Autumn term Issue 7: 20th October 2023
Dear families,
Welcome back everyone.
This week, year 6 have enjoyed a week away in Surrey having adventures, enjoying abseiling, high wire and problem solving amongst other activities. Well done everyone- you did us proud.
Don’t forget that next week is the first of our parents’ evenings - if you haven’t booked a slot please do so.
Keep your eye out for the spring clubs list coming out next week, you will be emailed with details of which clubs are available and how to book.
We are fundraising for Children in Need on Friday 10th November ready for the following weeks BBC event. Children can wear their own clothes or something spotty that day. Look out for the link to make donations next week.
In the meantime, have a great weekend.
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
Welcome back Reception! This week, Reception have been reading ‘Ning and the Night Spirts’. We have been following our class values of kindness and have been writing advice to Ning, to help him make friends. In Maths, we have also been exploring ‘one more’ and ‘one less’. The children are then exploring this further in choosing and learning, “there is one less sheep in my farm now”- becoming super Mathematicians! We are very proud of how well the children have settled back into school life and are really looking forward to this term. Well done Reception!
Despite the wind and the rain, Reception are outside in all weathers so please make sure your child has appropriate clothing to keep them warm and dry.
Important Please do not put water bottles inside book bags. Several books have been ruined by water recently. If this happens, we can send you the link to buy a replacement copies.
Collecting Autumn Treasure: Can you bring in conkers, acorns and fallen seeds to enrich our learning.
Year 1
This week, year 1 took on the challenge of becoming architects – just like our new book’s character Iggy Peck. First, we designed our structures and labelled the nouns and then we got stuck into building them!
Year 2
Year 2, Mr Evans and Mrs Laidlaw were super excited to see the arrival of a mysterious box in class this week. We asked questions as class thinking about the clues on the side. Once opened, out popped a cloud balloon which linked to our new book, ‘Rosie and the Cloud’.
We have began looking at this, using prepositions, verbs, fronted adverbials and adjectives to describe the start of the book. Awesome work, year 2!
Year 3
In this week’s Year 3 science lesson we started learning about a balanced diet. We looked at an ‘Eatwell’ plate and talked about the 7 different types of nutrients. We then learned about different types of fats – some fats, like oily fish, are healthier than others (butter).
Then we worked in groups, reading labels on different packets of food to work out which ones had the highest or lowest fat content.
Year 4
As part of our Geography learning, we visited the local area. To help us consider our question about sustainability, we conducted a traffic survey and building use survey then collected information about the green spaces in our area to see how good they are for wildlife.
Year 5
This week in year 5 we have been making explicit links between learning strategies from previous learning to help us with our new learning. We have been developing our understanding of calcualting with decimals. We used tens frames to support our understanding of ‘bridging through the next integer’
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art Studio, the whole school explored paper.
We ripped, scrunched, tore, decorated, pleated, and even submerged in water. Throughout the week the Art Studio became an evolving paper installation. Ted said, “If your imagination escaped out of your mind, this room is what it would look like!”
Music this week…
This half term, all the children will be working on a whole school project to create a school composition. The children will be looking at the science of sound and using Stomp The Musical as inspiration, will be thinking how we can make tunes, rhythms or beats from everyday objects including our own bodies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKa-pi577n0
Year 1 started by looking at PAPER and how different sounds could be created by scrunching, flicking, twisting and ripping lots of scrap paper.
Year 2 started to look at how to make lollypop stick kazoos. I am attaching a video for the children which shows you how you can make a clucking chicken from a plastic cup. You can also use paper cups but the sound does not have the same quality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8T80Eur8DI
Year 3 are going to be making mini banjos from jam jar lids. If you have spare metal lids in your house, please send them to school so that every child will be able to make one. This week we looked at how a hex nut in a balloon can make the balloon scream and how whirling pipes with ridging on the inside can create an interesting, ethereal sound.
In Year 4 we are starting to get familiar with the song list for Young Voices 2024. If you have Spotify at home, you can find the playlist. Please encourage your children to listen to this in their spare time. They should also have lyric sheets which were sent home last term. For the whole school project, Year 4 will be composing a body percussion piece.
In Year 5, children will be thinking about writing lyrics for the school project. We started to look at examples of “hooks” in songs as well as the structure often used by artists of a verse, chorus, verse, chorus.
Values Certificates
This week we celebrated children who achieved our Community Award for the half term and our half termly readers. Well done everyone!
From the Friends of SJSC
SJSC Christmas Fair update
Our school Christmas fair will be held on Sunday 3rd December. We hope you’ll kick off the festive season with us!
Details about how you can support us or get involved are on the Friends of SJSC website.
Have a wonderful weekend - see you next week!