The children all loved wearing their own clothes and it was a real treat to be able to dance and sing along to their favourite songs with disco lights, led enthusiastically by Form 7. After this exciting morning, we continued with our recycling topic finding out about how we can reduce, reuse and recycle plastic and how important this is. The children were fascinated to learn that plastic does not biodegrade and a plastic bottle that is made today will be around for hundreds of years, never changing or breaking down. We looked at the impact plastic has on the environment, especially on the oceans and the animals that live there.

Form 1 listened to a story all about creatures in the sea who were surrounded by plastic and we discussed what the animals might be thinking and feeling. We then wrote thought bubbles for the different characters in the story.  Some children went on to make posters all about keeping the sea free from plastic and being careful not to use single-use plastic whenever possible.

In maths, the children developed their subtraction skills and had lots of fun playing a duplo tower subtraction game in teams. Each team rolled the dice and subtracted that amount from their tower. The first team to subtract all their blocks were the winners. As we played, we wrote the subtraction sentences that showed what we were doing. The children went on to use the crossing out method to find the answer to some tricky problems. We also learnt how to subtract using a number line and record our answers. The children worked really independently and enjoyed the challenge.

In Form 1, we are working on being a team and remembering all of our classroom rules. As a way to measure their success, the children add a pom-pom to a jar every time they are superstars. The jar is already very full! Once the jar is full we will have a special treat, however the children could not decide what this should be. We thought the best way to decide was to have a vote and we spoke about our British values and how important it is for everyone to share in the decision. Everyone in the class had a counter and placed it on the thing they would like to do. The majority of children elected to have a chocolate lolly!

The children loved getting creative this week and made some wonderful clay fish linking to our interest in sea creatures. They learnt how to join clay using water and how to add texture using various tools. We experimented and found that the end of a piece of penne pasta was a really effective way to make scales! Once dry, the children chose to paint them anyway they wish and they really do look lovely.

The children have also enjoyed deciding on their own interests and projects and have been making a fairy garden outside, adding beds, swings and pools for the fairies to use. Some children have loved making board games, building using various junk modelling materials and making their own books.

Another busy week in Form 1, I am sure you will agree!