Harewood Infant School
September 30th 2016
This week at Harewood
This week in Purple Class the children have continued to story make the story, ‘The Magic Porridge Pot’
and can now remember the actions quite confidently. They made porridge and then wrote or told us their
instructions for how it was made. In maths, the Year 1 children have been learning their number bonds of
numbers below 10 and the Reception children have been practising their number formation. In P.E., the children played some
games which involved using lots of energy, helping to build their stamina. In Blue Class the Reception children have settled in
really well. They have been fantastic at following instructions and choosing their learning independently. All the children have
been performing their story making in groups and are looking forward to writing their own stories next week. The children have
also all enjoyed thinking of questions to ask Hannah from ‘The Magic Porridge Pot’ when she visits Blue Class next week.
The children in Lilac Class have had a busy week continuing to create fantastic food art for our classroom displays. Mrs Kyte
and Mrs Crossland are pleased with how the children have focused and taken care with their designs. The children have settled
into the routine of the day and are getting lots of diamond power by solving problems by themselves! Lilac Class have been
talking about their favourite food and had a go at using exciting words to describe it. Marley said, “I like ice-cream and
marshmallows. The ice cream is sweet and cold. The marshmallows are fluffy!” In Turquoise Class, Reception children have
been fantastic at staying all day and are settling in very well. They have all been looking at instructions and everyone had a go
at giving each other a task to do with instructions using bossy words. They did very well! Year 1 children have also written their
own instructions for how to make porridge. Everyone made their own autumn trees with beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves.
Miss Little and Mrs Welsh are both very proud with Turquoise class this week!
Goldilocks and the three bears were having trouble building some new chairs this week, so Green Class helped them decide
which materials were the best to use. They have used their engineering skills to test them so they can find the strongest one.
The Reception children have started to learn their numbers and have been practising the rhymes that help them write the
number correctly. Year 1 have talked about their favourite part of our story, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, and written about why it is their
favourite. The children in Yellow Class also helped the three bears work out which chair is the strongest and told Mrs King
how they know. Everyone continued to story make ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and explored the forest through drama. The children
really got into the idea that they were walking through the real forest and described what they could see,
hear and how they felt in there… creepy, shivery, dark, cold, bears, grey trees, a zombie! Year 1 children
used their dramatic experience to write some descriptive sentences. Everyone has learned how to play
some fun maths games called ‘Scaredy Cat’ and ‘Ladybirds’ so now they can get them out to play with by
themselves!
This week the children Red Class have been learning about social networks. They talked about what benefits they have and
Rhiannon said, “With the internet you can talk to other people all over the world.” In geography they have been comparing the
U.K. with Ghana, where a lot of chocolate is grown. They used Google Earth to explore the landscape before writing about the
similarities and differences between the two areas. In P.E. the children worked on moving in space and how this can be useful
for ball games. In maths, Red Class started to look at telling the time. The children in Orange Class have really enjoyed
learning about Ghana. The children have looked for similarities and differences between life in Ghana and Gloucester. When
looking at the diary of a Ghanaian child, the children were shocked to hear how early the child woke up each day (4 am) and
that their school started at 7am! The children also had a go at playing some typical Ghanaian playground games. “I like the
‘AnsoCheerio’ game from Ghana because you get to run around.” - Henry, “Their games were good. I didn’t know the children
played those sorts of games.” – Karl. In Pink Class this week the children have been learning to tell the story of ‘Chocolate –
From Bean to Bar’. They have learned that many of the world’s cocoa beans are grown in Ghana and compared life there with
life in the UK. The children compared weather patterns, farming methods, school life and family life and even learned some
traditional Ghanaian playground games. In computing, the children have learned about staying safe online. They have talked
about how some information is special because it is unique to them and they have learned that this type of information should
never be shared online. “You shouldn’t give your phone number, your full name, your age or your address but it’s okay to use a
nickname.” – Harrison.
Lunch in School
We are looking forward to welcoming parents and family members of Reception children for lunch in school later in the month.
We have invited parents from each class on a specific day but if the date on your invitation is inconvenient for you because of
other commitments please speak to someone on the door in the morning or give the office a ring and we will arrange for you to
come on a different day.
Parents’ Evenings this term will be held on Thursday October 20th from 3.30 to 7.00pm and Tuesday November 1st
from 3.30 to 6.30. We shall be asking you to select an appointment by signing up on the list for your child’s class. The lists will
be available on the door in the mornings next week. Look out for someone holding a board with a list of the right colour for
your child’s class. A leaflet that explains about Parents’ Evening for parents of children in Reception accompanies this
newsletter.
Open Morning
Our Open Morning for prospective parents will take place on Tuesday November 10th, so if you, or any friends or neighbours
are considering sending a child to our school in September 2016 we would be delighted to see you then. There will be an
opportunity to look around the school and to talk to staff and governors.
Maths Passports
We are really excited about the new ‘maths passports’ that came home today. We are looking forward to seeing the children
become even more skilled mathematicians with extra practice of vital skills at home. Don't forget - there is no rush - we want the
children to be able to do each activity really confidently before they move on to another. Thank you so much for the way that
you encourage your children and support their learning at home.
Menu for the week beginning 3rd October
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Choice 1
Pork sausages with creamy
mashed potato and gravy
Tuna and tomato pasta
bake
Roast chicken with roast
potatoes and gravy
Cottage pie
Lightly battered fish with
chips
Hot meals
Choice 2
Cheese and tomato pizza with
sweet potato wedges
Mild quorn korma with rice
Mixed bean and vegetable pasty
with roast potatoes and gravy
Vegetarian meatballs with
spaghetti and tomato sauce
Vegetable fingers with chips
Choice 3
Jacket potato
Meal deal
Choice 4
Cheese sandwich
Jacket potato
Ham petit pain
Jacket potato
Tuna bagel
Jacket potato
Pizza slice
Jacket potato
Egg petit pain