13th May

Can your child walk like an Egyptian? Maybe, maybe not. However, this week we have thought carefully about the importance of the River Nile to the Ancient Egyptian civilization. Yew class discussed the 9 reasons why the Nile was essential to the civilization and then ordered them in importance in a 9 square diamond (see photo below). The class put ‘important for washing in’ at the bottom of the diamond, but Morgan disagreed saying that washing would prevent disease and illness and should be at the top of the diamond.
Maths this week has been interactive, with jumping clockwise/anti-clockwise, 90 degree turns, moving to the left/right and so on. The children have become robots, being programmed by a partner (giving instructions about position and movement), they have followed instructions to find a pirate’s treasure on a map and have used ‘Scratch’ to create video clips, using the language of geometry.
Next week, our Year 2s will be doing the government statutory tests in Maths and Reading. It will all be very low key, and the children will work in small groups to complete the tests on Monday and Tuesday mornings. Miss Coleman will teach those children not working in my group. The test format is very familiar to Yew Class, as we use past papers to assess the children at the end of each term. I think the class will enjoy the change of routine and some ‘special time’ working in a small group.
Things you can do to help your child next week:
o Practise knowing left from right
o Research the archaeologist Howard Carter and the discovery of Tutankhamun
o Read with your child daily
o Practise counting in 3s and 4s
Very best wishes,
Audra Fitzgerald