Meerkats and Kenya!
It is hard to believe that we are in Term 5 already and our first week is done! The children have all returned full of energy, enthusiasm and excitement. And my, how they have grown – we have even had to move our carpet dots to give the children more space when on the carpet!
We have been counting in 2s, 5s and 10s in Maths. The Year 1 children have been spotting patterns and counting forwards and backwards whilst the Year 2 children have used their times table knowledge to answer multiplication and division calculations to solve word problems.
In English, we have shared Julia Donaldson’s book ‘The Ugly Five’. First, the children worked collaboratively to create mind maps describing the animals before using these to independently write descriptive sentences. Today we wrote postcards inspired by the story. Here’s a link to the story if you would like to share it at home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwYKWVqslK0
We have begun our new Geography topic too this week; How does living in Westbury compare to living in Kenya? The children have located Kenya on a map of Africa and on a world map. The children dipped into their back brains, remembering that Africa was a continent made up of many countries and that the equator runs through Kenya and so it is very hot there unlike here in England! They also looked at the features of Kenyan landscape and identified physical and human features. Today, the children designed their own National Park with watering holes, grasslands, swamps and lodges as well as designated animal areas.
In PE, the children completed circuits of obstacles, focussing on their balance as well as speed. As always, the marvellous Meerkats worked so well in their teams, encouraging and helping each other. Just a reminder – PE is on Monday (outside) and Wednesday (inside). Please ensure that your child wears PE kit to school on these days. It is still quite chilly so joggers/tracksuits for PE days please.
We spoke about ‘Belonging’ in RE and the children identified the groups and clubs that they belong to and how it feels to belong to them. The general feeling was that belonging makes them feel, happy, calm, loved and joyful. We were surprised to see how many groups and clubs we share together.
The children finished the week out of the trim trail enjoying some extra playtime, a reward for filling their gem jar – well done Meerkats!
We have our trip to Noah's Ark Zoo next Wednesday 24th April. Please ensure that your child has a small backpack to carry their lunch (packed lunch and bottle of water will be provided by school). Children to wear school sweatshirt and suitable joggers/trousers, coat and sensible shoes. We will be leaving at 9am and returning by 3.15pm.
Please do continue to support your child with their reading by visiting the RWI blog and watching the videos. Many of the children changed RWI groups this week so please do check with them about which group they are now in. https://www.westbury-inf.wilts.sch.uk/News/Friday-19th-April-2024/
Next week, I will be in class all week except Monday afternoon, Ms Shaw will cover the class at this time, Miss Smith, our amazing TA, will be in class all week.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend. 😊
Mrs Jeffery, Mrs Hughes and Ms Smith
Meerkat Class Team
Our class email is class3@westbury-inf.wilts.sch.uk
