Year 1 - The Giraffes: Blog items
Tuesday news., by Mrs Thomson
Date: 7th Mar 2023 @ 4:57pm
We have had some lovely news news today. A letter from Tiboo the triceratops! We are all happy to hear he has settled in his new home and we are going to write to him this week.
We have enjoyed the sunshine today by practicing our throwing and catching, skipping, balancing and bike skills.
We have been reading stories that have fruit and vegetables in them. We have been creating fruit faces and bowls of fruit with play dough.
A wonderful week!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 3rd Mar 2023 @ 3:05pm
What a great week!
World book day, IT with the Beebots, a visit to the library and making sandwiches with the cress we grew in class.
A big thank you for your help and support. The children all looked fantastic on world book day and enjoyed themselves at the library in the afternoon. We have some amazing new books in our classroom.
The children are doing great with their reading and we will continue to send Dash bear home every weekend if the children are able to read each day for 10mins.
We are busy getting ready for our class assembly next week. I will send a note home on Monday if an items of clothing are required. (This only applies to several of the children and it will clothing linked to their hobbies)
Have a lovely weekend.
Pancakes for our brain break!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 22nd Feb 2023 @ 7:29pm
It has been lovely to have the giraffes back! They have had lots of news to tell us along with their wonderful ‘All about me’ books to share with their friends. Thank you for helping with these books. The children are very proud of these very special books.
Please send your book back if it has not already come back this week.
We are working hard with our cursive writing and everyday we are practising different letters to ensure they all ‘swoosh up and have a flick at the end’.
Our number work has been great fun. We have been adding, counting in 2’s and counting in 10’ s this week. We have also been using our clocks to show o clock. The giraffes are experts at spotting 12 o clock - lunch time!
On Tuesday after our number work we decided to have a brain break and make pancakes.
Thank you for your support with reading. We are doing lots of reading in class, talking about the story, predicting the ending and talking about the characters and also the setting. Please continue to do this at home to ensure the children are understanding their stories as well as reading the words.
Winter walks., by Mrs Thomson
Date: 20th Jan 2023 @ 2:41pm
A busy Week where we have enjoyed several morning winter walks.
A picture below shows the children couldn’t wait to get started on one of their challenges and got busy before they had taken their coats off!
We have enjoyed learning about the Chinese New Year celebrations and traditions. We had a lovely lunch to help celebrate. We have practised writing our numbers in Chinese and had good fun making our own class dragon to use in our dancing.
The giraffes have made kites this week after one of our giraffes made one at home to show everyone.
We are learning about different people who help us and we had a visit from PC Paul and Sergeant Joanne who came with their police van. The children asked super questions, enjoyed using the equipment and dressed up whilst being outside in the snow! A great morning with lots of learning.
Next Friday morning we will be watching the short film and interactive game called ‘Pantosaurus’ which is on the NSPCC website. This will be part of our PSED learning. On the website there is more information and guidance for parents. If you have any questions please feel free to come and speak to Mrs. Morrison or myself next week.
Lots of splashing in puddles!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 15th Jan 2023 @ 9:28pm
We have had a wet week but this hasn’t stopped us from bike riding, creating boats to hold our penguins, doing our number work in the outdoor shed and having a great time at forest school with Mrs.Jackson on Friday.
At our creation station we have been making winter colours and experimenting using white and black paint to make our colours lighter and darker.
We have started new morning challenges in our teams. The children have embraced these new activities and some pictures below show the giraffes being busy. On Friday morning we didn’t have a challenge but did dancing to start our day. We did a penguin dance, the morning wake up shake up and our favourite banana meatball dance. A great way to start a Friday!
The children looked at the South Pole on the map during the week and we talked about animals, the weather and explorers. The giraffes had a go at building their own sled using the bricks and crates in the outdoor building area.
Trait of the week, by Mr Pearson
Date: 13th Jan 2023 @ 11:28am
Each week the pupil's of Longton Primary School will discuss a positive quality or characteristic trait.
Please share as a family.
Week beginning 16th Jan
Trait 1: Be honest. Don’t lie. Be a person people can depend upon. Think of the people we admire in books, movies and real life. Don’t they act with honesty and integrity? Aren’t they generous with others? Doesn’t everyone look up to them?
Happy new year!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 8th Jan 2023 @ 10:23pm
Happy new year!
It has been lovely to see all the children back together and Mrs. Morrison and I both commented that they have all grown so much over the break.
The giraffes have had lots of talking and listening time this week as they had a lot of news they wanted to share. We have celebrated our first birthday this year.
Our new class topic is ‘Amazing Animals’. We listened to a story about a lonely penguin and then looked on maps at where many penguins live. We did an experiment with water and talked about their habitats.
We have used paint, charcoal, chalks and pastels this week to create penguins. Next week we will be mixing paints and colours to create cold, winter colours.
The children have been revisiting their phonics this week. I would be very grateful if you could also do the same at home. Your wallets should have all of the sounds in to do this.
Thank you for your ongoing support with reading.
Please send in any small cardboard or plastic containers that you have finished with. We will be using them in our water play.
Thank you
Christmas Week., by Mrs Thomson
Date: 22nd Dec 2022 @ 6:13pm
A great final week in school! Christmas parties, visits from Santa, Christmas story massage, the carol service in church and even a visit from the Grinch.
The giraffes still managed to fit in time to learn new sounds, make a huge paper chain decorated with reasons why they are all special and unique as well as unpacking our home corner when it ‘moved house’.
I wish all the giraffes and their families a very happy Christmas. See you all in 2023!
One last message - a huge thank you for all the beautiful cards and gifts which were sent to Mrs. Morrison and I. They were a lovely surprise.
Party Time!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 13th Dec 2022 @ 9:47pm
The giraffes had a great time at the Christmas party this afternoon and they were delighted to see Father Christmas.
They all got to play games, sing and dance. The giraffes seem to be enjoying singing and dancing - have you been told about our class disco corner? The children requested music to dance to and a microphone so that they can sing their favourite songs.
Our home corner has been up for sale and the children are getting ready to move house this week in our classroom.
All busy busy!
Christmas lunch., by Mrs Thomson
Date: 7th Dec 2022 @ 9:17pm
Today started with a walk on the field to crunch on the frosty grass. We also revisited our work on shadows by creating shapes and shadows on the field.
We have been working very hard on our phonics and we will keep revisiting our sounds in class and also in our new reading books.
Just a reminder that the book listed first in your record book is linked to the phonics we are learning. It will seem a little tricky so it may help to use the book with the new sound cards which will come home tomorrow. This way your child can be a detective looking out for our sounds the first time they visit their new book.
The second book is a book your child has chosen. It is closely linked to their stage of reading but may have unfamiliar names in.
Please continue using your sound cards at home. Over the last few weeks the children have learnt that two letters can make one sound.
Christmas lunch was a lovely treat today. The children enjoyed their dinner, the crackers and the music in the hall.
Baaarmy Bethlehem!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 5th Dec 2022 @ 9:54pm
We hope that you enjoyed the Christmas Play. The children enjoyed their rehearsals and worked so hard on their singing and dancing.
Last week saw more creative skills with the children creating their own ‘Kandinsky’ piece of art using squares and circles. They are beautiful and will be coming home soon.
On Thursday and Friday we made puppets to use in our shadow play. We have been learning about light and dark which also links to our maths and science work.
On a Friday afternoon the children have drama with Mr. Sumner. I am sure they have told you lots about the acting and games they enjoy doing.
Congratulations to our star readers from last week! Children who are able to read each day have their names put in a box for taking Dash bear home for the weekend. Please do not feel you have to complete eaxtra work by writing in the diary. The children asked for a book so they could draw a picture of Dash to show on the Monday morning.
Whoever left the elf today could you please make sure you take it home tomorrow! When everyone had gone home I left the room for two minutes to come back to chaos with our genius gems!!
Traditional tales and lots of dancing!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 27th Nov 2022 @ 10:29pm
A busy week - castle building everywhere, Christmas dance rehearsals, porridge making and a special celebration in church!
We have welcomed lots of visitors into our classroom this week. The giraffes were extremely welcoming to everyone and enjoyed telling them about our school and the learning we have been doing.
Our traditional tales take us to the three bears cottage this week as well as a visit to the world of ‘ Wallace and Gromit’. Please feel free to send in any ‘Wallace and Gromit or Shaun the sheep’ books for us to share in class.
A very wet walk!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 20th Nov 2022 @ 5:13pm
On Friday we decided to cut short our walk as the rain just didn’t want to stop. We headed out whilst the weather was fine and managed to use our senses, spot signs of Autumn and even have a splash in the puddles. The giraffes didn’t moan or groan once about the weather but we decided to head back to school and plan another walk for a hopefully better day.
Autumn walk, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 17th Nov 2022 @ 9:57pm
Tomorrow we will be walking to the Brickcroft Nature Reserve. We will follow the path around the Brickcroft looking at signs of Autumn and using our senses. We will stay on the path and the children will walk with a partner and adults at all times. We will leave after morning snack and be back at school in plenty of time for our lunch.
We have puddle suits and wellies ready! Please remember warm coats.
Thank you
Mrs. Thomson
Traditional Tales, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 11th Nov 2022 @ 9:34pm
This week the giraffes have carried on with their journey of traditional tales. The children have worked hard at making their own gingerbread stories as well as building boats to help the gingerbread man escape the fox. Everyone had to test their boat and most of them successfully floated carrying the gingerbread man to safety.
The giraffes have worked very hard on their tricky sounds this week. I have sent sheets to read through for homework. Two letters, one sound.
In maths we have been shape detectives. Everyone did a shape hunt around school. Please look for circles, triangles, squares and rectangles when you are out walking.
Thank you for your amazing hard work with daily reading, practising our sounds and the homework books.
We have a lovely week ahead with a new story to share, an exciting dance lesson to take part in, Jack and the Beanstalk PE and a class castle to create.
Run, run as fast as you can!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 4th Nov 2022 @ 7:14pm
It has been a great week in the giraffes classroom this week! We have started our new topic ‘Traditional Tales’. We have been looking at the Gingerbread Man. The children have had escape bridges to make, the story to retell with toy characters, ginger spiced play dough to use and lots of opportunities to create their own gingerbread man. We have been discussing language from the story - mocking, accelerate, cunning and block. We created actions to help us remember their meanings.
In maths we have been working on how to make the number three in different ways. We also created a graph to show which part of the gingerbread mans body we ate first! Of course we all needed to have a gingerbread man for this! Yummy maths!
We learnt about Diwali and enjoyed painting fireworks for the celebration. We used kitchen rolls for painting and then listened to the noises that fireworks make. We mad a word bank of words to describe the noises. The children also got busy outside creating beautiful Rangoli patterns. I am sure they will be able to tell you what these beautiful patterns are.
PE this week was Squiggle and a wriggle and also a wonderful stretch / yogi session by a yogi teacher. We had a great time! Everyone enjoyed the session and we even had a lovely relaxation time at the end! Perfect!
In forest school the children created wonderful dens and houses for the gingerbread man to hide out in! The children are hoping some fairies visit the dens this weekend.
I hope you enjoy some pictures from this week. I have also included a link for bonfire night safety.
https://capt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fireman_Sam_Fireworks_Safety_FINAL_nourl.pdf
Have a lovely weekend
Mrs.Thomson
The last day before the half term break., by Mrs Thomson
Date: 30th Oct 2022 @ 7:33pm
Some amazing pictures to share with you! What a great day!
Lots of amazing learning at forest school and then a lovely time with our buddies. Hot chocolate and marshmallows went down a treat for the children and their buddies.
Science ambassadors, by Mr Pearson
Date: 21st Oct 2022 @ 9:51am
Longton's Science ambassadors led a whole assembly conducting two amazing investigations. Well done
Busy Giraffes!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 19th Oct 2022 @ 9:57pm
The giraffes have been very busy again this week.
In maths we have continued our work on patterns and size. We have had some tricky number puzzles this week that the children have enjoyed. Our maths work was carried out in the water area, in our autumn tray and also in our mark making area.
We have been learning about our bodies, our teeth and our bones. The children are keen to brush their teeth for two minutes and also learn the song attached below.
Because we have been talking about bones we have been reading the ‘Funnybones’ story. You will see from the pictures below that we made a story map. The children have enjoyed retelling the story to each other. Some of the children have created their own Funnybones stories. They were very proud of their stories and read them out to our class! Well done Giraffes!
Thank you for your hard work with reading and learning our sounds. We have changed the books ready for the half term. Please read the books several times and continue to use the sound cards to make very simple words such as ‘rat, cat, pull, rock’.
A homework book will be sent home tomorrow with tasks to be completed over the half term holiday. These tasks build on the skills the children have been developing. Please return the homework book on Tuesday 1st November.
Please continue to send the reading book and reading record book to school each day.
Thank you
Mrs. Thomson
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-brush-your-teeth/zv33hbk
Fantastic Friday, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 14th Oct 2022 @ 9:31pm
Today started with our phonics work and everyone going to forest school in groups with Mrs. Jackson. We continued our work on patterns and also read our story for next week which is ‘Funny bones’.
This links with the work we have been doing on ‘all about me’ as we will be talking about our bodies and looking at our finger prints next week.
We had a good look through our dressing up clothes today as you can see from the pictures.
I do apologise if you have not got your child’s reading book for the weekend. With all the excitement of showing each other their art work and also getting the school photographs some reading bags were left in the tray. I will make sure this doesn’t happen again. Please look over our sounds in the wallet as new ones have been added this week.
I had planned for the children to have hot chocolate after forest school today but the children found out today that their year five buddies will be visiting them next Thursday for a story session. The giraffes asked if we could have hot chocolate with their buddies instead of today. I have a feeling I will need to shop for more mini marshmallows but I thought it was a lovely idea from our caring and kind giraffes.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs. Thomson
Patterns everywhere!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 11th Oct 2022 @ 4:42pm
Today the Giraffes have been looking at repeating patterns. Everyone had a turn at creating them inside and also outside. We will be working on patterns all week so please feel free to have a go creating some at home that show a repeating pattern.
We are working well with our phonics and we are very good at spotting our sounds when we are walking through school. New sounds will be added to book bags on Thursday.
Harvest 2022, by Mr Pearson
Date: 7th Oct 2022 @ 10:42am
A lovely Harvest festival took place In St Andrew's Church on Thursday 29th September.
The Heads Team led for the first time and the Church was full of parents.
Each Tribe performed part of the presentation, through song, poetry and presentations.
Our morning adventure!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 4th Oct 2022 @ 10:38pm
This morning the giraffes enjoyed a walk to our local library. They met a librarian called Helen who read some new stories to them. Everyone was involved in a finding game in the library.
Thank you for returning your library slips. Helen will go through these and provide tickets for the children who have not joined the library.
The children picked some great stories for our classroom which we will share over the next few weeks. Helen has invited us for another visit before Christmas where the children will be able to choose their own books to borrow for three weeks and they will also take part in a Christmas craft activity.
New sounds will be coming home in your child’s book bag on Thursday. Please continue to practice them every day.
Our Senses, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 27th Sep 2022 @ 8:37pm
After our listening walk yesterday, the giraffes continued using their senses by baking biscuits. We also used our senses during squiggle and a wriggle.
The children are amazing us by learning their new sounds. Please continue to practise these at home every day as we are learning a new one each day. The children have told us that are enjoying teaching you and that you are getting very good at remembering the special actions.
Next Tuesday morning we have a class visit to Longton library. I have put a slip in each book bag which needs to be filled in and returned asap. Even if your child already has a library card please do still complete the slip so that they can borrow a book on our visit next week.
On Wednesday morning next week (5th) you are invited to a reading and phonics meeting in the school hall at 9am. Mrs. Fletcher and I will deliver information on reading and phonics and discuss how we can work together to fully support your child. If you are able to join us for a short meeting please do as the information will help your child throughout each year group in school. It will be a great opportunity to look at resources, ask questions and share experiences with other parents from our class.
Thank you
Mrs. Thomson
Super Giraffes, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 22nd Sep 2022 @ 3:47pm
New sounds are out in book bags today! The children are very excited to teach you them!
I hope the children have been telling you how amazing they are being in school. They have picked up so may of our routines and are now being helpers during many parts of our day.
The giraffes have been doing some tricky work with me this week and they may have told you they have been awarded ‘genius gems’.
Our focus has been ‘sharing’ this week and already lots of children have put a patch on Gerald giraffe.
