Willows
Dear Parents,
Below is a guide outlining what your child will be learning in Willow Class this term. If you have any queries, please contact me.
LITERACY
We will be learning to read and spell words with long vowel digraphs, i.e.: ‘ee’, ‘ea’, ‘oa’, ‘o-e’, ‘ow’, ‘ai,’ a-e’, ‘ay’, ‘ie’, ‘igh’, ‘y’, ‘oo’, ‘u-e’, ‘ew’, ‘ue’, ‘oo’ (as in good). At the beginning of each week the children will be given spellings to learn, these will be tested on Friday. We will be investigating the use of capital letters, commas and exclamation marks and using them in our writing. We will also try to make our writing more interesting by using connectives, such as suddenly, unfortunately, luckily, etc. Our text work will be based on fiction and poetry, with familiar settings and we will use non-fiction to look at instructions. Good letter formation is a priority, and the children will be practising a cursive style. Children are invited to take home a home reading book as often as they wish - please fill in the title and date in their home reading book, together with any comments about their reading. Mrs. Vincent helps them to change their library book on Thursday. The children are invited to take Bouncer Bunny and his cousin Betsy, for a sleepover: they record what the bunnies do at home, in Bouncer Bunny’s Diary. They may also take Willow Bear home for a weekend visit.
NUMERACY
Children are becoming familiar with reading and writing numbers up to 100. They will count on in ones, twos, fives and tens. They will practise recording in number sentences, using +, -, =, x and division. They will learn to recall pairs of numbers that total 10 and 20 and addition doubles to at least 10+10 together with corresponding halves. Year 2 children will become familiar with multiplication facts of the 10x, 5x and 2x tables and deduce corresponding division facts. They will recognise odd and even numbers. We will also be looking at: length, 2D and 3D shapes, time, money and position and the associated vocabulary. We will recognise halves and quarters and investigate maths problems and puzzles. We will look at ways of handling data, including bar charts and pictograms.
SCIENCE
We shall be studying seasonal changes as an on-going project. We will be investigating animals, including humans, looking at classification, skeleton structure and senses.
HISTORY
Our topic this term is Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. We will be finding out about them from different sources and discovering why they are famous.
R.E.
This term we are studying the miracles of Jesus. In the second half of the term the focus will be on Christmas and we will be rehearsing and performing our Nativity play.
Computing
We will be learning how to programme a computer, starting with Bee Bots and progressing to a simple animation. ICT is used on a daily basis in Literacy and Numeracy, and where appropriate, in other areas of the curriculum
P.E.
Hockey skills will be practised; holding the stick, dribbling and striking the ball. I would suggest your child has a track suit or similar sportswear as it can get chilly later on! We will also practise gymnastic skills- jumping, travelling, stretching and rolling, which will develop into sequences of movement. P.E. is on Wednesdays and Fridays.
MUSIC
The Year 2 children will learn how to play the ocarina, with Mrs. Hickman and have singing lessons with Mr. Ansell. We shall investigate the sounds we can make, loud and soft, short and long, fast and slow. In the second half of the term we will be learning songs to go with our performance of the Nativity at Christmas.
ART/DESIGN
We are studying colour, paint effects and collage, looking at the work of Kandinsky and Monet. In the second half of the term we shall be designing and making fruit salads.
PSHE
This will be an integral part of our Science project. We will be investigating how we can keep our bodies healthy.
Thank you very much to all the parents and friends of Elham School, who give up their precious time to help in Willow Class: your contribution is very highly valued. If anyone feels they can help with any area of the curriculum we would be delighted to hear from you!
Yours faithfully,
Genevieve Ferguson
September 2016
Term 1
Week 1
Week ending 9.9.16
Welcome Willows!
It was lovely to welcome all the new Willows back to school on a beautiful sunny Tuesday. A big welcome to three new children to Elham School: Isabella, Oscar and Ryan.
We have been busy settling into the class routines - what a helpful class! Some children have read their amazing holiday diaries and they have all written about their summer holiday. We also had a visit by aliens on Thursday, wanting to find out about the animals we have on our planet. On the first Friday back we had our first spelling test - what stars! Oscar A was the first child in the school to get a Merit Certificate - well done Oscar!
Willow Class with an alien landing pad, the alien code and some of the animals found on the Earth.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'ee' sound.'
'I learned how to write my numbers.'
'I learned to hold my pencil correctly.'
'I learned how to hold a lacross stick.'
'I learned about symmetry and made a symmetrical butterfly.'
'I learned how to crack the alien code.'
Star of the week: Elliot for an excellent attitude towards his work.
Term 1
Week 2
Week ending 16.9.16
It was lovely to meet my new parents on Monday, to go over the procedures and expectations of Willow Class. I hope they will pop in to see me as often as they can! I am thrilled with the children learning their spellings and reading at home - keep up the good work!
We looked at Friday's date to see the pattern: it gave the children something to think about when I said we would never have that date again!
The class have all settled into Willows beautifully, as if they have always been there. It has been very hot, but they have coped admirably!
Willow Class and the story of the Enormous Turnip
What have we learned this week?
'I learned about the 'oa' sound.'
'I learned how the' magic e' makes the vowel say its name instead of its sound.'
'I learned what a vowel is.'
'I learned to count in 2s.'
'I leaned to count in 5s.'
'I learned to count in 10s.'
'I learned to count in 3s.'
'I found out what an ocarina is.'
'I learned to add two numbers using Unifix cubes.'
Willow Class learning addition using Unifix
'I wrote a prayer about persevering.'
'I learned what a beech leaf, beechnut and beechnut case look like and I labelled my drawings of them.'
'I planted daffodil bulbs - we will see the flowers in the spring.'
'I met Hector the dog and I wrote about me so he would feel better.'
'I made my butterfly kite.'
Star of the Week: Hollie for the excellent effort she puts into her learning.
Term 1
Week 3
Week ending 23.9.16
Another lovely sunny week and the children enjoyed flying their kites on the playground, after which they wrote instructions on how to make their kites (cold task). They drew pictures of themselves to go in a card for Mrs. Risby. Get well soon, Mrs. Risby, we miss you!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'ay' sound.'
'I learned about place value - tens and ones or units.'
'I learned how Jesus healed a paralysed man. This is called a miracle.'
'I leaned about the Hindu festival of Holi.'
'We made pictures for our Harvest assembly, by sponge printing bright colours onto black paper.'
'I learned at Holi, they throw paint and water at each other.'
'We made cards for the Holi festival; they were decorated elephants.'
'I learned how to push pass in hockey.'
'I read the temperature on the thermometer.'
Star of the week: Erin for always trying her best.
Term 1
Week 4
Week ending 30.9.16
Aggh! We made Christmas cards in September! Don't panic - they are for parents to view and then order if they wish, in time for Christmas. We also made jam sandwiches to help us write instructions. It is amazing how the lure of some food can focus the mind!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned that to, two and too are homophones.'
''Two' is the number 2.'
''To' directs you to something.'
''Too' means very or also.'
'I learned to add ten on my number line.'
'I learned to subtract ten, using my 100 square and Unifix cubes.'
'I learned to write instructions using time connectives.'
'I learned the 'ew' sound.'
'I learned to name the parts of my body.'
'I learned what different parts of my body do.'
'I spoke about the Holi festival in our Harvest Festival Assembly.'
'I learned to shoot at the goal in hockey.'
'I learned about keeping myself safe on the internet.'
Willow and Silver Birch Classes work together on posters about keeping safe on the internet
Star of the week: Scarlett for always trying her best and being quick to help in class.
Term 1
Week 5
Week ending 7.10.16
I was excited on Friday as we were going to do our 'Hot Task' following weeks of learning how to write instructions for making our Butterfly Kites. With 'Mr. Mozart playing in the background and our twinkly 'Thinking Lights' on, the children were engrossed in their task and had a well-earned Party Ring for their efforts!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to order my instructions using time-connectives.'
'I learned to put bullet points at the beginning of each instruction.'
'I learned each instruction must go on a new line.'
'I learned to spell 'could', 'would' and 'should' by saying O U Lucky Duck for the end sound!'
'I learned about The Centurion's Servant.'
'I learned what a Horse Chestnut leaf looked like.'
Willow Class looking for Horse Chestnut leaves (and conkers!)
'I learned the 'oo', 'u' phoneme.'
'I learned to order money.'
'I learned to make money totals by adding the largest coin first.'
'I learned the homophone 'to',' too' and 'two'.'
'I made a Story Map for my instructions.'
'I learned my number bonds to 10, 20 and 100.'
Star of the week; Beau for making a great effort with his work and always tidying without being asked!
Term 1
Week 6
Week ending 14.10.16
We 'kick-started' next week's Book Week with a visit from Ian from Kic Theatre. He tailor -made his drama workshops to encompass the Roald Dahl books each class has been studying. In Willows we have been reading 'George's Marvellous medicine'. The children delighted in being grumpy Grandma ordering George about and then acting as George making a revolting medicine. We ended the session with Ian, by thinking what we would put into a medicine to cure evilness in the world; later on, to follow this up, the children discussed what they would like to cure and which values they would add to their medicine and then wrote on an enormous medicine bottle - a very thought-provoking lesson.
Being an enormous success as always, I have invited Ian back next year for Book Week. Has anyone any ideas for a theme?
Willow Class working with Ian from Kic Theater & working on their medicine bottles
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to make different money totals'.
'I learned to show the coins to make the money totals.
'I learned the sound 'igh', 'ie',' i-e', or 'y'.
'I learned the homophones 'by', 'buy' and 'bye'.
'I can identify a Sweet Chestnut leaf, nut and case.'
'I learned about the parable of The Lost Sheep.
'I learned it shows the school value of perseverence.
'I learned that Common Nouns are the names of things you can touch.'
'I learned Proper Nouns are the names of people, places, days of the week and months of the year. They must have a capital letter.'
Star of the Week: Joanna, for always trying her best and being quick to offer help.
Term 1
Week 7
Week ending 21.10.16
What a fantastic Book Week!
We started last Friday with Ian from Kic Theatre (see last week's blog). On Monday we were entertained by Tony and Ramona from 'Tales from the Book of Life'. Tony told amazing stories from around the world and Ramona played the harp, the Irish whistle and violin. On Thursday Jane Buss (Philips), Joanna and Jacob's Grandmother, read us her sequel to 'Keiller the Cathedral Cat.' The children had to illustrate episodes from the story poem and thoroughly enjoyed the task. We are going to make our own class story of 'Keiller and the Puppy'. Finally, on Friday the whole school dressed up as their favourite Roald Dahl character and we had Stuart from Future Creative, who did inspirational Roald Dahl workshops with each class. He enjoyed working with the children so much, he had his lunch with them and attended Celebration Assembly: he couldn't praise the school highly enough saying the children were 'brilliant'. Alongside this we ran the Scholastic Book Club, each afternoon after school. A great big 'Thank you', to Mrs Clayton for organising the rota, Mrs. Lester for providing her contact list, Mrs. Lewis for supervising the set up of the Fair and all the wonderful mums who manned the book stalls every day. We are also holding a 'Readathon' in aid of Roald Dahl's children's charities, which continues over half- term. Prizes were awarded in Acorns, Hazel and Willows for the best drawing of a Roald Dahl character and in Silver Birch, Beech and Oak for the best review and front cover of a Roald Dahl book. Phew!!
Tony and Romana and 'Tales from the Book of Life
Jane Buss (Philips) who is Joanna and Jacob's Grandmother
read us her sequel to 'Keiller the Cathedral Cat.'
Willow Class dressed up as their favourite Roald Dahl characters
What have we learned this week?
'I learned my - number bonds from 20.'
'I learned about The Good Samaritan. This shows our school value of kindness.'
'I learned about the five senses.'
'I learned the 'oy, 'oi' sound.'
'I learned to measure with a metre.'
'I learned to design an underwater tile.'
'I learned to draw a story map.'
Star of the week: Lucy for always trying her best and being kind and helpful.
Term 2
Week 1
Week ending 4.11.16
After a beautiful sunny half-term, it was lovely to welcome the children back to school.
We have had two extra treats this week: a visit from Derryl, who helped the children transform their 'Under the water' designs into a picture on a clay tile and a return visit from Tiempo dance. The children learned a lot about painting with coloured slip and thoroughly enjoyed dancing to 'The Macarina' and' Chihuahua', amongst others.
Tiempo Dance working with Willow Class
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to spell tricky high frequency words like 'friend' and 'people'.'
'I learned the homophones 'see' and 'sea' and 'be' and 'bee'.'
'I learned the homophones 'we',' wee' and' Wii'.'
'I learned to measure in centimetres.'
'I learned to name 2D shapes.'
'I learned how many sides and corners a shape has.'
'I learned to use the conjunctions 'and' and 'but' in sentences.'
'I learned how Jesus was lost in the Temple.'
'I learned that it doesn't matter which way round you add numbers, but it is often easier to start with the larger number.'
Star of the week: Eddie for an excellent effort with his writing.
Term 2
Week 2
Week ending 11.11.16
The children were very interested in the significance of the date on Friday - Armistice Day and we marked the occasion in Celebration Assembly with Rev. Jane.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'ou', 'ow' sound.'
'I learned how to use 'because' in a sentence.'
'I learned how to use 'then' in a sentence.'
'I learned to say the story of 'The Enormous Turnip', using the story map and actions.'
'I learned how to find a pattern in a sequence of numbers.'
'I learned to count in twos.'
'I learned to count in fives.'
'I learned to count in tens.'
'I learned my lines for 'It's a Cracker.'
'I learned to write a prayer about wisdom.'
'I learned how to test my sense of taste with 'The Fruit Pastelle Challenge.' (The results were unexpected - that's science for you!)
Star of the Week: Oscar N. for always trying his best.
Term 2
Week 3
Week ending 18.11.16
What an exciting week! We went up on the stage to practise our Nativity play 'It's a Cracker!'. It is coming along nicely with some budding thespians!
On Tuesday we had Adele in from the Oral Health team talking to the children about how to keep their teeth healthy; they enjoyed having a go at cleaning the crocodile's teeth with a giant tooth brush! We spotted the pattern in the date on Wednesday: 16.11.16 and on Friday the class brought in their favourite soft toys for Children in Need Day, needless to say they were very excited!
Willow Class learn about the importance of oral health
Children in Need Day
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to count in fives to 100.'
'I learned to add 11 by adding 10+1.'
'I learned to add using column addition.'
'I learned the 'ee' sound.'
'I learned how to join a sentence with 'because' or 'then'.'
'I learned how to fill in a table.'
'I learned how 'i', 'e' and 'y' make 'c' and 'g' go soft.'
'I learned about the journey Florence Nightingale took to Scutari, to help the soldiers wounded in the Crimean war.'
Star of the Week: Jasper for always being enthusiastic and trying his best.
Term 2
Week 4
Week ending 25.11.16
We had a lovely ending to the week by a visit from Mrs. Brunsden and sixth form boys from the Harvey Grammar school. The children rotated around different activities to do with plants, for example making a wheel to show the life cycle of an apple tree and looking at slides of different parts of a plant.
Willow Class working with Sixth Form students from the Harvey Grammar School
What have we learned this week:
'I learned the 'dge' sound.'
'I learned the 'oa' sound.'
'I learned that an adjective describes things.'
'I learned how to do column addition of numbers over 100.'
'I learned how Jesus was baptised by John in the River Jordan.'
'I learned how to classify different animals.'
'Did you know an arachnid has eight legs?'
'Did you know an amphibian can live on water and on land?'
Star of the week: Zachary for trying really hard with his writing.
Term 2
Week 5
Week ending 2.12.16
What a cold week, with beautiful frosty days, just the right time for my boiler to break down! The children delighted in finding ice and frosted leaves, that looked as if they were 'sugar-coated'.
We have been practising hard for our Nativity play, 'It's a Cracker' and have formed 'The Willowettes' to sing the first verse of 'Away in a Manger' a cappella, together with Lucy (Mum), who sings a solo - there won't be a dry eye in the house!
Beau noticed that the date on Friday was all even numbers and as we were learning our 2x table we were able to say how many lots of two we had.
On the 1st December the children were thrilled to see our Christmas Tree and Nativity scene and enjoyed opening the first Christmas stocking on our Advent Garland and sticking the first character on our Advent Calendar.
On Thursday we had our Autumn Term Music Concert, arranged by Mrs. Hickman. The Willows sang and played 'Jingle Bells' beautifully on their ocarinas.
Willow Class Ocarina Orchestra
We ended the week with our Christmas Fair and in Willows we did the' Bean Bag in a Basket' game. For KS 2 Lucas T. managed to get a perfect 50 score and in KS 1 it was neck and neck between Jasper and Scarlett; whilst parents took out second mortgages to fund this needle match the tension built - Hamilton/ Rosberg, Djocovic/Murray, Jasper/Scarlett - who would win? In the end, it was a draw with 40 points each!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned my 2x table.'
'I learned to double.'
'I learned that doubling and x2 is the same thing.'
'I learned that you can do multiplication two ways like addition.'
'I learned to write the story of 'The Enormous Turnip.'
'I learned about the twelve disciples of Jesus.'
Star of the Week: Isabella for always trying her best.
Term 2
Week 6
Week ending 9.12.16
We had our pre-dress rehearsal for the Nursery School on Thursday and Dress Rehearsal for Age Concern and the rest of the school on Friday. Unfortunately, 'Grandad' - Elliot was poorly and so Erin stepped in for him; this meant Jasper had to stand in for Erin and Oscar A. did his part as well as Jasper's - they did a magnificent job - what troopers! Now we have just the matinee on Monday and the evening performance on Wednesday - break a leg!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned my 2x table.'
'I learned how to put commas in lists.'
'I learned how to write a letter.'
'I learned how to halve a number.'
'I learned that halving is the same as sharing into two groups.'
'I learned that doubling is the same as x2.'
'I learned to sequence The Nativity Story.'
Star of the Week: Oscar A. for a tremendous effort with his writing and for taking on the extra role in the play at short notice.
Term 2
Week 7
Week ending 16.12.16
What a week!
On Monday we had our matinee performance of 'It's a Cracker' in front of the rest of the school and ladies and gentlemen from Age Concern. Fortunately, only 'Mary' was off sick ( her understudy Erin was amazingly serene - get well soon Izzy!) and the children performed brilliantly. On Wednesday we had our evening performance and as well as Erin we had Joe A. standing in for Zac as a 'Camel Guy' and an excellent job he did too (it was lovely to see Zac back on Friday, fully recovered!). Again the children performed magnificently and a huge thank you to Mr. Davison for returning to do the lighting and our wonderful volunteers and TAs who supported the children.
On Tuesday we went to see 'Dick Whittington' at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. A stunning production and the children were a credit to the school.
On Thursday afternoon the children made Christingles for our service on Friday in the church. It was lovely to see the candles lit and the children behaving so responsibly.
On Friday morning, we had a class party; the children didn't know this until the last minute, because they have to get 20 marbles in the jar and this wasn't achieved until the last angel was finished! ( I know I had to do the shopping two days previously, but the children were none the wiser!) We shared our party food with Hazel class and the class pointed out we were showing our school values of 'kindness' 'humility' and 'wisdom' - what lovely children!
Thank you very much for all the lovely presents and cards I received - I was very touched.
In between this we made Christmas cards, calendars and angels - what else did we learn?
'I learned to share with a remainder.'
'I learned to write questions for Father Christmas.'
Star of the Week: All of 'The Willows' for their performance of 'It's a Cracker' and the amazing progress they have made this term!
Have a lovely Christmas and I look forward to seeing you all on January 3rd!
Dear Parents,
Below is a guide outlining what your child will be learning in Willow Class this term. If you have any queries, please contact me.
LITERACY
We will be learning to read and spell words with long vowel digraphs, i.e.: ‘air’, ’ere’, ‘are’, ‘ear’; ‘or’, ‘oor’, ‘aw’, ‘au’, ‘ore’; ‘er’, ‘ur’, ‘ir’; blends, e.g. ’wh’, ‘ch’ and ‘ph’; prefixes, e.g. ‘un’, ‘re’ and ‘dis’’; antonyms, e.g. pretty and ugly, cheap and expensive; compound words, e.g. playtime, homework and icepack and suffixes, e.g. ‘ing’ , ‘ed’ and ‘ful’. We will learn to count syllables and phonemes. The reading and spelling of high frequency words is an ongoing priority. At the beginning of each week the children will be given spellings to learn, these will be tested on Friday. We will be investigating the use of commas and speech marks and using them in our writing. We will also try to make our writing more interesting by using connectives, such as suddenly, unfortunately, luckily, etc. We will be looking at grammatical agreement and using the standard form of verbs. Our text work will be based on fiction and poetry, by significant authors and we will use non-fiction to look at instructions. Good letter formation is a priority and we will continue to perfect our cursive style. The children will be looking at different ways of presenting their work, including using word processing. Writing is encouraged and practised at every opportunity and this term we will be focusing on the structure of a story and key elements, such as setting, character, the use of adjectives, alliteration and onomatopoeia. Children are invited to take home a home reading book as often as they wish- please fill in the title and date in their home reading book, together with any comments about their reading. Mrs. Vincent helps them to change their library book on Thursdays.
NUMERACY
Children are becoming familiar with reading and writing numbers up to 100 and above. They will count on in ones, twos, fives and tens. They will practise recording in number sentences, using +, -, x and division. They will learn to recall pairs of numbers that total 10 and 20) and addition doubles to at least 10+10 together with corresponding halves. Year 2 children will become familiar with multiplication facts of the x10, x5 and x2 tables and deduce corresponding division facts. These will be tested on Fridays. They will recognise odd and even numbers. We will also be looking at: length, 2D and 3D shapes, time, money, capacity, weight and position and the associated vocabulary. We will recognise halves and quarters and investigate maths problems and puzzles. We will look at ways of handling data, including bar charts and Venn diagrams.
HISTORY
We are finding out about toys and games and how modern toys are different from those in the past. If any parents or grandparents have a favourite toy, from when they were little and would be willing to share it with the class (we promise to be careful and not to touch!), I would be most grateful.
SCIENCE
We shall be investigating materials and their different properties. We will continue to explore the changing seasons, linking this to compass and map work in GEOGRAPHY.
R.E.
This term we are studying The Creation and the Easter story.
I.C.T.
We will learn to use a paint program to create artwork. This will include saving and loading work, editing and printing. We are learning to program a Bee Bot.
P.E.
We will practise ways of travelling, e.g. jumping, rolling, hopping, twisting and turning. We will contrast our movements, controlling the speed, height and direction. We are going to explore movement in dance and drama, looking at rhythm and using space individually and cooperatively. P.E. is on Wednesdays (Mrs. Horton) and Fridays.
MUSIC
With Mr. Ansell, we shall investigate the sounds we can make, loud and soft, short and long, fast and slow and how these affect the rhythm of a piece of music. Mrs. Hickman will continue to teach the ocarina to Year 2 children.
ART/DESIGN
We will be investigating weaving, printing and moulding techniques, exploring texture, shape and colour, using a variety of natural and man-made materials. We will be making puppets for our Design and Technology project.
PSHE
This will be an integral part of our R.E. project, investigating the need for rules in our lives. We will also discuss social problems as they arise naturally in the group.
If anyone can be of assistance with any aspect of the curriculum, we would be delighted to welcome you into school! The parents and governors, who help in Willow Class, make a real difference to the children’s knowledge, learning and skills and are highly valued members of the team.
Yours faithfully,
Genevieve Ferguson
Spring Term 2017
Term 3
Week 1
Week ending 6.1.17
Happy New Year and welcome back!
It is lovely to see the children back, well and refreshed after the Christmas break. We have hit the ground running, learning lots this week!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned how to make money totals using different coins.'
'I learned how to write money totals as a decimal.'
'I learned how to round a number to the nearest 10.'
'I learned to write an exclamation sentence, using 'how or 'what' at the beginning.'
'I wrote exclamations about Father Christmas.'
'I wrote commands for Father Christmas.'
'I learned the 'air' sound.'
'I learned different balances and supports in gymnastics.'
'I learned that things are made of different materials.'
'I can say my 2x table.'
Star of the week: Amelie for being really engaged in her learning.
Term 3
Week 2
Week ending 13.1.17
It snowed! On Friday the ground had a 3cm layer of frozen snow and ice and the children were very excited every time we had a shower of snow! Being only 6 years old, and not having seen much of the white stuff, I think they were entitiled to be a bit excited!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned that water freezes at 0 degrees celcius.'
'I learned that water boils at 100 degrees celcius.'
'I learned how to write the Rule of Three, using commas and 'and'.'
'I learned the 10x table.'
'I learned how to draw an array.'
'I learned that multiplication is repeated addition.'
'I learned that multiplication can be turned around.'
'I learned to halve and quarter shapes.'
'I learned how to write 1/4 and 1/2.'
'I learned how to add 'ing' to words that have a vowel followed by two consonants - you just add 'ing'.'
'I learned to add 'ing' to words that have a vowel followed by one consonant - you double the consonant.'
'I could name the properties of of objects made from different materials.'
'I learned to draw and paint a picture of my favourite toy.'
Star of the week: Ryan for a super effort with his learning.
Term 3
Week 3
Week ending 20.1.17
Another really productive week in the Willows! We were very pleased to welcome Mr. Skinner (Eddie's daddy) in to class to show and talk about some of his old toys. The Flying Scotsman was a particular favourite of the teachers (and the children) as it chugged around the number mat. Although much loved and played with, the toys were in remarkably good condition - I wonder if we will be able to say the same of our children's toys in forty years time!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'or' phoneme.'
'I learned how to add 'ing' and 'ed' to words with a split digraph.'
'I learned what a verb is.'
'I learned my 10x table.'
'I learned that multiplication is repeated addition.'
'I learned how to draw arrays.'
'I learned that division is the opposite of multiplication.'
'I learned that arrays show division.'
'I learned about Zacchaeus, the tax collector.'
'I wrote a prayer about humility.'
'I learned how to classify materials.'
'I learned what weaving is'
'I learned that most fabrics have a warp and a weft.'
'I designed my own fabric with different coloured warps and wefts.'
Star of the week: Phoebe for demonstrating good understanding of arrays.
Term 3
Week 4
Week ending 27.1.17
Another really cold, icy week!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'le' sound.'
'I learned the 'wh', 'ph' and 'ch' sounds. 'Ch' can be like 'c' as in Christmas.'
'I learned to measure in centimetres.'
'I learned to round to the nearest centimetre.'
'I learned to sequence the months of the year.'
'I learned to put the months into the seasons.'
'I learned my 5x table.'
'I learned that repeated addition is the same as multiplication.'
'I learned to make a pattern by weaving paper.'
'I learned to classify items made out of different materials.'
'I learned the story of Adam and Eve and how we can stop spoiling our planet.'
'I learned how to add 'ed' to verbs.'
Star of the week: Hollie for always working her hardest and being kind, helpful and reliable.
Term 3
Week 5
Week ending 3.2.17
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to tell the time to the hour and half past the hour.'
'I learned to tell the time to a quarter past the hour.'
'I learned to tell the time to a quarter to the hour.'
'I learned how to make a bar graph to show our favourite toys.'
'I learned my 5 x table.'
'I learned how to write commands.'
'I learned how to write exclamations and exclamation sentences.'
'I learned to weave with two different colours for the warp and weft.'
'I learned that some materials can turn from solid to liquid and back again.'
'I learned to check my writing.'
'I can write a story with a good beginning sentence.'
Star of the week: Scarlett, for always being reliable, kind and hard-working.'
Term 3
Week 6
Week ending 10.2.17
Another really busy week before we break up for half-term. All the children were really excited to wear their jimmy-jams into school in aid of the Breast Care charity and they still managed to do their spelling and table test!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned how to be safer on the internet.'
'I learned my 2 x table.'
'I learned how to write a poem.'
'I learned how to collect data.'
'I learned how to make a bar chart.'
'I learned how to weigh using grams and kilograms.'
'I learned how to make Rock Cakes.'
'I learned how some materials change when you heat them.'
'I learned the 'ly' suffix.'
'I learned the 'or' phoneme.'
Star of the week: Lucy for always being reliable, helpful and hard- working.
Have an exciting, wonderful, restful half term holiday!
Term 4
Week 1
Week ending 24.2.17
Welcome back after a lovely half-term break!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'oi' phoneme.'
'I learned how to put suffixes on the end of verbs.'
'I learned if a verb ends in a 'y', you change the 'y' into an 'i' before adding 'ful', 'ness' and 'ment'.
'I learned to order numbers using < and >.'
'I learned how to make a bar chart.'
'I learned how to answer questions from bar charts and pictograms.'
'I learned how to write a poem.'
'I learned about the uses of materials.'
'I learned the story of Noah's Ark.'
'I learned how to solve money problems.'
'I learned my 2x table.'
Star of the week: Elliot for a good contribution to class discussion.'
Term 4
Week 2
Week ending 3.3.17
A very productive week, learning a lot of new concepts in maths, being 'proper' scientists investigating an hypothesis and creating fantastic expressive poetry!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned my 10 x table.'
'I learned column addition.'
'I learned column addition, carrying a ten.'
'I learned column subtraction.'
'I learned column subtraction, borrowing ten.'
'I learned to write a poem.'
'I learned words with the 'dis' and 'un' prefix.'
'I learned the 'or' sound.'
'I learned how to investigate the best material to make an umbrella for Willow Bear.'
'I learned how to use a syringe to measure 5ml of water.'
'I learned to put my results into a table.'
'I learned about Abraham and how God promised he would have a family as big as the stars.'
'I made a promise for our Promise Tree.'
Star of the Week: Joanna for always being helpful, kind and hard-working.
Term 4
Week 3
Week ending 10.3.17
Just a quick reminder to bring in P.E. kit for Wednesdays ( Tag Rugby on the pitch - it will be muddy and cold!) and Fridays (dance and drama in the Hall). Please bring a plastic bag for dirty trainers, so they can be taken home to be cleaned - thank you! If you have puppets you would like to show the class, please bring them in for next week.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'ou' phoneme.'
'I learned that some words have silent letters, for example 'gnome', 'write' and 'knife'.
'I learned to investigate which was the best paper to draw on.'
'I learned to write a prayer about faithfulness.'
'I learned how the Centurion showed he was faithful to Jesus.'
'I learned there are different types of puppets. We watched 'The Woodentops' which were string puppets.'
'I learned how to find missing numbers in a number sentence.'
'I learned the commutative law: 6+3=9, 3+6=9 and 9-3 =6, 9-6=3.'
'I learned to make a 'Rodney the Right- angle Cruncher.'
'I can find right-angles and angles which are greater than a right-angle and angles which are less than a right-angle.'
'I used adjectives to describe the characters in 'The Animals' Wishes.'
'I can write sentences with capital letters and full-stops.'
'I can put capital letters for proper nouns.'
Star of the Week: Erin, for always being enthusiastic, helpful and hard-working.
Term 4
Week 4
Week ending 17.3.17
A lovely week, with a visit to church on Wednesday, culminating in Art Day on Friday. Our inspiration for Art Day was Wassily Kandinsky and the children learned how to make different colours and then made their interpretation of Kandinsky's famous concentric circles. They all thoroughly enjoyed it with excellent pieces of art produced. Well done Willows!
Willow Class girls helping each other.
Painting in the style of Kandinsky
What have we learned this week?
'I learned my 3 x table.'
'I learned how to spell colours.'
'I learned how to spell the days of the week and the months of the year.'
'I learned that an adverb describes a verb. It tells you how something is done.'
'I learned that an adverb can be a time connective, for example 'first', 'next' and ' later.'
'I learned about Moses in the bulrushes.'
'I learned to pass a ball in rugby, from the side.'
'I learned about the different parts of a plant.'
'I learned about direction 'up', 'down', 'left' and 'right'.
'I learned about co-ordinates on a grid.'
'I learned about rotation - a quarter turn, a half turn, a three quarter turn and a whole turn.'
'I learned about primary colours.'
'I learned about secondary colours.'
'I learned about mixing shades of colours, by adding black.'
'I learned about tinting colours, by adding white.'
'I learned about Wassily Kandinsky, who was a Russian abstract artist.'
Star of the Week: Eddie, for an excellent effort all week!
Term 4
Week 5
Week ending 24.3.17
On Friday it was Comic Relief Day and the children dressed up in something red and wore multiple red noses!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to write my story about 'The Animals' Wishes.'
'I learned my 3 x table.'
'I learned to multiply.'
'I learned that multiplication is the opposite of division.'
'I learned that multiplication is repeated addition.'
'I learned that doubling is the opposite of halving.'
'I learned to identify trees from their bark.'
'I learned how to make a bark rubbing.'
'I learned about the story of David and Goliath.'
'I made a rocking horse card for Mothering Sunday.'
'I learned the 'ure' phoneme.'
'I learned the 'wh', 'ph' and 'ch' phonemes.'
Star of the week: Eddie for joining up his letters and writing with a capital letter at the beginning of his sentences.
Term 4
Week 6
Week ending 31.3 17
What a fantastic end to the week we had! On Thursday, Miss Pam Ferris, aided by Mr. Thompson and Mr. File judged our Elham's Got Talent Contest. All the girls in Willows took part in the auditions, with gymnastics, singing, dancing, Irish dancing and recorder playing - what a talented bunch - we were very proud of them! This was followed by the school disco in the evening and our Easter service on Friday.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'sion', 'tion', 'su' and 'ch' phoneme.'
'Did you know 'sugar', 'sure' and 'sumach' are the only words in the English language where 'su' makes the 'sh' phoneme.'
'I learned the 'ear' grapheme for the 'eer' phoneme.'
'I learned how to find a half, a quarter and a third of shapes.'
'I learned how to find a half, a quarter and a third of a number.'
'I learned how to find three-quarters of a number.'
'I learned about equivalent fractions: two quarters equal a half, four quarters equal a whole and two halves equal a whole.'
'I learned how to make a pop-up Easter card.'
'I learned to look for the signs of spring.'
'I learned how to make an acrostic poem entitled 'Spring.'
'I learned to write the four different types of sentence, a command, a statement, a question and an exclamation.'
'Exclamation sentences must start with 'what or 'how' and have a verb.' 'What clever children I have!' 'How proud I am of them!'
'I learned about labels and captions in non-fiction texts.'
'I learned about different types of illustrations in non-fiction texts, for example, a cross section diagram, a close up and a flow chart.'
'I learned my 3 x table.'
'I made a shadow puppet of a dragon.'
I hope you all have a wonderful, restful Easter and look forward to seeing you all soon! Keep on reading!
Best wishes,
Mrs.Ferguson x
Term 5
Dear Parents,
Below is a guide to what your child will be learning in Willow Class this term. If you have any queries, please contact me.
LITERACY
- will be learning to read and spell words with long vowel digraphs, i.e.: ‘ear’ (hear), ‘eer’, ‘ea’ (head), ‘air’,’ere’, ‘are’, ‘ear’, ‘or’, ‘oor’, ‘aw’, ‘au’, ‘ore’, ‘er’, ‘ur’, ‘ir’, suffixes, eg. ‘ed’, ‘ly’, and ‘ful’, homographs (words with the same spelling, but different sound, eg. bow and read) and high frequency words. At the beginning of each week the children will be given spellings to learn, these will be tested on Friday. We will be investigating the use of capital letters, commas and exclamation marks and using them in our writing. We will also try to make our writing more interesting by using connectives, such as suddenly, unfortunately, luckily, etc. We will be looking at grammatical agreement and using the standard form of verbs. We will be investigating using the past tense for narration. Our text work will be based on fiction and poetry, by significant authors and we will use non-fiction to look at instructions. Good letter formation is a priority, with Year 2 children practising a cursive style. Children are invited to take home a home reading book as often as they wish- please fill in the title and date in their home reading book, together with any comments about their reading. The children are invited to take Bouncer Bunny, and his cousin Betsy for a sleepover; they record what the bunnies do at home, in Bouncer Bunny’s Diary. They may also take Willow Bear home for a sleepover, but this is just for fun, writing optional!
NUMERACY
Children are becoming familiar with reading and writing numbers up to at least 100. They will count on in ones, twos, threes, fives and tens. They will practise recording in number sentences, using +, -, = , x and division. They will learn to recall pairs of numbers that total 10 and 20 and addition doubles to at least 10+10 together with corresponding halves. Year 2 children will become familiar with multiplication facts of the x10, 5x, 3x and x2 tables and deduce corresponding division facts. These will be tested on Fridays. They will recognise odd and even numbers. We will also be looking at: length, 2D and 3D shapes, time, money, capacity, weight and position and the associated vocabulary. We will recognise halves and quarters, three quarters, thirds and equivalent fractions and investigate maths problems and puzzles. We will look at ways of handling data, including bar charts and Venn diagrams.
SCIENCE
We shall be studying and looking at living things in their habitats and seasonal changes
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
We are investigating features of our local area – making maps and following routes. We will also be looking at the buildings and their use and seeing how the environment changes over time.
R.E.
This term, we are studying Judaism, looking at stories from the Old Testament and comparing and contrasting the Jewish faith with Christianity.
I.C.T.
In the first part of the term we will be using Roamer – a programmable floor turtle and BeeBots. We will control direction and pathways by instructions and link this to our work in Geography. We will learn to use the Internet to find information to help us research our topics.
P.E.
We will be practising athletic skills: running, jumping and throwing. P.E. is on Wednesdays and Fridays. Please bring in a tracksuit, PE kit and trainers – it gets cold on the pitch!
MUSIC
We shall investigate the sounds we can make, loud and soft, short and long, fast and slow and how these affect the rhythm of a piece of music. This will develop into using percussion instruments to compose and perform music. Mrs. Hickman will be teaching Year 2 to play the ocarina.
ART/DESIGN
We are investigating sculpture and using our observations of plants and animals to make sculptures. In the second half of the term, we shall be designing and making models of playground equipment to show how we can improve the existing provision at school.
If anyone can be of assistance with any aspect of the curriculum, we would be delighted to welcome you into school! The parents, friends and governors, who help in Willow Class, make a real difference to the children’s knowledge, learning and skills and are highly valued members of the team.
Yours faithfully,
Genevieve Ferguson
Summer Term 2017
Term 5
Week 1
Week ending 21.4.17
Welcome back to school after a beautifully warm Easter holiday!
We had some lovely treats to start the term. On Wednesday Zoo Lab visited the school and Charlie showed us her Giant African Land Snail, a Madagascan Hissing Cockroach, a scorpion and a Corn Snake. We were able to touch them and learned about their habitats. On Thursday Willows had a P.E. activity centred around healthy eating and exercise and on Friday the children bounced to raise money for the school.
What else have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'ear' phoneme.'
'I learned the 'zh' phoneme, for example, 'television', 'unusual', and 'beige'.'
'I learned to say a quarter to the hour.'
'I learned to tell the time to five minutes past the hour.'
'I learned to write a recount of Zoo Lab's visit.'
'I learned that living things live in different habitats.'
'I used the Rule of Three to write about my Daddy.'
'I used a simile to describe my Daddy.'
'I learned the 3x table.'
Star of the Week: Oscar N. for using 'when' and 'if' in writing his prayer.
Term 5
Week 2
Week ending 28.4.17
A surprisingly chilly week, with frost on the grass, however we managed to experiment with capacity on the one warm day of the week, so the children could dry in the sun!
We have been very busy revising for this year's SATs and the children have really worked hard to improve their learning.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'est' suffix.'
'If a word ends in a short vowel followed by one consonant, you need to double the consonant before you add 'est', e.g. 'thinnest.'.
'If a word has a long vowel sound, followed by one consonant, you just add 'est', e.g. 'steepest.'
'If a word ends in 'y', you need to change the 'y' into an 'i' before you add 'est', e.g.' easiest'.
'If a word has a long vowel sound with an 'e' at the end, just add 'st', e.g. 'closest'.
'I learned how to find 3/4 of a number.'
'I learned what things need to be alive.'
'I wrote about a special meal.'
'I learned that we measure capacity in litres and millilitres.'
'I learned to identify a proper noun, a common noun, an adjective, a verb and an adverb.'
'I know the four different types of sentence: command, statement, exclamation and question.'
'I can say whether a verb is in the past or present tense.'
'I can write contractions using an apostrophe.'
Star of the week: Zachary working really hard on his maths and comprehension.
Term 5
Week 3
Week ending 5.5.2017
On Thursday, we went to the Gulbenkian Theatre at the University of Kent in Canterbury, to see 'The Tiger who came to Tea'. What a brilliant production it was! Lots of singing and dancing and a very polite, if hungry tiger! The children were amazed at how he made all the food disappeared and then how the cupboards were full again, when Mum and Sophie had gone shopping (no stereotypes there!).
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'est' phoneme.'
'I learned the 'igh' phoneme.'
'I learned the names of 3D shapes.'
'I learned the properties of 3D shapes - the number of vertices, faces and edges.'
'I learned to make a Story Map of 'The Tiger who came to Tea.'
'I learned to make a plan of 'The Tiger who came to Tea.'
'I learned to tell the difference between the past and present tense.'
'I learned to tell the time at 5 minute intervals.'
'I learned what a proper noun, common noun, adjective, verb and adverb are.'
'I learned to solve maths problems.'
Term 5
Week 4
Week ending 12.5.17
I really busy week revising for SATs - well done children!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned the 'ai', 'ay,' a-e', graphemes.'
'I learned how to solve missing number problems.'
'I learned how to use the possessive apostrophe.'
'I made a poem using the possessive apostrophe.'
'I learned how to use alliteration.'
'I learned 5 minutes past the hour.'
'I learned how to innovate the story of 'The Tiger who came to Tea.'
'I learned how to review the story of 'The Tiger who came to Tea.'
'I learned how to make my story more interesting using adjectives and adverbs.'
'I learned how to find a quarter of a number and then three quarters of the number.'
'I learned how to count the edges, vertices and faces of 3D shapes.'
Term 5
Week 5
Week ending 19.5.17
We carried out our SATs testing this week and the children have been magnificent! Clasping their rosemary branches (for remembrance) and drinking cupfuls of water (to lubricate the brain), Year 2 confidently and maturely sat an Arithmatic paper, a Reasoning paper, two Reading Comprehension papers and two non-statutory Grammar, Punctuation and spelling papers. We are very proud of our children.
On Friday, following a brilliant, jaw-dropping bike display by British champion James, we had a well-deserved party!
On Tuesday, we welcomed Mrs. Jane Blain into class ( she is the Governor with responsibility for Art). We are taking part in the 'Take One Picture' initiative and Mrs. Blain introduced us to the picture, 'Penelope's Suitors', which we then brain-stormed and came up with a myriad of ideas to explore! Next week we will be investigating tessellation, embroidery and the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned about Shabbat.'
'I learned about the needs of animals and their different habitats.'
'I learned about the painting 'Penelope's Suitors.'
'I learned to sing 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.'
'I learned a country dance.'
'I learned how to make words plural, by adding 's' and 'es' if the noun or verb ends in 's', 'x', 'z', 'ch', 'tch' and 'sh'.
'I learned the 'or' phoneme.'
'I learned the silent letters 'kn', 'sw', 'mb' and 'wr'.
Term 5
Week 6
Week ending 26.5.17
Much of our learning this week was based around the 'Take one picture' project. 'Penelope's Suitors' provided considerable inspiration, which was greatly enjoyed by the children. The embroidery, especially, was enthusiastically enjoyed by all and it was a delight to see them all busy sewing, chatting sociably and helping one another: a lovely thing to do on very hot afternoons!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned which 2D shapes tessellate.'
'I learned to make a tessellating pattern.'
'I learned some everyday similes.'
'I learned to use similes in a poem about monsters.'
'I learned to read a scale.'
'I learned to investigate maths problems.'
'I learned how to do running stitch.'
'I learned how to do cross stitch.'
'I learned how to do a zig-zag stitch.'
'I learned a country dance.'
'I learned synonyms for the word 'worried'.'
'I learned synonyms for the word 'happy'.'
'I learned words to do with plants.'
Have a lovely, safe half-term -with lots of reading!
Term 6
Week 1
Week ending 9.6.17
Lovely to have all the children back in school after a sunny half-term break!
On Thursday we were visited by the NSPCC, who taught the children to 'speak out and stay safe'.
We are going to do a sponsored Spellathon next week, using the spelling lists in the NSPCC leaflet: please encourage your children to learn the spelling list of their choice and donate a little money, if you wish.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to add 's' onto a noun and to make it plural.'
'I learned to add 'es' onto a noun if it ends in a buzzing, shushing or hissing sound.'
'I learned that when a noun ends in 'y' you have to change the 'y' for an 'i' and then add 'es'.
'I learned about the story of 'Odysseus and the Cyclops'.'
'I learned how to embroider a sampler.'
'I learned how to do a country dance.'
'I learned how to read a scale marked in hundreds.'
'I learned to sort shapes using a Carroll Diagram.'
'I learned to sort shapes using a Venn diagram.'
Term 6
Week 2
Week ending 16.6.17
What have we learned this week?
'I learned to embroider.'
'I learned my 5x table.'
'I learned the 10 Commandments.'
'I learned to make a Mezuzah.'
'I learned to write in pen.'
'I have written a letter to the residents of Broadstreet House.'
'I learned a country dance.'
'I learned how to write plurals.'
'We held a Spellathon for the NSPCC.'
'I learned to sing 'Yellow Submarine.'
Term 6
Week 3
Week ending 23.6.17
On Thursday we welcomed parents into the class to watch a maths lesson and on Friday we had Sports' Day in the morning and then the PTA served cream teas in the afternoon: what a lovely end to the week!
What have I learned this week?
'I learned how to write P.S. on the end of a letter.'
'I learned how to solve money problems.'
'I used multiplication to solve money problems.'
'I took part in Sports' Day.'
'I learned more embroidery stitches.'
'I learned how to add 'ing' to words.'
'I learned the 'air' phoneme.'
'I learned my 3x table.'
'We got our badges for our sponsored Spellathon for the NSPCC.'
'We mounted our samplers and gave them a title. They are going to be framed for an art exhibition.'
Term 6
Week 4
Week ending 30.6.17
What a lovely end to the week with Sports' Day! The weather was beautiful and the children competed individually and for their teams - all followed by cream teas in the afternoon, served by our wonderful PTA.
What have we learned this week?
'I learned how to compare fractions of numbers.'
'I learned how to do a book review.'
'I learned about Pentecost.'
'I learned that a Bishop's mitre is like a flame.'
'I learned that the Holy Spirit is a gift from God.'
'I learned about alliteration.'
'I learned about similes.'
'I learned about The Rule of Three.'
'I learned how to write the corresponding division for a multiplication number sentence.'
Term 6
Week 5
Week ending 7.7.17
The children noticed the rather attractive date and Scarlett pointed out that on Saturday it was 1.7.17!
What an exciting week we have had, again with beautiful weather!
We are keeping an eye on our sunflowers and most have germinated and have their first pair of leaves.
On Monday we had Shepway Sports' Trust showing us how to do Speed Stacking, very noisy, but addictive!
On Tuesday we went for a walk around the village with Mrs. Cooper, to look at the old buildings, to see how their usage had changed over the centuries. Many thanks to Mrs. Cooper for her wonderfully informative tour and for the assistance of Mrs. Keeble, Mrs. Collins, Miss Lauren Webster ( a former pupil from The Girls' School on work experience) and Miss Jessica Sutton, another former pupil, who has just qualified as a teacher and has a teaching post to go to in September, in London. It is always lovely to hear of the success of our pupils and these two young ladies our a credit to our school.
On Thursday, we held our third Music Concert for the year, under the direction of Mrs. Hickman. It was such a pleasure to hear all our children perform and especially those talented individuals who played in front of the whole school.
Finally, on Friday, we held our second annual Art Exhibition. The exhibits were truly magnificent - there were a lot of very proud parents and teachers!
What have we learned this week?
'I learned how to write contractions.'
'I learned how to write repeated addition number sentences as multiplication calculations.
'I learned how to write multiplications and their corresponding divisions.'
'I learned how to write a poem describing 'Grandpa's Shed.'
'I can use the Rule of Three.'
'I can use similes.'
'I can use alliteration.'
Term 6
Week 6
Week ending 14.7.17
Another very busy week!
On Tuesday, we practised squash skills with Patty from Hythe Sports Club; those little balls can be very tricky to control! Then on Thursday, Stuart took us through the Fun Factory - lots of team games, which the children loved. After playtime, Jane Buss (Joanna's Grandma) visited us again to read some more of her new book, 'Just a little bit Different' and we showed her the front covers we have designed for it. In the afternoon we watched the KS 2 play 'We will rock you!' - it was awesome!
We have just returned from a marvellous day at George's Barn, Newington. The weather was perfect and the itinerary had been meticulously planned by Clive Nuttman and Annie Begley. In teams, we experienced bug hunting (we found a lizard!), clay sculpting, the Bee Pollination game, identifying different parts of a bee and the sculpture trail/treasure hunt. As the visit drew to a close, we had biscuits and squash, followed by a story, accompanied by our own percussionists! They will all sleep tonight - teachers included!