What a wonderful first week back we have had! Take a look what we have been up to….

Toy workshop

Classroom Adventures visited our school to deliver an exciting and hands-on “Toy Making” workshop. The day began with an engaging demonstration, where the children explored how a variety of handmade toys work and discovered the clever mechanisms behind them. They then stepped back in time during a visit to a toy museum, where they learned about and played with toys from the past, including fascinating zoetropes and view makers. Inspired by what they had seen, the children became toy makers themselves, using wooden templates, string, hammers, and other tools to design and create their very own toys. It was a fun, educational experience that brought history, creativity, and practical skills together in a memorable way.

Phonics Meeting

Thank you all for coming to the phonics meeting this afternoon. Please find attached the slides from today's meeting and a phonics screen from 2022. If you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch with your class teacher or Miss Davey.

Maths

In Maths this week, the children have been learning about place value. They took their learning outside and went on an exciting number hunt in the garden, where they practised finding, saying, and matching numbers. They then used the painted hundred square on the playground to help them recognise number patterns and develop a deeper understanding of numbers up to 100. We will continue to build on this learning next week as we explore place value further.

Fact of the week

Our fact of the week this week is:

7+0=7

0+7=7

7-0=7

Read, Write Inc.

This week in Read, Write Inc. we have been reviewing sounds we know and learning new sounds. We have continued to use our sounds to read and write words, phrases and sentences. In particular, we have been looking for special friends in our words, saying the sounds and reading the word. Any practise at home reading a word by finding the special friends, saying the sounds and reading the word would be greatly appreciated! We have also been working hard on our handwriting and writing sentences with capital letters and full stops.

Reading

Mondays – RWI books to be changed by an adult. Please could ALL reading wallets be put in the trays so that we can check who has earned a certificate.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays – children can change their learning zone book (the one with the coloured sticker on). Please help them to have this book ready to change when they come in to the classroom in the mornings. Thank you!

Children will bring home two books in their reading folders, one being a RWI home book. Children are expected to try and read this three times during the week to ensure they are building on their reading fluency. The RWI home books will be changed, by an adult, every Monday.

The other book (with the coloured sticker) should be changed independently by the child themselves (on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday)- first thing in the morning is a great time to do this! These books can be changed as regularly as needed.

Please listen to your child read as much as possible at home and record this in their reading records. Every week, one child from each class will receive a reading certificate in an assembly.

Children will also get a certificate for every 20 times they read so it is important that the reading record gets signed every time they read at home. BOTH RWI BOOKS AND THE LEARNING ZONE BOOKS CAN BE RECORDED IN THE READING RECORDS!

There will also be a sticker in your child’s reading record which will explain which skill they are working on with regards to their reading.

If you have any questions, please speak to your child’s class teacher.

Thematic

We introduced the children to our thematic unit Toy Maker! We started off our learning with the big question: What are toys made from? We had great ideas for this. We then used this to springboard into our learning where we first discussed the different between an object and the material it is made from. We learnt to name materials such as plastic, metal, glass, rock, wood and water by exploring the objects and materials. At the end of the lesson, we learnt about 2 scientists who we will be learning about over this thematic unit: Charles Macintosh and Charlotte McCurdy.

To start today’s lesson, we looked at lots of different toys. We explored what materials they were made from and used our vocabulary to describe the properties. We then compared the objects by considering the materials they were made from. We then looked at some toys in detail.

Next week we will be continuing science and answering the questions which material is best for absorbing water and which material is best for keeping us dry?

Love to Learn

For this weeks Love 2 Learn  we would like the children to practise recognising and working with numbers up to 100.

Activity ideas: Go on a number hunt at home or outside. Can your child spot numbers on doors, cars, or signs? Ask them to say the number out loud.

On Tuesday the children are going to say it loud and say it proud! The children can talk about their interests, talents, family or anything about themselves. Please look at the poster below for more information.

Show and Tell

A reminder that children should not be bringing any toys into school as these can get easily broken or lost. If children would like to do show and tell, please email a picture of the show and tell to class teacher(s) and we can use this when the children share with the class. Please could all parents ensure that children are not bringing toys etc in from home.

Junk Modelling 

This term in Year 1, we will be creating sculptures as part of our art learning.

If you have any clean junk modelling materials at home, we would greatly appreciate any donations. Useful items include toilet roll tubes, cardboard boxes, plastic containers, bottle tops, and similar recyclable materials.

Please ensure all items are clean and safe for children to use.

Thank you for your continued support.

Additional Information

PE is now on a Monday afternoon please can children wear a plain white t-shirt, or our new Chilton PE t-shirts, black or navy bottoms and a plain black or blue sweatshirt.

Read at 3! This is where we would love to invite you into our classrooms and read with your child for the full 15 minutes. This will happen every Friday there after this term.

Spare clothes for year 1

We kindly ask that all Year 1 children have a spare set of clothes in school, including underwear and socks, in case of accidents or spills during the day. Having these items available helps us ensure your child stays comfortable and can quickly return to their learning.

If you have any spare underwear or clothing at home that your child has outgrown and you would be happy to donate, we would greatly appreciate it. These donations are very helpful for supporting all children when needed.

Thank you for your continued support.

Key dates

Monday 4th May – Bank holiday, school closed for all

Wednesday 20th May – Year 1 and 2 Viking games at Chilton (year 1 and 2 children to wear sports kit)

Friday 22nd May – Be here, be you, belong parade on top field from 2pm. Children to wear clothes that they feel express who they are, this could be from an outfit from a hobby they have, to bright colourful clothing. All parents invited to watch.

If you would like to contact us, please feel free to email, alternatively we are available to catch at the end of the day or the start of the day by the door.

Team Ocean - Eloise.hall@chiltonprimary.co.uk

Team Sky - Poppy.winchcombe@chiltonprimary.co.uk and Elaine.howard@chiltonprimary.co.uk ( On a Wednesday)

Have a restful Easter break and we will see you on Monday 20^th April!

Miss Hall, Mrs Winchcombe and Mrs Howard