Giraffes

Welcome to Giraffe Class

Learning in Giraffes class is based around an approach that involves both adult-led teaching and child-initiated learning.

We believe children learn best when they are allowed to discover and apply their growing skills within a range of contexts.

That is why we create learning opportunities that have real life contexts and that are fun and engaging for children.

A typical day within Giraffes class will involve Phonics (the learning of letter sounds) handwriting, Math and English. We also have weekly Science, PE lessons and music. We explore Geography, History, Forest School, Art and Design and Technology too. As you can tell, we are very busy learning lots of exciting new things.

Things to remember:

• PE on Friday (P.E. kit can stay in school) 
• Forest School on Tuesday (bring their Forest School clothes to school with them). Children have forest school alternative weeks.
• Badgers - Jan 14, Jan 28, Feb 11, March 3, March 17, March 31
• Foxes - Jan 21, Feb 4, Feb 35, March 10, March 24
• Books changed on Tuesday.
• Read, and write in their reading diary, three times a week. Every day would be even better!

24.2.20

English - We have been reading "Shark in the Park!" by Nick Sharratt. We discussed what we did and didn't like. Some children liked it because of the shark, others didn't because they thought it was scary. 

Maths - We have been practising counting in twos. We have spotted that all the numbers end in "2,4,6,8, or 0" and it is much more efficient than counting things one at a time!

Art - We were learning about symmetry. We looked at Damien Hirst's Kaleidoscope paintings which he made with butterflies. We used them to inspire our own pieces of work. 

3.2.20

English:

We have been finding out about non-chronological reports. Non-chronological reports tell you information using facts, pictures and headings. Posters, leaflets and non-fiction books can all include these. What non-chronological reports can you spot in your house?

Maths:
We have been exploring the fact that our addition sentences can support us with subtraction. For example, 2 + 3 = 5, AND 3 + 2 = 5.  We can then use these numbers to work out subtraction because 5 - 2 = 3, and 5 - 3 = 2. Do you notice how all of the number sentences use the same 3 numbers, just in different places?

Science

We have been exploring materials. This week we looked at what materials were waterproof. We worked out the paper wouldn't be a very good umbrella! You could use tinfoil or a plastic bag however.

13.1.20

English

We have started looking at a new story- "Oi Frog". It has lots of funny rhymes in. We giggled a lot. Can you continue a rhyming string? Cat, mat, sat...? 

Maths

We continued looking at number bonds, but this time up to twenty.  Can you see a pattern? How can your number bonds to ten help? How quickly can you recall them?

6.1.20

English

It was an exciting first week back. We went to Birmingham on a coach to go and see "We're going on a bear hunt!". We then wrote sentences about all the different settings.

Maths
We started looking at number bonds to ten. What two numbers go together to make ten? How many ways can you do it?

9.12.19

R.E.- We went on a fantastic Christmas experience at Bridge Church. We met Mary, the shepherds, the wise men and of course - Jesus! Will you be attending one of their services this Christmas?

English - We wrote letters to Santa. We had to remember capital letters and full stops, we even included a list!

Maths - We have been learning about time. We now know how to tell the time to the hour and half past.

6.12.19

Healthy Houses!

We made healthy houses for the witch in Hansel and Gretel. Grown-ups were so generous, and brought in so much food! We had to think about having a balance of vegetables, carbohydrates, and fats. We thought like true designers - we made a plan to meet a success criteria, we completed our houses and then we evaluated them. Could you make a healthy version of something which is normally a little bit indulgent?

25.11.19

English: We found a diary from Hansel, one of the characters from the story book Hansel and Gretel. We then wrote  our own diary using sentences. We had to remember capital letters and full stops!

Maths: We have been learning about numbers to twenty. We have been looking at how numbers over ten are made when there is a whole ten, and some ones left over. Fifteen is one whole ten, and then five more ones!
 

Reflection Day: 

On Thursday the WHOLE school took part in Reflection Day. We explored love, joy, peace and hope. These are the four values of Advent in the Christian Calendar.

15.11.19

We went on a visit to our library. Did you know you can take home 12 books? There's no late fees if you are under 18 either! Why don't you go along and see what books you can find to read?

https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/directory_record/28/redditch_library

11.1.19

English: We got a letter from Hansel and Gretel's father! We looked at the different features such as it starting with "Dear", and the use of conjunctions such as "and". Why don't you write a letter to somebody you care about?
Maths: We have been looking at using numberlines to solve problems. It is important that we understand that whether the numbers 1 to 20 are on a numberline, made with cubes, on a dice, or on a domino they are all the same. Why don't you play domino and card games at home, and see if you can recognise the numbers?

P.E: In P.E. we have been practising ball games and doing "HIIT" (High Intensity Fitness). Physical activity is so vital to children's learning. Giraffes know that being strong helps our writing, as well as our concentration. Why don't you go to the play park and see if you can crawl through tunnels and complete monkey-bars to make you even stronger for writing?

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ

4.11.19

English: We were left clues by Hansel and Gretel- including a story book, sweets, crumbs and leaves. We explored forest school to find out what things Hansel and Gretel might have seen. We then used adjectives (describing words) to write sentences.
Maths: We have been looking at taking away. We learnt the chant "Start with the total, and take some away!" to help us understand that we start with the whole amount and then it gets smaller as we subtract.

Science: In Science we have been learning about how to classify animals. We found out that we are mammals because we breathe oxygen and have live young!

14th-20th October

Maths:

We have been looking at starting with an amount - the whole, and splitting it into groups - the parts. We realised when we put the parts back together the were the same - equal - to the whole. We then looked at the "+" sign and the "=" sign.

English:

We have been writing simple sentences with nouns (people, place or thing). We then came up with adjectives too. We wrote sentences to say what we looked like. What adjectives can you think of to describe what you look like?

World Food Day.

For World Food Day we tried breads from around the world to represent all the exciting places our class are from. We tried Spanish, Polish, English, Russian and Indian bread. We thought about what it looked liked and used adjective (describing words) to talk about it. Next week we are making naan. Do you have any exciting recipes from different places around the world?

7th to 14th October
English: We have been learning to write simple sentences to describe a character. Some children have tried using adjectives (describing words) too!

Maths: We have been looking at different amounts and which is greater than and less than. We have been using the symbols < + > . We have also looked at ordinal numbers, seeing who is first, second and third to line up.

Science: We are exploring living things and we learnt about the different parts of a plant, soon we will be growing a bean.

History and Geography: We are finding about John Bonham because he is famous and was born in our local area. We have been exploring our local area.