Welcome back! It’s been a very chilly to start to the new year, we had lots of fun in the snow at the beginning of the week and lots of soggy socks! We investigated changing states of matter, as the water in our outside area turned to ice, trapping all the animals. We wondered how to free them, exploring various ideas, before experiencing success with warm water! We have read lots of wintery story books, we particularly enjoyed Jonty Gentoo by Julia Donaldson, and looked at our classroom globe to see how far he had travelled. We learnt that the cold region at the top is the North Pole and the bottom is the South and that Polar bears live at the top and penguins are found at the bottom. We also talked about the start of a new year, made some decorations and some new years resolutions.

In our phonics lessons we learnt the new sound ‘qu’ (quick, quit and quill – the flashcard will be sent home today) and have re-capped our learning from before Christmas, using the new sounds we learnt, to read and write words. We have enjoyed lots of group reading and writing and the children have produced some fantastic writing. In maths we continued to explore composition of number and in p.e. we did some penguin yoga in the classroom. We also attended a whole school assembly (today, Friday) for the first time. The Friday assembly is celebration assembly, the children did brilliantly and so we will continue to join in every Friday from now on.

Quick reminder – a few children have not brought in their reading books this week, please do send them in every day with your child, especially on a Thursday as Mrs Meakin joins us on a Thursday afternoon to read with the children.

Other exciting news: We are in the process of planning our first school trip to Pizza Express which will take place on the morning of the 5th February. We will be travelling to Uckfield on the minbus to make pizza which we then bring back to school and eat for our lunch, its a really fun filled morning. More details will follow soon.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jo Bentley

Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions or queries: jb@stjohnsprimary.org