Bluebells Class 2022/2023

Welcome back to a new school year!

The Bluebells team are very excited about the year ahead.

If you have any questions or queries about anything, then please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team. If you would like to meet with me, Mrs. Bird, I am available most afternoons to discuss any worries or concerns.

The Bluebells team are:

Class teacher:              Mrs Bird

Teaching assistants:   Mrs Burgess                                 

                                      Mrs Brampton 

                                      Mrs Deakin (Monday to Wednesday-pm)

PE

Our PE days is a Thursday morning. We ask the children to come to school wearing their P.E kit.

Toast

Toast is available to buy daily at a cost of £1 per week. Please send your child’s money into school in a named envelope.

Topic

Our topics change every  half term.

In the autumn term we looked at 'Traditional Tales' and 'Dinosaurs'.  During whole school enrichment week we looked at the life of  David Attenborough.

In the  spring term our topic  was on Space and Plants. During our 'Space' topic we learned about important historical figures; why our senses are important and enjoyed a number of wonderful stories. When we learned about plants we discovered that plants grow from seeds or bulbs and that they need light and water to help them grow. We also discovered that plants can act as dye and change the colour of fabrics. We created versions of Van Gough's sunflowers too.

In the summer term we will be learning about transport (our local area) and life under the sea.

English - Summer Term

We will read a selection of books about transport or transport themes (fiction, non-fiction and poems). The children will be sharing stories and learning to record and act out some of the stories they have heard via 'movie maker' software on the Ipad.

Maths

We will focus on number, measuring, time and fractions this term

Science

We will be learning about the properties of materials. We will discover which materials can bounce, stretch, bend, twist, float and sink. We will also be carrying out some experiments using 'Cilla Cat' to help us record our thinking.

Our learning over the year

Autumn 1

Books

Books we have read in class this half-term include:

Goldilocks

The Three Little Pigs

The Three Billy Goat Gruffs

The Colour Monster

Below are some youtube links to share the story at home

We looked at the art work of Kandinsky. We looked at  primary colours and learned how to mix them.

What shapes can you see in Kandinsky's work?

On our first week at school, we used the book 'The Colour Monster' to talk about feelings and emotions.

In our English work we looked at the story of the Three Little Pigs and used this to help with our science topic.

In science we looked at different materials. We looked at which materials would be best to make homes for the pigs. We discovered that some materials can be smooth, transparent and flexible.

After reading the story of the Three Little Pigs we made a wanted poster to warn other characters about this wolf! 

After hearing the story of Goldilocks we all watched Mrs. Bird make a large bowl of porridge.

We then got to taste porridge...it was yummy!!

We listened to the story of  Diwali and looked at some of the patterns and colours which are used during the festival. We worked together in a group and made a large rangoli pattern.

We used coloured sticks and lentils to make our picture. Do you like it?

We also made small diva pots ( a clay pot for a candle).

During Mental Health week we talked about objects, places and people who make us happy. We wore clothes to express our individuality.

Autumn 2

I hope you all had a wonderful October break.

This half term we are going to be very busy! The first week back all the children in Bluebells (and across the school) will be studying the life of David Attenborough as our Enrichment topic. We will cover history, science, art and geography. We will be looking at who David Attenborough is and the lessons he has taught people for many, many years. The children in Bluebells will focus on 'Colour' in nature.

After David Attenborough we will be learning all about...DINOSAURS!

This will be an exciting topic where the children will learn about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. They will learn about timelines and how not all dinosaurs lived at the same time. The children will also be introduced to the life of Mary Anning through our history lessons.

This year, for our Christmas production, we are hoping to write and film a Bluebells production which we will be able to share with you. This production will form part of our learning - writing, reading, performing and singing as a group. I do hope you will be able to make (Date and time to be confirmed).

David Attenborough Week 1st November 2022

In class we shared this book and looked at the pictures. Click on the link below and hear the story.

We looked at how animals can use colours to camoflage with the environment. The children then made their own camouflage pictures using chalks and pastels.

Can you spot the animals? 

As a class we wrote a poem on colours. Click on the link to read it. What is your favourite colour? How would you describe the colour purple?

We looked at camouflage patterns and decided which one we liked the best. Can you see which pattern is the favourite? How many children like the giraffe pattern? 

We looked at the colours of animals and insects and placed them in an environment which would keep them safe (survival and camouflage).

The children created a picture of David Attenborough and wrote sentences to show what they had learned about him.

To follow in David Attenborough's footsteps the children made some binoculars to explore the world around them.

We looked at a bird called the ptarmigan. The ptarmigan lives in the Scottish mountains.

Ask someone in Bluebells why this bird is special? What can it do?

Children in Bluebells discovered that some animals in the UK can change their colour to survive. The children also learned the meaning of the word camouflage.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/ptarmigan/

Click on the link above and learn some facts about the ptarmigam. You can also hear facts from David Attenborough's 'Life in Colour' (episode 2 - on bbc iplayer)

Here is a link to a Cbeebies interactive story about David Attenborough you may enjoy.

Dinosaurs

This half term we will be reading the following books:

Munch, Crunch, Dinosaur Munch (poetry focus)

The girl and the dinosaur (poetry)

Stone girl, bone girl (history focus)

Dinosaurs (non-fiction)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/topics/dinosaurs

We learned about the fossil hunter, Mary Anning. She lived many years ago. 

We learned a number of dinosaur names and discovered that not all dinosaurs lived on the earth at the same time!

Spring 1

In English we will be sharing some of the following books to help us learn and to imagine what life in space could be like. Would you like to go to space? What do you think you would need? What might you see in space? Will there be air in space? Would it be warm or cold? So many questions and so much to discover...

Astro girl

Look up

Whatever Next

Goodnight Spaceman

Man on the Moon

The Way back Home

Here come the Aliens

QPootle5

Space

ART:

We looked at the work of Vincent Van Gough. He was a painter who lived many years ago. One of his paintings is called 'Starry Nights'. We copied Van Gough's work  - we looked at  making swirls,  mixing colours, the thickness of different textures and how using different  paint brushes can change the thickness of lines and swirls.

Do you like our paintings?

History:

In history, we learned that about the first man to walk on the moon, the first women in space and the name of the first British astronaut to travel to space. Do you know who they are?

• Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. He was from America.
• Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to travel to space. She was from Russia.
• Tim Peake was was the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS)

You can visit the following website and learn a lot more about life in space and the ISS

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Science:

In our science lessons we learned all about our senses. We pretended to be training astronauts - did you know astronauts carry out a lot of experiments in space? They collect rock samples and investigate how well plants can grow in space.

In our science lessons we tested how good our senses were by investigating our sense of touch and smell

Can you remember what we doing in this picture?

Spring 2

Welcome back! This half term we start  with World Book Week. All the children across the school are sharing the book 'Journey'. This is a wonderful picture book which allows the children to use their skills of observation, story telling and prediction - what will the girl do? Where will she go? How will she get there?

Have a look at the link below and share the text together

Our Journey Work

Plants

This half term we will be learning about plants. We will be planting a range of seeds and bulbs and carrying out experiments to find how plants grow best. We will be learning the names of common plants in our garden and exploring the meaning of the words evergreen and deciduous. We will be asking the question - are fruits and vegetables plants ?

Week 2:

This week we learned all about sunflowers.

We shared the books:

• Seed to Plant 
• The Lifecycle of a Sunflower.
• Jasper's beanstalk

We wrote instructions on how to plant a seed and made predictions about what will happen to our seed. We used the plants outside to learn about the language of short, shorter, longest - cm and non-standard measures. We investigated how tall we were using cubes, pencils and rulers and standard measures (cm/m).

Week 3:

This week we are looking at vegetables and discovering which is Oliver's favourite vegetable. Do you have a favourite vegetable?

Week 5:

We read the story of the 'Tin Forest'. We had to make predictions about what we thought the story would be about by looking at the pictures. We really enjoyed this weeks story (see link below to share the story)

We made our own tin creatures too. We used large tin foil plates and learned how to emboss designs. We also discovered that the pattern could be seen on the opposite side of the plate too!

Summer 1

Week 1:

It is the start of the summer term and we are looking at transport and our local area. This week we read the wonderful book 'Naughty Bus' (see link below).

We also recorded our own version of the story using the ipads. We had great fun working together and learning how to use movie maker.

We also looked at how cars in the past had two seats and no steering wheel!

After listening to the Naughty Bus story we designed our own cars. We learned that cars have wheels and axels.

Do you like our designs? Can you spot the car from Mario Brothers and King Charles III carriage?

Week 2: 

This week we are listening to 'Oi, Get of My Train' by John Burningham. It is about a boy who goes on a train journey with his dog and finds animals want to join him on his travels.

In maths we are learning about capacity and in science we want to learn about materials as next week we will be making a jacket for King Charles III to wear.

Maths

This week we looked at weight (g/kg) and capacity (ml/l)  We used balance scales, weighing scales and measuring scales to make custard.

Some of us learned about grams and kilograms. Do you know how many grams make 1kg?

King Charles III

This week we are focusing on the Royal Coronation of King Charles III.

Science - summer 1

We observed and predicted which ball we thought could bounce the highest. We discovered that some balls are bouncier than others.

We are looking at which materials can stretch as we want to design a coat for King Charles III

Week 4:

This week we are reading Mr.Gumpy's Outing and will look at canals in Atherstone.