A message from Miss Quarmby
It's definitely getting a little chillier, a bit wetter, and darker much earlier, but we're still shining brightly here at Whitkirk. Mr Sadler and I have loved this week, as we've had lots of opportunities to spend time in classes and on the playground. We've enjoyed reading non-fiction texts in Reception (until the children realised that I am not a fan of tarantulas and they found it hilarious to keep finding pictures of them!), and playing in the home area - we were certainly well looked after! In LKS2, we've been reading lots of spooky writing. We were truly amazed by the enthusiasm and vocabulary used. In UKS2, we stayed away from the pig-heart dissection in Year 6, but have enjoyed spending lunchtimes with the children and seeing them all engaged in activities that Mr Stout had organised from Kwik cricket to girls football, where even Miss Woodward joined in! So many fantastic things are happening in school, and we'd love to invite you to join us. Therefore, in two weeks time, we're holding 'Learning together' sessions. These are an opportunity for parents/ carers to come and join us in the classroom. These sessions will be 30 minutes long and this term, we will be focusing on maths. All you need to do is drop your child off at school as normal, and then sign in via the Large hall door. Sessions will last for 30 minutes. We would love as many of you as possible to join us.
- Learning together sessions:
- Monday 3rd October - Year 5 and Year 6
- Tuesday 4th October - Year 3, Year 3/4 and Year 4
- Friday 7th October - Year 1 and Year 2
- Stay and Play sessions will begin for Reception weekly in Autumn 2. Miss Emery will share more information closer to the time
2022/2023 planner
Attendance
This week we have a tie for first place with perfect 100% attendance: well done to both 2KD and 2RD! In second place, we also have a tie, with 99.05% for both 1JC and 5JC, and then in third place we have 5AR with 98.57%. A big well done to all those classes. Our whole school attendance at Whitkirk this week is 96.65%. Can we get this back up to 97% next week or beat our first week of 97.8%? The only way we can do that is for everyone to come to school as much as they can. See you all next week for another fantastic week of learning!
Let's see what's been happening in our classes this week
EYFS
This week in Reception, the children have continued to explore and learn how to use resources in their new classroom. It has been wonderful to watch as the children have developed in confidence and independence throughout the week! Miss Quarmby visited on Wednesday, and was blown away with how well the children were learning independently in the areas of provision!
In maths this week, the children have leant how to count! We have explored counting a range of objects including pine cones, autumn leaves , Colour Monsters and counters! The children made sure that they lined their objects up, and then touched one item at a time to accurately count the amount. The children were quick to correct Miss Emery when she counted too quickly and didn't touch one item at a time!
Throughout the week we have continued to focus on developing fine motor skills. We have been cutting leaves , pushing, twisting and pressing playdough and painting, in order to develop the small muscles in the children's hands and wrists. Once these muscles are developed, children will be able to show more control when holding pencils and writing tools! Well done Reception! Another wonderful week of learning!
Key Stage 1
We have had another fantastic week in Year 1! The children have continued to amaze us with their writing. We have changed the Little Red Hen into our own animal and the children have invented their own stories about a farm animal of their choice. They have applied what we have learned to ensure their stories make sense by using full stops and capital letters.
Our Year 1 pupils have been building on and strengthening their reasoning and mathematical language this week when comparing objects and numbers. We’ve focused on key vocabulary such as ‘fewer, more, same, greater than, less than and equal to’. We used a range of practical activities to support our learning!
This week in Year 2, in maths we have been comparing and ordering numbers to 100. In RE, we have been comparing how Christians and Muslims welcome babies into the world. As Scientists, we have presented data on bar charts to show the height of a variety of different seeds. In Art, we have learnt all about our new artist, Caterina Van Hemessen, and can’t wait to produce art just like hers!!
Lower Key Stage 2
This week the children in LKS2 have amazed us with their creative writing! Their imaginations and vocabulary choices, when writing their diary entries, have had us hooked in from the beginning to the end. Throughout our writing this week, we have focused on editing, ensuring we check for the punctuation and key grammar features we have been developing over the last couple of weeks. In Maths, we have continued to develop our understanding of the place value of digits. We have been applying these skills by comparing and ordering different 3 and 4-digit numbers. In Geography, we have delved deeper into our Big Idea, 'What will we discover on our European adventure?' We used maps to locate European landmarks and recorded these by creating a key. In our PSHE lessons, the children have really impressed us with the respectful way they share their ideas and listen to others. A fantastic week LKS2! Well done!
Upper Key Stage 2
Another amazing week in Year 5! We completed our persuasive advert for our new rocket ride into space and published these into posters to place around school to persuade Year 6. We created slogans and eye-catching posters to convince our audience to book their tickets immediately! In Science and Geography, we have combined our learning to look at what is meant by a day and understanding how days can be different across different time zones. We loved looking at how shadows are formed outside and using our problem-solving skills to figure out which time zone a country is in. In Spanish, we have recapped some different greetings and improved our pronunciation to ensure we are being as accurate as possible. A fab week Y5: keep it up!
It's been a busy week. Phew! All the staff have been mightily impressed with the learning attitudes on show this week. As a diagnostic tool and to give the children the experience, they have sat several past SATs papers in maths and reading. The children have really given it their all and impressed us no end. As a team, we will use this information to guide our teaching this half term. In Science we dissected pigs' hearts ♥ so we could really understand how the heart works (which they loved!) In English, we are learning how to write explanations. We have decided to write explanations of how the human heart and lungs work. To push ourselves even further, Dr Hart (Mrs Hart's son and a specialist in cardiovascular medicine) has volunteered to read our finished explanations and decide which ones are the best.
