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We are taking part in the Christmas Tree Festival at St Cuthbert’s Church. This year the tress are themed on Christmas Carols and songs – our tree is “It was on a Starry Night.”

The Christmas Tree Festival at St Cuthbert’s, is from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd December.

There’ll be music, refreshments, activities for kids, crafts and a preserves stall too – plus some fabulously decorated Christmas trees from the local community as well.

Come and join us on:

• Friday 1st, 1pm to 4pm
• Saturday 2nd, 11am to 5pm
• Sunday 3rd, 1pm to 5pm

Entry is just £2 and children go free!

We’ve also got a Santa’s Grotto for just £3 per child:

• Friday, 2pm to 3pm
• Saturday, 2pm to 4pm
• Sunday, 2pm to 3:30pm

Fun for all the family! Click here for more information.

This week we have kept with our Christmas tradition of Decoration Day. The children got creative with all things Christmas this week – there was a lot of glue and glitter, but most importantly fun

!!

It was brilliant to celebrate these children completing their Achievement cards. We resisted the temptation to sing a Christmas song!! in keeping with Achievement Assembly traditions we celebrated with a juice and biscuit.

It’s been a funny week, but one thing can be relied upon to cheer us all up and that’s an Achievement Assembly. This week year 1 and 2 celebrated receiving Silver, Opal, Topaz and Amethyst certificates. The children shared their achievements with their guests and a juice and biscuit!

This week we are learning to subitise. We now know this means we do not count the spots that we see. Our flashy fingers have quick muscle memory now when we see 1, 2 or 3. In our group work, we have been finding groups or collections of 3 for the Three Bears. Our challenge was to say how we knew there were 3 things. Our teachers asked us if we could count something we cannot see. Some of us worked out that we can count sounds and challenged our friends in a game using a chime bar! Can you find a collection of 3 at home?

Our final Achievement Assembly of the half term saw children in Year 1 and 2 receive their certificates. The children shared some of their achievements, including being kind to others, impressing teachers with their reading, being able to make numbers in lots of different ways and following the Golden Rules. Of course we celebrated with juice and a biscuit.

On Friday, Both Langstone schools celebrated ‘Proud to be Pompey’ Day. This was an initiative set up by the current Lord Mayor Cllr Tom Coles, to encourage children to celebrate the city they live in and learn more about its history. He also wanted to raise money for the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Appeal, which this year is supporting three incredible local organisations, Portsmouth Hospitals Charity, Home Start and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC).

During RE day Year Two looked at ‘Belonging’, what this means to us and what it means in Judaism. We thought about things that we belong to, like our families, the school community and clubs outside school. We found out about the Jewish day of rest, which is called Shabbat and is celebrated on Saturday each week. We found out that Jewish people are not allowed to use lights or electronic devices during Shabbat! Also, they’re not allowed to go to the shops or do homework. Instead they spend time together, sing, read and play board games. We talked about celebrations we share with others and special meals. We ended the day by trying Challah bread, special bread that is always part of a Shabbat meal. The bread was made in the morning by grown ups in each class, with help from the children. Everyone seemed to enjoy eating the bread, but the star baker is yet to be announced!

This week in reception, we have been learning to subitise to 3. We have also been learning to count out a quantity. The teachers had a bag with hidden objects inside. We had to say how many we thought were inside and then, count it out.

As part of our science learning we have been talking about the senses as super powers.  We explored our senses by making popcorn.  We used our sense of sight and touch to see how the popcorn looked and felt before and after cooking.  We used our sense of smell during the cooking process and also used our sense of hearing to listen to the different sounds it made.  Finally we used our sense of taste when eating the popcorn. We had great fun!

The children in Year One have been exploring the concept of aerial views.  As part of this learning, they worked in small groups to create an aerial plan of the classroom.  They thought about key features, position and layout,  and used colour coding as a simple key.

What a beautiful day to celebrate the children’s wonderful achievements. It was lovely to hear all the things they have received their merits for including reading lots at home, being kind when people are sad and knowing lots of ways to make different numbers in maths. We sand one of our songs and of course had juice and a biscuit with our visiting grown ups. Well done.

This week in early years we have been learning to subitise. The children were shown a dot pattern and had to say what they saw without counting it. They met number block 3 and he challenged them to find groups of 3 in their environment. Look at the wonderful things they found!

This year many of our children took part in the Summer reading Challenge run by the library service.

This morning in assembly we celebrate their achievements. The children brought in their certificates and medals to show us.

Today we celebrated out Harvest Festival. It was the first time that Year R have joined us for a whole school assembly and it was wonderful for them to join us and join in with a song.

We have been blown away by your generosity with donations for the ‘Baffins Pantry’ which serves out local community.

In assembly we looked at the word HARVEST and other words that we could make from it, particularly ‘eat’ ‘starve’ and ‘share’. We snag the Harvest songs we have been learning – Mr Scarecrow, Paintbox (Cauliflowers Fluffy) and Harvest Samba.

Year 2 have been learning all about Leonardo Da Vinci. We have looked at his famous paintings including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. We spoke about our likes and dislikes. This week we have practiced sketching our facial features so that we are ready to sketch our own portraits by the end of our unit.

It was a lovely way to start today with another Achievement assembly. The children shared the things they have done. We celebrated with our visitors and had juice and a biscuit.

Wow! An Achievement Assembly in the first week back – it must be a record!

Luckily the children remembered exactly what they were doing and shared their achievements with our visitors before celebrating with juice and a biscuit.

What a fabulous way to start the new school year!

Year R had a wonderful sports day on the field. the children rotate around different activities and were fantastically supported by family and friends. Well done everyone – what great sports you all are!

What a lovely way to end the school year with a fabulous Achievement Assembly. It was wonderful to hear all the things the children have been up to recently, from being kind to balancing, helping a friend and climbing a rope ladder. It was a testament to everyone’s hard work in Year R this year that some of the children read their merit cards! Just wow!

We had such a great day on Monday with our Year 2 Sports Day! Well done to Year 2 for such brilliant resilience and sportsmanship, including carrying on in the rain! They made all of us so proud and I think we may have some potential football and cricket players amongst us (especially if the Welly Whanging is anything to go by!)

The Reception children had a visit this week from the RNLI.  They taught the children how to stay safe when on the beach or in the sea.  We learnt about all the different flags that the lifeguards use to tell us when it is safe and not safe to go into the water.

The Reception children had a wonderful day yesterday visiting Staunton Farm.  We got to feed and touch many of the animals, the ferret was very friendly and let us tickle his tummy. We also visited the glasshouse, which was like a tropical rainforest, very hot but beautiful and look at the many flowers in the gardens.  We also enjoyed using our physical skills on the adventure playground and having lunch outside with our friends.  What a beautiful day!

Some of the children in Year 2 are getting incredibly close to the elusive Diamond Merit Card! It was wonderful to celebrate their fabulous achievements with these children today.

We have been practising recalling our number bonds to 10 this week. Our teachers were very sneaky and hid some treasure behind a screen. We had to say how many coins they had taken! Can you work out from our flashy fingers how many were taken and the total?

In Reception we have enjoyed reading the story of ‘Hooray for Fish’ by Lucy Cousins.  We made our own fabulous fish last week to put on our classroom display and this week we have made jellyfish using our fine motor skills by cutting out templates and tying on legs. Doesn’t it look amazing!

Today we celebrated with year 1 and 2 who received their next certificates. They shared their achievements with their visitors and enjoyed the juice and biscuit.

I’m 10, 10, 10 again! This week, we have been exploring the composition of 10 and how many ways we can make 10 using cubes. We have had a lot of fun flying our Numberblock 10 around! We have been using the stem sentence 10 is made from _ and_ and _ and _ make 10 – to check our understanding.

This week the Reception classes took part in a mini athletics lesson with a coach.  We went off on a pirate adventure to collect treasure and had a wonderful time.

Last week in maths, we were recalling our number knowledge to 5. We had to put 5 passengers on the bus and then work out how many got off the bus or were at a bus stop. Many of us could say how many were waiting at a bus stop by using the stem sentence ‘It must be _ because 5 is made of _ and _.

Class 6 had a fantastic day at Longdown Activity Farm on the final friday before half term.  They loved feeding both the calves and kids with bottles of milk and enjoyed getting to hold both chicks and guinea pigs.  The children got to ride on the bumpy tractor ride which was enjoyed by most of the children but not by Mr Wells! Farmer Anna even showed them that one of the pigs enjoyed a belly rub just like a dog!

We have been practising saying if a number is more, fewer or equal this week. We have used our subitising skills and then counted out an amount. Once we had counted out the quantity, we put them into the balance bucket and had to explain which was heavier because it was more, or, which was lighter because it was fewer.

Class 5 thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Longdown Farm on Tuesday. They were lucky to experience feeding calves and kids with bottles, as well as the goats who they fed using dinner plates! They were able to handle both chicks who were only 5 days old and several older guinea pigs who Farmer Anna told us were their ‘retired ladies’. The children even got to ride on the bumpy tractor ride and use some free time to see the farm’s other animals, such as ducks, rabbits and pigs!

The children used their knowledge of different animals and their diets to identify which animal had created each poo sample. Using clues in each poo the children were also able to classify the animals as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.

Year 2 have been working hard this week,

creating animal poems based on Rumble in the Jungle! There were so many spectacular ones, it was a very difficult job to choose ones to share!

Last week, class 4 enjoyed a lovely trip to Longdown Activity Farm.  The sun was shining and the children had a great time being little farmers for the day.  They Fed and handled lots of different animals, collected eggs for farmer Brian and even had a very bumpy tractor ride.  A great time was had by all and the children described it as “the best day ever!” although there were a few sleepy children on the way back.

As part of our PSHE work, the children have been exploring different emotions.  They have looked at feelings and actions associated with different emotions and have thought about the importance of managing our feelings correctly.  During the final session, the children discussed the concept of love.  They then made a love hug for someone special.

What a lovely sunny day for an Achievement Assembly. We celebrated today with year 1 and 2. We sang a new song we are learning and had juice and biscuits. Today we shared the school helper of the week  award this week.

Although it was a bit too damp to share a picnic with the Junior school we celebrated King Charles III Coronation we gathered in the hall and sang together the Coronation Song, we watched the video of Year 2 singing the song. We then had an amazing school parade around the playground wearing our crowns and waving the flags we made. We had 3 cheers for King Charles and then split into classes to have our picnic snacks.

This morning Year 1 and Year 2 celebrated their Achievement Assembly. Lots of children read their own cards. There were lots of merits this week for achievement in reading. There was even a merit shared about a Cheese String dance!

The children celebrated with their visitors and a juice and a biscuit.

We have had a busy few weeks. We have been counting out up to 20 objects and sorting them into groups. This week, we have been learning the song ‘5 little monkeys’. Instead of monkeys jumping on the bed, we have cats! We were challenged to represent the cats that were on and off of the bed. We had some great ideas and hope you enjoy seeing our representations. At home, you could ask us to fill in the blanks on the stem sentence 5 is made from __ and __. Have fun!

Here is the video of the Coronation Song that Year 2 took part in this week.

Year 2 were amazing this morning bring filmed singing the Coronation Song we have been learning. The final video will be posted on Friday – watch this space!

This week Year 2 have visited Fort Nelson.  They had so much fun exploring the Fort and learning all about Florence Nightingale. They got to explore Crimean War Camps and how unhygienic they were. They also worked with Florence Nightingale as Nurses and Health Inspectors to help improve the conditions for wounded soldiers!

In Year 1, we have been learning all about famous astronauts as part of our Famous Faces unit. We carried out an in depth look at Tim Peake as he is from Chichester. The children worked in small groups to create a Tim Peake poster. They focused on his early life as a helicopter pilot and then his journey to become an astronaut. The children enjoyed being creative and producing these beautiful information posters.

How amazing to start the new term with a brilliant Achievement Assembly. The children shared their merits this morning about their reading, blending sounds, using non-standard units of measure, being kind to friends and singing beautifully. We are very proud of them and their achievements.

This week in Year R we have been learning to ride balance bikes safely and with control with the Pedal Power team.  At the end of the week our challenge was to ride a pedal bike without stabilisers.  We have had a great time learning!

Today’s Achievement Assembly featured a special request for song with actions, 29 children receiving certificates and an amazing number of different things to get a merit for. It is always  special to hear what the children have achieved merits for and we are very proud of their achievements.

Well done everyone.

Year R have had been doing STEM activities this week and looking at science through investigations and activities.

The children have looked at spider webs, looking at photos and creating a web pattern or web that could hold a plastic spider using a range of resources that were out. The children have  looked at building rainbows using bricks and patterns. The children made rainbows from coloured sweets and warm water and were amazed at what happened. They talked about where rainbows might begin in the ground or in the sky. We have made feeders to help feed birds while the weather is cold.  Year R have investigated whether Humpty Dumpty can survive a fall from his wall using different materials as his landing pad.

Children from Year 2 visited the Guildhall twice on Tuesday! In the afternoon the children, all dressed in their traditional tale character outfits, went for the dress rehearsal for the evening event. All the songs we have been learning recently have been towards this event. The whole school have learnt the songs which are all Traditional Tale stories.

The children behaved impeccably, sang beautifully, looked wonderful and will be super tired for the rest of the week! Please keep popping back to this post to see the official photographs and video of the event.

Today we were delighted to welcome Guy Parker-Rees to school. He talked to all the children in the hall about illustrating books. The children even created their own illustrations. Guy drew us a special picture to commemorate the opening of our new library. Guy opened our new library and signed copies of his books. We were also very lucky that Guy has given us copies of lots of his books for the children to share in our wonderful new library.

Today we celebrated an achievement assembly with Year R and Year 2. The children shared their achievements. It is always a pleasure to hear what they have been up to. We especially like the ones that make us laugh. Fortunately everyone survived Mrs. Green’s porridge.

We celebrated World Book Day this year by dressing up as a character or wearing our pajamas and bring a bed time story. The Cat in a Hat and  Thing 1 and Thing 2 were causing chaos in class 5. Evil Pea was in class 7 but was kept under control by Supertato, although the carrot did get taped to the chair. Burglar Bill was stealing things from all the classes. All the children received a book token to spend on a book of their choice or on one of the special World Book Day books. The children also got to visit our new library which will be offically opened soon!

We were all really lucky to take part in a circus themed drama workshop. The children had to make different faces and poses and follow instructions to help the clown get his smile back.