Weekly News! 23.1.26
The children have truly blown us away this week, and we have been busy enjoying lots of exciting learning adventures! From fantastic focus in lessons to shining behaviour for learning, the children have impressed us every single day. We have also particularly enjoyed our bird watching, which sparked curiosity, excitement and some wonderful discussions. Their enthusiasm and positive attitudes have made the classroom a joyful place to be, and we couldn’t be prouder of them!
English
This week, we reached the end of our Max learning journey, and the children have absolutely loved every moment of it. They have worked hard to fully immerse themselves in the story, thinking deeply about the characters and their feelings.
The children explored how to transform themselves into Max, focusing on writing in the first person so their writing truly sounded like the character. We spent time identifying and using effective verbs and adverbs to add detail and action to our writing, as well as learning how to write with emotion to help the reader understand how Max was feeling at different points in the story.
All of this learning came together beautifully in our final piece of writing a diary entry written by Max. The children carefully planned their ideas, chose their vocabulary thoughtfully and worked hard to make their writing engaging and expressive. The finished diaries were fantastic and really showcased how much progress the children have made as confident, creative writers.
Next week, we are very excited to begin our new story, Traction Man, which we know the children are going to love. We can’t wait to dive into this action-packed story and start a brand-new writing adventure!
Reading
Reading at 3: Every Friday at 3, our doors will open for you to come in and enjoy a quiet read with your child. This will be for the full 15 minutes, and we kindly ask that children are not taken home early during this time. Reading folders: Some children are bringing home two books – one of these will be a Read Write Inc (RWI) home book, which we ask them to read three times throughout the week to help build fluency. These books will be changed by an adult. The second book (with the coloured sticker) should be changed independently by your child – ideally first thing in the morning. Some children have moved onto the Accelerated Reader programme and will be able to change their books once they’ve completed the quiz online.
Maths
In maths this week, we have been building on our place value knowledge to subtract two-digit numbers with growing confidence. We began by using Base Ten equipment to help the children clearly see what is happening to the numbers when we subtract.
A key focus was learning that sometimes we need to make an exchange when subtracting—for example, exchanging 1 ten for 10 ones. The children worked carefully and patiently with the resources, showing a fantastic understanding of how numbers can be regrouped. They explained their thinking clearly and showed great resilience when tackling trickier calculations.
Later in the week, we moved on to using a 100 square to support our subtraction. The children learned that:
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we jump backwards to subtract ones
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we move up the square to subtract tens
They practised this strategy with increasing confidence and were able to choose the correct movements independently. It was wonderful to see their confidence grow as they became more secure with subtraction methods.
Thematic
In Thematic learning this week, we have been both historians and geographers, exploring our local area and beyond. We continued learning about the history of Ramsgate Royal Harbour, discovering how it was given its royal title by King George IV. The children were fascinated by this link to the past and enjoyed learning more about their local heritage.
We also learned about Operation Dynamo and the courageous Little Ships that travelled to Dunkirk. Through discussion and storytelling, the children developed an understanding of why this event was so important and showed great respect and curiosity when learning about the bravery of those involved.
Later in the week, we began our geography learning by exploring the United Kingdom. The children learned that the UK is made up of four countries and started to identify them. This has been an exciting starting point, and next week we will broaden our geographical skills even further as we explore the wider world.
Home Learning
This week’s home learning links to our maths learning on subtraction.
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Choose a two-digit number (for example, 54).
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Subtract a one-digit or two-digit number (for example, subtract 7 or 20).
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Show how you worked it out.
