Welcome to Larch 2!
2022 - 2023
Mrs Clarke/Miss Houghton - Class Teachers
Miss Richardson/Mr Smith - Teaching Assistants
Summer 2
On the Beach
Come back soon to see our learning for this half term.
Summer 1
Land Ahoy!
After our sponsored walk, Larch enjoyed listening to Elmer read aloud!
As part of our circle time, each group discussed a separate part of Elmer and the stranger. We then came together to share our learning and complete the patch work elephant.
Larch enjoyed sharing their healthy living booklets with Chestnut to teach them ways of fulfilling a healthy lifestyle. It was great to hear Year 2's enthusiasm for their work and lovely to see reception children listening so carefully to what they were being taught.
Larch had a fantastic afternoon with Mrs Smith, Miss Houghton and Miss Richardson to celebrate the Coronation. We had a forest school session building royal residences (den building) and using natural resources with national colours of the UK to decorate their own sceptres.
Year 2 were very excited to take part in a zoom call with the authors of our key text, Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler. They read us part of the next story and gave us some top tips on being a writer as well as answering our questions. They have now challenged us to write our own pirate adventure story.
Year 2 were visited by Captain Blade’s recruiting pirate to see if any of our swashbuckling children would like to join his crew. The buccaneers learnt about food aboard a ship, parts of a ship, weaponry (which was extremely heavy!) and why people became pirates.
Arthur. 'I enjoyed learning about the weapons. I learned a cutlass is used for slicing, not cutting.'
William, 'I liked when we got to hold swords.'
Billy, 'I learned that pirates used axes to climb up things.'
Isla, 'I never knew that there were grape shots!'
Daisy, 'I enjoyed meeting the pirate and learning new things.'
Sidney, 'I liked that the pirate did some tricks with the cutlass. He got them through his armpit without cutting it!'
Science - Year 2 went exploring to look for micro habitats around our school grounds. We looked at where different mini beasts were found and the reasons why those microhabitats were suitable for those creatures. Then we recorded the mini beasts we discovered on a tally chart.
Year 2 followed a map around school, looking closely at where the numbers were placed. Some were inside and others outside. Once we found each number, we had to draw the corresponding pirate picture.
Ahoy There! It’s time to set sail with Captain Blade and join his pirate crew. Do you have what it takes to become one of his shipmates? Join shipmate Sam Silver to travel back in time to explore what life as a pirate on the open sea was really like and discover more about these famous pirates and their Caribbean home. We might even discover some pirate treasure along the the way!
Spring 2
Under the Canopy
Year 2 had a fun day on Tuesday when we went to visit Birmingham Botanical Gardens. We learned all about rainforests and the plants and animals that might be found there. We even got to hold some rainforest creatures! Walking through the tropical greenhouse really helped us to visualise what it might be like to live in a rainforest. The plants were so big and the leaves were all sorts of different shapes and shades of green. We are looking forward to creating some rainforest inspired art based on our experience!
We also visited Birmingham Central Mosque. This was a really interesting experience. We found out what it is like inside a mosque and why people go there. We were also able to learn more about the Islamic festival of Ramadan.
Warwick Bear and his friends visited Year 2 today to talk about Scooter Safety when riding on pavements and near roads.
We learned about safety clothing, how to stop and slow down and how to avoid obstacles like pedestrians.
Red Nose Day
In gymnastics, we have learned how to correctly perform a forward roll, as well as revising previously taught rolls (teddy bear, pencil and barrel roll)
Before we write a non-chronological report about orangutans, we spent time researching facts about them by using the iPads and reading non-fiction texts.
Larch are enjoying their Team Games lessons. They are learning to attack and defend whilst changing speed and direction in an attempt to trick the opposition.
As an introduction to our new theme we read ‘There’s A Rang Tan in my Bedroom’ and looked at why rainforests are being chopped down to produce palm oil. We looked at products that use palm oil and why it is used so much. We created our own conscience alley to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using palm oil and thought about things people could do to help.
Books, books and more books - Larch had a fantastic time on World Book Day! We dressed up as our favourite book characters, had stories read to us by Mr Coleman and Governor, Mr Head, created Reading Rivers, acrostic poems and performed The Sound Collector by Roger McGough to Year 1.
For World Book Day, all pupils will be using the key text ‘Invisible’ by Tom Percival. Year 2 are creating acrostic poems on some key themes in the text: poverty, gratitude, invisible and empathy. We learned these terms in class and created freeze frames for them to show their meaning.
Spring 1
Muck, Mess and Mixtures
Year 2 enjoyed making a jumping bean couscous salad as part of our healthy lifestyle work that we have been doing in science and PSHE.
They practised their cutting techniques, peeling, mixing, stirring and trimming.
This half term we have been playing different team games. We have learnt how to attack and defend, whilst changing our speed and direction.
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This half term we have been playing different team games. We have learnt how to attack and defend, whilst changing our speed and direction.
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This half term we have been playing different team games. We have learnt how to attack and defend, whilst changing our speed and direction.
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Year 2 have been learning about algorithms in computing. We began by writing our own algorithm for 'how to get ready for home time', before moving onto coding on the Bee-Bot app.
Year 2 have been looking at abstract artist, Mark Rothko. Today they used different media to create their own colour field by mixing primary colours to create secondary colours. We also used white and black to change the tones of the colour we created.
Archie said, 'I mixed red and blue to make purple,' and later added, 'Billy was right when he said if you mix all of the primary colours together you get brown!'
Daisy said, 'I mixed blue and yellow and made teal!'
Conscious alley
Year 2 have been reading The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde and have done lots of work building up to writing a persuasive letter to the giant to let them back into his garden. We have practised exclamation sentences, using conjunctions and we also got into role as the children in the story to understand how they might feel. Here are some of our final pieces.
As part of our science topic, Year 2 learnt about the basic needs for survival and the importance of healthy eating, exercise and personal hygiene through a Now Press Play.
When we arrived back in school, we were tasked to solve riddles to help Paddington identify who the characters were that he had met on his travels. We used our knowledge of stories to identify that they were all from fairy tales/ traditional tales. We then had a discussion about which fairy tales we know, thought about what features we might find in a fairy tale and discussed why they are also called ‘traditional’ tales.
Autumn 2
Significant People
We’ve had such an exciting couple of weeks counting down to Christmas. We had a really successful nativity performance on Friday and opened our winter books gifted by Friends of Birchwood PTA and chosen by our teaching staff.
Larch 2 loved opening their winter books.
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Larch 2 loved opening their winter books.
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Larch 2 loved opening their winter books.
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Larch 2 loved opening their winter books.
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Years 1 and 2 enjoyed their nativity.
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Years 1 and 2 enjoyed their nativity.
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Years 1 and 2 enjoyed their nativity.
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Year 2 were so sensible using knives during Forest Schools. We practised a technique called whittling with sheath knives to create a wooden peg.
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Year 2 were so sensible using knives during Forest Schools. We practised a technique called whittling with sheath knives to create a wooden peg.
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Year 2 were so sensible using knives during Forest Schools. We practised a technique called whittling with sheath knives to create a wooden peg.
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Year 2 were so sensible using knives during Forest Schools. We practised a technique called whittling with sheath knives to create a wooden peg.
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Larch created maths games to play at break & lunch time & looked at the different ways we could see maths around school.
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Larch created maths games to play at break & lunch time & looked at the different ways we could see maths around school.
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Larch created maths games to play at break & lunch time & looked at the different ways we could see maths around school.
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Larch created maths games to play at break & lunch time & looked at the different ways we could see maths around school.
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Larch created maths games to play at break & lunch time & looked at the different ways we could see maths around school.
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Paddington's Great Birchwood Bake Off
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Paddington's Great Birchwood Bake Off
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Paddington's Great Birchwood Bake Off
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Paddington's Great Birchwood Bake Off
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In Science, Year 2 children were improving their comparative testing enquiry skills by testing materials to see how absorbent, waterproof, opaque and transparent they were.
Year 2 enjoyed a visit from the Peel Society to find out all about Robert Peel, a significant individual, who lived in Tamworth. We learnt that he was responsible for starting the metropolitan police force and what it was like to be in the police in the past. We also compared uniforms today to uniforms in the past.
The second visitors were Staffordshire Police who taught us about modern policing and how they help us.
‘Uniforms now are much brighter and help the police to stand out,’ Isla.
Year 2 were able to link their learning in Science to their PE today. In Science, pupils were making changes to materials (plasticine) to show the different forces we can apply to change the shape. We noticed it was hard to do that unless you warmed the plasticine up first. We then linked this to our PE learning all about warming up our muscles.
Larch 2 had a brilliant first Forest Schools session. We built dens in the wooded area and then completed a trust exercise around our trim trail
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Larch 2 had a brilliant first Forest Schools session. We built dens in the wooded area and then completed a trust exercise around our trim trail
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Larch 2 had a brilliant first Forest Schools session. We built dens in the wooded area and then completed a trust exercise around our trim trail
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Larch 2 had a brilliant first Forest Schools session. We built dens in the wooded area and then completed a trust exercise around our trim trail
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Larch 2 had a brilliant first Forest Schools session. We built dens in the wooded area and then completed a trust exercise around our trim trail
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Year 2 have returned to a half term of finding out all about different significant people. We have discussed what the term significant means, used the Dawson's model to help determine if someone is significant, and found out all about Guy Fawkes and his significance to Bonfire night. We have completed a now press play to help understand Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder plot, as well as talk about bonfire night safety! It has been a busy day!!
Autumn 1
Bright Lights, Big City
‘God Save the King!’
What a wonderful end to the first half term of the year. We re-enacted a Royal Tea Party to honour the new King as guests of Paddington, who travelled here in style. We ate our bread rolls (with marmalade of course), learned to curtesy and bow and danced the end of Autumn 1 out in style.
In DT Year 2 have been designing & making their own moving vehicles to help Paddington travel around London.
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In DT Year 2 have been designing & making their own moving vehicles to help Paddington travel around London.
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In DT Year 2 have been designing & making their own moving vehicles to help Paddington travel around London.
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In DT Year 2 have been designing & making their own moving vehicles to help Paddington travel around London.
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In DT Year 2 have been designing & making their own moving vehicles to help Paddington travel around London.
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No fires here! Year 2 have been measuring, mixing, kneading and baking bread rolls then shaping them so they’re fit for a Royal Tea Party. Thankfully we managed this task safely and the children made sure the oven was off before leaving the room!
Year 2 had a fantastic day at Selly Manor to support their history learning on the Great Fire of London. We visited the original Tudor manor to see how houses of the period were made and how this contributed to the spread of the fire. We toured the home with our excellent guide and looked at how the different significant people (King Charles II, Samuel Pepys and Thomas Farriner) from our learning would have dined, slept and dressed. Later we played Stuart games and dressed up in typical clothing of the period. The children amazed us with how much they had remembered from their History lessons but not only that, they could name many materials around the manor due to their Science learning and they were all involved with naming geographical physical and human features on our journey through Birmingham city.
After the wonderful Jubilee celebrations in Year 1, we will continue to build upon our learning about our capital city today and what life is like in a modern big city as well as the human and physical characteristics of the UK.
Fire! Fire! London’s burning! We will then travel back in time to the 17th Century to solve the mystery of how The Great Fire of London started using evidence from Samuel Pepys’ diary to discover more about London at this time.
Welcome to Elm 1!
2021 - 2022
Miss Aston - Class Teacher
Miss Tudor - Teaching Assistant
Summer 2
The Enchanted Woodland
This week we have looked at the work of Andy Goldsworthy. After collecting natural materials from outside, we created our own masterpieces. Once finished, we took a photograph of our art work then, after a very hot weekend, we photographed the work again and observed any changes.
Today we had fun making fruit pots to sell at our farmer’s market. It allowed us to again practise the bridge method when chopping the fruit.
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Today we had fun making fruit pots to sell at our farmer’s market. It allowed us to again practise the bridge method when chopping the fruit.
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Today we had fun making fruit pots to sell at our farmer’s market. It allowed us to again practise the bridge method when chopping the fruit.
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Today we had fun making fruit pots to sell at our farmer’s market. It allowed us to again practise the bridge method when chopping the fruit.
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As part of our new theme ‘The Enchanted Woodland’, we followed a set of instructions to make a woodland crown.
'It was so fun going into the wood to find leaves for our crowns,' Mia.
Today we have had a fabulous day celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
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Today we have had a fabulous day celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
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Today we have had a fabulous day celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
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Today we have had a fabulous day celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
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Summer 1
Rio de Vida
We are so proud of you Elm 1. What a fantastic performance for your first assembly. You were all amazing and taught the audience so much about Brazil!
Another half term of fantastic home learning projects!
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Another half term of fantastic home learning projects!
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Another half term of fantastic home learning projects!
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Another half term of fantastic home learning projects!
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Well done Elm class. A super effort in todays sponsored walk/run.
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Well done Elm class. A super effort in todays sponsored walk/run.
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Well done Elm class. A super effort in todays sponsored walk/run.
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Well done Elm class. A super effort in todays sponsored walk/run.
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Chop, chop, chop! Today we practised the bridge method to chop up vegetables for our delicious pasta salad.
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Chop, chop, chop! Today we practised the bridge method to chop up vegetables for our delicious pasta salad.
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Chop, chop, chop! Today we practised the bridge method to chop up vegetables for our delicious pasta salad.
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Chop, chop, chop! Today we practised the bridge method to chop up vegetables for our delicious pasta salad.
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Today we were visited by Professor Bubbleworks.
'Science is so much fun!' William.
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'Science is so much fun!' William.
Today we were visited by Professor Bubbleworks.
'Science is so much fun!' William.
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'Science is so much fun!' William.
Today we were visited by Professor Bubbleworks.
'Science is so much fun!' William.
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'Science is so much fun!' William.
Today we were visited by Professor Bubbleworks.
'Science is so much fun!' William.
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'Science is so much fun!' William.
Our throwing and catching skills are really improving! 'I didn’t drop the ball at all!' Archie.
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Our throwing and catching skills are really improving! 'I didn’t drop the ball at all!' Archie.
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Our throwing and catching skills are really improving! 'I didn’t drop the ball at all!' Archie.
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Rio De Vida! Today was carnival day. We had so much fun practising our samba dancing and using the instruments to join in with the samba beat. We also made headdresses and flags to wave at our procession.
Spring 2
Castles
Celebrating Easter with our Easter bonnet parade.
Today, after looking at the work of Paul Klee, we enjoyed creating our own castle and sun pictures.
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Today, after looking at the work of Paul Klee, we enjoyed creating our own castle and sun pictures.
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Today, after looking at the work of Paul Klee, we enjoyed creating our own castle and sun pictures.
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Today, after looking at the work of Paul Klee, we enjoyed creating our own castle and sun pictures.
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What a fantastic day we had visiting Tamworth castle. After helping the lady of the manor dress the table we trained as squires, participating in a bill drill and marching with a bill hook. Finally we had a tour of the castle.
'Today was the best day ever!' Mia.
Lords and Ladies of Birchwood, let the dancing commence! This half term we have perfected our Tudor dancing.
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Lords and Ladies of Birchwood, let the dancing commence! This half term we have perfected our Tudor dancing.
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Lords and Ladies of Birchwood, let the dancing commence! This half term we have perfected our Tudor dancing.
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In art we have looked at primary colours and had fun exploring which secondary colours were made when we mixed them together.
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In art we have looked at primary colours and had fun exploring which secondary colours were made when we mixed them together.
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In art we have looked at primary colours and had fun exploring which secondary colours were made when we mixed them together.
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Today we have enjoyed celebrating World Book Day. We have read and listened to so many different books - stories, poems and non-fiction.
'Today has been the best day! I loved looking at all those books,' William.
Spring 1
No Place Like Home
We came into school on our first day back from our Christmas break to find a crime scene!! We used our inference skills and discovered that Goldilocks had eaten all of baby bear's porridge. She found it so delicious that she asked year 1 to write a set of instructions of how to make more! This half term, year 1 will be joining the Jolly Postman on an adventure and visiting lots of other traditional tale characters including one that lives at the top of a beanstalk, one that wears a red clock, one that plants a seed which grows into an enormous turnip and two children that discover a house made of sweets!
Poor baby bear! Goldilocks has broken his favourite chair. Luckily Elm 1 were able to design and make a new one for him.
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Poor baby bear! Goldilocks has broken his favourite chair. Luckily Elm 1 were able to design and make a new one for him.
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Poor baby bear! Goldilocks has broken his favourite chair. Luckily Elm 1 were able to design and make a new one for him.
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Poor baby bear! Goldilocks has broken his favourite chair. Luckily Elm 1 were able to design and make a new one for him.
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Celebrating Chinese New Year in style!
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Celebrating Chinese New Year in style!
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Celebrating Chinese New Year in style!
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We came into school on our first day back from our Christmas break to find a crime scene!! We used our inference skills and discovered that Goldilocks had eaten all of baby bear's porridge. She found it so delicious that she asked year 1 to write a set of instructions of how to make more! This half term, year 1 will be joining the Jolly Postman on an adventure and visiting lots of other traditional tale characters including one that lives at the top of a beanstalk, one that wears a red clock, one that plants a seed which grows into an enormous turnip and two children that discover a house made of sweets!
Autumn 2
School Days
Following a map, we went for a walk in our local area. We saw lots of interesting places including the high school, local shops and the doctor's surgery.
As part of our school day's theme, Elm 1 stepped back in time to Victorian times. We had to sit in rows and complete the 3 Rs then went outside for our daily drill. We all did our very best work as we didn't want to have to wear the finger cuffs, a back straightener or the dunce's hat! We all decided that we would much rather go to school nowadays!
Autumn 1
Moon Zoom
After using a range of media to explore the techniques used by Vincent Van Gogh, we created our own ‘Starry night’ masterpiece.
We had great fun programming the Bee-Bots so that they could move around Space, visiting planets and meeting the rocket and spaceman.
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We had great fun programming the Bee-Bots so that they could move around Space, visiting planets and meeting the rocket and spaceman.
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We had great fun programming the Bee-Bots so that they could move around Space, visiting planets and meeting the rocket and spaceman.
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10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blast Off! After using 3D shapes to make rockets, we looked closely at their properties.
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10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blast Off! After using 3D shapes to make rockets, we looked closely at their properties.
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10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blast Off! After using 3D shapes to make rockets, we looked closely at their properties.
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Buckle up and come with us on our journey as we blast off into space to learn about the 'space race' and Neil Armstrong's moon landing. We discover what it takes to become an astronaut and develop our scientific skills as we explore the mysteries of the solar system. We identify space nouns and use adjectives to describe space objects and aliens.
Welcome to Acorn and Chestnut!
2020 - 2021
Mrs Smith - Class Teacher
Mrs Spong - Teaching Assistant
Summer 2
Why do Zebras have spots?
Show and Share
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Show and Share
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Show and Share
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Show and Share
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Show and Share
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Show and Share
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Show and Share
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Show and Share
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Broomey Croft Farm School Trip
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Broomey Croft Farm School Trip
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Broomey Croft Farm School Trip
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Broomey Croft Farm School Trip
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Spring 2
Are All Dinosaurs The Same Size?
To complete our learning this half term, we have been given the opportunity to look after and observe the changes of some frogspawn. We are watching them very carefully in the hope that we may see some tadpoles before the Easter holidays.
In celebration of Census Day, Acorn Class carried out lots of counting. We counted Acorn’s favourite colours and how many boys and girls there are in our class. We also analysed the data using ‘star words’ such as, more than and less than.
In PE, children have been enjoying their gymnastics learning by exploring different jumps. We started by learning how to safely get out and put away the mats and benches. We then learnt the difference between a pencil jump and a tuck jump. Children were able to safely have a go at the jumps, remembering to bend their knees and land on two feet.
In maths, we have been exploring subtraction and understand that this means to take away. We began our learning by using concrete resources like cubes and numicon before moving onto the pictorial method of taking away. The children listened very carefully and were able to show their understanding independently.
Acorn class looked forward to celebrating books by taking part in World Book Day. We looked amazing dressed up as our favourite book characters and enjoyed some time exploring books with our friends and developing our love of reading.
An EXPLOSIVE end to our dinosaur learning!
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An EXPLOSIVE end to our dinosaur learning!
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Acorn Class began their Spring 2 learning by completing our topic all about dinosaurs. After working together to construct, build and decorate a dinoscape, the volcano erupted and we were amazed with the outcome. "This is amazing. It is like red fire." "Wow! It's like a real volcano!"
Autumn 2
Why Do Squirrels Hide Their Nuts?
Acorn started the half term by going on an Autumn Walk around our school to see what seasonal changes we could observe. On our walk, we also collected a range of Autumn ingredients for our Autumn potions. The children thought it smelt "nice and fresh!"
We have completed lots of learning within our areas focusing on all things Autumn. This included transient art, role playing in the pumpkin farm, using our senses to explore pumpkins and other Autumn vegetables, understanding how animals prepare for Winter, planting in our quad area and discussing harvest as part of our Talk for Writing story, The Little Red Hen.
To complete our learning around Autumn, we made some Autumn smoothies. The first one included carrots, oranges and oats. This one did not go down well with the children who said "it tasted like rotten pumpkins" and "I only like carrots on my Sunday dinner". The second smoothie included apples, raspberrys and natural yoghurt. This smoothie had a much better reaction, the children said "that was yummy", "I like apples, they are my favourite fruit".
We have then gone on to learn all about the Hindu celebration 'Diwali'. The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning all about the festival of light and carrying out some of the traditional diwali preparations and celebrations. This included: dressing up in traditional Hindu clothing, making Diva lamps out of clay, making and tasting Burfi sweets, creating colourful Rangoli patterns, cleaning and tidying the role-play home to prepare and learning a variety of Diwali songs.
We have loved our learning this half term and can't wait to see what next half term's topics are!
Autumn 1
Do you want to be friends?
WE HAVE STARTED SCHOOL!
Acorn Class have made a super start to their time at Birchwood. We have been very busy. Have a look and a read of what we have been up to.
We went on a very special walk around the school to speak to people who help us.
It was lots of fun seeing Mr Coleman's office; he gave us a very special sticker and even showed us a picture of his dog, Alfie!
Mrs Jackson, Mrs Grinham, Mrs Ferris and Mrs Ryle told us about all the hard work they do in the School Office.
We were very lucky to have a story read to us by Mrs Hooper.
We have also had lots of fun getting to know our new friends and making the most of the sunshine!