Larch Class News 

 

17th April 2026

Larch Class appeared very pleased to come back to school after the Easter break. The children had lots of news to share with their friends, so we started our morning with a Walkie Talkie around the track, where children talk, and listen, to a partner about their Easter break. There was so much to talk about that a few laps were required!

Our Science topic is all about Plants this half term and we started off by thinking what is a plant, before heading outside to become botanists to study plants in our school grounds. The children shared their knowledge of plants, naming a number of flowers and making some sketches of different leaves they had found.

In Geography, we are learning about the different continents. The children love to use the atlases to find out more about the world and develop their knowledge. UMM

Year 2s are learning about fractions in maths: a tricky concept, but are doing a great job using resources and working with a partner.

 

27th March 2026

In PE this half term, Mr Passman has been teaching the children some hockey skills. The addition of our wonderful MUGA has made these lessons even more enjoyable!

 

 

Members of Rocky Steady were very brave and put on a great performance for parents and carers in their Spring Concert on Tuesday. Well done girls!

 

  

Larch Class everyone a Happy Easter! We hope you have a good breal and we look forward to the summer term.

 

 

 

20th March 2026

Our poetry focus has continued this week. The children have enjoyed listening to a variety of poems and particularly enjoyed a poem about a Hamster by Joseph Coelho, which they have based their learning on this week. There has been lots of opportunity to enjoy the spring sunshine and to get outdoors for some lessons.

We are coming to the end of our History lessons for this half term and have been finding out about Roman towns and some of the entertainment they enjoyed. The children have been so enthused in in their learning about the Romans, it has been lovely to see.

 

 

 

13th March 2026

We have enjoyed some Active Maths this week: Year Ones were practising their number bonds to 20 and subtraction using a number line whilst the Year Twos were working in pairs to apply their multiplication and division knowledge in a problem solving hunt.

We have continued our very popular series of History lessons learning about Boudicca’s rebellion. Year Ones enjoyed acting out the conflict between Boudicca and the Romans, whist Year Twos retold the story through pictures and text.

In our Art lesson, we have been learning about Stories in Art and after listening the legend of St George and the Dragon, the children looked at various famous paintings inspired by George and the dragon. They chose a part of the story and shared a freeze frame of that particular part. They then went on to draw a scene from the legend,  thinking about the characters and the setting.

Larch Class have worked hard on some Mother’s Day poems with Year Twos including similes about their mums and Year Ones including what they love about their mum. They then made a card for these special poems. We hope you love them!

 

 

 

 

 

6th March 2026

Our week started off with a visit from Mr Blunt, who delivered a Volleyball lesson to the class. The children were shown the technique by Mr Blunt and then had a practice with balloons, before moving on to having a go with beach balls: a much trickier task.

On Thursday, the children in Larch Class wore their pyjamas and the bought in a favourite book for World Book Day. They had the opportunity to share their book with their friends in Larch as well as time outside, in the afternoon sun, sharing books with children from Hawthorn. Our World Book Day continued with a  literacy theme,  starting with a word hunt around the school. The children worked with a partner, Year Ones thinking of different adjectives to describe various  areas of the school and Year Twos thought of different similes including ‘the MUGA is as red as an Arsenal kit’. During the day, the children also made themselves a book character book mark and went on a book scavenger hunt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27th February 2026

Our daily phonics in Larch Class includes stories, games, outdoor learning, partner work as well as reading and writing tasks. We complete a number of different activities with a focus on a particular grapheme or area of grammar to support children to read and write more complex words. This week, one of the games the Year Ones enjoyed was ‘Read and Roll’ with a focus on the ‘ir’ grapheme.

Larch Class are very enthusiastic about their new History topic: the Romans. We have started to look at Roman technology and how life changed when the Romans arrived in Britain. Our new Art topic is looking at different styles of Art and this week the children completed some lovely pointillism paintings in the style of George Seurat.

 

 

13th February 2026

This week has been Children’s Mental Health Week with the theme on ‘belonging’ and we have completed different activities throughout the week with a focus on this. We started off by recapping on what mental health is and the different ways we can help our mental health.  Larch Class have been reflecting on where they have that sense of belonging, feel safe and cared for. The children then went on to get creative and made their own maps of all the different people, places and activities that gave them a sense of belonging.

  

We have been finishing off our topics this week and in Geography, learning about the UK, we have been learning about the variety of landscapes and features England has. We compared urban and rural features and Freddie went on to build his own urban area.

 

 

6th February 2026

Continuing with our weather topic, this week Larch Class have been learning about clouds. The children have made their own cloud spotter and are beginning to identify a few different types of clouds. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of stratus clouds recently, but on Wednesday we popped outside to use the cloud spotters and spotted some cumulus clouds.

We were very lucky to have a visit from Zuri’s dad during the week. He gave up some of his time to come in and play the cello to Larch Class and to talk to us about the instrument. Zuri was very proud of her dad and the look of awe on the children’s faces, as they listened to the music, was lovely to see. Thank you Luke!

This week, some of our literacy lessons have been based on a live video link we watched as part of Storytelling Week. We watched and listened to the author, Annemarie Anang, read her the start of her story I am Nefertiti. Larch loved creating different sounds to reflect Nefertiti’s changing feelings. They then went on to create their own endings to the story before sharing their storytelling.

  

 

 

 

 

30th January 2026

In Larch Class, we have been thinking about equality. We have discussed how everyone is unique and the importance of being kind and treating others fairly, regardless of differences, whether that is skin tone, a physical disability or just because you like different things.

The children have loved making their clay gargoyles in Art this week. We have been looking at different features of older buildings and have studied some close-up pictures of strange gargoyles.

  

 

 

We have a new Handwriting Hero in Larch Class: Kaiden is our first Year 1 Handwriting Hero – he has worked so hard to form his letters correctly and is becoming more consistent with his ascenders and descenders. Well done Kaiden!

 

23rd January 2026

We started off our week with an NSPCC Assembly with the theme of ‘Speak Out, Stay Safe’. Larch Class reflected on the different types of hurt people might experience and how important it is to speak out. They enjoyed listening to Buddy’s messages, discussed who their trusted adults are in school and at home that they can talk to and then went on to design some posters for our classroom as a reminder.

We are continuing to look at architecture in Art and about the purpose of buildings and their different features. The children discussed what an architect might need to consider when designing a building including some practical features as well as decorative ones. We looked at pictures of the Rose Window in Westminster Abbey and then the class went on to create their own Rose Windows. Larch Class is now decorated with 30 small Rose Windows and they look lovely!

On Wednesday we welcomed Reverend Alex, who came in to spend time with us looking at different festivals in the Christian calendar.

 

 

 

16th January 2026

Larch Class enjoyed coming back to school to see their friends and share their news about their Christmas breaks. The children have settled back in to their learning and are enjoying some new topics. The Year Ones are going to be learning to programme Beebots in computing, so this week they enjoyed learning about the controls and instructions. It was great to have our large hall where groups could really spread out and enjoy experimenting through different directed tasks.

Our Science topic this half term is looking at the weather. We first started off by thinking about the different seasons in our country and what typically happens in the four seasons in nature and in our lives. Hope and Abigail continued their learning at playtime, by making up a song, with a dance, all about the seasons and months of the year. This week we have started to collect data about the weather using different tools set up around the school field, including a wind sock, a rain gauge and a thermometer. Twice a day groups of weather monitors go out to record the data so we can complete a weather chart.  

Winston, the class teddy, has been having some great times as he spends time with each child in the class. Last weekend he had been parachute jumping with Azlaan! Azlaan had even made a video about his fun weekend with Winston. Winston will continue to have some more adventures as the year continues.

 

 

 

19th December 2025

Happy Christmas from Larch Class!

 

 

 

 

 

12th December 2025

Christmas has arrived in Larch Class! An advent calendar with chocolates with a new part of the Christmas story each day, children are busy making and sewing their Christmas decorations and Santa came for a visit! We have been rehearsing hard for the performance ‘Born In A Barn’ and despite a lot of nerves the children did a great job on the day. On Wednesday, we were so lucky to have a visit from Widdershans for  our Christmas puppet show- thank you FOSS for a lovely treat.

 

 

 

 

 

4th December 2025

Larch Class loved the STEM workshop on Monday where the children required maths, engineering and team building skills to create a huge snake to add to a whole school Christmas scene. The amazing creations, which also included a snowman, Father Christmas, elves huts and a large railway bridge, were made from thousands of small wooden blocks carefully placed together.

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we were delighted to see Mr Brooker and Mrs Kerridge who came into make the Christingles  in preparation for the Christingle Service in Shine Together.

 

 

 

21st November 2025

Larch Class have loved trying out the new equipment in the Hall during their PE lessons, where they enjoyed climbing up and through had the wall bars.

In our Art lessons this week, we have looked at the work of artist Miro. After completing jigsaws of his work, the children set about creating their own work in the style of the artist. Our Science topic looking at animals has focused on mammals and amphibians this week. We have been learning about different features animals in these groups and sorting them accordingly. 

       

 

14th November 2025

This week is Anti – Bullying Week and children were invited to wear odd socks to celebrate individuality on Monday. We have a washing line of a few odd socks hanging outside Larch Class: the socks have been designed by children and reflect their uniqueness. We have focused on respect and kindness this week and the impact this can have on people. The theme of Anti – Bullying Week this year, is to ‘Use Your Power For Good’ so we have been reflecting on the importance of speaking out if they see their peers sad, worried or being treated unkindly.

In Science, this week, we have started to look at habitats thinking about what a woodland habitat might consist of and why certain animals and plants might survive there and possibly not survive in a hot desert. The children, then, went outside to look at microhabitats around the school, finding different creatures and plants living in our grounds.

  

 

Winston, our class teddy, is looking very warm and cosy this week as he has a new scarf! He spent a very busy weekend with Izzy and came back with a scarf knitted by Izzy’s mum that matches Izzy’s own scarf. The children were thrilled. Winston is set for winter!

 

7th November 2025

It was lovely to see the children return to Larch Class with smiles on their faces. They were pleased to see their friends and teachers, and share the different things they had been up to in the half term holidays. School Parliament had decided to have a Spooky Day on our first day back to school. The children loved decorating a cake each to eat at playtime and then, at lunchtime, they could choose a pumpkin to draw or help carve a face on.

We have started our new Science topic ‘Living Things in their Environment’. After discovering what is the definition of a living thing is, the children identified things that are alive, were alive and have never been alive, around the classroom before sorting different pictures into the three categories. In History, we have been looking at what history is and comparing the past and present.   

 

 

 

24th October 2025

Our Literacy lessons, this week, have been based on a lovely film clip called ‘Caterpillar Boots. Larch Class enjoyed spotting the rhyming words throughout the clip and then looked at the different characters in the film. In groups the children work together to think of some super adjectives to describe each character before going on to write their own character descriptions.

 

We finished off our Geography topic this week by drawing maps. The children have been learning about what makes a good map and to demonstrate their learning, they set to work drawing their own maps: Year Ones drew a map of the walk to school and Year Twos drew a map of the school grounds. They included symbols, some included a key and had to think of the location of different features within the school and village.

Larch Class wish everyone a safe, happy half term break.

 

17th October 2025

After much planning, storytelling and drama, the children finally got to write their ‘Monster Hunt’ stories as a Big Write. Big Write is where children have a go at writing their story, using their storyboard to help sequence their ideas. This is the first time the Year Ones have done this and there were some great stories, All the children in Larch Class put in a great effort. Three Year Ones, Runa, Sam and Kaiden went to share theirs with Mrs Chapman. Many of the Year 2s showed a real increased stamina in their writing and their exciting Monster Hunt adventures were full of lovely rich vocabulary. As a result of the Big Write, we have our first Handwriting Hero of the year: Azlaan. Well done Azlaan!

 

In our Art lesson this week, Larch Class have been looking at the painting A Bigger Splash by David Hockney. The children went on to use their colour mixing skills and brush techniques to explore painting different splashes.

 

 

10th October 2025

Year 1s enjoyed their computing lesson, exploring the laptops: logging on and getting used to the trackpad. They practised moving the mouse to complete some simple jigsaws.

On Wednesday, we welcomed Reverend Alex into the class, where he talked to Larch Class about ‘Change’ and we discussed which of our school values the children thought they might focus on over the next year. 

 

 

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3rd October 2025

This week, we have been on a monster hunt around school! Just like the characters in the story we have shared, the children used their imaginations to turn everyday things around school into an exciting journey. There were so many fantastic ideas from a hot, erupting volcano (the gazebo) to a boiling lava spout (the Supernova) to two fierce grizzly bears in their cave (Mrs Chapman and Mrs Page in the office!) The children loved sharing their ideas and adding such lovely adjectives. They went on to draw their discoveries on their Monster Hut Maps.

We have started our Mastering Number programme in Larch this week. Tens minutes of extra Maths a day to really build up fluency with numbers and confidence. This week the children have been getting to our new resource ‘The Rekenrek.’

 

 

 

 

 

26th September 2025

Our Van Gogh Sunflowers are complete and the display looks great: it really is a cheerful addition to the corridor.

Our Literacy lessons over the next 2 weeks will be based on the book ‘We’re going to find a monster’ by Malorie Blackman. The children enjoyed making predictions about the story based on the front cover. After sharing the story, they worked in small groups to sequence the events by sorting cards with pictures from the story or sentences.

The Senses Science lesson this week focused on Hearing. We began to learn about how sound is created and shared sounds that we like and don’t like. We went on a Sounds Walk around the school grounds and realised just how many sounds there are around us when we stop and listen.

 

 

 

19th September 2025

We have been creating our own stories based on the book ‘Oscar Got The Blame’. The children have developed new characters and details on a storyboard. The Year 2s went on to complete an independent ‘Big Write’ and the Year Ones acted out their stories.

  

In Geography, we have been looking at maps. The children shared a variety of maps, identifying different features, before going on to work in groups to create a 3D map of the route from school to church.

 

 

 

In our Art lesson, we have been thinking about secondary colours and how primary colours mixed together make secondary colours. The children were enthusiastic to become paint palettes when Mrs Whitfield started to mix primary colours. The children predicted what colours we make.  We looked at how artists can sometimes use warm or cool colours to add to the feel of their paintings. After looking at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, each child colour mixed to paint a sunflower.

 

A few new interesting additions to our field are proving very popular with the children.  

 

 

 

 

12th September 2025

In Literacy, this week, we have been planning our own stories based on the book ‘Oscar got the Blame’. The children have been describing the character, Oscar, with a focus on sentence structure. The Year Twos enjoyed teaching the Year Ones some ‘Kung Fu punctuation’ to remind them that sentences start with a capital and end with a full stop. Year Ones went outside to enjoy making up active sentences about Oscar.

 

We finished off our Mondrian paintings this week, in Art, and they are looking great! We have started our Geography topic looking at maps. This week the children have been learning about aerial view and how different things look from above. They loved looking at the new aerial photos of our school and comparing them to the side view that they usually see. We then went on to look at famous landmarks, matching the aerial and side view.

 

 

 

5th September 2025

Our New Amazing Larch Class

It’s been a short week back to school, but our new Larch Class have been amazing. The Year Ones have settled in so well, despite such a big change from Lime Class and we have been so proud of the Year Twos, who have been very supportive and friendly to the newer younger members of the class. We started the term sharing The Invisible String book and the children went on to make their string pictures showing their special people, who were connected by invisible string made by love, even when they weren’t with them.

In Art, we are learning about colour and have started thinking about the primary colours. The children looked at a painting by the artist Mondrian and discussed what they noticed about his painting. They then started to create their own masterpiece in his style.  

Throughout our learning, Larch Class have enjoyed regular Brain Breaks including Stormbreaks with Mrs Tack and active counting. As the children had worked so hard on their Art, we finished our Thursday  with a choice of fun activities.

 

 

 

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11th July 2025

Larch Class have loved their Pirate Week. Everyone has a pirate name and there has been lots of pirate storytelling, creating a puppet show, pirate maths, and many pirate brain breaks. On Thursday the Larch Ship was full of some very fierce pirates, but Cap’n Whitfield and Tack managed to lead their crew to work together brilliantly!

 

 

 

On Wednesday, the weather was perfect for our sponsored walk through Pegnut Wood organised by our school Parliament.

 

 

The new Larch Class enjoyed their Move Up morning on Tuesday, with various activities designed to get to know each other.  

 

 

4th July 2025

Larch Class have made and enjoyed eating their healthy sandwiches. At the beginning of the week, we had a tasting session to try different types of bread and filling options. Following on from this, they designed their sandwiches and were able to choose up to three filling choices. Wholemeal bread was a popular choice, with some children planning one slice of white bread and one wholemeal. On Thursday, they made sandwiches following their plan and then most children went on to eat them. New combinations were enjoyed, Abigail said that mashed banana and grated carrot was delicious! Cucumber and cheese was a very popular choice.

  

 

 

We had a lovely Move Up afternoon with the new Larch Class on Wednesday. To start off, each child was given part of a part of a picture of a book character, they then set about finding someone with the other part of their picture. After finding their partners, the children went on a ‘Walkie Talkie’ to find out about each other, discussing their likes and dislikes. Back in the classroom, we shared a book ‘Our Class is a Family’, and thought about how Larch Class was like a family. The children then  drew a self- portrait and wrote some sentences about their likes and dislikes. This is in preparation for out Larch Class Family display in September.

 

 

 

 

27th June 2025

 The clay penguins are painted and have dried off, so the children were delighted to take them home this week.

In computing, this week, both year groups have been programming using the Scratch Junior app on the ipads, this is an introduction to app for Year Ones, but they have made great progress and have enjoyed using programming blocks to get a sprite to move in different directions. The year twos have built on their knowledge from year one and have programmed speech for a sprite and have created a sequence of backgrounds to reflect the seasons.

 

In our DT lessons, we are planning to make a healthy sandwich. This week, we have conducted a survey to find the favourite sandwich fillings in Larch Class and then the children presented their data in pictograms and block diagrams. The favourite was chocolate spread, but the children have recognised that as we are going to be make healthy sandwiches, chocolate spread won’t be an option!

 

 

20th June 2025

In Art, we have been studying sculptures, looking at different types of sculptures and the materials artists have used. Larch Class each made a penguin out of clay and this week they got to finish them by painting them.

We have been doing some composing in our music lessons. Each good had a selection of notes and instruments to match. They each took it in turns to compose some music for another child to play.

 

 

 

 

13th June 2025

Larch Class are very excited with their hydroponic farm. The children are keeping a check on the germination of their bean seed and are eager to discuss how theirs has grown a root or a small shoot has appeared. They are recording their weekly observations and making predictions for the following week.

History is a very popular topic in Larch and the children are loving our Kings and Queens topic. We have started off by thinking about modern day looking at King Charles III. We have been learning about the symbols of a monarch that they receive at their Coronation and what each symbol represents. We then went back in time to learn about King John I and how different he was to King Charles III. Through drama we retold the story of King John and the signing of the Magna Carta, before the children wrote out some of King John’s promises on their own Magna Carta.

Hydroponics

  

Symbols of a Monarch

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Lottie reading to the children at the end of the day

 

6th June 2025

Larch Class have set up a hydroponics farm in the classroom. We have been thinking about the future and that, one day, people might live in space and we might need to learn to grow plants in a different way. The children have set up an experiment to see if their bean seed will germinate using just water. Watch this space!

We loved having Lime Class visit us this week to listen to a story and do some work with Year 1s. They all settled in very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23rd May 2025

Congratulation to our Year 2s who have completed the end of Key Stage 1 SATs. You have been amazing! The children have worked hard and tried their best. Helped along by ‘Mrs Whitfield’s Secret Stash’ of goodies, extra playtimes and some downtime, they have all enjoyed their week. Well done Year 2s: we are proud of you all!

 

 Proud of our Year 2s

Enjoying some downtime

 

 

 

16th May 2025

Larch Class enjoyed Crazy Hair Day/non-uniform, thank you for all your donations for FOSS.

We have continued to let our imaginations free when planning our Mini Me stories in Literacy. The children have been thinking of a problem and, in turn, a solution for their stories, then then went on to make very simple ‘boring’ sentences into much more interesting ones by adding various adjectives , adverbs and conjunctions. We then headed back outside to act out the stories with our Mini Me characters before retelling the stories to friends.

Our Guided Reading has been based on the book ‘There’s a Rang Tang in my bedroom’ and today the children were looking at the rhythm and rhyming in the book. Working in groups they read a selection of pages, thinking about the rhythm and then used percussion instruments to accompany the extracts.

  

 

 

 

9th May 2025

We headed out into the Whispering Willows for some inspiration in Literacy this week. We have been reading some of the Mrs Pepperpot stories and so the children were each given a ‘Mini Me’ photo of themselves, where they had been shrunk to the size of a daisy! They went out to see what problems they might encounter as well as what fun they might have. There were some great ideas and lots of lovely expanded noun phrases in their discussions.

 

 

 

 

Enjoying sine reading time together

FTable Point winners become fashion designers

 

2nd May 2025

In Science we have been discovering how to make an electrical circuit. Children were given some wires, batteries and a bulb and then worked in pairs to try and create a circuit. There was utter delight on the faces of the children when finally their experimenting and teamwork paid off with a lit bulb! They tested what happens when the circuit breaks and began to look at conductors. Following on from this they drew pictures of their circuits and Year 2s completed a scientific diagram, complete with key.

 

Calming brainbreak with a Stormbreak

Geography- sorting physical and human features 

 Yr 1 fractions

 

 

25th April 2025

 

What a great start back to the Summer Term! We had our Larch Class visit to the Science Centre in Cambridge. The children loved the different ‘hands-on’ scientific activities and the look of awe and wonder as they explored the centre was brilliant.

We had a workshop on senses led by the centre, where they had chance to experiment with their different senses.

We will use this trip as a focus in our Literacy lessons over the next few days when we look at Recounts and write a recount of the day.

 

 

 

 

  

The children enjoying lunch time!

 

28th March 2025

In Literacy, we have been learning all about Barn Owls in order to write a report about them. Larch class have discovered just what amazing animals they are and on Thursday afternoon, we were delighted to welcome Lizzie (Felicity’s mum) into the class, who brought in owl pellets for the children to dissect. There was such excitement when they were able to separate the fur to find tiny jaw bones of voles and numerous other bones that the owl had regurgitated in the pellet. Great science brought to life! Thank you Lizzie!

 In DT, we finished off the emergency vehicles. The children have designed and created their own vehicles with axles and wheels, with some children using a hack saw to adjust the length of the axles. Problems that were encountered, such as wheels falling off, axles not turning meant, the children had to think of solutions.

In History, we have been learning about the Tudors, this week focusing on Henry VIII and how he fell out with the Pope over his divorce with Katharine of Aragon. The children loved taking on the roles of Henry, Katharine, Ann and Pope as well as nuns and monks in the monasteries to retell the events.

Year Ones have taken their learning outdoors, using natural material in Maths to make arrays to help them begin to learn about repeated addition and counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

21st March 2025

We took 10 children, from Larch Class, to an OAA festival in Biggleswade this week.  These sports/skills events are run to encourage children to take part in activities alongside children from other local schools. The sun shone for us, which was great news as the children helped build a camp fire and toasted marshmallows, used their map reading skills to find clues around the grounds before finally spending time in a camping area.

 

 

 

 

Year Ones enjoyed a morning with Lime class on Tuesday, where they created their own book based on the book Umbrella. Mrs Price paired a Year 1 with a reception child and was delighted to see such good teamwork and support from Year Ones.

 

12th March 2025

In Science, we have been looking at materials and their different properties. This week the children looked at the materials used to make a bike, thinking about why certain materials were used.

 

We have a new Handwriting Hero: well done Aston for working hard to improve your writing.

 

World Book Day

 

Larch Class are loving our new facilities: the hall and the MUGA.

 

 

 

 

28th February 2025

We have started off our new Art topic ‘Landscapes’ by looking at work by artist Constable and Turner, to learn more about landscapes and seascapes. The children have started to create their own seascape using different techniques. This week they have been using sponges to create stormy skies and pastels to draw and colour a boat that will ultimately be on a stormy sea.

In DT, we have been looking at wheels and axles: how they work and how they benefit us. The children enjoyed looking at the vehicles at work making our MUGA, to spot wheels and axles in motion.

Our Science topic is all about materials and Larch Class have started off by going on a materials hunt, spotting objects made from a range of materials and discussing why these materials have been used.

We were really lucky to have a visitor on Thursday afternoon to talk to the children about dental hygiene. Azlaan’s mum, Sehrish, came to talk to the class about the structure of our teeth, why we need to look after them and some good brushing techniques. Sehrish then kindly gave each children a dental goodie bag to take home.

 

 

 

14th February 2025

We have really enjoyed having trainee teacher, Ms Thomas, in Larch Class this half term. To celebrate our February Value of Love and as a leaving gift for the children, Ms Thomas provided precut shapes for the children to paint and decorate. Larch Class thoroughly enjoyed creating their own unique piece of artwork.

Thank you Ms Thomas! We wish you all the best as you head back to your own school.

We have been learning about composition in Music this week and the children loved taking it in turns to be a composer on the whiteboard. The composer’s work was then played back for the class to listen to.

Tuesday was Safer Internet Day and our focus for e-safety was the importance of not sharing personal information online, including your name, address, school, family details or sharing pictures. The children, with the help of Digi Duck, also have begun to learn that you can’t believe everything you see or read online.

In our class assembly on Wednesday, we finished off our LYFTA exploration. These assemblies allow children a glimpse into lives of people around the world through videos and pictures. Larch Class have been fascinated to learn about Moohit, who lives in the jungles of North East India and has dedicated his life to helping the Hoolock Gibbons.

 

A gift for Miss Thomas

Art

Painting

Composing music

 

7th February 2025

Larch Class has been transformed in to a portrait gallery this week as we finished off our Art topic. Some of the painted self-portraits are displayed as well as the children’s 3D portraits.

 

 

31st January 2025

In Science we have been discovering how to make an electrical circuit. Children were given some wires, batteries and a bulb and then worked in pairs to try and create a circuit. There was utter delight on the faces of the children when finally their experimenting and teamwork paid off with a lit bulb! They tested what happens when the circuit breaks and began to look at conductors. Following on from this they drew pictures of their circuits and Year 2s completed a scientific diagram, complete with key.

 

 

24th January 2025

We ended our Literacy block with a Big Write this week. After listening to the start of a story of the Dragon Machine by Helen Ward, the children used their imaginations to plan their own stories about what might happen next. Creating character profiles, describing settings, using story boards and retelling their stories to friends, the children then went on to write their stories out independently. There were some great adventures and we also have a new Handwriting Hero- Alfie is working really hard to with improve his ascenders and descenders. In addition, one of our special ‘Star Writer’ lanyards was worn by Ellie for the day, for some fabulous writing. Well done Alfie and Ellie!

In Art, the children have been using their mixing skills to try and to and recreate their skin tones for their self-portraits. We all agreed that none of us have exactly the same tones, and so there was lots of experimenting with mixing colours. The children were surprised to see how many colours they might need to use to create skin tones (including blue and yellow). They added more facial features before going on to paint their portraits.

  

 

 

 

17th January 2024

As a school, we are introducing ‘Stormbreaks’ in to our day. These are short activities designed improve children’s mental health through movement equipping them with skills for coping in to adulthood. Larch Class love them! This week the focus has been on Resilience, developing inner strength and courage.

In our Art lessons we are looking at portraits and the children are starting to think about self-portraits. They worked together to really study face shapes and facial features thinking about where they are on our faces. With the use of mirrors the children have made a start to sketch out their faces marking where their eyes and noses will go. 

Our music lessons usually start by reflecting on a piece of music that we have listened to, thinking about the instruments, vocals and structure. The children enjoy creating simple rhythms for the class to listen to and repeat.

Music

 

Portraits

Year 2s - sorting 2D shapes in Maths

 

Stormbreak

 

10th January 2024

We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed the calendars and decorations that the children had worked so hard to create.

 

Larch Class have settled back in to their day at school after their festive break. The children have enjoyed sharing the ups and downs of their time off and lots of children put themselves in the ‘Happiness’ shed in our Feelings Area on their return. We discussed how many were feeling a bit worried about the return, but seeing their friends and teachers really helped change those feelings.

We have started our new Geography topic about the British Isles, learning about the different countries and starting to add features on to maps. Our Science topic is about Electricity and to start off with we have been sorting items that require electricity and those that don’t.

 We have welcomed Miss Thomas in to Larch Class as she will be doing a teaching placement for 6 weeks. I feel so proud of the warm welcome the children have given her and  I know they are looking forward to working with Miss Thomas this half term.

 

 

13th December 2024

Christmas is rapidly approaching and Larch Class are getting into the festive spirit. They enjoyed the wearing their Christmas jumpers on Wednesday and they loved being waited on by the school staff at their Christmas dinner.  The classroom is looking lovely with decorations and even a window display this year!

We are really lucky to have a new book in our classroom. Our class book is the Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher and last Saturday Arabella, from Hawthorn, went to a book signing by the author and got the new Christmasaurus book for us. Thank you Arabella!

 

 

A signed copy of the new Christmasaurus book 

 

 Busy busy!

Feeling festive

Seasons

Christmas jumper day

 

 

 

 

 

 

5th December 2024

Larch Class are busy working on various projects for Christmas including practising our Christmas performance with Lime Class. In addition, the children are busy in their DT lessons making a surprise to bring home at the end of term.

In Art, we have been trying out mark marking with charcoal. We looked at a painting by Durer and how he created the visual texture of animal fur through colour and brushstrokes. The children were tasked to use charcoal to try and create different effects.

 

Our Science lessons concluded this week learning about food chains and how stages of different food chains are linked and are dependent on each other. The children have had the chance to create food chains and discuss them with their friends using the correct scientific vocabulary such as producers, consumers and predators.

Thank you to Mr Brooker, who came in to make Christingles with the children in preparation for our Christingle Service.

  

The children and adults loved their treat from FOSS on Tuesday when they went down to the village hall to see a Widdershans puppet show. Thank you FOSS!

Freddie is out Handwriting Hero!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27th November 2024

We have a new focus in our Literacy lessons starting this week: Polar Bears. Larch Class have loved listening to fiction and non-fiction texts about these amazing creatures, as well as watching short film clips to bring their learning to life. They have retained so many facts already and enjoyed working a groups to share ideas and create different mind maps. We will continue next week to organise these facts under sub-headings before going on to write and illustrate fact files.

Our Science lesson on Thursday was also about animals looking, at how moles and worms have adapted to their underground habitats. Again, Larch Class showed a real thirst for learning and loved sharing their knowledge with their friends, before drawing their chosen animal and writing about its adaptations.

 

 

22nd November 2024

In our PSHE lesson this week, we have been thinking about the choices we make in our lives. The children shared choices they make at home at breakfast time and getting ready for school. We then looked at different scenarios and thought about the different choices children could make and in turn what the consequences might be. There was some interesting discussions and it was highlighted that if we make a good or a bad choice it can affect the way we feel and the way others feel.

In computing, Year 1s have been using some paint software to try and recreate work in the style of the artist Mondrian and the Year 2s have been experimenting with their photography skills, deciding if portrait or landscape produced the better photograph of different objects.

Year 1s have started their new topic in maths: geometry. They have started by identifying and naming 3D shapes around the room, before going on to look at 2D shapes.

Thank you to all who supported the food bank appeal led by our School Parliament, Larch Class enjoyed a non-uniform day as well as providing some essentials for the food bank.

 

 

 

 

15th November 2024

We made the most of the mild autumn days, to get outside and look at the microhabitats around the school at the start of our Science lesson. Children carefully looked under logs and rocks to find a variety of animals, before coming into draw and label their findings. We are thinking about why different habitats are more suitable for some plants and animals.

On Wednesday, we had our Literacy starter outside with some active learning.  The children worked together to read a text, whilst walking, using their ‘Kung Fu punctuation’ and then  to really highlight individual sentences they had to change the direction they were walking with each new sentence.  

We had a visit from a road Safety Officer who taught the children the Green Cross Code. They will be getting some extra practice with the help of Oak Class over the next week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8th November 2024

It was lovely to see the children after their half term breaks and see their enthusiasm to get back to school and catch up with friends. We have got a busy half term ahead as we start the build up to Christmas.

On our first day back, the children enjoyed a Maths Problem Solving Workshop. They worked in groups, or with a partner, to apply some of their maths skills and logical thinking to solve a variety of challenges.

We have started our new Science topic with a biology theme: Living Things and their Environment. During the first lesson the children have been classifying things in to categories depending on whether they are alive, used to be alive or inanimate. After going on a hunt around the school grounds they sorted different pictures, or drew their own, in to the three categories.

In Art we have been looking at paper cuts by Matisse and the different stages he went through to create his works of art using organic shapes. This week, the children have prepared their resources by painting sheets of paper with primary and secondary colours in preparation for next week when they will start cutting.

 

 

 

25th October 2024

In our final week of this half term, we finished our Art topic by looking at the kinetic sculptures of Alex Calder. The children then were tasked with making their own 3D sculptures using organic shapes. It was lovely to see so many unique pieces of art.

Our Geography topic concluded with planning routes to different destinations on a map, using the compass directions vocabulary as well as left and right – a tricky challenge, but there was some great partner work.

Larch Class hope you have a lovely half term break and look forward to seeing you in November.

  

 

 

18th October 2024

It was lovely to meet face to face or online with so many parents at the Parent Consultations this week. It gave Mrs Whitfield the opportunity to say some lovely things about each member of Larch Class.

Back in the classroom, the Year Ones have enjoyed practising their mouse skills, in Computing, by using painting software on the laptops, whilst Year Twos have been learning about Information Technology in our supermarkets. Learning about barcodes, scanners and tills and how these are all connected, the children worked in groups to follow the process through.  

 

In Literacy we have been focusing on rhyming words and alliterative noun phrases: the children were excellent when working together to think of adjectives starting with the same sounds to describe different pictures around the room from our story ‘ The Black Hat’ – some noun phrases proved to be real tongue twisters!

Congratulations Hope on being our first Year One Handwriting Hero!

 

 

 

11th October 2024

In our computing lessons, we have been learning about e-safety with the help of Smarty The Penguin and Buddy The Dog. The children listened to a story about Smarty and discussed different choices Smarty faced when being online, before deciding what was a sensible choice. The children made posters, some have been chosen to display around the classroom to remind them about being safe online. Buddy The Dog taught the children a song which they enjoyed singing throughout the lesson. The main message for all issues that arose was to ask a trusted grown up.

The art lesson, this week, was the completion of the pictures in the style of Paul Klee, the children mixed different tints and shades of blue to paint their houses they had drawn using only geometric shapes.

We conducted our first experiment in Science on Monday, when looking at Keeping Healthy, with a focus on good hygiene. We learnt what germs are and then the children worked together to look at the effect of soap on germs. After the experiment they drew and wrote about their observations and conclusions.

 

 

 

Science experiment

Science - observations

Choose time after a busy week!

Relaxing after a busy week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4th October 2024

In Art this week we have been looking at how Paul Klee has used geometric shapes in his painting ‘Three Houses’. After identifying the different shapes, tints and shades used, Larch Class made their own houses drawing different shapes freehand. They also used different shapes to draw round to create more houses. Next week they will be painting them and mixing different shades and tints of the same colour to work in the style of the artist.

Year Ones loved their first time on the laptops, they learnt to log on and then practised using their mouse skills using the trackpad, by completing simple jigsaws online. Meanwhile the Year Twos have been thinking out how IT is used in the wider world, identifying different types of IT used and how it can benefit our lives.

October is Black History Month so once a week in our class assemblies we are reflecting on this and looking at an inspirational person who helped change the world. Thinking about the words ‘determination’ and ‘resilience’, the first person we were learnt about this week was Betty Campbell, who proved people wrong when she became the first black Head Teacher in Wales. She was didn’t want people to suffer like she did and helped set up Black History Month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27th September 2024

We have our first Handwriting Hero in Larch Class. Zhanna has worked hard on her writing, making great improvements with her ascenders and descenders and now consistently uses her neat handwriting. Our Handwriting Hero has an example of their work displayed in the classroom as a good example to others. Children are awarded this title if they have made a real effort to improve their independent handwriting.

In our Geography lesson this week, we have been looking at the physical and human features we might find on maps. The children got into groups to sort pictures from around the UK in to the two groups and to discuss their understanding. Year 2s then went on to draw physical and human features in our local area.

 

 

 

Both Year groups have been comparing and ordering numbers this week in Maths, using resources to help them. Lots of partner work allows the children time to discuss their ideas as well as  giving an opportunity to use maths vocabulary – a great way to embed their learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

20th September 2024

In Science, we have continued to find out about the human body. This week we have been looking at the digestive system and what happens to after food after we chew it and it was amazing to hear the children using the correct vocabulary like oesophagus and intestines in their discussions. They loved discovering that an adults intestines can be 8 -12 metres long!

Year 1s have begun to compare numbers in Maths, using the greater than, less than or equals symbols and have made a great start.

In Literacy, Larch Class have become authors. After to listening to the book Whatever Next by Jill Murphy, the children created their own stories based on the book, thinking about new characters and inventions. They completed storyboards and then told their stories to a partner. At the end of the week, we did our first Big Write, which is totally independent writing and there was some super stories across the class.

In Music we have started to add some instruments to accompany out song we are learning called ‘Hey You’.

It has been lovely to see some Learning Logs completed and shared with class. Isla made an amazing treasure map for one of her tasks.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

13th September 2024

Larch Class have been enjoying their Art lessons with some colour mixing. We have been refreshing our knowledge of primary and secondary colours. Using a human paint palette Mrs Whitfield followed children’s instructions on how to mix different colours. Following on from this we looked at the painting by Kandinsky - Squares with concentric Circles, before the children set about creating their own version of the painting using primary colours initially and then secondary colours.

 

 

 

In Science, we have been learning about bones and muscles. The children were great at naming different bones and thinking about the function of different bones and muscles. We played a game of Simon Said to recap on some of the different names of bones. Margo loved shaking ‘hands’ with Zhanna who was demonstrating how our bodies might feel without bones!

    

Winston enjoyed his first adventure of the year last weekend when he went home with Frankie. He went to London, a party, a bike ride and even had some hot chocolate! We have explained to Winston ( and the children) that his adventures will all be so different – Winston loves to help with housework and build Lego!

 

 

 

6th September 2024

Our classroom is looking lovely after new carpets and a complete makeover in the summer break. The internal building works has meant quite a different layout to the school, so the children enjoyed a tour first thing on Wednesday to look at the changes and to meet our new Year 5 teacher, Mr Hodgson.

The new Larch Class have got off to a great start this week. There were a few worried faces at the gate in the morning on Day One, but very quickly the classroom was full of happy chatty children. The Year Ones have enjoyed their introduction to PSHE and Science this week and are very keen to learn and share their knowledge.

We sharied news about our summer holidays, but we then listened to a story ‘The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer’ and the children started to think about their ‘unbelievable summers’, with adventures including a trip to Mars in a rocket ship, deep sea diving with mermaids, riding on unicorns and sharks: their summers were truly unbelievable! After a ‘Walkie Talkie’ with a partner (children are randomly paired to walk and talk through ideas) they drew pictures and wrote some great sentences.

In Science, we are learning about The Human Body and started off today completing work about what all animals need to survive and in PSHE we were thinking about Larch Class rules and why we have rules. Our rules try to keep us safe, but also a very important rule in Larch is to have fun! After the children had some circle time to reflect their feelings, I think it is fair to say they have embraced this rule!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19th July 2024

 Science and Engineering Week

We enjoyed diving in to the world of science and engineering in our last week of the school year. We started off by conducting a Skittles experiment to see the effect of water on Skittles and what happens as the sugar dissolves. Children were then challenged to work in groups to come up with ideas on how to add transfer water from one cup to another without touching the cup and without using a spoon to get water out. They were then given some kitchen roll to use and enjoyed mixing different colours and watching the absorption of water travel through the kitchen roll and into different containers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

12th July 2024

 In DT we have been thinking about making healthy snacks and this week the children made their own fruit salads. They selected their chosen fruits from a range available and then set about chopping and slicing. Some chose to eat them in school while others took them home.

 

 

 

Our Move Up afternoon on Thursday was a great success: our new ‘Year 1s’ settled in so well completing some individual artwork that will be put together for a whole class piece which will be on display in September. There was time for the new Year 1s and 2s to get to know each other with a game outside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5th July 2024

A busy week in Larch Class this week, with our trip, a visit from a Paralympian and an election!

The week we were privileged to have a fantastic visit from Paralympian, Sean Rose, who started off by leading a fitness class with the whole school before going on to talk a bit about his life. He referred to his ‘bumps in the road’ (some life changing) that he had experienced and how he dealt with them through perseverance and never giving up. The message was very powerful for the adults and children and it went well with Larch Class’s messages from Mojo. The children were delighted when we had a call from Sean later in the week to say he and some friends were cycling past the school, so we all rushed out to say hello, look at his amazing bike and cheer him on his way. Thank you to all those that sponsored the children with their fitness class, we raised a lot of money both for PE equipment in school as well as the charity ‘Wings For Life’ supporting people with spinal injuries.

Our trip to the RSPB was good fun, a picnic lunch followed by a nature walk and then fun in the natural play area. We have never seen so many caterpillars in one go!

The General Election fitted in well with our History topic about Parliament, so we had an election to Larch Class. Candidates in Year 2 were each given a project to spend their budget on and spent time discussing how they might persuade people to vote for them. The Pink Party would spend make sure school dinners were delicious and healthy with lots of choice, the Blue Party would spend money on new parks and play areas and the Yellow Party would buy lots of books new and interesting books for schools. The candidates went around the different classes in school and spoke about their choices, then each person completed a ballot paper and posted it in the ballot box. The rest of the year 2s counted up and announced the results. The children had great fun and their understanding was amazing!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28th June 2024

We started off the week with some fruit tasting in preparation for making a fruit salad in DT. A selection of fruit was on offer for the children to observe colour, texture and taste, it was great to see quite a few children try fruit that they had never eaten before.

  

 

 

Our Larch Class ‘mural’ has developed further this week. Going out in to the Whispering Willows, the children searched for natural materials that they could use to print seaweed, coral or rocks on the seabed picture. Once back inside they mixed some paint and got to work printing.

 

  

 

 

 

 

21st June 2024

Ten children started their week with a trip to Potton for a Racquet Skills Festival, where they had the opportunity to practise their skills, and try new activities alongside other children from local schools. Lots of fun was had!

We have continued with our whole class art project this week and, much to the children’s delight, have started printing in Larch Class. Using bubble wrap the children have been printing an underwater background and they have gone on to use their printing blocks to print some fish to go in to the sea. They experimented to find out how much paint they needed to apply with their rollers, with some good results. We then headed outside for to create some transient art.

In Larch Class, we encourage the children to enjoy a challenge and put in their best effort, which Mojo (our class growth set character reminds them exercises their brain). So now when there is the offer of Mrs Whitfield’s Tricky Challenge it is met with real enthusiasm: this week some Year Ones who are confident with their Number Bonds to 10 worked together on a Tricky Challenge to create One Big Triangle (from nRich) and they were amazing! Working together and systematically they found the solution.  Meanwhile, the Year Twos have also been working together to apply their understanding of measuring temperature by looking at climates around the world. They were given fact files about different countries including some information about the average temperatures, they sorted these and then created a scale on their thermometers and added the different temperatures, before going on to compare countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14th June 2024

We have learning about Parliament this week and held our own Parliament in the Hub. The children had looked at photos of inside the Houses of Parliament and seated themselves in a similar way. After being introduced to the idea of a budget, groups were given various pictures and  they discussed the areas they thought it was  important to spend their  budget on, giving reasons why. Seated in rows facing each other, the children had to stand to speak and the Speaker of The House (Mrs Whitfield) gave children chance to give their views. They were very respectful of each other and listened well, despite being desperate to stand and speak.

In Science, we have been looking at night and day and why this happens, where the children have demonstrated some excellent knowledge.  Meanwhile, Year 2s have been outside getting outside in Maths this week when learning about capacity, they have been estimating the capacity  and ordering containers by volume before going on to measure in millilitres and litres.

Our Summer Art project is underway and the children are very excited with Step 1. We are looking at murals and are going to create our own piece of artwork. Murals are meant to be painted directly on to the wall, but Larch Class understand that Mrs Chapman wouldn’t want us to do this so we are going to put ours on paper. The children have started to create their own printing blocks today and they looked great, the children are desperate to start printing so watch this space…

It was lovely to see so many parents and carers at our Active Travel Event on Wednesday, the children certainly seemed to be have fun and learning some new skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7th June 2024

Larch Class enjoyed the visit from local author, Laura Noakes, who spoke to the children about her life, disability and inspiration for her two books about Cosima. The message fitted very well with our class character, Mojo, who reminds us just to keep trying even when things are difficult. Quite a few of the children enjoyed getting their own copy of the book signed by Laura.

Year Ones have been working hard on the Place Value of 2 digit numbers up to a 100 and are becoming really confident using the resources to represent numbers.

Our new History topic is looking at Parliament and Prime Ministers. In our first lesson we started to look at what parliament is, before stepping back to 1689 when James II was on the throne.  The children enjoyed some role played to bring to life the events leading up to a change of power from the monarchy to Parliament with the Bill of Rights. There was some great acting!

In computing this week, the Year Ones loved getting on the ipads to do a bit of programming and they were quick to use the programming blocks to make a sprite move. Year Twos were equally thrilled when they followed a series of challenges to test their word processing skills. After typing a couple of given sentences, there were various challenges asking them to change the font size, colour and then print their document.

We have a new Handwriting hero this week: well done Max!

 

 

 

           Phonics lessons - the soft 'c'                                                   Representing 2 digit numbers                   

 

 

 

 

24th May 2024

Larch Class have planted their sunflower plants just in time as the weather changed on Tuesday and Wednesday. As we have learnt in Science, plants need water and sunlight to grow – well they’ve certainly had the water this week!

 

 

In our Art lessons the children have been drawing self-portraits, but with a twist. They have been studying different cubism artwork by the artist Picasso and then thoroughly enjoyed creating their own portraits.  

 

 

Thursday was Outdoor Learning Day so Year Ones headed outside to practise counting in 5s using natural materials. They worked together and enjoyed the first step to learning their 5 times tables. In Science the children were identifying trees by using their leaf spotter guides. Armed with clipboards and magnifying glasses they enjoyed discovering the different trees in our grounds. Some of the children then went on to have a go at some leaf rubbings.

 

 

 

 

 

We are proud of Zaccaria whose design was chosen for our new school banner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17th May 2024

Well done Year 2s! They have spent the week working so hard in their end of KS1 Read and Writing SATs. We are really proud of you all!

 

 

Thank you to Mrs Hollyman for looking after the sunflowers and bringing them in to school. The children have started to plant them and the current rain combined with the warmth should give them a good start in the ground. We have been conducting science experiments to see what seeds need to germinate and then what plants need to remain healthy. The children have set up the experiments by placing seeds (Year 1) and plants (Year 2) in dark cupboards, sunny window ledges, some with water and some without. Regular observations have been recorded and conclusions drawn.

 

 

10th May 2024

Our Australian themed Literacy lessons have continued with the children beginning to plan their own stories starting by looking at the structure of stories, then going on to think about a hero and a villain. Working in pairs, the children made the most of the long awaited sunshine and headed outdoors, to create their stories. Beau and Tate shared theirs with the whole  class before all the children had time use their  drama skills to act out the different tales. The school grounds were full of grumpy emus, angry crocodiles and one or two cackling kookaburras!

NUMBOTs, a Maths app,  has been launched in Larch Class, each child has their own log in to play at home and in school. This week Arabella and Freddie were awarded certificates for completing the most levels. Well done to all those that are busy getting tokens to change their robots. Please check with Mrs Whitfield if you are unsure how to access NUMBOTs.  

 

 

 

3rd May 2024

Our Art topic continued using Bruegal’s ‘Children Games’ painted in 1560 as a focus.

   

After we looked at different close ups of the painting, each child was given either a piece of the painting or the name of a game being played, they then finding a partner to match. We went on to  compare games the children were playing in the painting with games enjoyed today.  Volunteers then posed in a ‘freeze frame’ of a game. Using either photos of these poses or a 3D artist manikin we looked at sketching a line drawing of our models.

  

 

 

 

In Literacy we have moved continents: we are no longer in Antarctica learning about Emperor Penguins, but have now travelled to Australia to learn about traditional Australian Tales. Sharing different ancient tales, the children have been thinking about common themes and then have reflected on the messages contained within them.

 

 

26th April 2024

In Maths, children are encouraged to use a range of resources to support their understanding and this week in Year 2 the resource was cake! Using cakes, the children explored halves and quarters in their introduction to fractions and then of course it meant they had an extra snack afterwards. In Year 1 they have been learning about arrays as an introduction to multiplication, using counters before going on to make some array buildings for a display and finally they headed outdoors to create arrays using natural resources.

 

 

Our learning about Emperor Penguins continued in Literacy and we have been amazed how many facts the children could recall, so this week it was time to organise these facts under different sub-headings before then going on to complete a fact file in their independent Big Write.

  

Bridge acting

 

 

 

19th April 2024

We hope you enjoyed your Easter cards Larch Class made at the end of last term, the children loved making them as well as the craft gifts from FOSS. Thank you FOSS!

 

We have started our new topics this term: in Science the children are learning about plants and in Geography we are looking at the continents. In our first Science lesson we went outside and studied the plants in our school grounds, naming and comparing them and how they change with the seasons. In Geography, Year Ones are learning about the 7 continents and locating them in an atlas and identifying them on a blank map whereas Year 2s are focusing on Northern Europe and have started to compare the physical and human features in Northern Europe with those in England.

Our Art topic focuses on Children in Art, we started off by using the painting by William Hogarth of The Graham Children.

The children worked together to look for clues in the painting to find out about this 18^th century family, looking at the clothes and different objects in the painting.  After posing like the children in the painting, they reflected on how different a picture of children in modern times might be, choosing different props to include.

 

In Literacy, we have started to discover fascinating facts about the Emperor Penguin in preparation for creating a fact file. The children have enjoyed sharing a book ‘The Emperor’s Egg’ by Martin Jenkins, as well as watching a selection of film clips and then have gone on to create a mindmap full of facts. They were amazed to learn that an adult male Emperor Penguin is taller that lots of children in the class!

 

28th March 2024

North America won the table points at the end of last week, so this week one of their treats was to plant Larch Class’s seed potatoes. Thank you Mrs Hollyman for supplying us with these.

 

 

 

 

It was lovely to see so many of Larch Class in Club 30 this week. Membership is open to Year 2 – 4 and in year 2 children need to answer 30 multiplication and division calculations in 2, 5 and 10 times tables in 5 minutes. Tricky!

 

 

 

Winston has an Easter bonnet! Thank you Beau

 

22nd March 2024

Larch Class trip to Wandlebury Park, Cambridge

Pond dipping, nature trails and habitats were the focus of our hands on Science day in Wandlebury Park. The children loved discovering the many different creatures living in a woodland and pond habitat. We went in to a hide to do some quiet bird watching, collected many different colourful plants from around the park and enjoyed lunch outside. The rain stayed away and the children were great: interested, engaged and very well behaved. There were some very tired children by the end of the day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15th March 2024

Larch Class learning about how we should look after our world in Science. We have been looking at the Earth’s resources that we use and finding out about renewable and non-renewable resources. This week we have been looking at the impact of deforestation on the animals who‘s habitats are being destroyed as well as impact on our planet. This Science topic went well with our Courageous Advocacy Week, when the children learnt about Greta Thunberg.

In Maths Year Ones have been doing lots of practical work with measuring. They started off the week getting used to using the vocabulary when comparing the length and height of objects and finished off with using rulers and learning to measure accurately in centimetres. Year Twos have had a tricky couple of weeks learning to tell the time using an analogue clock: this is made especially tricky for some as they tend to see digital clocks more. Games and activities helped their understanding

Our computer lessons this half term are about data, Year Ones are learning to group data whilst Year Twos are using software to input data and create pictograms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8th March 2024

The children are learning about instructions with Mrs Keen on Fridays this half term and began by making tiny mini beasts from playdough following some simple instructions.

 

In preparation for writing their own stories based on a book we have shared in class (Fergal is Fuming), the children have planned their own characters, emotions and storylines. They then sat with a partner and shared their story, adding more detail as it developed.

On Thursday we celebrated World Book Day and Larch Class was full of wizards, witches and lots of other characters from the children’s favourite books. We went outside for an active Fairy Tale quiz, where the Year 2s gave Year 1s some clues about a character and then the Year 1s went off to search for their character around the playground. Following on from that, we came inside and the children loved creating finger puppet book characters.

 

 

 

Larch Class are excited to be learning about The Romans in their History topic. We started off by looking at some of the technology that the Romans introduced and this week we have been learning about the Roman armies and the invasion of Britain.

Luckily the weather has dried up a little, so it meant that the Year 1s could head outside for their first lesson on measuring, this week,  where they were comparing the length of objects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st March 2024

On Wednesday, Larch Class sent a team of 10 to a Table Cricket tournament against other local schools in Biggleswade. The children enjoyed their morning and represented Sutton really well showing great sportsmanship. They were delighted to discover they were the winners of the tournament. 

 

 

 

 

 

16th February 2024

Our Art topic on Architecture ended with a design task. As the Penguin House in London Zoo has been closed down due to it being unsuitable for the penguins, the children set about designing a new one. They considered the purpose and the features of the building and what penguins need to be happy and healthy. After their initial design they went on to transform their plans in to 3D models.

 

 

In our Music lesson, this week, we started with a warm up focusing on rhythm and used a rhythm grid. The children used the grid to compose a rhythm and then different groups of children clapped it out - it was tricky to remember to stay silent at the rests!

On Wednesday, we went to All Saints for a Curriculum in Church lesson with Mrs Kerridge where she showed Larch Class the different features found in a church.

 

Gymnastics with Mr Passman

Place Value: Year 1

 

 

Arabella, this week's Handwriting Hero!

 

 

 

 

9th February 2024

This week was Mental Health Week, with the theme of ‘Your Voice Matters’ so we have been thinking about how we can help ourselves to keep healthy mentally and how to help others. Through artwork, games and watching short film clips Larch Class have been reflecting on what makes us happy and what we are proud of about ourselves. 

It was also Internet Safety Day on Tuesday and the children shared the e-safety rules we had already learnt about. They made emoji fans and listen to a DigiDuck story about online gaming, where they showed how the characters might be feeling at different parts of the story by using their emoji fans.

In computing, the Year 1s have been building on their digital painting skills when they were tasked with created some artwork in the style of Mondrian. There were great results!

Our Traction Man themed literacy lessons have continued and this week Larch Class became 30 Traction Men in preparation for writing a Traction Man diary next week. We used drama to help get in to the role and there was some lovely miming of Traction Man getting in his ‘Latex Space Suit and Perspex Helmet’ before zooming off in his’ Jet Powered Trainer’ to defeat the ‘Evil Pillows’. These books have really captured the children’s imaginations and this is reflected in their enthusiasm with their learning.

It has been lovely to see a number of clocks that children have made as part of their Learning Log task. The children love to share their work and hopefully this will support them learning to tell the time using an analogue clock.

 

Emoji fans

 

 

 

Internet Safety

Getting Their Traction Man Suit on

 

Into their Jet Powered Trainer

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd February 2024

Our week started off with a visit from a Road Safety Officer from Central Beds, who talked to the children about keeping safe when out near roads. He taught them about the Green Cross Code and following on from this the children made their own road safety posters. The Officer also discussed the use of car seats explaining that if they were under 1 metre 35 cms tall (or under 12 years old) it was the law that children should be on some sort of car or booster seat. So we measured the height and put a marker on the wall and children were free to see if they were that tall.

In music we got some of our tuned instruments out to accompany the song we are learning at the moment. It was tricky to keep in time and play the different notes, but those that had a turn put in a great effort.

In Science this week, Year 1s were learning about clouds and were beginning to name some of them. They each made a cloud spotter and went outside to see what they could see. Meanwhile, the Year 2s were very excited to make an electric circuit. They were tasked with lighting a bulb and had to choose the equipment they would need. After some investigation a variety of clues were given to support the children and there were squeals of delight when they were successful in lighting their bulb! They went on to draw their circuits and write about their understanding of an electrical circuit.

 

 

 

 

 

26th January 2024

Weather Watching in Larch

Year Ones have set up different equipment to measure the weather this week. They are looking at the wind direction, using a windsock and compass, rainfall, using a rain gauge and checking the temperature on our giant thermometer. After checking twice a day, they then put the data in to a weather chart.

  

 

 

On Tuesday we enjoyed a visit from Idris’s mum who came to talk a little bit about Islam and the celebration of Eid. Larch Class loved seeing and hearing about the celebrations, as well as looking at some of the beautiful clothes that Idris and Sofia have worn. It was especially kind of Dilara to bring in some food for us to try: the Bengali pulab was very popular! Larch Class are very grateful to Dilara to give up her time and come and spend it with us. Thank you!

 

 

  

 

Continuing with our Architecture top in Art, we looked at a selection of gargoyles on cathedrals around the country. Each child was then given a ball of clay and set about making their own gargoyles and the creations were amazing, all so different but all so good!

 

Great learning log from Willow

New Handwriting Hero

Number Line Work in Maths

 

 

19th January 2023

Larch Class are enjoying finding out more about the UK in Geography and this week we have moved north to look at the country of Scotland. Year Ones have been using the atlases to look at Scotland’s location and why it tends to have a cooler climate than England. They have looked at some of the symbols and traditions of Scotland. Meanwhile, Year Twos have been thinking about human and physical features in Scotland, contrasting urban and rural Scotland. Children then went on to add some of the physical features on to their maps of the UK.

In computing Year Ones have been brushing up on their skills with paint software in preparation to create some Mondrian style art next week. Year Twos are focusing on photography this half term and after been given a selection of subjects to photograph they set about taking pictures. They then reflected on the photos on how they could improve the standard of the pictures next time.

Our PSHE lesson about Bodies, started off thinking about differences and similarities. We started with some Active Learning: each child was given a coloured pompom and then moved around the playground in different ways. On the sound of the tambourine the children searched for someone with different colour pompoms to discuss differences between partners and then later, finding partners with the same colour pompoms, they discussed similarities. The children realised that some similarities and differences are not always so obvious.

The focus in Art is architecture and this week we have been looking at features of some of our famous buildings. The children went on to create their own Rose Window of Westminster Abbey.

 

Active Learning

Art

Active Learning

Making Rose Windows

Photography

Photography

 

 

 

 

 

12th January 2023

Despite the cold dark mornings of January, the children seem really happy to be back with their friends and in to the routine of the school day. A new half term means new topics in our Foundation subjects.

In Art, we are looking at architecture and the role of an architect. The children have been looking at some famous buildings in London, and their different features and the purpose of the building. They then went on to complete some great line drawings of buildings such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

In our Geography lessons we have been looking at the United Kingdom, using atlases to identify the different countries in the UK and the seas that surround us. Year 1s have focused on the different flags within the Union Jack, whilst Year 2s have completed their own maps of the UK.

Meanwhile in our literacy lessons, we have been looking at Fairy Tales with a focus on the 3 Little Pigs. There was some lovely drama skills demonstrated on Tuesday when groups re-enacted the story adding their own details to make it their own version. Following on from this the children are planning their own stories based on the 3 Little Pigs, with character and setting changes. We have lions, ducks, foxes and even a dinosaur building a variety of houses.

Idris and Sofia have returned from their trip to Bangladesh and were kind enough to bring Larch Class back a flag and they gave all their friends a badge each from Bangladesh.

 

 

 

 

 

20th December 2023

Happy Christmas from Larch Class. See you in 2024!

 

 

8th December 2023

On Thursday, in preparation for our Christingle Service, Larch Class enjoyed making their Christingles with Mr Brooker.

We are coming to the end of our Science topic which the children have loved! The Year 2s having been creating their own food chains in different habitats and some children went on to use the internet to research food chains in rainforests. Meanwhile, Year 1s have been using their scientific vocabulary to describe and label diagrams of birds and fish.

Our literacy lessons have also had an animal theme looking at shape poems. We based our learning on a lovely book Apes to Zebras: An A-Z of Shape Poems, the children built up their own word banks about a given animal over the week before getting creative and writing their own shape poems.

 

 

 

 

We have new Handwriting Hero: Evie. Well done Evie for working hard to improve your writing.

 

1st December 2023

We have made moving pictures again in DT this week, but this time we used a lever with a pivot to fly a rocket around the Earth. The children were delighted with the results! This is in preparation for this year’s Christmas cards which will be using a similar mechanism. Watch this space…

During some reading time in Larch Class on Monday, it was lovely to pair children up, so a Year One could read their school reading book to a Year Two.

 

In our History lesson this week, we were learning about significant people in our local area and we focused on Dan Albone who was part of some important developments with bikes. He worked in Biggleswade in the Victorian times, and after learning some key facts, some children went on to compare bikes in Dan Albone’s day to their dream bike in modern times.

Mrs Whitfield would like to congratulate Libby, who was one of the first children in the school to get in to Club 30. Club 30 is open to Year 2 and above: the children need to answer 30 multiplication and division questions in a few minutes which means their speed recall needs to be pretty quick! The club 30 afternoon will take place before Christmas where members play different maths and strategy games, whilst enjoying some refreshments.

 

 

24th November 2023

The preparation for Christmas has begun! We have started our traditional Christmas sewing this week, which the children are very excited about. We have also begun to learn about Mechanisms in DT in preparation for making our Christmas cards. Larch Class looked at some simple mechanisms before going on a mechanism hunt inside and outside the classroom. The children then made a moving picture using a simple slider. We then moved on to look at levers and how they help us in our day to day life. We headed out in to the Whispering Willows and some children created a lever, with a pivot point, and demonstrated how they could lift a heavy log (which they couldn’t do without a lever). We will build on this knowledge over the next few weeks.

In History we have been learning about the work of archaeologists and how their discovery of artefacts helps create a picture of the past. We looked at a site from Cambridgeshire where they have uncovered a Bronze Age settlement.

Our Science lessons have continued with an animal theme: Year Ones enjoyed sorting animals by what they eat and are becoming more confident deciding whether animals are herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. This helped them in their literacy when they were doing research about rabbits in order to complete a Big Write factfile about Rabbits. Year Twos did some amazing work on the different levels of a rainforest and what animals might live there. Some children went on to do further research using the ipads. It is lovely to hear both year groups discussing their learning in partners or small groups and using some great scientific language.

 

 

 

17th November 2023

 Our focus, this week, has been on Courageous Advocacy which has tied in very well with Anti-Bullying Week. First of all Larch Class thought about being courageous and reflected on times that they have had to show bravery and the feelings that go along with it. To understand speaking out for others and making a stand, we enjoyed some role play from some of the year twos, where Adam overheard some unkindness and intervened. The rest of the class then discussed how they might be courageous advocates. We have created a tree outside the classroom which we have built up over the week. Likening ourselves to a healthy apple tree, we thought about early influences in our lives – our roots, before moving up the tree to reflect our uniqueness in the trunk and then on to how we live the values, on the leaves, before finally thinking of occasions we could be courageous advocates.

   

Our History lesson was linked to our focus when we began to learn about Mary Seacole, who demonstrated Courageous Advocacy through her work in Crimea. We have used other examples of famous people both past and present who have stood up for those others.

Learning to exchange in Maths

Brick Club has started in school

 

 

 

10th November 2023 

Our Science lessons have continued this week, with the Year Ones looking at sorting animals in to groups. They were thinking about the differences between mammals and amphibians. After learning some key features of animals in these two groups, the children worked together to name and sort them accordingly. Meanwhile, the Year Twos have been learning about habitats. We compared a range of different environments and what they provided for the animals that lived in them. The children paired up and discovered some microhabitats in our school groups, where they found lots of slugs amongst other tiny animals. Back in doors they were given pictures of animals and a selection of habitats to sort and discuss why certain animals might live in a particular habitat.

  

 

 

 

Signing our lunchtime prayer with Louie

We have a new Handwriting Hero: Libby. She has worked really hard with her handwriting  and now consistently produces beautiful joined up writing. Well done Libby!

 

3rd November 2023

The children settled in well after their half term break and seemed really happy to see their friends again.

This week, both our Literacy and Science lessons have had an Animal focus. In Literacy last half term, we completed some worked based on a short animation about a caterpillar that we had watched. We have now moved on to non-fiction text with a focus on caterpillars and Larch Class have started to sort different facts about caterpillars under different sub-headings. We will continue to learn about features of non-fiction text over the next few days, before bringing our learning together when the children will write a non-chronological report about caterpillars.

In Science the Year Ones have started to look at different types of animals and how Scientists can sort them in to different categories, whilst Year Twos have been sorted things that are Living, Dead or Inanimate.

 

Enjoying some Golden Time at the end of last half term a

 

 

 

 

 

7th October 2023

We are now in our third week of spelling tests and it really shows how most children are trying their best to learn their weekly spellings. Year Ones have adjusted well and actually quite enjoy the tests on a Friday. Year 2s are working hard on their times tables and lots of children are now using Times Table Rockstars at home to help with their learning.

 Our last Art lesson on ‘Colour’ brought all the skills together when the children created their own seascape paintings.  At the beginning of our lesson this week, groups completed jigsaws of two Monet seascapes before we went on to look at the tints, shades and different brushstrokes used in his artwork. Larch class then set about creating their own seascapes with some lovely paintings.

Louie’s BSL club is proving to be a real success. This week Louie and Mrs Hammett were teaching the members to sign colours and days of the week.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

6th October 2023

As part of Dyslexia Awareness Week, Larch Class have been focusing on how we are all unique and have different strengths and difficulties.  Given that everyone’s thumb print is unique the children were given the same thumb print and transformed it in to a new unique character.

In computing, as well as learning about e-safety and creating some colourful posters, to remind us of the rules when online, the children have continued with their programming: Year 1s have been using the Beebots whilst Year 2s have been using Scratch Junior on the ipads.

On Thursday, in Literacy we wrote a class poem as it was National Poetry Day based on this year’s theme Refuge. Each child thought of something they liked to hold or a place they liked to be that made them feel safe, and then we put it all together for a Larch poem.

Dyslexia Awareness Week

Handwriting Hero 

Computing

Signing Club

 

 

 

 

 

29th September 2023

Our class teddy, Winston, has been on three different adventures so far this year. Most recently, he went home with Edward for the weekend where he enjoyed harvesting vegetables.  Winston goes home with a child and when we are randomly choosing a name (with a lucky dip) on a Friday, there is an air of hope and excitement in the class!

We also have our first Handwriting Hero of the year: Athena. Athena has worked really hard to improve her handwriting with lovely ascenders and descenders as well as starting to join more letters. An example of her work is displayed in the classroom as an example for others.

We have a new phonics display which require the children to keep a careful eye out either in their books or around the school for words with certain graphemes in them. There is a focus grapheme each week (for example this week it is the ‘ie’ grapheme) and then every time a child finds a word containing the grapheme they write it out and add it to the towers. Please ask your children what graphemes we are working on and encourage them to find words as we are trying to build very tall towers!

In our Science lesson this week the children had lots of fun, blind testing. We were thinking about the impact of being blind and how people need to rely on other senses. First of all the children paired up and one of the partners was blindfolded and they had to rely on their partner to guide them around the field. We then headed indoors to conduct some blind testing using our sense of smell and touch to identify different items.

In geography, we have been learning about what makes a good map and have been looking at symbols and a key.

Each week the tables have a chance to win the table points. This week, South America, have enjoyed ipads, Hama beads and board games in early morning work as a reward for good listening, sitting smartly, tidy tables etc.

Building on our phonics knowledge

 

Blind testing

 

 

 

 

 

22nd September 2023

In Geography, we have been focusing on mapping. The children have been getting some experience using a compass and locating the different compass directions. Year 2s applied their knowledge to think about the direction of different features in the village.

In Science, when learning about the senses we have been thinking about hearing and have begun to look at how sound is created by vibrations and sound waves move through the air. Children went on to reflect on how our hearing can keep us safe and the potential dangers faced by those with hearing loss. This was good preparation for an unexpected fire drill later on in the week!

Colours have continued to be the theme in our Art lessons, this week we have been exploring tints and shades of a colour.

We have managed to dodge the showers this week to allow children to ‘Run a Mile’ in the afternoons. In Larch we don’t run a mile, but each afternoon the children complete laps of the track. They are encouraged to keep at a steady jog and over the year we build up the number of laps completed, which continues to build up to a mile in Hawthorn Class.

It has been lovely to share a number of learning logs that children have completed at home. Idris, Harry and Libby have completed some lovely work drawing and writing about their summer holiday in the ‘Postcard Task’.

 

 

 

15th September 2023

Larch Class are continuing to settle in to their new routines. We started the week by looking at class rules, discussing why we need rules and how they keep us safe and happy. The children then went off in small groups to create a mindmap of class rules, before bring our ideas together for a display in the classroom. It was great that so many Year 2s had remembered one of the most important rules in Larch Class is to ‘Have Fun!’

Our Literacy lessons have been based on the book ‘Not Now Bernard’ by David McKee, the children have written some character descriptions and have enjoyed some outdoor drama. In Maths both Year Groups have continued to consider the place value of numbers and Year 1s were great at making their own number line going forwards and backwards. They were then challenged to work together to create a number line, forwards and backwards, reading the numbers in words.

Our Art lessons focusing on colours have continued by contrasting paintings by Van Gogh and Bruegel and looking at warm and cool colours before going on to colour mix to make secondary colours. The class have each mixed paint to paint a sunflower for a display in the style of Van Gogh.

 

 

 

 

 

8th September 2023

New Class, New Classroom

It’s new for all of us in Larch this September as all the children and staff get used to the new location of Larch Class.

We have welcomed the new Year Ones who are adjusting to the new routines and they have enjoyed getting to know the Year Twos. We have Walkie Talkie time in Larch where children are randomly paired to walk and talk, this week there was lots to catch up on and find out about new friends in the class.

We started the week off with some storytelling in Literacy, with children working with a partner to make up a sequenced story when given a few sentence openers. Children were invited to come up and retell their story to the whole class- it was amazing to see some brave Year Ones do this on day one!

We have had a busy first week: in Science we are learning about senses and the children started off by discussing what they like and don’t like when using each different sense. In Art, we have been looking at work by the artist Mondrian when thinking about the primary colours. Then the Larch artists set to work creating their own artwork in the style of Mondrian, with some super results!

Colour Mixing

 

 

 

 

New friends in Walkie Talkie Time 

Using resources in Maths

 

 

21st July 2023

Our last week in Larch Class.

It really is our last week in Larch as we will be moving rooms over the summer, so in September Larch Class will be in the main school building. We have enjoyed time in the new classroom, but are excited to move and to set up the new room.

This week the whole school art project has been completed and was an excellent backdrop for our Rock Steady Concert in the gazebo. We are so proud of all the musicians who showed real courage to perform in front of such a large audience. Some of the Larch rockers are fairly new to Rock Steady, they were all amazing!

On Monday, the children made some healthy dips to try. They made a Cucumber Raita and a Fruity Salsa dip. Carefully chopping, grating and mixing the ingredients, they worked together before enjoying the tasting session.

During our Pirate Week last week the children had made their own board games, so this week they had the opportunity to pair up and try out each other’s games.

  

  

 

 

14th July 2023

All aboard in Larch Class!

Capt’n Whitfield and the Larch crew have enjoyed a fun filled Pirate Week! It started off on Monday with the crew coming to school in some great pirate outfits where they worked out their pirate name. Over the week there has been pirate maths and coding, pirate poetry, a pirate jigsaw hunt as well as creating their own treasure map and many other activities.

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, we had a Bollywood dance workshop which the children loved and there was some great dancing from all! On Thursday we started our whole school art project led by Mrs Price,  based on ‘You Choose’ by Pippa Goodhart where the background to various destinations have been created.

 

 

 

7th July 2023

We have been doing a lot of work on ‘Changes’ to support the children’s transitions this week. Using books such as Changes by Anthony Browne and ‘The Koala who could’ by Rachel Bright, we have been reflecting on good, and not so good, changes in our lives. In addition, with the help of Kevin the Koala the children have shared their worries about moving year groups and, as with Kevin, are beginning to accept that sometimes these changes aren’t as scary once you try give it a go.

In music this week we have begun to accompany our singing of the Friendship Song with chime bars and it was lovely to see the support the children gave each other to play the right notes at the right time.

In computing, Year 2s have been blogging about the best things in Larch Class and were very impressive how they went about setting up the scene to take a photo before going on to add some text. Year 1s have been working with a partner to use Paint software to try and copy a given picture on the laptops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

30th June 2023

We have finished off learning about explorers this week by comparing Robert Scott’s Polar Race in 1912 with that of modern day polar explorer Felicity Aston. The children have been sorting the different equipment taken on these trips, comparing them, looking at the differences and similarities and then discussing the impact of modern technology.

We started off our Maths lesson on Wednesday with a Follow Me game involving the whole class and it was great to see the Year Ones becoming more confident with the place value of numbers to 100.

 

Larch Class were delighted to see Cherry back with them this week and to show just how must she had missed her friends Cherry brought everyone in Larch Class an ice pop. How kind!

The children loved visiting the FOSS ‘Someone Special’ sale on Thursday. Thank you FOSS!

 

 

23rd June 2023

Busy at Gardening Club with Mrs Hollyman.

 

 

 

16th June 2023

Mrs Price enjoyed some time with Larch class this week and she was very impressed with their work. They spent 2 afternoons creating African sunsets, by building up the scenes. Starting with either paint or coloured paper they built up the sunsets before adding silhouettes of animals and trees. The results were great!

 

 

 

 

9th June 2023

Larch Class have enjoyed the start of their new topic ‘Where Shall We Go?’ with a history theme. The children have starter to learn about explorers discovering what is an explorer, what equipment they might need and some of the problems they might encounter. They delved in to a rucksack to find a range of equipment that modern day explorers might take and then decided on what changes they might make depending on the type of environment they were heading to. We then contrasted modern day equipment with the type of things Christopher Columbus might’ve needed on his exploration to the Americas. Using atlases and working with a partner, the children used given clues to follow journeys of some significant explorers in the past. There were some interesting discussions when they began to look at Neil Armstrong.

The warmer weather has finally arrived, just in time for our drama activity. After watching a short film clip, we have been using expanded noun phrases in our character descriptions and the recounting the film through drama.

  

The Value for June us 'Respect'

 

26th May 2023

The Mini Me adventures are complete and the children have written some great descriptive stories. The time in the Whispering Willows inspired the children to use lovely expanded noun phrases and adverbs to make their writing more interesting.

Our Animal Allsorts topic ended with a Science lesson about food chains this week. The class made their own chain outside and thought about the problems when there is a missing link in the chain. They then went on to learn about different food chains and how the energy is passed through the chain. Outside, groups worked together to sort different plants and animals in to food chains before going back inside to create their own.

 

 

On Wednesdays this half term, Larch Class are doing tennis in PE and Mr Passman has been impressed with some of the developing skills.

In DT, the hand puppets are finished and look great! We have evaluated them, comparing them to the original design and have shared ways we could improve them next time.

 

 

 

We have been planting out our sunflowers grown from seed and look forward to them growing so we can measure them and sees who’s grow the tallest in the sunflower competition.

 

19th May 2023

Mini Me Adventures

We have been using the Whispering Willows for inspiration in our Literacy lessons this week. The children were each given a picture of themselves and they used their imaginations to think about what problems they might have if they had been shrunk to the size of a fish finger! There were huge, towering daisies; enormous, terrifying squirrels and massive, scary, hairy spiders to contend with. After working in partners to think of an adventure the children returned inside to start their storyboards.

  

 

In ICT Year 2s have started to learning about blogging and vlogging and have been outside filming each other with the ipads.

 

 

12th May 2023

Well done to our Year Twos! You have all worked so hard in your SATs! Mrs Whitfield is very proud of you all.

In Larch Class, we have been reflecting on the Coronation and thinking about what we would do if we were King or Queen. The children have drawn and described their royal homes and what they would have inside them: Beau would have a golden piano whilst Rosie would have a bath full of marshmallows! They then thought about the type of hobbies they might have and finally what they would do to help protect the world we live in.

In our Science lessons we have been sorting objects in to Living, Dead and Never Alive. The children went on a walk around the school to identify different objects and which category they belonged to. After that they worked in groups to sort pictures of objects. It was great to hear some interesting discussions between the children about the more confusing objects such as eggs, bread, leather shoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5th May 2023

We have been learning about the planned coronation of King Charles III in Larch Class. The children have been learning about the symbolism of the objects used in a coronation and then have acted out some of the rituals that King Charles will do in Westminster Abbey. Each child has been given a crown, which they have enjoyed decorating ready for the occasion.

 

 

28th April 2023

In our topic Animal Allsorts, the children are becoming experts at classifying animals based on characteristics and, in addition, have been deciding whether animals are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores based on their diet. To demonstrate their understanding, each child was given an animal to draw and write about its characteristics, they then went on to classify the animal in different ways. As an extension, children used the ipads to research information about an animal of their choice.

Our DT lessons also have an animal theme as we are creating animal glove puppets. We looked at different types of puppets, what materials they were made from and how they move.

 

 

Rosie and Lily were inspired and had gone home to make their own sock puppets and enjoyed sharing them with the class. After studying different animals including the colour, shape of features etc the children used a template to design their puppet, labelling the different materials they would use. The sewing and sticking has begun and they are looking great!

 

 

21st April 2023

It was lovely to see the children return to school after their Easter break. In Larch Class we have Mood Monsters that the children can place their names on to reflect their feelings throughout the day and nearly all names have been on the Happy Monster for the majority of the week: a reflection of their excitement at seeing their friends and their enjoyment of school.

Over the Easter holidays some of the school has had a reorganisation with Lime Class moving in to the old hall and now were have a ‘Hub’ and a Library. Early Morning Club and Year Ones have been making use of the new areas and all the children have enjoyed exploring the new layout.

Club 30 met on Wednesday afternoon for fun, Maths games and refreshments, it was lovely to welcome four new members – 3 of whom are from Larch Class. To become a member, children from Year 2 onwards, need to demonstrate a fluency in their times tables, so as teacher and Maths Lead, Mrs Whitfield is very proud of the four Larch members.

We have started our new topic ‘Animal Allsorts’ by classifying animals: the class have supported each other in learning the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates and then going on to classify vertebrates into amphibians, reptiles, fish, mammals and birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31st March 2023

 

Our Trip to Cambridge Botanic Gardens

Luckily, the rain stayed away for our trip to Cambridge Botanic Gardens. We got to see, and hold, the largest type of seed in the world, make our own pots out of newspaper and plant a nasturtium seed in it to take home and spent time around the gardens sharing knowledge with leaders from the gardens. After a picnic lunch, in the school room (which was very similar to Larch Classroom) the children went on a scavenger hunt around the gardens, gathering cones, seed pods and a host of other items found on the garden floor.  It was a great trip and, as always, the children were brilliant! Great behaviour and an enthusiasm for their learning!

  

 

 

 

We have now finished our class reading book: Paddington and have shared some of the original Paddington animations made 48 years ago! Following on from this the class put on their imaginary red hats and blue duffle coats and became Paddington. They then wrote to Aunt Lucy in ‘Darkest Peru’ to tell her all about arriving in England and meeting the Browns.

In Computing, the Year 2s have been learning about animations and have watched clips of Morph before going on to create their own films using some Playdough. They were proud of their efforts and enjoyed sharing their films with friends.

On Tuesday, our Rock Steady musicians took part in their termly concert for parents, filling the hall with the sound of drums, electric guitars and keyboards and, of course, some super vocals. These musicians have really shown courage to stand up and perform in front of such a large audience.

The staff and children from Larch Class wish everyone a Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

24th March 2023

We have been making Easter cards in Larch, that had some very fiddly stages when making them so  it was good to see some great examples of children really helping each other.

We invited Mrs Price to Larch Class so the Year Ones could share their amazing independent reports about Barn Owls with her and she was very impressed in deed! The children were very proud of their efforts and were excited to discuss their knowledge with Mrs Price.

We have a new Handwriting Hero: well done Fred! You have worked so hard on your skills.

Alphabetical order

 

Eddie helping one of the Year Ones

Fred - Handwriting Hero

 

Winston's new badge

Mrs Price visiting the Year Ones

 

 

 

17th March 2023

What a great week Larch Class have had!

It started off with a Mindfulness Monday when we had a treat from FOSS. Ali, from Mindfulness Magic, spent a couple of hours with Larch Class in a workshop where they explored feelings and mindfulness. It certainly was a quiet relaxed classroom afterwards. Larch Class would like to thank FOSS for our treat – the children really enjoyed it.

As I am sure lots of you know we have been learning about Barn Owls over the last 2 weeks and the children have loved discussing their knowledge in and outside of school. They brought all their facts together when they each wrote a report and they were absolutely amazing! To enhance their learning, we were lucky to spend Thursday afternoon with Felicity’s mum who had brought in owl pellets for the children to dissect. Using tweezers and sticks the class set about searching for the indigestible bones amongst the fur and were keen to match their discoveries such as skulls, thigh bones and jaw bones with pictures on their Owl Trust sheet. Working in pairs the children had lots of scientific discussions about their findings.

On Thursday morning, Larch Class were treated to a Widdishans Stone Age performance, before Hawthorn had their treat from FOSS – a workshop with Andy from Widdershans.  

Winston, our class teddy, still continues on his adventures and travels: this week he went to Rainbows with Arabella and was awarded his first badge with his now proudly wears!

 

 

 

 

10th March 2023

Sutton School celebrated World Book Day on Monday and the Larch classroom was full of book characters for the day. We started off with a Reading Adventure workshop where the children had to work in teams to solve clues to unlock different boxes to find a dragon somewhere in the school. We were very proud of Larch Class as the workshop leader said they were the best behaved and the quickest KS1 class to solve the clues that he had worked with! Well done Larch!

In Science, our cress seed experiment has finished and the children have written up their results and drawn conclusions about what seeds need to germinate and what plants need to survive.

Thank you to FOSS for purchasing some games for Larch Class. The Lemur Table, who had won the table points last week, were the first to enjoy the games as part of their treat being the winning team. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

3rd March 2023

Larch Class have been observing their experiment looking at cress seed germination. They have been regularly watering the seeds, comparing them and have been thinking about the question ‘Why?’ Why are the seeds in the fridge not germinating? Why are the seedlings without sunlight yellow and a lot taller than the ones with sunlight? There has been some great discussions and theories. We will draw our conclusions on Monday and finish off writing up the experiment.

The children are enjoying learning about plants and it is lovely to hear, and see, that some children are continuing their learning at home for example Annie is trying to germinate an avocado stone.

Our Literacy lessons have been based on a book called Bog Baby and over the last 2 weeks we have been completing lots of different writing tasks based on the book: descriptive writing, instructions on how to look after a Bog Baby and a persuasive leaflet saying why people shouldn’t take Bog Babies home. There have been some lovely imaginative ideas!

Each week the table that wins the table points, in Larch Class, enjoys different activities in early morning work, such as using the ipads, drawing etc. This week the Tiger table also had the opportunity to use our new Hama Beads.

 

 

 

 

Tiger table enjoying Hama Beads                                                            Planting at home

      

 

Planting at home

   

 

24th February 2023

Early signs of Spring are beginning to appear around our school grounds with a few daffodils on flower. This is very useful as we have started our new topic ‘The Potting Shed’ by looking at different parts of plants. The children headed out to find roots, leaves, stems and flowers before starting to learn about the function of each part.

Following on from this we have been thinking about what seeds need to germinate. Larch Class have set up an experiment, using cress seeds, to see how different factors affect germination before the children made their predictions.

It was lovely on Tuesday, when ten children from Larch Class were the first to go to Mrs Hollyman’s Gardening Club. The children helped to dig over the beds and found some carrots from last season. They then went on to sew some radish and lettuce seeds. All children will have the opportunity to attend over the next few weeks, so we would just like to say a big thank you to Mrs Hollyman for giving up her time to come and work with the children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10th February 2023

After studying the design of emergency vehicles, Larch Class have been completing their models. They have painted them, attached the wheels and axles and tested them. Following on from this, they have evaluated their product and compared it to their design.

Tuesday was Safer Internet Day, so throughout the day children listened to, and reflected on, advice from Wise Owl in the Digi Duck books, these stories cover key e-safety rules when on the internet. Posters were made of these rules and are now displayed in Larch Classroom. 

Larch Class have a Mindfulness activity at the end of their lunchtime play to help prepare them for the transition from play to work. The children have been working with Miss Austin to create a collage of their favourite mindful activities. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3rd February 2023

We have started our DT projects: to design and build an emergency vehicle. The children have discussed their ideas and drawn and labelled their designs. There was a wide variety of resources on offer, so the children looked at the shape of real emergency vehicles before making their choice. It was then time to get creative! Any boxes with a glossy finish had to be turned inside out which required a bit of partner work and wheels and axles collected. Next week we move on to paint them so watch this space!

Meanwhile, Larch Class has been literally lit up by lots more Learning Log lighthouses. Reagan has used real rocks around his, whilst Evie has used some skills learnt in DT earlier this year to make hers more stable.

On Friday morning Larch Class loved their different Maths challenges and outdoor activities on NSPCC Number Day.

Winston, our class teddy, has spent time with lots of the children at the weekends. He’s been practicing the guitar with Reagan, horse riding with Rosie, gardening with Neriah, rugby training with Adam and has been to numerous restaurants and parties. Eddie is very excited to be taking Winston home this weekend.