D'Arcy Primary Academy Class Blogs

This week, Willow Class continued to explore our Forest School area with ever growing confidence and curiosity. The children enjoyed climbing trees and it was lovely to see them encouraging one another and becoming increasingly comfortable in the natural environment. We also worked together in the digging area, digging, mixing and creating mud. The children used their imaginations to turn the earth into all sorts of creations, while developing their cooperation and problem-solving skills as they worked alongside one another. This week we also introduced the children to some different tool skills. Using tools carefully, the children made holes in shiny conkers which they then transformed into a wonderful variety of creations. Some made little animals, while others created wands and experimented with threading and wrapping wool around sticks. These activities provided lots of opportunities to develop fine motor skills, concentration and hand-eye coordination. It was wonderful to see ...

 

 

  🌟 Reception  🌟 What a lovely week we have had in Reception! The children have continued to settle into our routines and have been busy exploring, learning and getting to know one another. We have been especially proud of how well the children are beginning to join in with whole-class activities and share their ideas. 📚 Phonics This week, we have been learning our first set of phonics sounds: s, a, t and p . We have been practising saying each sound, learning the actions that go with them and listening carefully for these sounds in words. We have also started to put our sounds together to read words. The children have enjoyed both individual reading and shared reading , using the decodable book Pat . This has been a wonderful opportunity for the children to practise using the sounds they have learnt and develop their confidence as early readers. ✏️ English We have started our English learning and have enjoyed exploring some lovely books together, including That's Not My Na...

  We have had a lovely week in Birch Class! In our maths, the children have learned how to use the greater than/less than symbol to compare numbers. They have looked at how the symbol resembles a crocodile's mouth that is ready to eat the greatest number or amount. They have loved doing this and were all really successful in solving the maths questions. In English, we have been learning about puffins and writing descriptions of these cute little birds. The children used some creative adjectives such as colourful and feathery. Next week, we will begin reading our new class book, called Puffin Peter. The children will be able to use their brilliant adjectives to describe the book characters and produce more wonderful writing.  We have also continued our learning about autumn by looking at how animals behave at this time of year. The children loved learning about 'Fat Bear Week' at Katmai Conservation Park in Alaska, which celebrates how bears get their bodies ready for hibern...

  This week in Science, the children have been learning all about human teeth and the important jobs they do . The children discovered that we have different types of teeth, including incisors, canines, premolars and molars , and that each type has a different function. They learned that some teeth help us cut and bite our food, while others help us tear and grind it. To show their understanding, the children created their own colour-coded diagrams , carefully labelling the different types of teeth and explaining what each one does. They also learned about the role of our gums and jaw , and how all of these parts work together to help us eat. There was lots of fantastic scientific vocabulary being used in the classroom, and the children were excited to share their new knowledge Great learning Cedar Class!

 

Willow Class had another lovely week in Forest School, continuing to explore the area with growing confidence and enthusiasm. We continued to enjoy our favourite mud kitchen and digging areas, where there was lots of imaginative play as the children created their own food and drinks. There was plenty of busy teamwork too, as the children worked together to move logs and collect leaves, helping each other and making good use of the natural materials around them. Our tree climbing is also becoming more adventurous! It has been wonderful to see the children developing their skills and confidence as they carefully climb, balance and find their own ways to move through the trees. One of our biggest highlights this week was the amazing rope walk put up by our wonderful volunteer, Liz. The children were incredibly brave as they had a go, carefully balancing and working out how to move along the rope. They also showed fantastic patience as they waited for their turn and had fun together. We a...

A printed copy will be sent home with the children on Thursday.  Thank you for your support. Miss Taylor and Mrs Jiggins

 

 

  📚 Let’s Enjoy Reading! We want to help every child develop a love of reading ! Reading together at home is a lovely way to spend quality time with your children, while also supporting children’s learning and confidence. Children should be reading to an adult at home  at least 4 times a week  using books chosen at school that are at the right level for your child. Remember to record their school reading book in the Home School Log . In addition to this, children can also enjoy other books from home, comics, magazines or anything else that gets them excited about reading! 🌟 Why Read? Regular reading helps children: Build vocabulary and understanding. Develop confidence and imagination. Become stronger readers and writers. Relax and enjoy stories. Develop a lifelong love of reading . ❤️ Making Reading Fun There are lots of simple ways to encourage reading: Enjoy a bedtime story together. Let your child choose books they are interested in. Talk about the story, character...

We have been busy in Birch Class again this week! In maths, we have been developing our understanding of numbers up to 20 . The children have been using our maths equipment to make and represent different numbers, helping them to see what each number looks like in different ways. They have also been practising writing their numbers carefully. We have then moved on to exploring one more and one less . The children have been finding the number that comes before and after a given number and are becoming increasingly confident with their number knowledge. In science, we have been learning about the seasons , with a special focus on autumn . We talked about the changes we can see in the weather as we move into autumn and thought about how these changes affect the world around us. The children also learned about how animals behave during autumn , including the different ways they prepare for the colder months. It has been lovely to hear the children's ideas and observations about the sig...

We have had another busy and enjoyable week in Maple Class, with lots of opportunities to explore, create, investigate and think carefully about our learning. In Science, we have been exploring which materials and objects are reflective . The children enjoyed investigating a range of different objects and thinking carefully about what made some surfaces reflect light more effectively than others. We talked about how light behaves when it reaches different materials and recorded our observations from our investigation. We have also been getting creative in our dance sessions. The children choreographed their own dance phrases, thinking about how they could use movement to show the personality of Matilda . We used a cheerful piece of music from Amélie as our inspiration and thought carefully about how different movements, gestures and expressions could communicate a character. It was lovely to see the children using their imaginations and working together to develop their ideas. In Math...

  Willow Class – What We’ve Been Learning 🌿 Willow Class – What We’ve Been Learning What a fantastic start to our time in Willow Class! We have been so proud of how well the children are settling into their new routines and how much enthusiasm they are showing for all the activities we have been enjoying together. 📚 CLL Baseline The children have now completed the CLL (Communication, Language and Literacy) part of their baseline . They have all tried incredibly hard and, most importantly, have really enjoyed taking part in the activities. We are now beginning the Maths section of our baseline . We will continue to support the children to show us what they already know through lots of practical, playful activities. 🔢 Counting and Phonics We have been having lots of fun with counting rhymes , as well as counting the beats of the drum up to 3. These activities are helping the children to develop their early counting skills in a fun and engaging way. As part of Level 1 phonics , bef...

 

It was a pleasure to welcome Willow Class to their first Forest School session today. The children were adventurous, curious, friendly and wonderfully independent as they explored our Forest School area and began to develop their confidence in this new environment. We spent time getting to know the space and talking about the importance of being safe at Forest School. Then there was lots of exploring! The children chose where to go, what to investigate and how they wanted to use the resources available. They enjoyed tree climbing, digging and exploring , developing their physical skills, balance, coordination and confidence along the way. We also introduced a range of Forest School tools, including rakes, spades, trowels, forks and wheelbarrows . The children practised using these carefully and responsibly. Some of the children noticed a patch of soil that could be improved. They worked together with  rakes and brooms to smooth and clear the area. They took real pride in their work...

  Cedar Class thoroughly enjoyed being introduced to our new English topic this morning, with a focus on persuasive writing . To begin our learning, the children watched the original traditional story of The Three Little Pigs before listening to the adapted version, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs . In this version, the wolf tells the story from his own perspective and attempts to persuade the reader that he was, in fact, innocent! The children then worked in pairs to share their thoughts and form opinions about whether the wolf was innocent or not innocent . They used events from the story, alongside their own inferences, to justify and support their ideas. It was wonderful to see the children discussing their opinions so enthusiastically and confidently. They were eager to share their ideas with the class and listen to different viewpoints. We are looking forward to developing these ideas further as we explore the exciting world of persuasive writing !