ISSUE THREE

The LJS Community is ‘Walking on Sunshine’ today after motivating themselves by dancing along with Miss Danby to Katrina and the Waves’ classic 80s hit. The suggestions have been flooding in and we have been treated to ‘9 to 5’, ‘Saturday Night’, ‘Waterloo’ and ‘Moana’ this week, with the theme being ‘Musicals’ next week! Several Lion King and The Greatest Showman titles have been mentioned, so we are looking forward to next week already!

We’ve enjoyed an eclectic mix of After School Activities this week, with Gruffalo and Mouse drawing tutorials, jelly making with Mr Smith, a whole host of bird related activities from the RSPB and, without doubt the most popular activity of the week, snow play! We had photographs and videos flooding in on Teams, with sledging, sledge-boarding, snowmen/women/children/animals, igloos and all sorts of snowy fun all featuring – it was a wonderful sight. Now, onto our featured year groups of the week – Years 1 and 2…

Year One’s learning has been based around a number of different traditional tales this month. The children have really enjoyed changing the ending to the story of The Gingerbread Man in English. They have been practising weighing in Maths and have made some delicious looking gingerbread people to use their new skills. In PSHE, they have discussing jobs they do to help around the home. They proudly shared all the things they do – tidying toys, making beds, taking the dog for a walk, washing dishes, clearing the table, feeding pets, litter picking… the list goes on and on! In RE, the children have been learning about churches in Christianity, sharing information and photographs too. Having experimented with stormy music over the past few weeks, this week the children listened to The Storm from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, listening carefully to how the dynamics of the music tells the story of the storm. Frau Humphrey taught the children how to say what their favourite colour is in German and the children used their knowledge of the names of the colours that they worked on last term. Chronology and learning the seven continents have been the aims in Humanities, with the children being asked to create a timeline featuring themselves. In Art, the children have been challenged to recreate Judy Joel’s painting ‘Skating Rink, Central Park, New York’. It fitted in really well with this week’s wintry weather, as did their Science learning about the seasons. Mrs Maslen took the opportunity to build a snowman in her back garden so that she could photograph it daily in order that the children could see the effects of melting. In Computing, the children have been getting stuck into early coding activities and have thoroughly enjoyed it. In PE, the children practised jumping, hopping and leaping over a variety of objects to improve their balance and accuracy, as well as dancing along with Miss Danby. Year One, you have worked really hard this week – well done!

Year Two have been just as busy as Year One! In their PSHE and Form Times, they have been thinking about their own responsibilities, as well as describing their own forms, using words like kind and happy. Being community-minded, they have also created word searches for each other to complete. They made the most of the snow by measuring the depth of it, as well as creating some pretty impressive 3D shapes, putting their Maths learning to excellent use! In MFL, the children made their own hats and then attempted to sing along to ‘Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken’ which is just as much of a tongue twister in German as it is in English but they did a fabulous job! In Science the children have been learning about how humans change as they grow. Amazingly, Mr Worthington appeared to deliver his lesson from the Natural History Museum… don’t worry, he didn’t break any lockdown laws, he used the wonders of technology to ‘transport’ himself there! The sound of violins, violas and cellos has filled rooms all around the county and beyond, as the children took up their bows and played ‘Willow Waltz’; they also used notation to write their own rhythms. Passing balls was the aim of the game in PE, using chess, bounce and overhead passes – these can all be used in Netball, Basketball and Handball – very useful! Kenya has been the topic of learning in both Humanities and Art. Some fabulous fact files and super Big Five information posters have been shared. The children have also been learning to use four figure grid references. Mud huts, jewellery and some incredible sunset have been created in Art. Our Year Two authors have been hard at work in English, writing short animal stories and using a checklist to check and polish their own work. Well done to you all!

Today’s Family Challenge is a nationwide one – to join in with the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch which is taking place from 29th to 31st January. See our on our Twitter and Instagram feeds if you would like to join in – the more the merrier! See you all again next week, whether in person or on a screen, and have a wonderful weekend, everybody!