Autumn 1 Week 5

It is genuinely unbelievable that we are already in Week 5 of the Autumn Term, as the days seem to have flown by in a blur of energy and activity. It feels like only yesterday that classrooms were quiet, uniform tags were being filled out, and students were tentatively stepping through the doors with pristine, empty books. Now, the initial September routine has completely solidified into a familiar rhythm, with autumn leaves starting to scatter across the playground and the initial excitement of a new school year settling. Reaching this mid-term milestone so quickly is always a stark reminder of how fast the academic year moves once the momentum takes over!

This week we have been continuing to explore the story Pumpkin soup and have dived into writing character descriptions for Duck! They embarked on a journey that transformed abstract imagination into structured, vivid language, using adjectives to outline a character's physical appearance and personality!

In our Free Writing the children truly unlocked their creative potential by writing imaginative stories inspired by a mysterious, magical golden door. Stepping through the threshold of their own imaginations, the young writers crafted captivating narratives filled with hidden worlds, enchanted forests, and daring adventures.

They did a fantastic job of building suspense, using vivid imagery and descriptive language to capture the gleaming brilliance of the door and the sense of wonder that lay beyond it. From secret kingdoms to unexpected plot twists, each child brought a unique perspective to the prompt, demonstrating incredible originality and a growing confidence in their narrative storytelling.

This week, our young artists channeled their inner impressionists by using vibrant soft pastels to recreate Vincent van Gogh’s iconic, swirling stars. The children thoroughly enjoyed exploring the tactile nature of the pastels, learning how to layer rich yellows, deep blues, and glowing whites to mimic the intense movement found in The Starry Night!

They carefully practiced smudging, blending, and applying short strokes to give their skies a textured, energetic quality. It was wonderful to see how they beautifully captured the radiant, luminous glow of the stars while putting their own unique, creative spin on a timeless masterpiece.

This week, our Year 2 children have been developing their spatial and geometry skills by learning to draw simple 2-D shapes on squared paper within their Maths books. Using the grids as a helpful guide, the young mathematicians practiced identifying the properties of squares, rectangles, and triangles, carefully counting the squares to ensure their sides were equal or proportional. They worked hard on their fine motor control, learning how to hold a ruler steady and align it with the grid lines to create straight, crisp edges and precise vertices. It was wonderful to hear them discussing what properties each of the shapes would need and to see their determination to create neatly drawn accurate shapes within their book.

We could hardly believe that we'd reached Friday again and as anticipation rose for the first House meetings of the year, the classroom buzzed with excitement as the students gathered at their tables, instantly transforming from individual classmates into a focused collaborative team. Our new House captains were ready to take the lead and guide us through our official house poster for the school year. Laughter and ideas sparked across the table as markers, stickers, and colored paper were shared freely, each student eagerly contributing a unique piece to the layout. Older and younger peers worked side-by-side, carefully creating their own masterpiece, that represented their collective identity. 

In Watermill Kingfishers worked busily away designing their own mask, linking back to the theatre roots of the house name, whilst in Arlington, beautifully decorated hearts flooded the poster and in Anvil a patchwork creation was forming, linking everyone as an individual into their house!

What a way to end our week!

As we look ahead to next week, please remember that children should bring their reading books into school daily. If you ever experience any problems or have questions regarding their reading books, please don't hesitate to speak directly to your child's class teacher. We would also like to remind parents about our upcoming church service on Wednesday 7th October at St Andrew's Church, Chaddleworth. Please ensure you drop your child off directly at the church for 8:20am that morning; following the service, the children will be safely transported back to school in the school minibus.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!