Larch Class News 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

27th January 2023

Larch Class have really enjoyed learning about Grace Darling’s heroic rescue so our Literacy lessons this week have also had a Grace theme. The children have been getting in to the role of becoming Grace and transporting themselves back to 1838. Art work and drama have helped them to take on this role before they began to plan a diary discussing what Grace might have said at the end of such a memorable day.  They then wrote some lovely descriptive diaries reflecting how they might feel in a tiny rowing boat in the stormy seas.

We have started our DT project this week, where we will be making our own emergency vehicles. We have started by looking at wheels and axles, thinking about where we have seen them, why they are there and how they work. Larch love construction so the children enjoyed making their own moving vehicles using Knex and Lego. 

In Numeracy Larch Class applied their maths skills to play a variety of maths games.

Some of the children have been busy completing Learning Log tasks and have loved sharing their hard work with the class. Willow and Isla have both been practising the alphabet and thought of animals for every letter and written them out in alphabetical order. In addition, Isla has been looking at different coin values and has done some great coin rubbings.  We now have 2 amazing 3D lighthouses on display in Larch classroom: Libby and Arabella worked together to create a solar powered one and Beau also made one complete with a light at the top and tissue rocks.

We have a new Handwriting Hero! Felix has worked really hard on his joined up writing and now uses this consistently in all his work. Felix has had a really good week, because he has also become the first member of Larch Class to become a member of Club 30. Well done Felix!

 

Enjoying Maths Games 

 

 

 

20th January 2023

In our Literacy this week we have continued with a dragon theme. We have been imagining a Larch Class pet dragon and how we would take care of it. Dragons were drawn in all different shapes and sizes with some excellent descriptions. There were some great ideas on how to keep its teeth clean with shower spray and a broom. Some of the dragons were herbivores enjoying broccoli and strawberries whilst others were definitely carnivores.

In History we have been looking at the important role of the RNLI and how lifeboats have developed since the days of Grace Darling and the impact this has had on sea rescue. Year 1s have been contrasting the old and modern boats whilst Year 2s have been creating a timeline of rescue boats: from rowing boats launched with the help of horses to modern day lifeboats.

Well done to all the Larch Class Rocky Steady performers (pictures are in the News section on this website). They showed real courage to perform in front of such a large audience of parents and carers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

13th January 2023

We have enjoyed the start of our new topic ’To The Rescue’ with a history focus and have been learning about Grace Darling’s heroic rescue. As well as learning about her bravery, we have been contrasting Grace’s life in the 1830s, living in a lighthouse, with our own lives.

On Tuesday this week, we had an extra PE lesson, when Mr Blunt visited the school to teach the children how to play dodgeball. Larch Class enjoyed their hour of dodging and throwing, showing some great ball skills.

In Music we have been listening to a song ‘Rhythm in the way we walk’ which we are going to learn to sing. After listening to the song, we found the pulse and then thought of different ways to move keeping the pulse. As it is a Reggae song, we went on to listen to music by Bob Marley and to think about the pulse in his music. 

In Computing, Year Ones have been learning about algorithms by programming the Beebots to get to a given destination, whilst Year 2s have been practising their word processing skills on the laptops.

 

 

 

16th December 2022

The school looked beautiful and very festive in the sub-zero temperatures this week. The children had some very short playtimes to enjoy the snow and loved using food colouring to draw patterns in it.

We hope you enjoyed our signing of Silent Night in our school performance, the children had worked so hard to learn to sign the whole carol and it was quite a magical setting when we performed it in the snowy gazebo. 

 

 

 

Larch Class wish you a Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2023.

 

7th December 2022

What amazing Sutton Challenges the children in Larch Class have completed! Children have loved sharing the results of their efforts: some have created booklets with photos and writing and some have shared theirs on the Interactive Whiteboard. New skills have been learnt, many of these are important life skills and the children have been so proud to share with their friends the results. We are still sharing them as most children completed the Sutton Challenge so there are lots to go through!

We have finished off our Science topic this week by looking at different materials and how some of them can change shape. Larch Class explored different materials from around the school and tested them to see if they could squash, stretch, twist it to change they shape. Following on from this, they thought about why this might be the case.

 

 

 

 

2nd December 2022

The children in Larch Class have finished their 3 Little Pigs’ houses and have evaluated their finished structure. They have reflected on what went well and different aspects of their buildings that they found tricky to make. They then talked about improvements they would make next time. All the houses had chimneys for the wolf to climb in to and all the children agreed that a base made their structure more stable.

 

  

 

The first door of our Larch Class Advent Calendar was opened on Thursday, Christingles have been made for our Christingle Service and an Elf on the Shelf has been spotted wearing a visitor lanyard so Christmas has arrived in Larch!

 

 

25th November 2022

We have moved on to DT in our Big Build topic and have been learning about different houses. We looked at the materials used to build houses all over the world and then the children drew and labelled pictures of their ideal houses they would like to live in: there was a house on wooden stilts and a house made with a lot of glass amongst the designs. We then started to look at making structures more stable by looking at the 3 Little Pigs story. In groups, the children were tasked with making a structure for their animal with only the resources provided: sticks or straws. Different structures were made before the ‘Wolf’ came to huff and puff (the wolf was a hairdryer complete with wolf mask). The wolf destroyed the structures and the children talked about why and what they could do to help the structures become more stable.

In Maths we have moved on to shape, with the Year Ones naming and identifying 3D shapes by going on a shape hunt around the school and then sorting shapes by beginning to think about the different properties. Year Two have focused on 2D shapes and their properties.

Larch Class have a new Handwriting Hero: Amélie has really been practicing her joined up writing and is now using it regularly in her independent work. Well done Amélie!

 

 

 

 

18th November 2022

We have been thinking about being kind and ways to be a good friend during Anti-Bullying Week. The theme this year is ‘Reach Out’ so we had some circle time to discuss who we can all reach out to if we are not happy or someone has made us sad. The children did a Mind Map to reflect this. After watching a slow motion film clip of a rock being dropped in to water we compared this to acts of kindness and how kindness has a ripple effect and can spread good feelings and positivity to others. We made our own ripples of kindness in Larch. 

 

 

 

Larch Class have continued with Science in our topic ‘The Big Build’ and started off the week with a materials hunt around the school grounds. There were some great discussions amongst the children about why they thought certain materials were used for different items around the school. Thinking about the properties of materials, we have carried out our first Scientific experiment of the year. The children were tasked with finding the most suitable material for an umbrella for the 3 Little Pigs as they ran from house to house in the rain. They worked in groups to think about how they might do this, what equipment they might need and were introduced to the idea of a fair test. After gathering the equipment, they made predictions, carried out the tests, made observations and then drew conclusions. Lots of excitement and lots of learning!

 

 

 

11th November 2022

In our new topic ‘The Big Build’ we started with Geography and a focus on maps and plans. The Year Ones have been comparing a bird’s eye with a street view, they have been using the ipads to take aerial pictures of different objects and then comparing them with a more normal view. Year Twos have been identifying key features on a map of Biggleswade. We looked at symbols and the importance of a key before the Year One children drew their own maps of Sutton village and Year Twos, a map of our school grounds. Following on from this the children worked in pairs to create a plan of the classroom using symbols to represent different objects. 

In Science we have started to look at materials and have been sorting lots of objects by the material they are made from. The children began to think why the objects were made from these materials by beginning to think of their properties. There were some great discussions as to why we don’t have buckets made from paper or belts made from wood.

 

 

 

 

 

21st October 2022

The school grounds have looked so beautiful with the Autumn colours in the sunshine so we have used this as a focus for our learning this week. The children started the week reading ‘Leaf Man’ and reflecting on some of the changes in nature at this time of year. They went outside to find evidence and then used expanded noun phrases when talking to a partner about what they had found. Following on from this, they enjoyed making their own leaf people and animals.

We looked at other changes in Autumn and brought all our knowledge together in Mind Maps. Using this information, the children worked together to create their own Acrostic poems about Autumn.

 

 

 

 

14th October 2022

We have been looking at non-fiction texts in Larch this week and have been learning some facts about sharks. The children discussed the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts before sharing some books and identifying the different features such as an index, contents page etc.

In our PSHE lesson we have been considering ‘choices’ and just how many we all make each day. There was time to reflect on whether sometimes we make the right choices and the consequences of our decisions.

In our History lessons we have begun to discover just how different life was as a Victorian school pupil. There has been some great role play with a very strict teacher ‘giving the cane’ as a punishment and sending children to the corner wearing the dunces hat!

 

 

7th October 2022

Larch Class has an amazing new display! The children have been working hard on their self-portraits, looking carefully at their features and skin tones. As well as painting their self-portraits, they created their own 3D portraits and they look fabulous.

This week has been Diversity and Inclusion Week at Sutton School, we have shared all sorts of stories to reflect this. The children used the story of Elmer, the multi-coloured elephant who was proud to be different to celebrate their differences and to understand that everyone is unique and that is why our worlds is a wonderful place. They made some rainbow clouds highlighting things they were proud about themselves.

In Maths this week the year 2s have been brushing up on their 2 times tables, with the help of Bertie and his finger bricks, whilst year 1s are working on Part Whole models. They used bean bags and hoops to get the idea of parts and a whole. 

Many children are busy working on their Sutton Challenge and as part of the Challenge, Sofia made biscuits for all of Larch Class. Such a kind thing to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23rd September 2022

In our Science lesson we were thinking about our different senses. Some brave volunteers temporarily had one of their senses removed when they were blindfolded and had to rely on their alternative senses to identify different items. Onion and lemon were easily identified by both smell and taste, and children used their sense of touch to identify different objects from around the room.

In Music we have been learning about Pitch: high and low. We played a game of Swampey outside, where the children had to cross a swamp of crocodiles using invisible stepping stones to reach a Cabassa. With a high note they could take a step forward, but on hearing a low note they had to get out of the swamp quickly. Great listening skills were demonstrated!

It has been lovely for some of the children to share their Learning Logs and Sutton Award updates. Isla had used some Lego to do some challenging Maths, Willow and Sofia have drawn lovely pictures of their cats, whilst Amélie has started her Sutton Challenge with a litter pick.

 

 

16th September 2022

In Larch we are learning to be authors! After sharing the story ‘Whatever Next’ we sequenced the story with the help of different prompts, using a box and a colander, which Arabella is demonstrating in the photo. We then began to create our own versions using a storyboard plan. The children shared, with a partner, their stories and on Thursday they had a go at independently writing their stories in a Big Write – a first for the Year Ones.  There were some great stories!

In computing Year Ones have started to learn about algorithms by giving each other simple instructions and Year Twos are building on their knowledge and have enjoyed their first introduction to Scratch Junior on the ipads.

Winston, our new class teddy, had his first adventure with Misali last weekend when he joined Misali on her first ever train ride. He is looking forward to the next adventure this weekend with another member of Larch Class.

 

 

Winston, our new class teddy, had his first adventure with Misali last weekend when he joined Misali on her first ever train ride. He is looking forward to the next adventure this weekend with Libby.

 

We have our first handwriting hero, Reagan. Well done Reagan for great handwriting with lovely ascenders and descenders.

 

 

9th September 2022

It has been lovely to welcome Larch Class back to school and hear all about their summer holidays. The Year Ones have settled in really well and are adjusting to the new routines of a KS1 class and our Year Twos have done a great job of supporting their new friends.

We have shared the Colour Monster book and have used this as a basis to reflect on the different feelings we all have about returning to school after a long break.

Our topic for this half term is ‘Who am I?’ and we have started to think about our differences and similarities. This topic is a great way to get to know each other. Mrs Whitfield had a golden box full of objects that gave the children clues about who she is and what is important to Mrs Whitfield, the class proved they were excellent detectives and discovered lots of new things about their teacher.  Following on from this the children went on a ‘Walkie-Talkie’ around the track to share what they would put in their special boxes, what is important to them, what they enjoy doing and generally get to know each other. ‘Walkie-Talkie’ is something we use a lot in Larch Class – children are randomly paired up and have a conversation focus as they walk and talk around the school track.

Our Literacy lessons have been based on the Judith Kerr book The Tiger Who Came to Tea. After sharing the book we went outdoors to reenact the story using drama skills. Then Larch used their imaginations to think of a different animal that might come calling and what chaos that it might cause.

 

 

 

 

  

 

22nd July 2022

Joanna’s mum joined us first thing on Tuesday morning to harvest our potato crop. The children were impressed with the yield and enjoyed scrabbling around looking for the hidden potatoes. Unexpectedly, we found a toad nestled amongst some of the potatoes, but it was quick to move away from our digging! Thank you to Mrs Hollyman for organising our raised beds this year.

The main aim of the day on Monday and Tuesday was to keep cool in the soaring temperatures. We are really lucky to have air conditioning in Larch Class, and have rarely used it, but it was very useful this week. The children were great and enjoyed being randomly squirted with water! Thank you so much to the kind and thoughtful parents who sent in ice pops, ice lollies and cold juice: it was greatly appreciated!

Our last week together has had an underwater theme with art & writing activities. There are so many different emotions in the classroom at this time of year which we have shared and supported each other. Both Mrs Whitfield and Mrs Tack have loved teaching Larch Class this year: it has been an amazing class. Both staff and Year Ones are going to miss our Year Twos as they head in to Hawthorn but we know they will continue to shine.

We wish all of you and your families a happy and healthy summer.

 

 

 

 

15th July 2022

Our week began with some local history, when the children learnt about the inventor, Dan Albone, who lived in Biggleswade in the late 19^th century and invented the first lightweight tractor and the Ivel Safety bicycle. It was lovely to hear some of the children had shared their learning at home and Felix had also taken his family to Biggleswade cemetery to search for the grave of Dan Albone.

This week has been Art Week at school, so every day has included different art activities. Larch were introduced to the character Tom Gates and they watched how the author and illustrator, Liz Pichon, created the character Tom. Each child then went on to follow instructions to create their own portrait of Tom, they even changed his features to reflect different emotions.

On Thursday, we read the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds: a book with a message about creativity, confidence and kindness. We then also looked at the work of artist, Kandinsky, the first abstract artist. The children looked at his paintings and then created their own art in his style.

Art, Geography and Science were combined when we looked at volcanoes. The children planned how they could make a volcano, went on to make one, before moving on to create various volcanic eruptions. The children made predictions and then added the different ingredients before writing up their observations and their conclusions.

 

 

 

The clay workshop, run by Victoria,  was a huge success! Each children carefully followed instructions to create a lion. Although following Victoria’s example, each lion was unique and made completely by the children and it was lovely to see the children so proud of the results!

 

 

 

8th July 2022

As we get nearer to the end of term, we have begun to talk about change and the different feelings this brings. The Year Ones have written some lovely letters to each child in Lime to reassure them about coming in to Larch and Year Twos have written to the Year 3s to share their concerns.

Making the most of the lovely weather, the Year Ones and Twos headed outside and enjoyed sharing some reading during the week.

We have a new Handwriting Hero: Fred. He has worked so hard to improve his writing – well done Fred!

On Thursday after the Year Twos began to teach the Year Ones about blogging and vlogging. They have started to make short videos about what they enjoy in Larch Class. The children loved it and we will continue with this next week.  

 

 

Move Up Day 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st July 2022

All of Larch Class were asked to bring in a pebble or stone on Monday. The children were very intrigued as to why, but it soon became clear when we shared the story of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Stones were painted before the children took them out in to the Whispering Willows for some drama about finding a magic pebble that could grant them a wish. They used their ideas to plan and write their own Magic Pebble story.

Our DT lessons, this week, have been building up to make a fruit salad. We started off by thinking about healthy and unhealthy foods and why we need to eat healthily. The children had a variety of fruit and vegetables to sort and were surprised to find out that peppers and cucumbers were fruit. We began to look at the different vitamins and minerals found in foods and how they help our bodies. The children tasted a variety of fruits and it was lovely to see some try fruits for the first time and really enjoy them. They went on to design their ideal fruit salad. On Thursday, it was time to start chopping and slicing.   We discussed the importance of the appearance of food we prepare and how to try and make it look appetising and then after a short safety talk Larch set to work, choosing from a selection of fruit in the classroom. When everyone had finished the preparation, the best part was they got to eat it!

 

 

 

 

After looking at various images of the Lake District the 3D maps of the area have now been painted and look fabulous! The children are very confident using geographical language to describe the features of the landscape.

 

 

 

It was lovely to hear from Amélie’s mum tell us about their delicious dessert that chef ‘ Amélie had prepared for the family following on from our lesson at school. Amélie went to the shop and chose the ingredients and then set to work!

 

 

 

24th June 2022

Larch have welcomed Mrs Mills in to our class this week, who is here on a teaching placement. Year 2s have been learning about mass and capacity this week and enjoyed some practical measuring with Mrs Mills.

 

 

In Geography, we have been learning about physical features of the Lake District and this week we have made salt dough 3D maps to show our knowledge of these features. The children loved creating the landscape and then painting in the features.

 

We have based our literacy on a short film clip ‘The Bridge’ with a message about the importance of teamwork and considering others. In PSHE we continued with this message and Mrs Mills worked with the children completing a number of teambuilding activities.

On Wednesday, we went to All Saints Church to see Reverend Alex who spent time teaching the children about the Baptism ceremony.

In preparation for September, Lime Class spent time in Larch Class with the Year Ones for story time and Walkie Talkie (where the children have time to walk around the track and talk with a partner). They settled in brilliantly.

 

 

17th June 2022

We have started our new topic ‘Home and Away’ by comparing the physical and human features of the Lake District and comparing them to those in Kenya. In music the children enjoyed a lesson with Mrs Price, where they were learnt some Kenyan greetings and then used these to focus on rhythm. In Literacy the children have been formulating arguments for and against the statement ‘Children should choose their own bedtimes’. There were some good ideas and their learning was consolidated with some role-play as a parent and child. There was an emphasis on keeping calm when trying to express your opinion in a debate!

 

Mindfulness

At the end of lunchtimes all the children do a mindfulness activity to help them calm down and prepare for the transition back in to the learning environment. One example, this week, was to begin to calm our bodies with yoga poses. The children then sat in small groups: Lime with Larch and discussed what made us happy before sharing with the rest of the classes.

 

 

 

10th June 2022

Larch Class have started their new topic ‘Home and Away’ with a geography focus. We have been looking at different destinations around the UK and the world that people might go to and how they differ. The children have begun to look at the human and physical features in these environments before going on to draw their own ideal holiday destination including both types of features.

We are very proud of our Year Ones this week who have sat their phonics screen and all put in a brilliant effort and demonstrated just good their phonic knowledge is! Well done!

 

 

 

27th May 2022

A trip to Edgware Synagogue

For many children this was their first school trip and for some children it was their first time on a coach, so there was a lot of excitement when Larch Class saw the coach waiting at school to take them to the Edgware Synagogue. Sadly, Rabbi Lister was unwell, but we were very grateful to Avi who spent time with us showing us the features inside the Synagogue. The children enjoyed actually seeing the things they had learnt about in RE with Mrs Chapman and were delighted to see the ornate Torah Scrolls in the Ark. They were able to share their knowledge with Avi and build on it when they asked him lots of questions. 

 

 

 

 

20th May 2022

Larch Class are keeping a careful watch on the crops growing in their raised beds.

In our Geography lessons we are learning about the countries in the United Kingdom. As a clue to our lesson the children went on a hunt for jigsaw pieces that when put together made up the Union Jack and flags of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. They went on to  use the atlases to locate the countries and find the capital cities.

 

Larch Class enjoyed a very interesting start to their Friday when Felicity and her mum brought in some fascinating moths. We learnt all about the Elephant Hawk moth, the Puss moth and the Buff Tip moth. Felicity loved showing her friends these amazing creatures and sharing her knowledge. Thank you to Felicity and mum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12th May 2022

Larch Class enjoyed a lesson in All Saints Church this week when Mrs Kerridge led a RE learning session on Wednesday. The focus was Prayer and how Prayer is used by Christians and other religious people to speak to God. The children thought about the sorts of prayers people might make and for who.

 

6th May 2022

Well done to all our Year 2s! They have worked so hard in their SATs this week.

Amélie is the new Handwriting Hero in Larch. She has made a real effort to form all of her letters correctly including the ascenders and descenders. Well done Amélie!

Thank you to Amelie’s mum for giving up her time to come and talk to the children about the Trinidad and Tobago culture and traditions. It was so interesting and we all learnt something.

 

 

29th April 2022

We have finished our Non-fiction Literacy focus with an independent ‘Big Write’. The children have learnt so much about the large Emperor Penguin and some children have researched further facts at home. They were surprised to discover the male Emperor Penguin is about the same height as some of the year ones. Life is tough for the penguins and we have been learning about how the male has to balance the egg on its feet, whilst walking on the ice. Some children had a go at this using a football to appreciate how tricky it is!

Our seed beds provided by FOSS have been planted with radish, lettuce and carrots. The beans have been put in pots and will be planted out when it gets warmer. There are regular checks to see if any have germinated, but I think a little more patience is required!

We have had history focus in our topic and have started to compare Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II different jubilees, looking at differences and similarities. The children went on to look at Victorian inventions comparing modern items with those used in Victorian times , thinking about the impact these inventions have had on our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

22nd April 2022

Welcome Back!

We hope you all had a good Easter break. The children have been excited to see each other and to catch up on each other’s new this week. 

We started our term with a lovely mindfulness assembly when Amelie’s mum visited the school. Using a simple multi-link cube the children were taken through a strategy to help deal with different uncomfortable feelings such as anxiety and anger. It was great!

 

 

 

1st April 2022

Easter in Larch Class

We started off our last week in the Spring Term with an outdoor quiz about our learning in our Blown Away topic. Children worked in pairs to answer questions which challenged them about colour mixing knowledge to identifying different types of cloud and the weather they may bring to questions about the world and different climates.

 

We have focused on Easter, this week, with the class creating their own Holy Week booklets looking at key events leading up to Easter. On Wednesday the children made some delicious spiced Easter biscuits which they enjoyed at snack time the following day. We have been busy making Easter cards and hope you enjoy the result of lots of hard work.

 

The Easter story has been explored in class as well as in RE. The RE focus was to consider objects that symbolise parts of the Easter story. Pupils responded well and could sequence the objects to retell the key events of the story. More able pupils were able to suggest which parts of Holy Week were considered sad or joyful to Christians with a simple explanation.

  

 Mrs Whitfield, Mrs Tack and Larch Class wish you all a happy Easter!

18th March 2022

We’ve enjoyed an art and DT week in Larch Class this week. The Larch Rio carnival bunting is complete and the children have amazed us with their sewing skills and have loved seeing their individual projects brought together in to one piece.

 

This was also the case when we completed an art project after some reflection about the tragic situation in Ukraine. We shared the book by Kate Milner called ‘My name is not Refugee’ which talks about some of the difficulties of having to leave your home and the book contains different questions for the children to reflect on. Following this using only the colours from the Ukrainian flag (blue and yellow) we made a splendid piece of artwork. Sunflowers were the theme as this is the national flower of Ukraine.

  

Year Ones have been enjoying outdoor learning during their Maths lessons when they have been learning about capacity.

 

On Wednesday Larch Clas were treated to a Widdershans puppet show. Andy, from Widdershans, had created some amazing puppets and performed a show about facing fears.

Larch has a new Handwriting Hero: well done Lily!

 

 

 

11th March 2022

Larch Class have spent the last 3 week focusing on Traction Man books by Mini Grey. The children have enjoyed the excitement of the books, that contain great illustrations and familiar items from around the house being brought to life, it has really fired their imaginations. The class went on to plan, and write, their own Traction Man rescue missions when the hero, and his friend Scrubbing Brush, saved the day whilst spending the time in Larch Class.

In Science, we have been learning about day and night and what makes this happen. The children went on to explore shadows and made shadow puppets. In Art they have been using a variety of painting techniques to paint clouds. The children studied different types of clouds and practiced their colour mixing and painting skills to replicate them.

 

 

 

4th March 2022

Following on from our cloud spotting, we have been collecting data about the weather this week. Year Ones started off the week by practicing their compass skills and then went on to make windsocks which they put around the school field. Year Twos were tasked with designing a rain gauge, they then went on to make one using a plastic bottle. Each day children have been recording what clouds are in the sky, the rainfall, the wind direction and temperature.

 

 

 

 

 

25th February 2022

We started our new topic ‘Blown Away’ by looking at the changing seasons. The children have been identifying the different seasons by looking at the changes in nature and different celebrations we have in the four seasons. After recapping on the months in a year,  the children thought about when their birthday was before sorting themselves in to Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter babies. We have started to look at why seasons occur and how the northern and southern hemispheres have opposite seasons.

This week the children have been cloud spotting and have begun to identify some of the different clouds and what weather they may bring. First of all, we went outside to spend time looking at the clouds and notice how they look different. The children used some lovely adjectives to describe the different clouds. We then went on to make ‘Cloud Spotters’ that were used to identify some of the clouds up in the sky.

 

 

In our Maths Year 1s have been measuring (height and length) using non-standard units of measurement, whilst Year 2s have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes.

 

 

 

11th February 2022

Mental Health Week

Over the week we have shared various resources and books to reflect on our mental health. On Thursday an alien called Maz arrived in Larch and needed help from the children regarding different feelings. Partners worked together to name different emotions before discussing the different causes and how some emotions can change how our bodies feel. Mrs Whitfield began to blow up a balloon and talked about how an uncomfortable little feeling can grow in to a big feeling (just like the balloon growing). If we talk about our worries this can help them disappear (just like when the balloon was let go it flew across the classroom and deflated.) Following on from this, we shared ‘Lucy Found a Worry, by Tom Percival, a lovely book about a little girl’s worry. The message across the afternoon was to talk to a trusted grown up. We then introduced our Larch Worry Monster, who loves to eat the children’s worries. It wasn’t long before it was being fed.

 

 

Safer Internet Day

We were focusing on the use of passwords when playing online games and why it wasn’t good to share them with friends. Larch Class watched Digi Duck and the Magic Castle  https://www.childnet.com/resources/digiduck-stories/digiduck-and-the-magic-castle/ . We then listened to different scenarios and the children held up different emojis to reflect how they might feel.

 

A visit to All Saints Church

In RE Larch Class Mrs Chapman took the children to All Saints to look at different features in a church used in worship with Mrs Kerridge. This year was particularly special as, unfortunately, due to Covid, we haven’t been able to visit the church for our weekly assemblies.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4th February 2022

We have a new Handwriting Hero in Larch. Well done Bertie!

 

In Literacy the children have been retelling the story of a little boy who flew in to space. They watched a short animation and used drama to sequence the events in the film before producing a storyboard and then using this to write out the story. 

 

 

28th January 2022

A great start to the week!

What a lovely treat for the children on Monday morning; a visit from Widdershans. The children (and teachers) were delighted to go and watch the puppet show where the story of the Elves and the Shoemaker was brought to life through puppetry. The village hall was full of laughter as they watched Andy perform and then at the end the children had the opportunity to learn about some of the special effects they saw during the show when Andy answered their questions.

 

 

Larch Class want to say a big thank you to FOSS for organizing this event! So the children have written some thank you letters to FOSS to express their appreciation. There are too many to posted on our website, so here are a couple of examples.

 

 

Meanwhile back in the classroom we have continued looking at the fascinating country of Brazil and comparing it to the UK. The children have learnt about the modern capital city of Brasilia and how it was designed to looked like an airplane from above. We compared some of the new buildings in Brasilia to the older ones in London. In contrast, we have been learning about life in the favelas in Rio. Although life can be very different there, we also looked at some similarities that children in Larch have with those in the favelas. They loved looking at the brightly coloured homes set in the hillside of Rio and went on to enjoy recreating the colourful favelas in group paintings. They were only given the 3 primary colours and were challenged to make lots of different coloured houses so needed to apply their colour mixing skills.

Carnival time in Rio means Samba dancing so the children have been learning some basic Samba moves.

 

 

 

21st January 2022

The Rio Carnival is heading for Larch Class! We have continued with our topic learning about Brazil comparing it to the UK and have been focusing on the city of Rio De Janeiro. We have a cable car display climbing up to Sugar Loaf Mountain: each child has drawn a picture of their family in the cars and has written an interesting fact they have learnt about Rio. We have looked at the ornate designs on some of the buildings using the Sgrafitto technique and following on from this the children decorated their own building by using brightly coloured pastels covered in black paint before carefully scratching a design through the paint. After learning about the carnival Larch Class decorated their own carnival masks.

 

 

 

 

 

14th January 2021

We are using the 3 Little Pigs traditional tale in our Literacy this week. As the story is so familiar, we recounted it as a whole class and then the children retold it through drama. Following on from this we have begun to look at alternative versions and the class have started to plan their own versions with a partner. There are many new characters including the 3 Little Butterflies and the Big Bad Eagle and the 3 Little Giraffes and the Big Bad Cheetah. The children will go on to build on their ideas to work towards writing their own versions next week.

In ICT this week the year 2s were very excited to start their lessons on animations. They are using the ipads and experimented with Stop Motion to create their first short animation.

 

 

 

7th January 2021

Happy New Year!

Larch Class were excited to see their friends and share news about their Christmas holidays. They have come back happy and have been enjoying new topics.

On Wednesday Mr Blunt visited the school to lead their first gymnastics lesson alongside Mr Passman. Our new topic is focusing on Brazil and comparing it to Great Britain. This week the children have been finding out where Brazil is in the world and had a glimpse in to some of its traditions and geographical. They have had time to discuss what they would like to find out in this topic and written out some interesting questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17th December 2021

Happy Christmas!

Larch Class have enjoyed the last minute preparations for Christmas, making cards and decorations to bring home. The children have made Christmas trees and for many children this was their first time sewing, but they all did so well. Maths skills have been applied to problem solving and a variety of challenges. Year 1s played an Christmas alternative to Snakes and Ladders, whilst Year 2s had to work in teams to solve tricky maths clues to find out which elf stole the reindeer bells.

 

 

On Wednesday the school enjoyed their Christmas Lunch and in the afternoon Mrs Kerridge visited the school to make Christingles with the children.

 

 

The Sutton Challenge Medals were handed out to some very excited and proud children. Well done to our Gold and Silver medal winners: you definitely earnt them with all your hard work in our Sutton Challenge

 

 

Last week, we were treated to a Rock Steady Concert from the two bands in Larch. The band members showed real courage to stand up in front of their friends and perform. 

 

Mrs Whitfield and Mrs Tack wish you all a Happy safe Christmas and we look forward to welcoming you all back in 2022!

 

 

 

 

 

10th December 2021

The Sutton Challenge

We have spent the week sharing and celebrating the abundance of completed challenges in the Sutton Challenge. The children are so proud of their achievements and have enjoyed presenting their hard work to the rest of the class in the form of scrapbooks and powerpoints.   We have been truly amazed at the effort that has gone in to completing tasks. Completed challenges have included cooking, chores around the house, taking up a new sport (and improving in a familiar sport), Park and Stride, trips to the charity shop and food banks, litter picking, expeditions, using map reading skills to plan a route and many more.

Here are some quotes from the children about the challenge:

 

"My favourite challenge was litter picking". Ethan

"I didn’t really like tidying my room!" Jessica

"I liked making a ham sandwich". Annie

"I enjoyed learning a new skill: to play the ukulele". Danny

"I enjoyed making mince pies for my family and Rosie’s mum". Lily

"I would like to do it again next year". Elliott I

 

Thank you to all who have supported the children in their tasks.

Christmas is nearly here and Larch have worked hard to learn their songs our recorded Christmas performance. We hope you enjoy watching it. 

 

 

3rd December 2021

Larch Class have been bringing their imaginations to life in Literacy. We started sharing a poem ‘Inside My Head’ before heading out in to in the Whispering Willows to find magical items. Suddenly the stick that Danny found was actually a golden shiny sword that belonged to a brave knight. Stones became a pieces of an old witch’s cottage and leaves were blankets for fairies. It was lovely to see the children’s imaginations come alive with such enthusiasm.

On Tuesday we spent the afternoon in a Robot workshop with Jessie, where Larch learnt to build their own Robots complete with sen The children loved it and showed real team effort and perseverance to build a moving robot and then tested it.

ICT was the theme for the week with Year Ones continuing to move their sprite using more complex algorithms and Year 2s continued with blogging: this time about Larch Class.

 

 

 

 

 

26th November 2021

Our topic has a DT focus this week. Larch Class have been learning about mechanisms and went on a hunt around the classroom to spot different mechanisms we use every day. The children were tasked with making a moving picture, either a plane or hot air balloon floating across the sky, by making a slider. As the slider only moved their vehicle from side to side, we moved on to think about how else mechanisms can make things move. Outside we introduced the idea of a lever, with a fulcrum (a fixed point) which the lever can pivot on. The children enjoyed finding resources to make their levers and Danny was able to show how useful a lever can be! Back inside the children used their knowledge of levers to make another moving picture: a rocket travelling around the world.

 

On Thursday we had a Flash and Bash workshop to reintroduce the outdoor equipment. There are lots of games to be played, that the children love. These games also help coordination and reaction skills as well as being great fun!

In ICT   Year Ones have been using simple algorithms to move a rocket on the ipads, whilst the Year Twos had a great start blogging (or vlogging). Using the ipads they quickly learnt how to film each other introducing themselves, once happy with it they uploaded the file and we shared them on the class whiteboard to reflect what went well and improvements that could be made. 

 

Sorting 2D and 3D shapes

 

Hand Writing Hero!

 

 

 

 

 

 

19th November 2021

 

This week we have been taking part in Anti-Bullying Week. It started off with odd sock day to highlight how we are all unique and then as the week went on we focussed on ‘One Kind Word’ and how we could be kind to each other. Children filled in ‘Caught being kind’ notes to give to their class and teachers when they saw them being kind. Larch Class made a kindness paperchain to decorate the class.

 

In Geography, we have been learning about maps. The children have been recognising different symbols used on maps and then created their own symbols when they drew maps. They looked at aerial pictures of Sutton and spotted different features in the local area. Following on from this the children made their own maps of Sutton Village. The children practised their compass skills and found where North was and, then in turn, the rest of the compass directions. They then used their skills to identify different features on maps. 

 

 

In Literacy, Larch Class were basing their descriptive writing on a short film about a girl travelling in a huge bubble she had blown. The children’s imaginations came alive as they watched bubbles float inside the classroom and they loved chasing them across the field. At the end of the week there was some lovely independent writing with lots of adjectives to create a picture in the reader’s head.

Year 2s were enjoying using their mental maths skills in their active maths starter. The objective was to add 3 single digits, so they worked in teams to run and find different statements and decide if they were true or false. The children soon realised that if they could spot any bonds to 10 it would make the addition a lot quicker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12th November 2021

In preparation for the 11^th November the children have been using their art skills to reflect on why we have poppies as a symbol on Remembrance Day. It was quite a mindful activity with some relaxing music playing the classroom the children produced some lovely artwork.

In PE, on Wednesday, Larch Class enjoyed their second dance lesson where they listened to some ‘creepy’ music and worked with partners to create moves to reflect the music. Mr Passman was impressed at the creativity and skills of the children.

 

 

In Literacy we have continued with non-fiction texts and the children finished off their week by completing an independent ‘Big Write’ writing a report about Rabbits (Year 1) and Polar Bears (year 2). Mrs Whitfield and Mrs Tack were particularly impressed with the progress the year Ones had made writing in sentences. We invited Mrs Price to come and look at their work, she too was very impressed!

The class are enjoying the variety of daily mindfulness activities at the end of their lunchtime play to help with the transition back ready to work in the classroom. One they particularly enjoyed was making ‘Feelings Faces’ in the Whispering Willows, in order to help them recognise different emotions. They made angry face faces and then thought about what they could do to change that anger feeling in to a more comfortable happier feeling.

 

We have a new Handwriting Hero in Larch: Felicity. Well done Felicity!

The Sutton Challenge

Learning column addition

 

 

 

 5th November 2021

Larch Class have enjoyed their first week of our new topic ‘Flying High’. We have started off with a History focus learning about timelines and how air travel has changed over the last 250 years. The children placed different types of air transport in the order they thought they had been invented and then we discussed how air travel has developed and had an impact on people’s lives. The children then went on to create their own timelines.

We have been focusing on the Wright brothers and the build up to the first flight of The Flyer in 1903, the children enjoyed retelling their story: year ones re-enacted the day through drama whilst year twos retold the story of the brothers after drawing some prompts to remind them of key events.

 

Children in Larch Class are still busy completing tasks for the Sutton Challenge: JC has been making smoothies and used a sewing machine to make a felt banana! Jessica has been helping to a lay laminate floor and Felicity helped plan a trip to London.

 

22nd October 2021

Music with Sarah included a whole orchestra accompanying our Saturday Night song, when the children took it in turns to play the instruments. Keeping the pulse and remembering which notes to play took a lot of concentration, but they put in a super effort.

In PE Mr Passman finished off this half term’s ‘Ball Handling’ lessons with some team games. There was lots of cheering, encouragement and enthusiasm from the different teams.

 

On Thursday Mr Blunt visit the school, for an extra PE lesson, to spend an hour teaching the children a new team game based on their ball skills: a cross between rugby and football. The game was fairly complex but after a short time the teams work well together to score lots of goals.

 

Thursday afternoon was Smoothie time in Larch. We started off by reminding ourselves of healthy and unhealthy food and then had a tasting session of different fruits, it was lovely to see so many children try new fruits such as figs and pomegranate as well as some of the old favourites. The class went on to design their own smoothies before sampling some different ones made in class. Strawberry and banana was a favourite but when we added spinach and the colour changed to a yucky green some children took a little more persuading, but were delighted to see it still tasted so good (whilst adding some extra healthy ingredients). It was great to hear that the lesson had inspired Jessica to go home and make her own smoothies which her family enjoyed!

 

  

 

So many children have enjoyed sharing their learning log tasks and updates about their Sutton Challenges. We look forward to sharing more after half term.  

 

15th October 2021

Larch Class were so excited to perform their Harvest Song ‘Cauliflowers Fluffy’ at our first service back in Church. They were amazing! It was so lovely to see so many parents and grandparents at the service. We hope you like our singing.

In Science we have been learning about different parts of the body, what they are used for (our different senses) and how to keep them healthy. The children enjoyed drawing around each other before completing their own labelled diagram.

 

 

8th October 2021

Climate Change

Thinking about the COP26 Summit happening later this month, we have focused on Climate Change this week. We began by looking at the causes and effects of greenhouse gases and then what small changes we could make to help the future of our world. 

Larch Class conducted an experiment with a polar bear on an ice floe and observed what happened to the polar bear and the land when the ice melted. Flo, Felicity and Felix measured the water levels throughout the day and we discussed our observations.

The children have used their art skills throughout the week to reflect on some of the issues around global warming.

Larch Class have started to practise their Harvest Song which we hope to perform at our Harvest Service on Thursday 14^th October at 3pm. All welcome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st October 2021

In ICT this week Larch have been learning about programming. The year ones enjoyed using the Beebots, giving instructions to reach a specific location and the year twos used the ipads to give directions to a robot. The year twos had to work together to discover the aim of the game and how to play it. They were thinking about algorithms and how to debug when something goes wrong.

 

 

We released our butterflies this week. The children had watched the life cycle develop over the last few weeks in Larch and were delighted to see the butterflies fly off.

 

Year twos are enjoying their weekly visit to our school library where they have a wider range of non-fiction books to choose from.

In our Numeracy lessons we have continued with Place Value where both year groups have been using different resources to help them understand place value comparing numbers in year one and partitioning numbers in different ways in year two.

 

Congratulations to Jessica on becoming our first Handwriting Hero this year. Her beautiful writing showed great letter formation of ascenders and descenders in her Big Writing (independent writing).

 

 

 

24th September 2021

We have been exploring colour in Larch this week. The children went on a colour match walk trying to find different shades of green and brown and they realised just how many shades there were and how tricky it was to match the colours. After recapping on the primary colours the children completed some colour sums to create other colours and then practised their mixing skills in a ‘Big Paint’.

In Science we have been thinking about what we need for survival and what we like to have to make our lives better. Year 2s then went on to compare this with animals needs and wants.

Rock Steady has returned to Sutton! Some children enjoyed their first group lesson using electric guitars, drum kits and having a go at vocals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17th September 2021

Year Ones are using the resources well to practise their maths skills. In our maths lessons we encourage partner work to talk through their reasoning and discuss problem solving, this really helps them develop a good mathematical vocabulary.

 

 

We have welcomed Sarah back to school to continue with some amazing music lessons. Larch have been learning about pulse this week and were delighted to get back to doing some singing accompanied by Sarah on the piano.

 

In PE this half term the children are learning different ball skills with Mrs Passman. Thankfully the rain on Tuesday stopped and Larch had great fun practising their skills.

 

 

 

Children are enjoying our Larch library area and have spotted some of their favourite characters on our new story chairs.

 

10th September 2021

Week one: Welcome back!

The new Larch Class have been amazing! The children have returned with smiles on their faces and lots of enthusiasm. There are so many different routines and rules for the Year Ones to get used to but they have done brilliantly, helped by such kind and helpful children in Year Two. There have been some lovely examples of ‘living our values’ this week. 

This start has been so unusual because of the ‘Bubbles’ last year, the Year Ones and Twos haven’t met, so know very little about each other, so this week there have been lots of opportunities to get to know new friends. There has been a focus on team building activities including ‘Mirror Me’, Jigsaw Hunt (working together to complete jigsaws, with pieces scattered across the field) and Thread The Hoop (see photos below) and many more.  In Larch the children enjoy ‘Walkie Talkie’ around the track: this is where children are paired randomly to walk and talk, sometimes with a focus for conversation and sometimes it’s just a good opportunity for a chat!

 

 

We have started our new topic ‘What do I need to be me?’ with a Science focus learning about life cycles of different animals. We have some new additions to the classroom: some caterpillars. The children will be able to track their metamorphosis over the next few weeks. 

In Numeracy, Year Ones have been demonstrated their counting skills and Year Twos have been getting to grips with Place Value.

Our Literacy/PSHE has been based on the book ‘Have you filled a bucket?’ Children have been thinking and writing about how they can be bucket fillers (by being kind and thoughtful) and different behaviours that will result in being a bucket dipper! They enjoyed acting out different scenarios with choices of being kind or unkind.

 

Stars of the week

 

Values Display