19th November

What a pleasure to see and hear the happy buzz of learning from Beech Class this week. Mrs Fitzgerald has been in her element making the magic of learning happen and the children have been having a ball too.
The children have been thinking about changes in the world during living memory, they have been cracking on with addition and subtraction in maths, they have been excelling in phonics, in RE they thought about special places and special people that make them feel calm and safe, in art they have been continuing with their work inspired by Bridget Riley - the list goes on and on. I loved seeing some children who used to be reluctant learners really coming out of their shells and showing real spark and curiosity.

​IN maths children have been thinking about 'part and whole'. I loved the various representations the children considered to make sense of this concept. A really useful game to play with children is to think about 'fact families' - how one true number statement automatically gives you three others 4+2=6, 2+4=6, 6-4=2, 6-2=4. I have seen children get addicted to this and fill page after page with families of facts. As a car game it's fun to call out addition statements and for the child to call them back as subtraction statements. 

Next week Mrs Fitzgerlad is hoping to set the class a special homework project thinking about families and the past. She will explain everything then but if you are at a loose end why not get out the photo albums or memory boxes and have a talk about the child's past and, maybe, the family's past. How many years back was the child born? How many years back was mummy born? How many years back was grandpa born?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - we'll see you all on Monday.