The end of the year!

We have had such  a busy time in the last two weeks. We have had some wonderful assemblies including the Nursery and year two leavers assemblies and we had a very entertaining Talent Show. Redbourn really does have talent!
We have had a fantastic year with the children. They have all grown as a class and have made some lovely friends and they have all moved on and made great progress in their learning.
Thank you to all our parents for the amazing support that we have received this year. Have a lovely summer break and remember to send us a post card!

Working Together day

On Wednesday we had our working together day with the governors. Our Governor Mr Glanvill came in and he talked with the children and shared their Learning Journeys with them. He was very impressed with all the wrok and the progress that he saw. He very kindly came on our school trip with us and the children did remember it. He did intend to read us a story at the end of the day, but the children had to go home due to a water shortage. We had an Assembly in the morning led by the Reverend Will who shared a story from the Bible about how many hands together can get things done.
We have been busy this week finishing our David Hockney paintings and painting our houses. You will be able to see these when you come to the open evening on Monday afternoon.
We had a lovely day on Friday as Mrs Byrne put up the paddling pool and gave us all an ice lolly. It really did feel like we were on holiday!
We are looking forward to seeing you all at the open evening on Monday.

Snails

We have had a lovely week this week. Brooke brought some snails in from home and we decided to keep them in the classroom. Florence brought some cucumber in for them to eat. Some children drew pictures and made models and collage of snails. Others have written books. We found out more about snails by reading a non fiction book and watching a film on the white board.
We were very excited when the air ambulance landed on the field and we all had a closer look at it.
We have been learning about David Hockney this week and we have used paints and pens to make our own interpretation of one of his paintings. It is called 'Going Up Garrowby Hill'. Perhaps you could have a look for it on your Tablet or Computer?
In Maths we have revised addition and we will be revising subtraction next week. You could go on the Top Marks site on the computer to play some games to reinforce the learning.
Remember it is the Strawberry Fair tomorrow and I am hoping to see lots of you there. We have made wind chimes to sell at the fair so don't forget to buy yours tomorrow.

Sports Day!

On Monday this week the Nurses came in to give a talk about teeth. They talked to the children about keeping their teeth clean and healthy and the children chose which foods and drinks were good and bad for their teeth. They reminded the children that they should brush their teeth twice a day and visit the dentist twice a year.
We learned how to programme a toy this week. We all learned how to use the Beebots and we programmed them to follow steps on a map.
We had a sports workshop with Game On this week and the children learned how to play Dodge ball. They all joined in really well.
Our sports day today was a huge success. The weather stayed fine and not too hot for us and the children did amazingly well at each activity. Well done Cai in our class for winning one of the races. The Green team were the overall winners on the day.
Our Home Learning this week is to go out for a walk and see how many different wild flowers you can find. You can choose one to draw a picture or paint. Can you label it?

Sharing assembly

We did our sharing assembly this morning and I think you will agree it was really lovely. The children all did very well remembering what they needed to say and joining in with the singing. Which bit did you like best?
We have all learned how to use the lap tops this week. We all learned how to click and drag to make our own picture.
We have all made houses out of clay following our trip to Bekonscot. The children did very well to mould the shapes and took the time using the tools to make the windows, doors and tiles for the roof. Look out for them at open evening as we will be showing them then.
Our Home Learning this week is a whole school one. Your children will be coming home with a clean air leaflet and we would like them to write about how they will do their bit to keep our air clean.

Bekonscot Model Village

Thank you to all the children that posted a comment on our Bog. We did enjoy reading all of them. Please do continue to add your comments.
We have had a lovely week this week. On Wednesday we went on our trip to Bekonscot Model Village. The day stayed dry and we had a lovely time looking at all the little towns and villages. There was a castle, a circus and a fun fair. The children loved the trains and the big fish in the pond. We all ate lunch together and in the afternoon we completed the quiz. We counted ten little caravans.
We have made some fantastic drawings and paintings following our visit and some children wrote a recount about their visit.
We have revisited 3D and 2D shape in Maths and practised naming and describing them using Maths language. Perhaps you could look out for shapes when you are out and about and practise naming and describing them together.
We are practising our activities ready for sports day now. The children are very excited about showing their skills on the day.
Next week will we are doing our class sharing assembly. We do hope all the families are able to attend.

Around the village

We have had a busy week this week. On Wednesday we went for a walk around the village. We had a history lesson the day before and had compared photos of Redbourn in the olden days and Redbourn now. We looked at the buildings on our walk. We also talked about and practised our road safety. There were plenty of opportunities to read signs and notices and we found many shapes and numbers while we were walking. We will be using the photos we took to make our own paintings and drawings.
In Maths we have been learning about capacity. The children used language such as full, half full and empty and we also used cups to find out which containers held the most and least amounts. We also estimated how much sand a bowl would contain. The children were able to explain their reasoning.
On Friday we had our May Day celebration. Eadie was our queen and Jake was our king. We have practised our dance really hard and we did a fantastic job on the day. Well done everyone!
Our home learning for the week is to have a look at the website and our Blog, so hopefully everyone will read this and maybe add a comment. Have a great break.

Jack and The Beanstalk

We have had a lovely week this week exploring the theme of jack and The Beanstalk. The children all had a go at writing about the story and writing little books. We have made a lovely display which the children have added their own work to. They all made a leaf which they have stitched themselves.
In Maths we have been learning about length and height. We used the giant's footprints to measure things around the classroom. Florence found out that one of our books was the same length as one of his footprints. Perhaps you could find different things to measure at home using your hands or feet.
In music we have been using our voices and the musical instruments to retell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We have used loud and quiet sounds as well as keeping a steady beat through the rhyme.
next week we will be learning about capacity in Maths so for home learning we would like you to explore full, empty, half full/empty and overflowing. This could be something fun to do in the bath.

Growing

We have continued to learn about lifecycles this week and we have learned about the lifecycle of a bean. We looked at the inside of a runner bean to see what the seeds look like and we have all had a go at planting our own seed. We have planted beans in a plastic bottle so that we can watch them grow. The children can already see a root appearing!
We had a fantastic session down at the Woodlands. Following on from our learning on lifecycles we did some pond dipping and found a dragon fly larvae. We found out about its' lifecycle when we got back to the classroom.
For Literacy this week we have planted the seed and we wrote instructions about how to plant them. we used 'bossy' words to write our instructions.
In Maths we have had a week on solving problems. We solved problems which included sharing and halving. Perhaps you could do this at home with your fruit in the fruit bowl, or slices of cake. How many are there left? How many would we get each? What can we do if there isn't enough?
Our home learning this week is to put your family in order of size and have a go at measuring. You could also try measuring other things too.

chicks

We have had another exciting week with our chicks. they have grown very rapidly and have begun to grow feathers. We all got  chance to hold and stroke one. Sadly we had to say goodbye to them today.
This week we have learned more about hens and the lifecycle of a hen and we have all written facts about hens.
For Maths we have continued to learn about time, thinking about sequencing pictures of our day and talking about what time we do things.
We are continuing to practise our May dance for PE and we are starting to get really good at it. Some of the children are doing a great job of skipping in time to the music.
The weather is going to be dry and is warming up this weekend, so for home learning we would like you to go outside and play games. I wonder what you will choose to do? Will you play a game as a family?

Living Eggs

We have had a very exciting week this week. We had some eggs delivered and within two days they had hatched out. We have got two boys and six girls. The children have been very excited and have really enjoyed watching them hatch and turn into fluffy chicks. We have learned about the Lifecycle of a hen. Some of the children have written books about the Lifecycle of a Hen.
We have learned to use the camera and we all had a go at taking photos with them. Some of the children used the cameras to record what was happening with the chicks.
In Maths we have been learning about time. We have talked about what we do in the day and what time we do it. We looked at clocks and talked about the hands and seconds, minutes and hours. We thought about the different things that we could do in a minute and had fun trying different things like jumping and tidying up. Perhaps you could try this at home!
Our home learning this week is to look at the different clocks around the home and outside and talk about them. Talk about what time you do things at home as well.
Have a lovely May Day weekend and we look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.

Welcome Back!

We all talked about our holidays. 'At my holidays I saw Micky Mouse and he hugged me.' Luca. 'I saw Buzz Light Year and Woody. ' George C. 'At Bluestone I went swimming nearly every day. There was big slides in the dark.' Luella. 'I went to 'Rakesh' shop to buy a lollipop.' Jessica.
We all did some writing. We wrote about what we did in the holidays. Mrs Fairclough was very pleased with our writing!
'We drew our faces.' Olivia. We all did a self portrait. There were some fantastic drawings.
'We went outside and we did exercise because we were getting ready for the Fun Run.' James. The Fun Run is taking place on the 21 May in Redbourn. Perhaps you could get fit as a family and join in?
Our Home Learning is to find out about the life cycle of a frog and draw and write about it.

Easter!

What a busy week!
This week Willow class have been learning about weight. We have been looking at heavier and lighter objects and using weighing scales to explore.
Willow class have been learning about Easter and how other people celebrate in RE. We have made some lovely Easter baskets which we used today to go on a special Easter egg hunt! We also had a special assembly from Rev. Tim today, teaching us about Easter and why we eat Easter eggs and hot cross buns.
This Easter there is a special home learning activity. We have a packet of cress seeds for each child and they are to be planted over the Easter weekend. Can you think of a creative way to plant your cress seeds? They can then be brought back into school on Tuesday 18th April to be judged.
We hope you have a lovely break, and look forward to hearing what you have all been up to!

The Easter story

This week we found out about the Easter story. We read the story and the children shared their knowledge of what Easter is about. The children all did some amazing writing, most now writing their sentences independently.
In PE we have been practising our bunny hops and log rolls. Perhaps you could show your families what these are at home?
We have all made a special gift for our Mum's. We hope all the Mums have a good rest on Sunday.
Our home learning is to find out about Easter and write a sentence. I am looking forward to seeing some lovely sentences all written independently.

Spring!

This week the weather has been lovely and warm and spring is in the air. We have all made observational paintings of daffodils and I am so pleased with the progress of the children's art work. We have also got some frog spawn in the reception classes and soon we will have tadpoles to watch and feed. We will continue to learn about lifecycles next term.
We had a wonderful session down at Woodlands. The children looked for resources to improve our bug hotel and we made our own faces with natural resources on the top of the logs. Some of us stayed behind and had a lovely afternoon outside in the muddy kitchen, the den making and the sand pit.
We have continued with our learning about subtraction and were pleased to see some very good home learning. In Literacy this week we have been reading poems and learning about the rhythm and the rhyme. Some children had a try at writing their own poems.
This week's home learning is an art competition to design a picture on the theme of 'I love Herts'. 

Sharing assembly

This morning we put on our sharing assembly for all our parents and carers. We talked about all the wonderful learning we have done this term. We were so proud of all the children who spoke out and sang so well!
This week in Maths we have been learning about subtraction. We sang songs such as ten in the bed to remind us to use the language of take away. We all had a try at writing number sentences and using a range of ways to work out the answers. Our home learning this week is to continue to practise this as some children found they were confusing addition and subtraction.
We have been finding out about space this week. We had some amazing home learning and the children had already learned such a lot. We found out about the planets in our solar system and next week we will be finding out more about stars.

Scientists!

This week we have had a really exciting week being scientists. 'We did an experiment about sweeties' Luca. 'Be colours' Bibi. 'There was lots of colours' Olivia. 'We put the skittles around the plate and we added water and then all the juice came off the skittles. It looked a rainbow on the plate.' Jessica.
We explored kaleidoscopes and we all had a go at making one. 'We cut out the bit through the plate and then we made a hole in the cup and then decorated it.' Eadie. 'We put some sparkles on and then we put some cling film over it. We turned the cup round and then you could see the sparkles move inside and you could see patterns.' Luella
In Maths we have been learning about doubling. 'We are learning to add' Bibi. 'It means adding a number and the same amount as that number.' Florence.
Next week is Book Week and we have got lots of exciting activities to do. Our Home Learning is to write about our favourite book.

William Morris

We have had a lovely week this week finding out about William Morris. The children had looked at William Morris for their home learning and many children had looked at the patterns and had a go at drawing them.
We took the pattern of 'The Strawberry thief' as the starting point for our week. We talked about what this meant and what the birds were doing and we looked at pictures of strawberries, strawberry plants and their flowers. Through the week we all drew and painted our own birds and we made collage and printed flowers. Some children had a go at making strawberries out of felt and stitched the seeds on. The final display is really special and is on our web site to look at.
We had our Woodlands session during the week and we made dens, but all had a go at making a bird feeder. We watched film of birds feeding off feeders to gain an understanding of how birds feed.
We have been learning about addition in maths and have done a range of activities to further our understanding of this. The addition machine in our maths area proved particularly popular. See the picture on our web site.
We hope you have an enjoyable half term and look forward to seeing which of the possible 33 ideas you did for your home learning.

Rainbow Fish

We used the story of The Rainbow Fish as a starting point to our learning this week. We thought of ways to describe the Rainbow Fish. 'The Rainbow Fish is very sparkly and gold.' He has shiny scales' Luca. We all did some writing about the rainbow fish and used words to describe him.
'We've got the small world with the Rainbow Fish in.' Jessica. 'I pretended that the Rainbow Fish was very nice and gave them some scales.' McKenzie. 'There are big fish and it is long.' Noah.
We all made beautiful water colour paintings of The Rainbow Fish. They look lovely on our wall.
We used the story during our circle time to talk about being a good friend.
This weekend's home learning will be to join in with the RSPB bird watch. Find details on their web site.

Elephants!

We have continued to enjoy our Elmer activities this week. 'we did drawing' Bibi. 'I brought my Elmer in' Luca. 'We made Elmers' with milk bottles' McKenzie. 'We made it out of tissue paper' Harley. 'We had colourful bits of paper to stick on the bottles' Jessica.
'We were learning about elephants.' Eliana. We watched a film and a PowerPoint and we shared all our facts from our home learning books. Some children wrote books about elephants. 'They have muddy baths to protect their skin from the sun.'Ryley. 'Girl elephants are called cows.' Gabriel. 'Elephants are the biggest animals in the world. 'Lulu. 'Elephants can swim' Noah B. 'When elephants are hot they flap their ears.' Cai.
We have been learning to name and describe 3D shapes this week. For our home learning this week we would like you to go on a shape walk and look for shapes. Perhaps you could take some pictures and then label them?

Elmer

We read the story of Elmer. 'We made books' McKenzie. Lots of the children had a go at writing their own books. 'We played with the Elmer toys' Florence. The children enjoyed retelling the story of Elmer in our small world area and with the story sack. 'Elmer has lots of colours' Cai. We compared the sizes of different of the elephants. 'They are a little bit big and a little bit small.' Ryley. Everyone had a go at writing a sentence about Elmer and making patterns on an elephant. We had some amazing writing this week!
We sang 5 elephants on a piece of string for our music and practised keeping time with the music. Eadie showed everyone how she could keep time with the music when she practised in Learning Through Play.
Next week we will be learning about 3D shapes and making our own 3D Elmer elephants. Our home learning is to find out a fact about an elephant and write a sentence. I am looking forward to find out more about elephants.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back and we wish you all a Happy New Year! It was lovely to see the children coming back into school with such enthusiasm. 'I love being back to school and playing with everything.' James. 'I like playing with my best friends at school.' Jessica. 'I love to play with Jessica in the drawing area.' Eliana. 'I like playing with Dilhan in the Role- Play,' Noah B.