Summer Term - Once Upon a Seed
Year 1 and 2 have had a fabulous term learning about all things plants. We kicked off the Summer term celebrating Earth Day and learning how we can care for our planet. 
This helped the children when thinking about the best places to grow plants too.
The children have conducted experiments in Science to test out their predictions by growing cress in different environments, finding out what plants need to grow and stay healthy, and they have learned about different plants and trees that grow in our school grounds.
In DT this half term, the children in Year 1 have loved learning how to make 
different pop-up mechanisms and using them to create their own pop-up cards. They have worked hard to plan out their designs and produce amazing final pieces. In Art, Year 1 and 2 children have been developing different cutting techniques 
and are building up to creating their own collages inspired by Eric Carle's illustrations. They have gained many different collaging skills and practised them ready to create their own final pieces of art work after half term.
In English, we have dived into the story of Jack and the Beanstalk (Yr1) and Jack and the Jelly Beanstalk (Yr2), spending time learning the story, acting it out and then altering it to make it their own! We've had some fantastic stories that include Elsa, golden dragons and special wrist watches and well as different types of magic beans growing into beanstalks!
Maths in Year 1 has included an introduction to division and multiplication by making groups and arrays and sharing. They have started to apply their new learning to fractions too and learnt about halves and quarters of shapes and amounts. They've loved working practically to show their knowledge this half term. Year 2 have been learning about money, adding amounts, finding change and making amounts using different combinations of coins. They have also started learning about multiplication and division.
We can't wait for our fun-filled sports day, our trip to Waddesdon Manor and a visit from a meteorologist to share all we've learnt about seasonal changes this year!
Year 2 Wetlands Workshop
Spring Term - Paddington
Key Stage 1 have had a lovely term learning about Paddington Bear and all things London! We learned about the different artists of Paddington Bear and we all had a try at either sketching, painting or shading our own Paddington Bear artwork.
We went back in time to explore what happened during the Great Fire of London and answered big questions during Oracy discussions: 'Why did the fire start?' and 'What changed as a result of the fire?' 
. Year 2 loved watching the re-enactment of 'The Great Fire of London' on the playground, where the children saw how powerful and quickly a controlled fire can spread.
In Maths, the Year 1 children continued to develop their measuring skills, learning how to measure length, mass and capacity using a variety of equipment. In Year 2, the children consolidated addition and subtraction skills, and are now exploring 2D and 3D shapes, money and times tables.
Everyone has really impressed us with their writing this term. The children's handwriting is beautiful with many Year 2 children joining all of their writing! Year 1 invented and created fact files about their own mixed-up jungle creatures such as the "snager" (half snake, half tiger!) and shared these with Paddington. Year 2 used many different writing genres this term. Their favourites were a non-chronological report about polar bears and letters written as if they were Thomas Farriner in the Great Fire of London.
In Science, Year 1 learned how to group and categorise animal groups whilst also learn about animal's diets.
Year 2 researched and presented facts about animal and human life cycles. We were also very lucky to have our own caterpillars to look after. We loved watching them grow and develop into chrysalides.
This experience also helped us to present information during this year's British Science Week theme: 'Change and Adapt'.
We have all loved the Spring term, and we are really looking forward to starting our new topic next term!
From Caterpillars to Butterflies
Throughout the half term, the children loved watching the development of the tiny caterpillars growing into large, interesting looking caterpillars and then into chrysalides. Finally, after a few more exciting days of waiting, we were so happy to see that the butterflies were emerging! We loved releasing some of the butterflies in the courtyard where they fluttered above our heads and enjoyed some delicious, sweet oranges. Take a look at the photos below to see the transformation from Day 1 to Day 33!
Caterpillars to Butterflies
KS1 Spring Term
Autumn Term - Up, Up and Away!
They are now owl experts after meeting Sue and her owls and creating their own fact files. They have also become authors, retelling the story of 'Owl Babies' in Year 1 and, in Year 2, describing the owl from the story 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark'. 
In Maths, all children have been consolidating their previous learning of Place Value and Number. The children have been learning about how to look after our local area in Geography. We took a walk around Walton Court, looking for physical and human features in the environment. We have also carried out traffic surveys and created our own route maps. In Science, the children have explored different materials and their properties and investigated the suitability of different materials for a purpose, whilst also completing weekly challenges in Year 1 to apply their new knowledge.
The children have really enjoyed their first taste of Design Technology this year as they have designed, made and evaluated their own kites. They learnt from their initial creations and adapted their designs to include spines, sails and tails to make their kites stronger and fly more successfully!
We have finished this half term with a bubble themed week.
he children have been blowing bubbles, creating bubble paintings and writing their own bubble poems, using the adjectives they have collected. We are so proud of how well the children have thrown themselves into their new learning. We look forward to seeing you back where we will start to learn about all things related to London and a certain stowaway bear!
KS1 Autumn Term
