Category: P1 Bright Sparks – Miss Croal

Good afternoon, P1B! Just a reminder to please return your blue learning story folder as soon as possible.

Literacy

This week, we focussed on going over our sounds so far: s, a, t, p, i and n. We worked on our sound recognition, blending and building at the teaching table, and had further opportunities to consolidate our learning around the classroom. In writing this week, our prompt was ‘I opened a tin of…’. No one was allowed to say beans! The Bright Sparks came up with some really imaginative ideas.

Numeracy

We continued with our work on SEAL Chapter 5 this week, focussing on the number before, the number after and number sequences forwards and backwards. 12-13 and 13-12 proved to be the trickiest one, so it would be great if you could practise this at home! This week, we also had a numicon station to get familiar with the resource.

Health and Wellbeing

We all did a fantastic job at PE on Monday, practising different ways of moving across the playground and following instructions. On Thursday with Mrs Conlin, we looked at the Building Resilience programme and thought about how to Look on the Bright Side and look for solutions for when we are feeling sad and upset.

Other Areas

Loose parts outside involved lots of problem solving, imagination and team work! It was great to be outside with all of the other P1 children too.

We practised keeping a beat and using our listening to guess who is singing…

We have had another very busy and creative week in the P1 area and around the classroom. Here are some of our creations.

General information:

I am looking forward to catching up with you all next week during Parent Consultations on Wednesday and Thursday.

I am looking for some additional furniture and items for our classroom. If anybody has any small tables (IKEA LACK size), small chairs or rugs that are unwanted we would really appreciate any donations! Please speak to me at the door or email the school.

See you all next week,

Miss Croal

Happy Friday, Bright Sparks! Please look out for the Queen Elizabeth II keepsake book provided by the Government, the Halloween Disco letter and the blue paper with our sounds for the week in the purple folders. We would be grateful if you could please bring the learning stories back to school as soon as you have read the term overview and your child’s star steps.

Literacy

This week, we have introduced the ‘s’ sound and the ‘i’ sound. We practised the sounds with our friend Geraldine the Giraffe and had two more treasure hunts around the classroom, finding things like a star, a snake, Sophie, Sarvesh, ink and insects. We made suns with paint and pasta, sniffed different smells and tried to build igloos! Our writing prompt this week was ‘I sat on a…’, and we all had a go at sounding out and writing ‘sat’. We had really imaginative drawings and ideas! Below are also videos to help your child with the s and i letter formation.

Numeracy

This week, we continued with our SEAL programme for numeracy fluency work. We have been working on lots of different skills including sequencing numerals 1-10, counting backwards from 10 or 20, taking a given amount of counters and domino pattern recognition.

Other Areas

In PE this week, we have been continuing to focus on spatial awareness and basic movement. We were being different types of beans around the hall, such as runner beans, broad beans, jumping beans and chilli beans! 

Our first loose parts (messy play) session was a great success. It was fab to have all P1 classes out together, and thankfully it stayed dry in the afternoon! During the session, there was an abundance of teamwork, problem solving and communication skills.

We had a special delivery this week of new furniture for our classroom house corner! There has been increased engagement with this area and the children are demonstrating the skills of negotiation, teamwork and cooperation during the roleplay. We still would welcome donations of any further resources to support our loose parts provision – if you have a source of larger items such as guttering, logs etc we would love to hear from you. Also, any old baking trays or pots and pans are most welcomed and will be well used.

General information:

If the classroom door is closed, please drop off/pick up your child at the office. 

Promote independence in dressing and everyday tasks – changing/tying shoes, taking off jumpers, opening snack packets, zipping up coats, sorting inside out sleeves etc.

Appointment booking for Parent Consultations on 5^th or 6^th Oct will open later this evening.

Have a great weekend,

Miss Croal

Hello Bright Sparks! We have been very busy this week around the classroom. Today your child will bring home their learning story folder containing an overview plan for the term along with targets and star steps for each pupil. Please return the folder to school next week. Thank you.

Literacy

This week, we have introduced the ‘p’ sound and the ‘n’ sound. We practised the sounds with our friend Geraldine the Giraffe and had another great treasure hunt around the classroom. Our writing prompt this week was ‘I am pointing at…’. The Bright Sparks filled in the blank for ‘at’ and then imagined themselves pointing at something in the playground. Around the classroom, we made pink potato paint prints and a newspaper n. We also had fun dressing up as pirates and the police! At the end of the week, we sorted lots of objects into a, t, p and n tubs. Please see the videos below to help with practising writing the p and n sounds.

Numeracy

This week, we continued with our SEAL programme. We all worked on saying the next number forwards and backwards, alternate numbers and counting a collection. At home, you could refer to numbers around the house on clocks etc for numeral identification (eg what number is this?).​

Other Areas

In PE this week, we have been continuing to focus on spatial awareness and basic movement, such as being in a space bubble and running and walking forwards and backwards. We also took turns leading the warm-up and following the leader.

In Music, we have been using our listening skills to work out who is singing our tapping on the window song! We played this game during the first week of school, and it is fantastic now to see that every single Bright Spark wants a shot of singing solo in front of the class! There has been some lovely imaginative play in the P1 area. See pictures below.

LOOSE PARTS NEXT THURSDAY

Next Thursday afternoon we will have outdoor loose parts play (aka Messy play). The children way get wet and dirty, so please dress accordingly – old play clothes, or a waterproof onesie, wellies etc. We want the children to enjoy the experience without worrying about their clothes.

Loose parts play develops skills across the whole curriculum. It is child-led, and helps children strengthen their independence and sense of self. It helps children observe, enquire, investigate, construct, deconstruct and engage with both others and the world around them

General information:

If the classroom door is closed, please drop off/pick up your child at the office. 

Please look out for the coloured paper on a Friday in the purple folder with what we have been learning this week!

Promote independence in dressing – changing/tying shoes, opening snack packets, zipping up coats, sorting inside out sleeves etc

Look around the environment for examples of written numerals – car number plates on the walk to school provide lots of opportunity for number hunts!

Encourage your child to write their name using correct letter formation.

Enjoy the long weekend,

Miss Croal

Hello Bright Sparks! We have had another busy week in school – here is what we have been up to:

Literacy

This week, we have introduced the ‘a’ sound and the ‘t’ sound. We practised the sounds with Geraldine the Giraffe and did a treasure hunt around the classroom to find objects beginning with the initial sounds. It was fun finding a picture of Tanav for ‘t’, and seeing which names in the class ended with the ‘a’ sound!

Numeracy

This week, we started our SEAL programme in groups. We all worked on counting collections of objects, counting forwards not starting from 1 and numerical identification and recognition. On Friday morning during class learning through play, some children took themselves to the teaching table and started being pretending to be Miss Croal, using our SEAL tasks from this week! At home, you could practise counting a collection of objects, making sure we are using our finger to point and counting out loud!

Other Areas

In PE this week, we have been continuing to focus on spatial awareness and basic movement, such as being in a space bubble, running, marching, walking, skipping and jumping forwards with two feet. We have also enjoyed singing games and working out who was knocking on the door and tapping on the window!

Reflective Friday

This week, the Bright Sparks said they enjoyed reading stories with their P6 buddies, the ‘a’ and ‘t’ treasure hunt and counting apples.

General information:

If the classroom door is closed, please drop off/pick up your child at the office. 

Please look out for the coloured paper on a Friday in the purple folder with what we have been learning this week!

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Croal

Happy weekend, Bright Sparks! We have had another great week at school.

This week we have been learning:

Literacy

We have been continuing to focus on developing our fine motor skills to provide us with a foundation for handwriting. This week, we received our own pot of playdoh! We have been using the playdoh to make numbers, shapes and animals.

We have finished listening to everybody’s memory boxes. Our listening skills have improved a lot as we focus on the 5 Signs of Good Listening. Well done to everybody for standing up in front of the class and presenting! Next week, we are starting to learn our phonics.

Numeracy

This week, we have explored the numbers 6-10. Bright Sparks are doing a great job of writing the numbers, counting out objects and singing Bill and Bernie’s 1-10 song!  We have also enjoyed building Numicon cities. Next week, we will start our Stages of Early Arithmetic Learning (SEAL) lessons at the teaching table.

STEM

We are continuing to build relationships, make new friends and learn and play together around the classroom. 

We really appreciate your ongoing donations of clean recycling – yes, we really do need more boxes!

Our STEM area is a core part of our play curriculum in school. The end product may not look like much, but it is the process that matters. ‘Junk’ modelling helps to develop their imagination and creative abilities while challenging them to explore, investigate and problem solve as they bring their ideas to life.

Children can work on their own or co-operate with others, learning to negociate and share ideas. When they create something new it can give their confidence and self-esteem a big boost. They can also consider how their plans have worked out as they think about what they might have done differently or how they might improve their model.

With these materials they practice complex skills from fine and gross locomotor skills to higher order executive functioning; higher order thinking skills such as sequencing, hypothesis testing, divergent problem solving, analysis and evaluation.

If they don’t take their model home at the end of the day it doesn’t matter – the learning has already happened. If it does come home, please value the process your child has gone through more than the product itself. Thank you.

Reflective Friday

This week, the Bright Sparks said they enjoyed learning the numbers, building marble runs together, drawing at the craft table and building with the big bricks.

General information:

If you are dropping off your child late or picking them up early, please do so at the office rather than the classroom door.

On Thursdays, Mrs Conlin will be teaching the Bright Sparks.

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Hello, I hope that you have had a good week. The P1 Bright Sparks have had a fantastic full first week of school! Welcome to our Bright Sparks blog. This blog will be the main avenue of communication from the class, so please read it each week!

This week we have been learning:

Literacy

We have been focussing on developing our fine motor skills to provide us with a foundation for handwriting. We have fine motor skills play around the classroom with peg boards and sorting, as well as numerous writing opportunities of postcards, letters and café orders!

We are also really focussing on listening and talking as we go through our memory boxes. Everybody has done a great job of presenting to the class and listening to our friends. We are excited to hear more next week!

Numeracy

This week, we have explored the numbers 1-5. Bright Sparks are doing a great job of writing the numbers and recognising dot patterns. Next week, we will continue with numbers 6-10 and practise our counting.

Other Areas

Our big focus in this first week has been our health and wellbeing, in particular building relationships. As we learn through play, it has been lovely to see new friendships form and children growing in confidence. We also enjoyed our first PE sessions. We have been thinking about spatial awareness and movement with space bubble games and relays.

Construction area – this helps to develop skills in creative thinking, problem solving and team work. We have built castles, bridges and marble runs!

Loose parts play – the children have been enjoying our house corner, which is mainly used as a café with the loose parts as our food orders.

Reflective Friday

This week, the Bright Sparks said they enjoyed drawing pictures, playing with their buddies, colouring in their bubble numbers and taking part in PE!

General information:

On Thursdays, Mrs Conlin will be teaching the Bright Sparks.

When bringing in ‘junk’ for modelling, for health and safety reasons we cannot have toilet rolls or egg boxes.

Please put names on all waterbottles, clothing, Tupperware etc!

To receive notifications for this blog, please download the Feedly app!

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Croal