Heartsease Primary Academy Newsletter - 25th September 2023

Office update

Uniform ordering

We will be processing uniform orders on a weekly basis as from next week. Cut off for orders to receive by the end of the school week will be a Monday evening, if you order after a Monday evening the order will not be ready until the following week. Orders will be sent to your child's class to bring home rather than collecting from the school office.

Snacks

Please note that snacks (Fruit) for breaktimes are to be kept in the children's bags rather than in their lunchboxes.

Diarrhoea/Vomiting

Please be reminded that if you child has an episode of diarrhoea / vomiting they need to be at least 48 hours clear from the last episode before returning to school.

Weekly class updates

Nursery

This week we have been thinking about the sense of sight. The children have used mirrors, magnifying glasses, magnifiers and binoculars to look at things closely. They had a great time making their own binoculars and telescopes from cardboard tubes. The children have started to go to Forest School. They have all enjoyed exploring the woods and looking for minibeasts. They are looking forward to going next week. 

Ruby Class

This week, Ruby class thought about 'my body' - learning the names for internal and external parts. We read a poem by Michael Rosen about hands, then wrote our own about feet. We looked at our baby photos and thought about how we change, and what we will be like in the future. We applied our painting skills to imitate Andy Warhol - painting black-and-white photos of ourselves in unusual colours. We went into the forest and made portraits of ourselves, using natural objects. In music, we learnt the difference between tuned and untuned instruments. We also learnt a song to help us remember our body parts. In Maths, Key Stage 1 continued working on place value. Reception learnt to consistently count to 5.

Reception - Jasper/Jade Classes

This week our focus book has been 'Oliver's Vegetables' by Vivian French. The children have loved retelling and acting out the story with each other. They have made, painted, coloured and collaged vegetables. We investigated our school garden area to find out what was growing. The highlight of the week was making fruit kebabs and then eating them! This week all the children attended Forest School activities in our woods which they really enjoyed. In maths our current unit supports the goal of understanding number to 10, including composition of each number. The children are getting really good at subitising, (recognising quantities without counting) up to 5. We were pleased to welcome lots of family members into class on Wednesday.

Year 1 - Onyx / Opal classes

What a busy week we have had in year 1! We have learnt what a community is and how we can contribute to our local community. In writing and reading we have been reading poems; recognising rhyme and repetition and even wrote our own poems. Maths; we have learnt how to use the greater than/less than symbol to compare numbers/amounts. In art we used different medias and lines to create a rhino! In science we learnt about day and night and discussed why does the day become night?

Next week is our walk to see seasonal change in Mousehold (we need volunteers to come with us, so if you can please let a member of staff know). 

Reading books - Please return any reading books that you have have at home as we are running low on books to give out to the children.

Year 2 - Aqua / Amber classes

This week in English we have started reading The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs by Aesop, we are exploring and discussing poems and using dictionaries to find the meaning of new words.

In reading we are focusing on summarising and retrieval from texts.
Maths: writing numbers to 100 in expanded form,counting 10s on a number line to 100, counting 10s and 1s on a number line to 100 and estimating numbers on a number line.

In Science we are learning where plants and animals live.

In History we are learning where the Great Fire of London spread to.

In R.E we are discussing the meaning of light.

In Computing, we are talking about different information technologies around us.

In Music we are learning about short and long sounds and learning two new songs called 'Good Morning' and 'Dipidu'.

In Art we are exploring textiles and the use of music and mark making to express mood.

Year 3 - Coral / Crystal classes

Coral and Crystal class were delighted to welcome our parents into our art lesson this week. Finally, our children could show what tonking, sgraffito and impasto were. We are looking forward to welcoming you all again soon! In science, we continue our mission to find out about rocks. This week we questioned whether a rock can change? Ask us about metamorphic rocks! In writing, we have been entering a strange castle and writing about what we found there and in reading, we have been complementing our science work to read about geologists. Ask us if we can remember what the root word 'geo' means.

 Year 4 - Garnet / Topaz classes

This week in Year 4 we have been learning about rhetorical questions, writing sentences with alliteration and similes. . In reading, we explored different texts to find connections and discussed authorial intent. In maths, we have learned to round numbers to 1,000, 100 and to 10. In History, we explored where the Anglo-Saxons came from. In Art, we observed lines in nature and made rubbings of leaves then washed the rubbings to create a contrasting effect. In French, we have been learning how to ask and respond to questions related to the days of the week. 

Year 5 - Emerald / Sapphire classes

It's hard to believe that we are nearly half way through the first term of Year 5 and still the sun is shining. The children have been working hard on writing and editing their own versions of The Trainee Oracle in their writing lessons. Within reading they have been distinguishing between three different texts - looking for the similarities and differences in both characters and the storyline. Mathematics has moved into ordering and rounding 6-digit numbers and we are nearly ready to move onto our next topic. PE saw the children deciding when it was the best time to pass the ball in football. On Tuesday we had The European Day of Languages. The children investigated how to say hello in the different countries that make up Europe. Last week we had a great science lesson exploring solutions. This involved salt, eggs and lemonade. It's been another busy but exciting week in Year 5. 

Year 6 - Diamond / Quartz classes

Yesterday we were very happy to welcome our parents into class to help us to Escape from the Autumn Forest - using all our maths problem solving skills.

This week has been challenging for the children as they faced their first set of practice SATs. They tried hard and we are very proud of them. 

We are really getting into 'Rooftoppers' and enjoying the story.

In writing we are writing our Autobiographies. 

We continue to practise the four operations ( + - x ÷) in maths

In the afternoons we are: 

Painting self-portraits in the style of Frida Kahlo (Art and Design)

Learning about the structure of the Earth and tectonic plates (Geography)

Testing electrical circuits (Science)

Solving the Friendship Problem (PSHE)

Realising its OK to be different and complementing each other (PSHE)

Looking at different religions teaching about Peace and War (RE)

Learning the soul song ‘Do what you want to.’ (Music)

PE

Boogie Bounce club-The children are smashing the routines in Boogie Bounce this half term. This fun, energetic club has the children jumping and dancing their socks off!

KS1 Football Fun at Lionwood Infant

10 of our KS1 girls had a great time this week at Lionwood Infant School.They

got the chance to tackle, dribble, score goals and work as a team to try and inspire them into football.

• Ruby Class - Eli-Alby Joe - For understanding place value and being able to read 2-digit numbers;also for great paintbrush control in art.
  
• Jade Class - Cody - For perseverance with his phonic activities. Well done Cody.
• Opal Class - Alexander - For making the right choices; concentrating and listening and for completing all learning tasks.
• Onyx Class - Riley - For being passionate about his learning.
• Aqua Class - Yeva - For lots of enthusiasm with his school work, keep it up!
• Coral Class - Kiko - He created an excellent set of tips for scanning texts. We are particularly impressed by his suggestion to underline the word once he found it. Smart thinking Kiko!
• Crystal Class - Luth - For his brilliant use of ambitious adjectives and adverbs in his writing this week.
• Garnet Class - Jayden - For continually setting a fantastic example within the class, always following adult instructions the first time of asking and ensuring his area is amongst the tidiest.   
• Topaz Class - Avery - She has shown brilliant attitude in every lesson. I am particularly impressed with her attitude and determination to always do her best. Wonderful!
• Emerald Class - Charlie - He has been an inquisitive and determined learner this week showing a lot of the skills needed in Year 5.
• Sapphire Class - Polina - For amazing letter formation in her handwriting book. Excellent work!
• Quartz Class - Hitesh - For his excellent work in both reading and writing, and for always showing a positive attitude to learning. Well done!
• Diamond Class - Jack - For showing such a positive attitude in the practice SATs this week and trying his best in every test. Well done!
• PE - Sophie / Aqua class - For her confidence in the water this week. She has shown good determination. Well done!
  

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