I am so proud of your children, they continue to impress me with their independence and hard work!

They have ALL now completed the Statutory Assessments for the End of Key Stage 1. These will inform the End of Key Stage 1 Teacher Assessment using the Teacher assessment frameworks at the end of key stage 1 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  These results will be reported on in the End of Year Pupil Reports.

We have been enjoying some outdoor learning when the weather has been kind, please continue to send children with a coat as the weather is unpredictable!

The tadpoles are now turning into little frogs and we have made a ‘froggery’ in the classroom. We have children standing by just in case they try to hop out, some are quite determined. We shall be setting them free into the school pond very soon. They have had a good start but now they must go out and fend for themselves!

Have a fab weekend,

Mrs Dowell, Mrs Armstrong and Miss Pritchard

Welcome back after the Easter break, I hope you’ve all had a good time!

Our new topic is called ‘Are we there Yet?’ which I’m sure you have all heard from your child at some time! First, we will be learning about the history of Travel and Transport. After half term, we will be looking at the geographical features of the coast and the seaside.

In literacy our focus will be on some independent writing. This week the children have written a letter based on the book ‘Meerkat Mail’. They pretended to be ‘Sunny’ the Meerkat who goes travelling only to find that there is ‘no place like home’. The children used their knowledge of the Polar Regions to write a letter to their Meerkat family telling them all about the habitat, weather and the animals who live there. Next week they will be inventing a gadget to add to ‘Mrs. Armitage’s Bicycle’.

In maths the children have been measuring using centimeters and metres. They all enjoyed marking out with chalk, the size of some animals on the playground. This let them appreciate the size differences between some animals. Most can remember that 100cm is equal to 1m. We have also been comparing and ordering length and height.

During science we will be learning about the Environment and what we can do to look after it and prevent climate change. The children are all very interested in the atmosphere and when the sky that we see becomes space!

After our success at winning the coin challenge, we were given £30. We spent this on some equipment to play with at breaktime: rhythmic gymnastic streamers, cones, hoops, beanbags and some play balls. Hopefully, we can keep them off the roof! It would be great if we could win this challenge again! Please send in any loose change that you can spare. The money from the ‘Friends of Crowmoor’ is crucial in keeping down the cost of educational visits. I have another visit booked for later in the term but I haven’t told the children where we are going, they just know it’s not a castle!

Over the next few weeks in May, the children will be completing the End of Key Stage 1 SATs. None of them have anything to worry about, they are nothing that we haven’t done before. The children are very familiar with the process, I like to keep it as relaxed as possible whilst encouraging them all to do the best they can. They will have lots of treats and fun times in between!

Thank you all for your continued support,

Mrs. Dowell, Mrs. Armstrong and Miss Pritchard.

Oh my goodness, what a busy week we have had!

On Monday we learnt how some plants reproduce. We planted a sunflower seed, a baby spider plant and researched how to grow potatoes in a pot for the whole school challenge.

On Tuesday, something live joined the classroom – frogspawn! The children learnt about the life cycle of a frog and are looking forward to observing the changes over the next few weeks.

On Wednesday each group made a wormery. We will be able to see how the worms  move the earth and help to keep the soil healthy for the plants. All the children enjoyed stomping on the field to simulate rain to fool the worms into coming to the surface. They are now in a cool dark place and we will check on their progress in a few weeks time. We also took samples of soil into a jar, added water and then shook them vigorously. We can already see layers appearing as the mixture settles. In the afternoon we started to build our push/pull toys. Everyone used a hacksaw to cut through the doweling to make an axle and I used a hot glue gun to safely attach their wheels.

On Thursday, Ellie from Shropshire Wildlife Trust came into school and spent the morning with Elm Class. The children planned and prepared an investigation to prove what plants need to survive. They made predictions about what they thought would happen to each group of seeds. After break they foraged for natural materials to make a piece of art based on the Mandalas seen in India. The children were learning about symbiotic relationships where one thing relies on another. For example, trees need CO2 and excrete oxygen, whilst we need oxygen and excrete CO2. One particular child gave the example of a friendship where you give and receive kindness; we all thought this was lovely! In the afternoon we planted five different seeds in the fingers of a clear plastic glove to see which seed germinates first: nasturtiums, radish, mint, basil or lettuce.

Finally, on Friday, we looked at the amount of sugar in different soft drinks and represented this by weighing out the amount of sugar and putting it in a food bag. We were very shocked by some of the outcomes. This highlighted the importance of looking after our teeth by drinking just water in class.

Have a fabulous weekend,

Mrs Dowell, Mrs Armstrong and Miss Pritchard

What a miserable afternoon’s weather! I hope it gets better for the weekend.

It was great to speak to so many of you earlier in the week. I will be making telephone calls over the next couple of weeks to those of you whom I missed.

This week we have completed our learning about geometry (shape). Please keep asking the children about shapes that they can see around them so that they do not forget all the new words that they have learnt.

Every Friday the children are having the opportunity to write at length. Many of them need to work on their handwriting to make it the best that it can be. They are improving with their capital letters and full stops but need to be consistent.

Next week is Science Week so please send your child to school with a pair of wellies or old shoes to change into as we will be going outside for a lot of the time.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs Dowell, Mrs Armstrong and Miss Pritchard