This week, Year 1 began their Black History Month exploration by learning about Alma Thomas, a renowned African-American artist who spent her early career teaching art before dedicating herself to creating abstract, nature-inspired paintings in retirement. Students practiced Alma's distinctive mark-making techniques and studied the vibrant colours and intricate patterns found in her celebrated works, then created their own interpretations inspired by her artistic style.

Maths lessons have been busy and practical this week, with the children in Year 1 exploring 1 more, 1 less and then 1 more and 1 less. They worked inside and outside using variety of resources to show their understanding of this concept. We finished the week with a number hunt inside and outside of the classroom to record 1 more and 1 less of the 'found' number.

In our writing lessons this week, the children have been working hard to recall and then order the main events of our new text 'Look Up!' by Nathan Byron. The children then used the images to help them retell the story in the correct order.

In writing this week, Year 1 have been planning their recipe for a good friend, using an 'S' plan and developing the skill of using a full stop at the end of a sentence. Then they wrote their recipes using the plan and all of their new skills.

In Maths this week, Year 1 have been learning about number words and ordinal number names - by playing games, ordering their friends and representing amounts with objects, words and digits.

During our IPC lessons this week, the children have been part of guided investigations as part of the science strand of learning. The children were investigating how we can improve our memories by using colours, patterns and repeating small steps.

This week in our writing lessons, Year 1 have been using the story of Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson as inspiration for how our friends can be helpful. They considered what qualities they would want in a friend before writing and making a recipe to make a good friend, by adding different ingredients to their pot.

The children started their PSHE learning this week and set up some ground rules for these lessons. The children shared their ideas and listened to each others ideas before agreeing as a class on the rules and then signing the pledge.

In maths this week, the children in Year 1 have continued their learning journey about splitting whole numbers into parts and finding different ways to do this. The children used concrete resources to show their understanding and are developing their reasoning skills to explain what they have been doing.

This week in our IPC lessons we have continued to work on core values and skills. Today the children made 3d glasses - this involved many skills including concentration, resilience, communication and creativity. The children were thrilled with the outcome and were even more pleased to bring them home!

Children have enjoyed collecting vocabulary and performing their own version of when Manyara met the terrifying 5-head snake in Mufaro's beautiful daughters.

Over the past few weeks, the children in year 2 have worked hard to learn how to write clear instructions. They have used adverbs of time, command sentences starting with verbs and numbered steps to help make their writing easy for the reader to follow. They brought all of their learning together in their independent writing and the results were fantastic! Have a look at some of our writing.

This week, the children in Year 1 completed their first writing journey with a recount of their visit to the farm. The children have worked hard to use their phonics to spell, remember to use full stops and finger spaces in their sentences. We are very proud of them!

This week in our IPC lessons, the children have been focussing on the learning strategies, with a particular emphasis on 'collaboration'. The children worked in their house teams and were set challenges to complete together - using communication, fairness and empathy as they solved the problems.

In our IPC lessons, the children have continued to explore the new topic of The Brainwave. This week the children have been considering what learning is and how their brains can help them to learn and remember more.

Year 1 have been busy in Maths this week, developing their understanding of more and less, greater and fewer. They have developed their skills by using inequality symbols to show the greatest amounts in their groups.

This week, the children in Year 1 have started their writing journey about the visit to Patshull Farm. As you can see the children are very confident to share their ideas and record them accurately.

Reception showed their understanding of polar regions by selecting the correct clothes for their characters to wear.

Reception have learnt more about recycling and how to look after the planet.

In maths this week, Year 1 have completed their thinking about teen numbers with a teen number hunt in the classroom and a game using dice. They worked hard to partition the numbers and show their understanding of how they are made.