25.10.2024

Dear parents and carers,

I can’t believe we are at the end of the first half term together; it seems to have flown by! Over the half term, we have enjoyed reading a range of classic children’s stories with the children in the afternoons. It is clear how much the children enjoy their storytime and it was so lovely to see so many of you at our latest ‘Stop, drop and read’ event. Thank you for taking time out for this; it really did mean a lot to the children. Don’t worry if you were unable to make this one though as we have plans for another later in the year! 

Our key storybook this half term has been ‘Where the wild things are’ by Maurice Sendak. This has inspired lots of the children’s writing this term and we’ve finished with some writing about some wild things of our own. Ask your child to describe their own wild thing or the wild thing they chose to write about in an information report.

In other news, we have rounded off our rap unit in Music with a performance to the rest of the school on Wednesday and the children did not disappoint! It was an incredibly proud moment to see the children sharing their rap which we’ve learned is not an easy thing to do. See if your child is brave enough to perform a little to you as well:)

Our science learning this half term has allowed all the children to really become such fantastic scientists! The children are so knowledgeable about offspring and their characteristics and seeing a Rhino calf at the zoo that was less than a week old opened up some fantastic conversations surrounding what offspring can look like! We loved observing that the calf was not born with a horn and that it grows like our hair! A highlight of our learning was definitely participating in an experiment with blubber and how some animals manage to stay insulated in freezing temperatures. One of the best moments of our science learning was definitely researching Steve Irwin, the children were fascinated by him and how dedicated he was towards his conservation of animals! We are now more confident in knowing the basic needs of survival for animals and loved talking about our own pets and how we keep them alive. Well done everyone, you have shown such enthusiasm and passion for science!

Oh,what a day we all had in KS1 last Thursday for our incredible Victorian day. It was a day enjoyed by teachers and children alike! The children all looked fantastic in their costumes so thank you to you all for putting in the amazing effort that you did. It meant the scene was set from the minute they came into school. When they arrived in class, children were expected to sit in rows. The classrooms were a dark and techless environment. To start our day, all the children were inspected for cleanliness and if they were seen as dirty then they were told to wash their hands. Next, it was time for the 3 R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic) where they experienced learning the Lord’s Prayer and writing with chalk. However, rest assured, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the children! In the afternoon, they were given an opportunity to learn how to play some games from the past. I am sure if you ask your child what they know about schools from the past - they will have lots of knowledge to share! 

The children have certainly finished their first geography topic knowing a lot more about where animals live and have started to demonstrate expert knowledge on why they live there. This week, we presented this very understanding! Some children shared how camels have humps that store water, meaning they can live in hot places such as the desert. Other children shared how polar bears have thick fur to keep them warm in the snowy Arctics! We all then had a blast recapping our knowledge by completing a quiz on Kahoot - I'm sure the entire key stage would agree that you knew exactly when each class was completing their quiz by the excitable noise being made!

 

Finally, over the last two weeks our handwriting hero and heroines have been  Jacob Brandusesc, Sophia Paruit, Ophelia Dellar and Eliana Liscio. Well done for all your efforts to form letters correctly, presenting your work neatly and for always trying your best! Our Happy Hummer over the last two weeks has been Bertie Sands and Edward Horner. Well done for all of your hard work, following the rules and being such lovely role models in our class; you are truly fabulous!

We hope you have a lovely half term and do something that you love. We look forward to welcoming the children back soon.

Lots of love

Miss. Slough, Mrs. Harrison, Miss. Skingle and Mr. McAleese

 

Messages: Homework has been set on google classroom for a whole school science theme. This is due in for the first Wednesday back after half term.

 15.11.2024

Dear parents and carers,

What a fantastic start to the new half term the children in Hummingbirds have had; with some exciting new learning opportunities and lots of whole school enrichment opportunities like maths week, Anti bullying week and Children in Need today. Thinking of which, thank you for supporting such an important cause today and allowing your child to dress up to show their support. We have been so happy to see the children’s growing confidence as they embrace life in Key stage One with their lovely smiley faces; well done everyone!

This term in History the children have made a great start to their learning all about ‘Remembrance’. The children began by thinking about why people are wearing poppies and then went on to make a beautiful wreath to lay at the local memorial in Priory gardens. The children were incredibly respectful and able to hold a two minute silence for those that have given their lives in the war. It was lovely to see them exploring the site to see all the other flowers and wreaths that had been laid in a local service the day before. Thank you to all the parents who gave up their afternoons to accompany us for this; it is greatly appreciated.

Our science learning for this half term is all about the seasons. We have been able to get outside and observe the trees and what happens to them in the Autumn, with the idea that we will revisit later in winter and see if anything has changed. We discussed what else happens in the season of Autumn and had the opportunity to go outside and think about creating hibernation dens for hedgehogs, we all had great fun doing this! The children have a fantastic understanding of the four seasons and are able to discuss what they would be doing and what they might wear in each of them. 

In music this half term, we have started a very special whole school project ‘How does Music improve storytelling?’ The children started by looking at some classic Christmas stories like ‘The snowman,’ and what effect the music had on the children when they watched some key parts of the story. We then looked at what Foley art is (the sounds recreated in films.) The children then had a go at making their own Foley Art using some percussion instruments and everyday items to recreate sounds like the crunching of snow beneath their feet or even a horse  galloping.

Our geography learning this half term focuses all around where the children live. We kicked off our new topic by using Google Earth to zoom into where we live, step by step - our planet, our continent, our country and, finally, our town! Can your child remember any of the answers? We then spent some time focusing on the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. Our classroom is now beautifully decorated with four flags, proudly crafted by the children. At the end of this half term, the children will need to know their home address. We would appreciate any support you can give your child in knowing this; it will not only help to develop their geography skills, but their ‘street smart’ skills too.

Over the last two weeks our handwriting hero and heroines have been Eliana Liscio, Ophelia Dellar, Kaylan Dawe and Trixie King. Well done for all your efforts to form letters correctly, presenting your work neatly and for always trying your best! Our Happy Hummer over the last two weeks has been Edward Horner and Sophia Paruit. Well done for all of your hard work, following the rules and being such lovely role models in our class; you are truly fabulous!

We hope you have a lovely weekend and look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday.

Lots of love

Miss. Slough, Mrs. Harrison, Miss. Skingle and Mr. McAleese

MESSAGES: As you are aware, we have celebrated Maths Week this week. Next week also sees the exciting event of Times Tables Rock Star day. You will have already received information about this. Children are invited to come into school on Monday dressed as a Rock Star! 

 24.1.2025

Dear Parents,

It has been another amazing two weeks in Key Stage One with lots of fantastic learning opportunities for the children to enjoy. It was lovely to share your child’s progress with you all at parents’ and carers’ evening this week so thank you for taking the time to share your child’s learning journey with us. I hope you all found this useful. 

This term the children in Key stage 1 have been learning some map skills starting with using a compass to complete some challenges on the playground. See if your child can tell you the mnemonic that we used to remember the points on a compass (Naughty Elephants Squirt Water). Some children even had their own mnemonic which was fantastic. The children then looked at what is meant by an ‘aerial view.’ Lots of the children remembered our special 50th anniversary photo taken last year on the field with a drone by one of our parents which was a great way to aid understanding. The children then made their own aerial view plan of our classroom which was quite tricky but they did remarkably well. 

This week was particularly exciting as the children had a Geography Field trip starting at the top of the downs. We walked a route all the way back to school looking at all the human and physical features on the way to prepare ourselves for creating our very own maps back in class. Wish us luck for the next part as being a cartographer can be very tricky!

In history, we continued to find out all about Rosa Parks and how she impacted the Civil Rights Movement. We read the story ‘If a bus could talk’ which told the story of the day Rosa decided to stand up for her rights through the eyes of the bus!  See if your child can tell you what happened in the story. We must also mention a special thank you to Kaylan’s Mum who gifted our Key stage a special treasury of the ‘Little People Big Dreams’ anthology which featured Rosa Parks and allowed us to find out even more about her life. I’m sure we will all enjoy sharing the rest of the amazing people featured in this book during our class story times. We also discussed Ruby Bridges and how she was just the children's age when she entered an integrated school - she was incredibly brave and inspiring!

Our science learning has been exciting for the past 2 weeks as we have been exploring the characteristics of different materials. The children have been fantastic at differentiating between a material and an object, which has allowed them to explore why a certain material might be chosen to make something. They have also done a brilliant job of distinguishing between a natural and man made material - they loved discussing how to make glass, see if they can tell you how to make it! They then had the opportunity to create a bridge, thinking of the structure of material and how we can make it stronger by using shape! We even experimented with different materials to see what the stretchiness of the material was. Well done to all our lovely scientists!

In P.E we have been working on our gymnastics skills. The children had an opportunity to use some of the climbing equipment in the hall to work on some key climbing, balancing and jumping skills. They have impressed us with their knowledge on how to make different shapes with our bodies. For example, star, tuck, straddle, dish, arch and pike. Then, they focused on how they can turn these shapes into movements using jumping and rolling. I am sure your children will love to demonstrate some of the shapes to you. Why not ask them if they can use a rolling or jumping movement alongside their shapes? Watch closely for their transitions between jumping/rolling and their shapes.

Finally, our Happy Hummers for the last two weeks have been Blake Luikaj and Winter Hughes. Well done for trying so hard with all of your learning and being the amazing stars you are! Handwriting heroes have been: Izzy Kirwin, Viyan Patel, Jacob Brandusesc, Christopher Stavropoulos. Well done for all your efforts in class to practise writing so beautifully.

All that is left to say is we look forward to welcoming the children back into school on Monday. Have a lovely weekend.

Kindest regards

Miss. Slough, Miss. Skingle, Mrs. Harrison and Mr. McAleese

Messages:

Could we please ask that you share the school dinner menu with your child if they are choosing a school meal as sometimes the children are asking to choose a different option and were not aware of the choices beforehand. Thank you in advance for your help with this:)

 7.2.2025

Dear parents, 

This week has been Mental Health Week with a focus on 'Know Yourself. Grow Yourself.’ This  has given the children time to identify their different emotions using the film ‘Inside out’ to support their understanding. The children were able to talk about the things that bring them joy and then design their own different ‘personality islands’ as they took time to think about all the different things they love doing and people that matter to them. See if your child can show you what they designed.

In History, we have continued to learn about inspiring women from the past. After learning about Rosa Parks and her ‘small act of defiance’ on a bus that led to some major changes in America in the 1950’s and 60’s, we then went on to find out about Ruby Bridges. We found out that Ruby was also a civil rights activist and as a child found herself being the first African American to go to an all white school in Louisiana. Her bravery led to the desegregation of schools. We all agreed schools in England today are very different and the children were able to talk about how at Lark Rise we have rules that uphold our rights to be happy, safe, included and to be able to learn. 

Although there have been parts of these two amazing ladies' lives that were very sad for us to learn about, we have all enjoyed hearing their happy endings and the impact that the legacy of these two beautiful souls will have for future generations to come.

In Music, we have been busy celebrating Bob Marley's Birthday with a very special live event on Thursday with the whole school and many other schools around the world; how amazing! The children have really enjoyed his uplifting music and sang beautifully with millions of other children. I hope your child was able to tell you all about it or even sing!

In PSHE we have been continuing to learn how important it is to advocate for ourselves, making sure that we know who our trusted adults are and exploring the concept of what we are comfortable or uncomfortable with. We were lucky to have a special assembly delivered by Mrs Waterman who told us all about the NSPCC and their campaign of ‘speak out stay safe’ . We learned it is ok to use our voices and speaking up for ourselves is so important. 

In R.E this week, we have finalised our learning on Judaism by looking at the celebrations of Shabbat and Hunukah. We have connected our learning from the first weeks when we looked at special objects and have spent some time seeing where these are placed within these special celebrations. 

Finally, in Art the children have been exploring colour theory and now know how to mix the primary colours to create the secondary colours. The children have also created beautiful spreads in their sketchbooks using different mediums to recreate one of Kandinsky’s famous paintings, ‘Squares with Concentric Circles’ (1913). 

Our Happy Hummers over the last two weeks have been Elsie Randall and Dollie Hayes. Well done for trying so hard with all of your learning and being the amazing stars you are! Handwriting heroes have been: Sophia Paruit, Winter Hughes, Oakley Terry,  and Elsie Randall. Well done for all your efforts in class to practise writing so beautifully.

All that is left to say is we look forward to welcoming the children back into school on Monday for our last week together before the half term. We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Kindest regards

Miss. Slough, Miss. Skingle, Mrs. Harrison and Mr. McAleese

 28.2.2025

Dear Parents and Carer,

Welcome back to the first fortnightly email of the half term. The children have made such a positive start to the week and we are so pleased with all their efforts to achieve their best in lessons and most of all show such kindness to each other. Hummingbirds class have a new kindness basket inspired by reading a class story called ‘Kind’ by Axel Scheffler. Every time the children show acts of kindness they can add a bear to our basket. We have decided that when the basket is full we will celebrate with a special treat. Our new whole school value this term is ‘respect’ and Hummingbirds started off the week by thinking about how we can show respect to each other. They are doing a wonderful job as you can already imagine of being respectful to each other and showing respect for the things in the classroom; well-done everyone!

This half term our musical hero is Kate Bush and the children began learning to sing one of her greatest hits ‘Running Up That Hill’ in our music assembly this week. Have a listen at home together and see if you can sing along too.

 In our music lessons this half term we are learning a Bossa Nova Latin style track called ‘Round and Round.’ This presents an integrated approach to music where games, the dimensions of music (pulse, rhythm, pitch etc), singing and playing instruments are all linked.

In P.E the children have enjoyed starting their jungle yoga; see which poses they can show you and have some fun being monkeys together!

In science this half term, we are learning about living things and their habitats from all around the world. This week, the children started to look at what a habitat is. The children were then tasked with using their observation skills to identify different trees. For this, we had a real life tree surgeon come into school to talk to the children about how they could identify trees. We then went outside to complete an audit of the trees on our school grounds. The children really enjoyed having an expert come into school! I’m sure your child will enjoy telling you all about the identifying features of lots of different trees when you are next out on a walk! 

Next up is Design Technology! Firstly, we would like to thank anyone who has already brought in toilet roll/kitchen roll tubes. We still need lots more for the children so they can make their final product in a few weeks, so please could you kindly keep sending them into school, it is very much appreciated. This half term, the children will be designing and making a chair for Baby Bear from the story, ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears.’ This week, the children completed the research phase of our Design Technology learning, which is where they researched existing products (chairs) and evaluated them. 

This half term our Religious Education and World Views learning is focusing on the Easter story and how it is a symbol of new life for Christians. We were able to retell the story to our friends and explored how it might inspire Christians due to the resurrection of Jesus after he was crucified. It was fantastic to listen to the children discuss how important hope can be and how we should always be open to listening to others opinions.We can’t wait to explore this story further. 

For Geography we are off to India! We had a fantastic first learning all about India and its place in the World - we were able to utilise our skills by using an Atlas and located it on the map - even finding New Delhi which is its capital city. We then created a Jam Board with all of the facts we learned about India. We are so excited to explore more of this vast country and can’t wait to see what other pieces of information we learn.

This week and the week before half term our handwriting heroes were Viyan Patel and Aila Hussain. Well done for all your brilliant efforts to improve your handwriting and write neatly in your books. Our Happy Hummers over the last two school weeks have been  Blake and Oakley who have been wonderful role models; always trying their best to demonstrate the Lark Rise values. 

Finally, I would just like to say I hope you have a lovely weekend together and that the sun shines for you all. We will look forward to greeting the children all back in school on Monday.

Kind regards

Miss. Slough, Miss. Skingle, Mrs Harrison and Mr. McAleese.

 14.3.25

Dear Parents,

What an amazing two weeks we’ve had!  I have to start by saying how incredibly proud we all are of our lovely Hummingbirds for their brilliant assembly last week. Thank you so much for all of your support helping the children to learn their lines and coming into school on the day to watch. Of course this week we also had some special visitors in and whilst we are unable to inform you of their specific judgements until the report has been finalised, we are incredibly pleased with the feedback we have received. I would like to personally thank any parents who took the time to share their experiences of the school so positively and those who even took the time to write about everything. It has been really special to hear about all these lovely comments. I would just like to share with you all how amazing your lovely children have been during this visit and always and how proud I am to serve in such an amazing community.

This week has been science week with the theme of ‘Change and adapt.’ We kick started the week with a fantastic assembly by Mrs. True and then watched a live lesson about changes on a farm. We joined owners Ruby and Lufti as they took us on a walk to help look after all their animals and learn about all the ways they fight climate change on their farm. We also did some deep sea Yoga in P.E to find out how sea creatures change and adapt. See if your child can show you the starfish pose!

On world book day, there was a buzz of excitement as the children found out that we would be creating our own spells linked to our key text this half term - ‘The spell Thief’ by Tom Percival. We started by finding some good sturdy wands on the field in the form of sticks and then decorating them with stars. The children loved thinking about what magical powers they would like to have and it was a fabulous day punctuated by ‘STOP, DROP and READ’ which is always a firm favourite on this day. Of course a real highlight was having so many parents in to read with their children at the end of the day so thank you so much for supporting us with this event.

During History we have been plotting through the life of Grace O’Malley and have sequenced all of the main events that happened during her time as a pirate sailing the seas! We planned what could have been said between her and Queen Elizabeth the first! Ask your child if they will re-enact this for you! 

In Design Technology we moved on to our next stage of learning which was focusing on developing our ‘skills’ knowledge. In order to complete our final project we need to be able to join two materials together so we spent some time looking at different ways of joining materials. We use masking tape, glue and scissors. 

In Religious Education  we have continued our learning on ‘Easter’ focusing on the story of the Holy Week. The children enjoyed sequencing the events. It was also Shrove Tuesday last week which meant we were able to talk about lent and how this links to Easter and the holy week. 

Finally, our Happy Hummers for the last two weeks have been Oakley Terry and Eliana Liscio. Well done for trying so hard with all of your learning and being the amazing stars you are! Handwriting heroes have been: Bertie Sands, Pearl Coote, Marcus Chelaru and Livvy Filmer. Well done for all your efforts in class to practise writing so beautifully.

All that is left to say is we look forward to welcoming the children back into school on Monday. Have a lovely weekend.

Kindest regards

Miss. Slough, Miss. Skingle, Mrs. Harrison and Mr. McAleese

Messages:

You may have noticed your child coming home with extra Maths challenges. This is completely voluntary spurred on by the children’s love of maths!

 28.3.2025

Dear Parents,

It has been another lovely two weeks in Hummingbirds class with lots of wonderful learning opportunities. It has been fantastic to hear the children’s recommendations for book choices to their peers this week. Please remind your child that if they would like a turn to speak at our book club session on Thursday’s they are more than welcome to bring in a book they are reading independently from home or alternatively one they have enjoyed having read to them. It is a chance to inspire their friends, practise justifying their opinions and summarise books in a simple way.

This half term the children have learned to sing our Latin Bossa Nova style song ‘Round and Round.’ In addition to this, they have been busy learning how to play parts of this song on the glockenspiel using the notes C, D and F. It has also been lovely to hear the children getting braver with their improvisations on the glockenspiels when they have had the opportunity to make up melodies of their own to the song; well-done children!

 In preparation for our Easter end of term assembly, we have also been learning a Key Stage one favourite ‘Spring Chicken’ and as always the children have been full of energy and enthusiasm singing along. See if they will sing you a snippet at home to brighten your day too!

In history, we have continued to learn about the brave and fearless Grace O’Malley and  begun to find out what life was like under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The children used their detective skills to examine a photo of a painting from the time she was alive to see how rich Elizabethans lived.

Our geography learning has taken us all through India and we have had the opportunity for some wonderful magic moments! Last Monday we were visited by Mrs. Berry who told us all about her time and experience of India, showing us images of her time there, sharing stories and even bringing in some items for us to explore! She was fascinating and the children were mesmerised by her, we were so proud of the curious questions they asked her - ask your children if they remember any facts about India!  This week was also equally as magical as we got the opportunity to discuss how the land is used in India for growing food for the local community and the land in the UK is mass farmed for the supermarkets! We then were able to taste some Indian food, including onion bhajis, pakoras, naan and samosas. We thought they were very tasty and loved the smell of all the spices!

For neurodiversity week we have been discussing the importance of children being individuals and had a wonderful assembly from Mrs Hartley celebrating how our brains are all different and work in different ways - we are all wonderful because we are unique! At Lark Rise it is clear that all of the children respect and accept all different ways of thinking, we are so proud of their kindness and ability to have empathy with others - well done all of you!

In P.E we are continuing to learn how to play dodgeball. This week we focused on how to catch the ball during a match. We also discussed the best method for throwing the ball so the opponent doesn’t catch it and get you out! We have also been taking part in some jungle themed yoga. Ask your child if they can show you and name any of the poses. 

Lastly, we read the story ‘Birthday Cake’ which led nicely on to our special visitors that came this Friday. We have been incredibly lucky that the fire service came to visit us in KS1. The children were able to look at the fire truck and listened to a talk on fire safety.  See if your children can tell you all about it!

 

Finally, our Happy Hummers for the last two weeks have been Daisy McCulloch and Pearl Coote. Well done for trying so hard with all of your learning and being the amazing stars you are! Handwriting heroes have been: Edward Horner, Stefan Stavropoulos, Theo Perkins and Maddison Edmonds. Well done for all your efforts in class to practise writing so beautifully.

All that is left to say is we hope you have a lovely Mother’s Day weekend and hope the sun shines for you all. We look forward to welcoming the children back into school on Monday. Have a lovely weekend.

Kindest regards

Miss. Slough, Miss. Skingle, Mrs. Harrison and Mr. McAleese

Messages:

The children have really enjoyed playing some maths games on the website ictgames.com this week (especially funky mummy and shark numbers). So if your looking for a way to help your child sharpen their number skills  whilst having fun, this could be the fun way to do it!