Welcome to Ash Tree Class!

July 2020

Dear Ash Tree Class,

Thank you for a great year children! We had a lot of fun learning together and you are going to do wonderful things in Year 1. Have a wonderful and safe summer and enjoy the video!

All the best, 

Miss S. 

Dear Parents and Carers of Ash Tree Class, 

We would like to thank you for following the government's advice on handwashing, social distancing, and other measures they have put in place to protect the people of this nation. These are difficult times as we are all trying to understand this unprecedented situation but please know that you are not alone and that as a community, we will get through this together.

In the meantime, we will be posting various things on our class page that will help your child continue their learning at home. Please check back regularly as we will post links to websites or suggest fun home projects to complete. We are committed to providing the best educational experience for your children, whether on school premises or not. 

We wish good health for you and your families during these times!

Sincerely,

Ash Tree Class

With all the concerns over the coronavirus outbreak and how this might impact schools and your children's learning, we wanted to offer you some ideas to help you continue their educations during school closure.

Every week, on this section of our class page, we will upload new learning activities to do independently or with adult support and links to specific websites and interactive games to support the learning.

So, keep looking, keep learning and stay safe everyone!

 Term!

Welcome back!!!

I hope everyone is well and had a lovely Easter holiday. We are now in the Summer Term and we have prepared lots of exciting activities for you.

Keep healthy and happy! I look forward to seeing you soon.

Stay safe.

Miss Slavcheva 

We will continue uploading learning opportunities on this page for your child to complete at home with your support. In reception, we value learning through play that is why we have planned lots of 'learning games/activities' for you to engage in. As parents, try to extend and develop the play through questioning and suggesting ways to incorporate new vocabulary/writing/counting etc. So don't worry if your child won't sit and do school activities for long periods! Motivation to do activities at home can be tough - try to keep a routine for 'school days', have short learning activities followed by a period of play, let children know the end point of the activity (finish the task to completion or use a timer for a set period), and use lots of praise/rewards. You will know how your child works best though! We also appreciate all the other responsibilities that you have during the day and so please use the resources flexibly - some days will be more successful than others for everyone!

I would love to see what you are up to at home and you can do this by taking a photograph or writing a note and uploading your learning onto homelearning@conventinf.brent.sch.uk

Websites and activities to support your child's learning at home:

Science experiments at home!

Science experiments are integral in fostering curiosity and love of learning. They promote questioning and discovery which children naturally do on a regular basis in the world around them. So let's encourage the scientist in your child by conducting science experiments at home! It is a wonderful learning opportunity where children can write a list of materials, instructions, labels and results -without it feeling like a writing exercise. More importantly, have fun and get messy 

Here is a link to a website that has many child-friendly science experiments to do at home. Please follow instructions carefully and ensure that an adult is always there to supervise and conduct the experiment with the child/children.

http://www.sciencefun.org/kidszone/experiments/

Reading at home!

Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. Please continue reading on a daily basis with your child! 

To help expand your at-home library since the public libraries are closed, we have included a link to an award winning children's literacy website where stories are read aloud. Research has shown that: "Reading aloud to children has been shown to improve reading, writing and communication skills, logical thinking and concentration, and general academic aptitude, as well as inspire a lifelong love of reading." 

Please have a discussion after reading the story asking questions such as these:

1. Did you like the story? Why or why not? What did you like about it? What didn't you like about it?

2. Who was your favourite character? Why? Who was your least favourite character? Why?

3. What do you think happened after the story ended?

4. What happened if...

5. How was this character feeling? How do you know? 

https://www.storylineonline.net/

*Reminders*

We have PE every Monday and Wednesday mornings. Please make sure your child has their PE kit with everything named. It would also really help your child if you help them practise taking on and off their school uniforms themselves.

Useful Links

Online safety

From wrapping paper to red poinsettias...

Summer Term

We have had a great and very busy start to the Summer Term in Ash Tree Class! We have been so excited to see new life start in many different ways.

Butterfly Release!

What a fabulous end to our very busy half term! The children were very excited to release our butterflies this afternoon. The whole of Reception and Nursery went to our garden to release our butterflies together. We had to be very quiet and watched carefully as our butterflies flew away one at a time. 

Our Class Assembly

We hope you have an enjoyable and well rested half term holiday! The children have worked so hard this week, doing their class assembly about World Ocean Day. We are so proud of them! We have learnt lots about preventing plastic pollution and keeping the sea creatures safe. 

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

We have read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and learnt about the lifecycle of a butterfly. Ash Tree Class received a special delivery of caterpillars. We have been looking after and eagerly watching them grow daily. We are watching first hand their lifecycle to become butterflies. The children are very excited to release them when they become butterflies!

Life Cycle of a Chick

We have also been watching the life cycle of a chick! Chick eggs were delivered to school and we watched them  hatch into very cute chicks. 

Our Trip to Odd's Farm! 

We had a brilliant time at the farm! The children were so excited to learn lots of different things at the farm, especially watching the cow being milked! We saw many animals and their babies including pigs, donkeys, rabbits, sheep and goats. We were able to stroke the rabbits, feed the sheep and goats and even helped bottle feed the kids. We were very lucky and got to end our day on the tractor ride seeing all the animals out in the fields! We were all very tired on the coach home, after our very busy day!

We have been very busy during the Last few weeks in Ash Tree Class.

We have learnt so much!

Autumn Term 

Christmas Play

A few weeks ago the children did so well in our Play ‘Christmas Counts’ performance.

Well Done Ash Tree Class.

Advent

We have learnt that Advent is a time when we wait for Jesus.

We have been learning about the ‘The First Christmas’.

The children each drew a story map and were able to retell the story.

The Polar Express-Chris Van Allsburg

The Past 2 weeks we have been learning and reading the story the Polar Express. We have done lots of good learning!

The children have been learning something each day about the story. They have been thinking carefully about how the boy in the story thinks, feels and the different people that he meets and greets.

We also had a pyjama day on Monday 17^th December in which all the children took part in. We made a class train and had hot chocolate and marshmallows- pretending we were the children on the Polar express train going to the North Pole.