We then drew pictures of the different people in our families that love and care for us, discussing similarities and differences between them. We saw that everyone’s was different but most had something in common with another child e.g. 2 dogs. Thinking about what people do to make us feel loved and cared for was a really lovely lesson. We drew pictures of these ways and discussed how we could easily make someone’s day better by doing something that made them feel these positive ways. After learning this, we looked at what families do together. Again, drawing pictures of what we enjoy doing when spending time with our loved ones. This ranged from watching films with hot chocolates, to going to the park, to reading a story in bed together. Finally, we discussed what we should to if we were feeling unhappy or worried about our family. We drew around our hands and wrote down the names of five people we could trust and felt happy talking to.
Our focus in PSHE was ‘Who helps to keep us safe?’. We looked at people within our community and the different roles they have to keep us safe. We then learnt about who can help us in different places and situations, as well as how to attract someone’s attention or ask for help. We matched these people to different places and situations to give us examples of who could be around to help. Learning how to respond safely to unknown adults and know who is a safer stranger was next. We learnt how a lot of safer strangers that we could trusts would have jobs who help people, be in a uniform and wear a name badge. We looked at scenarios with strangers and discussed what we would do. We then moved onto what to do if we feel unsafe or worried for ourselves or others. We created a picture of a table of our trusted people on, so we understood how we are surrounded by those who want to keep us safe. We finished off this unit by learning how to get help if there is an accident and someone is hurt. We looked at how to dial 999 in an emergency and what to say. We acted this out and thoroughly enjoyed it, making sure we knew when the appropriate time was to make the call.
