Welcome to Robins class!

Hello! Welcome to Robins' Class Page. 

Please always feel free to speak to me and ask any questions you have - I will try my best to answer them!

Each term a class letter and topic map will go out to keep you informed about what the children will be learning during the term. 

Another busy and tiring week in Robins! The weeks are running away with us and we are so focused I have hardly had a chance to get the iPad out to take photos so i apologise again for their absence. 

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to parents’ evening, it was lovely to catch up with you all and have the chance to talk for longer than a few seconds at drop-off. I hope you found the meetings helpful. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please always feel free to catch me at the door or email the school office — I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Maths

Year 1:
This week, Year 1 have been solving addition and subtraction problems through number stories. They have been learning to recognise and use the +, – and = signs to read and write simple additions and subtractions. We have also been adding small numbers by counting on and subtracting small numbers by counting back, using practical examples to help make sense of each problem.

Year 2:
Year 2 have been developing their understanding of number relationships by:

• Adding and subtracting 1s from any number (e.g. 34 + 1 = 35, 62 – 1 = 61).

• Adding by making 10 — using number bonds to bridge through ten (e.g. 8 + 5 = 8 + 2 + 3 = 13).

• Exploring bonds to 100 in tens (e.g. 10 + 90, 20 + 80, 30 + 70).

We’ve also been working hard to explain our mathematical thinking aloud, helping to show a clear understanding of how and why our strategies work.

English

In English, we have been using noun phrases (Year 1) and expanded noun phrases (Year 2) to describe characters from the story I Love You, Blue Kangaroo. We have also learnt what nouns and adjectives are — for example:

• Noun = a person, place, or thing (e.g. cat, house, park)

• Adjective = a describing word (e.g. fluffy, tall, shiny)

Alongside this, we have continued to focus on our “sentence must-haves”: capital letters, full stops, finger spaces, and neat handwriting.
 

In RE, we came up with actions to go with each line of The Lord’s Prayer and even got to perform it for Rev. Kate! The children did a wonderful job remembering each part and showing great enthusiasm. This week in Science, we made our submarines ready for next week’s experiment. We will be testing whether they are waterproof or absorbent to see which materials work best to keep our Lego-man pilots dry. In History, we looked at images of toys throughout time and sorted them into groups labelled Present/Now, Past, and Both. The children enjoyed discussing similarities and differences and spotting which toys have stood the test of time and the differences in materials used to make toys over the years. 

Sorry we’ve been a little light on photos this week! We’ve been busy embedding our classroom routines and focusing on making our learning environment quieter while we work. The children are really beginning to get the hang of this, which is so helpful for our learning.

English

This week we introduced the term adjective and learned that it means “a describing word.” If you’d like to listen at home, here’s a link to the song we’ve been using: Adjective Song.

We used our new knowledge to describe scenes from the story The Smile Shop, and there have been some really lovely sentences with exciting adjectives that have made the children’s writing much more imaginative.
 

Maths

Year 1 have been working on partitioning to create number bonds:

• Beginning to know pairs that make 5, 6, and 7.

• Solving missing number problems.

• Knowing number bonds to 10 (e.g., 5 + 5, 6 + 4).

• Practising subtraction from 10 (e.g., starting with 10 fingers and folding down 4 to see that 6 remain).

Year 2 have been:

• Counting in 3s (any extra practice at home would be a huge help!).

• Recapping number bonds to 10.

• Exploring fact families — addition and subtraction bonds within 20.

We are still finding number bonds to 10 a little tricky, so our focus is on making them more instant and automatic. The aim is for the children to be able to quickly shout out the corresponding number to make 10 when given any number.
 

In Science, we started planning our experiment for next week, looking carefully at what a variable is and identifying them in our plans. Our experiment will be to design a submarine that keeps our Lego-man pilot dry — testing whether the material we use is waterproof or absorbent. A big thank you for all the “junk” donations, which make this kind of practical work possible!
 

This week in History, we explored toys from the past, looking at:

• Victorian toys

• Toys our grandparents may have played with

• Toys from our parents’ childhoods

• Present-day toys

We then discussed where these fit on a timeline, helping us see how toys have changed over time.

I hate to say the word already, but we also made our Christmas cards this week! These will be coming home soon, and you’ll have the opportunity to order printed versions. A big thank you to Miss Ankers for her creative flair in helping the children with their designs.

Many of you may have already heard from the children that we now have thrones in the classroom! At the back of the room, we’ve set up a special table with a golden cloth and two thrones. Each day, one child is chosen for making good choices, following our class charter, being a good friend, or working hard in their lessons. They then get to invite a friend to sit with them at the throne table. This has been a hugely exciting addition to our classroom, and the children have absolutely loved it.

Another busy week in Robins, with lots of learning and some exciting new routines. Well done, everyone!

This week has been about getting into the swing of things, and it has been generally quite a quiet week in Robins.

Maths

In Maths, both Year 1 and Year 2 have been working on recognising numbers beyond 20. We are continuing to build fluency and confidence in spotting and reading these larger numbers.

English

In English, we practised writing sentences based on how Riley from Inside Out was feeling. We focused on using the conjunction because to extend our sentences with explanations — for example, “Riley felt sad because she missed her friends.”
 

In Science, we explored the difference between waterproof and absorbent materials. We discussed which properties make a material waterproof or absorbent — for example, things are absorbent because they have tiny holes that let water in. 

This week in DT, we looked at joining materials and the children built their own “junk" cars. The challenge was to design them so the wheels could move — without any adult guidance on how to achieve this. In the coming weeks, we will explore how wheels and axles actually work, and then design and make another version. It will be exciting to see how their ideas and designs improve with this new knowledge.

In Computing, we discussed how to be kind online and what to do if we ever feel that someone is being unkind. The children shared some thoughtful ideas about kindness and respect when using technology.

This week we also held our School Council elections. Everyone did so well with their speeches and presentations — congratulations to Tabitha and Isaac, who have been elected for the year. I would like to say how proud I am of the whole class for how kind and supportive they were towards one another, even if they felt some disappointment for themselves. What great team players we have in Robins!

It’s been a steady week and we’re looking forward to building on this next week!

We think we are finally starting to get over all the colds that have been making their way around the classroom this week. Well done to everyone for powering through, hopefully that’s our first bug of the year completed!

English
This week in English, we have been exploring adjectives we can use to describe colours when writing about toys. For example, “The toy truck is lime green.” Alongside this, we are still concentrating on our overarching writing goals: using capital letters, full stops, finger spaces, and neat handwriting. It was such fun having our toys in the classroom today, as it meant we could describe them in real life!

Maths
Year 2:
This week, the children have been developing their understanding of numbers to 100 by:

• Flexibly partitioning numbers (e.g., 67 can be split into 60 and 7, or into 50 and 17).
• Writing numbers in expanded form (e.g., 43 = 40 + 3).
• Exploring tens on the number line up to 100.
• Using both tens and ones on the number line to 100.
• Estimating where numbers belong on a number line.

We are also continuing our practice of the 10× table, which is building fluency with multiples of 10.

Year 1:
Year 1 have been working on:

• Using ordinal numbers up to 10th (for example: 1st, 2nd, 3rd).
• Finding the number that is one more or one less than any number up to 100.
• Counting forwards to 100 from any given number, and counting backwards from 100 (or from another starting number).

Next week, we will be consolidating our number bonds to 10 to help build quick recall of these key facts.

In History, we thought about what history is and why we learn about it. As an introduction to our “Toys” topic, we discussed our favourite toys, drew pictures of them, and chatted about what they are made from and what we use them for.
This week in Computing, we discussed how to stay safe when using devices. We talked about who we should and shouldn’t talk to online, and who to ask for help if something goes wrong — a trusted adult. In RE, we thought about why Christians pray to God and why they say grace before meals.

It has been another very busy week, and the children have done an excellent job with their learning. We look forward to seeing what next week brings!

Our First Week in Robins!

We have had a wonderful first week in Robins! Starting a new school year can feel like a big jump, especially for our Year 1s, but they have tackled it brilliantly. Everyone is beginning to get the hang of our classroom routines, and we are so proud of how they’ve settled in.

In English, we’ve begun our writing with a focus on the basics: using capital letters to start sentences and full stops to show the end of an idea. These are really important skills to master, and the children are making great progress. As we move into week 2, we’ll be exploring colours and working on using exciting vocabulary to make our writing even more descriptive.

In Maths, Year 1 have been exploring numbers from 1–20. They’ve been helping us outsmart our ‘cheeky turtle,’ who sometimes muddles the numbers or sneaks them away from our number line! The children have also started to recognise how numbers are made up of tens and ones, such as seeing that 12 is made from 10 and 2.

In Year 2 Maths, we’ve been developing our understanding of place value up to 100. We’ve practised recognising which numbers are tens and which are ones—for example, 43 is made of 40 (4 tens) and 3. We’ve also been working on writing numbers to 100 as words. If your child would like to keep practising this at home, we would love to see their efforts!

In Science, we’ve started exploring a variety of everyday materials. The children have enjoyed investigating how we can group them based on their properties, such as bendy, stretchy, soft, or hard.

It has been a busy week and a bit, and we can tell everyone is starting to feel a little tired—but the children are doing a truly wonderful job. We are very proud of them all!