Lostock Gralam C of E Primary School
Owls: Blog items
WB 20.3.23, by Miss Dalby
Date: 16th Mar 2023 @ 12:06pm
Owls Weekly Blog WC 20.3.23
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: We are coming to the end of our mini beasts topic, the children have really enjoyed exploring the different insects that live in our woodland. We have been talking about what is needed for an insect to survive and during busy time the children have created their own bug dens!
We will be finishing off this topic with a visit from some creepy crawly friends on Friday 17th! This will be a fantastic opportunity for the children to explore common and unfamiliar insects with this hands on experience.
Literacy: We have been reading a well-loved classic ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle. The children have been using their knowledge of this story to sequence the life cycle of a butterfly. We have been using amazing vocabulary such as ‘life-cycle’, ‘cocoon ‘and ‘searching’ in their literacy task and play.
Numeracy: we have been applying our partitioning skills into number sentences using fruit from ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ story. The children have been finding out the total of two numbers when they are added together. We have also been strengthening our understanding of 1-10, testing our sticky knowledge by filling in the gaps to make a complete number line.
Next week we will…
We will be exploring how we can protect our world, looking after animals and our environment by reducing, reusing and recycling. We will be exploring biologist and nature historian David Attenborough and his fantastic work on protecting our planet. We will be spreading awareness of how we can help our environment by creating posters with information on how to reduce, reuse and recycle.
This Half Term Events:
17th March – Red Nose Day (Non-uniform day)
22nd March – Parents Evening
30th March – School Disco!
We hope you have a fantastic weekend!
From,
Miss Dalby and Mrs Rathbone
Owls Blog Post 13.2.23, by Miss Dalby
Date: 16th Feb 2023 @ 8:41am
Owls Weekly Blog WC 13.02.2023
(Unfortunately due to technical issues on our school websites data including Owls January blog posts have been lost. If you have any questions, please contact myself on class dojo. Many thanks!)
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: We have started learning all about the different weathers we can see, how we are more likely to see different weather in changing seasons. During our circle time on Tuesday, we talked about using kind words to make others feel special and loved. We have created love potions, made cupcakes and wrote lovely messages in our Valentine’s Day cards!
Literacy: We have been reading ‘Rain’ by Sam Usher, the character in our story describes what he enjoys to do when the rain clouds come. The children have written their own fab sentences about what they like to do when it is raining, catching raindrops on their tongue, splashing in puddles and we have made rain catchers to put around our outside areas.
The children have also had the brilliant idea of taking their milk bottles home to use as mini rain catchers. We would love to see any pictures you take this week of your rain catcher collecting water!
Numeracy: The children have been using different measuring vocabulary in their play this afternoon, comparing objects and competing to push their cars the furthest distance!
Please note that reading books will not be sent out during half term however please continue to practise weekly review sounds from the QR codes in reading diaries.
Next half term we will…
HOME- Our new whole school topic
After half term we will begin our new whole school topic- Home. This has been planned around the theme of the importance of our homes to us and the human conflicts and natural disasters that result in homelessness for others. We are hoping to use photographs of our children’s homes as part of our displays. If you would like to, please send or e-mail a photo/copy of your home into school after half term. Thank you.
In Owls we will be continuing our topic of the climates and the weather. We will then be exploring animals around the world learning about their life cycles and patterns/prints. We will begin our very exciting mini beast topic with a trip to Delamere Forest where we will walk part of the Superworm Trail and finally we will be exploring how we can look after our world by reducing, reusing and recycling!
Next Half Term Events:
1st March – World Book Day
8th March – Owls Trip to Delamere Forest
17th March – Red Nose Day (Non-uniform day)
22nd March – Parents Evening
30th March – School Disco!
We hope you have a fantastic weekend!
From,
Miss Dalby and Mrs Rathbone
Owls WB12.12.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 8th Dec 2022 @ 4:17pm
Owls Weekly Blog 12/12/22
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: This week we have been exploring the story of Stickman and the places he has visited in his story and the different things people have used him for!
Literacy: This week we went into the forest school area and created our own stickmen, the children really enjoyed deciding the different clothes and jobs for their stickmen.
Numeracy: We have been looking at different shapes this week, learning the names of 2D shapes and key features to identify them. We discussed what a ‘side’ of a shape is and different shapes can have the same number of sides. The children have looked searching for shapes around our classroom!
Next week we will…
Next week we will be learning about the story of Jesus being born, on the first Christmas day. We have a fun filled week of Christmas activities including creating wrapping paper with repeating patterns, making gingerbread men to go with our story of ‘The Biscuit Bear’ and finishing our lovely Christmas cards.
Next week’s Events
Monday 12th December will be a non-uniform day in order that children can bring a donation for the Christmas fair.
Owls – Pre-loved toy donations
Starlings – Pre-loved Book donations – any age
Swallows – Smellies
Robins – Stationary
Goldfinches – Cakes
Skylarks – Chocolate and sweets
Toucans and Puffins – Bottles
Tuesday 13th December - Christmas Fair and Panto
Please make sure your child is in school by 9 am on Panto day, the school gate will be open from 8.30 am as we will be leaving school at 9 am.
Thursday 15th December – join us to sing on the playground at 2.30pm!
Friday 16th December – school closes at 1 pm
Just for fun please let your child wear their Christmas jumper or outfit to school today (no charge).
We hope you have a fantastic weekend!
From,
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
Owls Blog 28.11.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 24th Nov 2022 @ 3:59pm
Owls Blog Post: 28th November 2022
Friday Superstar: Finn
Top table: Annabelle and Kayden
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: This week we have been exploring space, we have been collecting moon dust, wishing on stars and have met a very shy but fun alien called Zip! The children have love learning about astronauts such as Neil Armstrong and Chris Hadfield who videoed himself singing in zero gravity!
Literacy: This week we have been reading ‘Star in the Jar’, a lovely story about a brother and sister who find a star in the park and help it to find its way home. The stars create a lovely thank you message in the sky and we thought we would write a message back!
Numeracy: We have been looking at the number 7 this week, finding the number around our class room and seeing how we can make 7 using different groups. We have been making inverse operations, looking at how we can split a large group into 2 smaller groups and recombine them to make a large group again.
Next week we will…
Next week we will be reading ‘The Jolly Postman’ and we will be learning about the job of a Postman, what kind of things they might deliver to people all over the world with the home area becoming our very own post office! Next week is the start of December which can mean only one thing, Christmas has begun and our classroom will be transformed into a Christmas wonderland!
We will be writing letters to Father Christmas and sending them to the North Pole! In phonics we will be changing our groups so please keep on reading diaries for more updates.
Next week’s Events
On Monday 28th we will be attending our whole school Christingle Service in St Johns Church. Please remember to purchase tickets for the School Play for Thursday 1st 10am and 1pm or Friday 2nd at 1pm.
We hope you have a fantastic weekend!
From,
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
Owls WC 7.11.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 3rd Nov 2022 @ 8:16pm
Welcome back Owls!
Friday Superstar: Damon
Top table: Skyler and Fern
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: We have been looking at special events at this time in the year and created beautiful art work for Bonfire Night and creating Diwali lamps.
Literacy: We have been looking at the story of 'Pumpkin Soup', we have discussed what will happen next in the story and the clues that help us. We have been investigating inside of a pumpkin, what it looks, feels and smells like! We started the week by making pumpkin soup, the children had fun cutting, mixing and of course eating the soup!
Numeracy: We have been looking at the number 4 this week, finding 4 around our class room and seeing how we can make 4 using different groups. We have been finding the total amount by thinking about how we can count accurately an object at a time. We have been measuring water in big and small containers during our busy time, finding that we can hold more water in a big jug!
Next week we will…
Next week we will be continuing to look at special events of this time of year, with remembrance day we will be creating our own poppies to add to our own planter in the outside area. We will be choosing our literacy for this week, the children will be exploring sentence structure; who, what, where. In Phonics, we will be working in our groups and exploring our intial sounds - please look in the children's reading diary for more information on your child's progress. In Numeracy, we will be looking at the number 5! We will be starting to explore number bonds to 5, which 2 smaller groups can be used to make 5 altogether.
We will be using the forest school on Thursday 10th Nov so please make sure your child has waterproof coats/clothing and wellies.
PE will resume as normal on Monday and Wednesday for Owls Class.
We hope you have a fantastic weekend!
From,
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
Owls 31.10.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 20th Oct 2022 @ 8:04pm
~ OWLS WEEKLY BLOG ~
Friday Superstar: Olive
Top table: Finley and Ava
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: One of our themes for this week has been Halloween, we have been creating pumpkin potions and Halloween decorations. The children have been really excited to get active with cosmic yoga and dances so I have shared the link for the videos on our Class Dojo page, if you try it out at home share your pictures with us!
Literature: As being kind has been our writing theme for this week, we have been exploring different kind acts in Literature. We have read ‘the Smartest Giant in Town’ and ‘Rainbow Fish’ and discussed how being kind helps us and everybody around us to be happy and feel loved. We have been creating thank you cards to show our appreciated for the people around us and their kindness.
Numeracy: This week we have been exploring repeating patterns using printing and colouring to create beautiful winter scarfs. Our number of the week, 3 has been all around us! We have loved hearing from the children where they have spotted 3 whilst they have walked to school in the morning or in the evening at home.
Homework: this week we have been learning about special friends, the children have learnt that two letters together make one sound. So this week we have been practising:
x , sh, th. ch
There will also be a short matching maths game for you to try over the break. Please can both homework be returned on Monday 31st October 2022.
AOB:
Book Trade – Message from our new School Councillors:
We will be holding a book trade on the first Friday back after half-term (Friday 5th November) straight after school. In the half-term holiday, we suggest you sort through your books to find any you don’t want anymore. Please bring them in on book trade day to swap your unwanted books for new ones to enjoy. Recommended for adults too. Thank you from, school council.
Have a relaxing and fun break!
From,
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
WB 17.10.22 - Owls Class, by Miss Dalby
Date: 13th Oct 2022 @ 7:00pm
~ OWLS WEEKLY BLOG ~
Friday Superstar: Breanna
Top table: Diya and Alfie
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: We have been exploring our interests, what we like and do not like and even though we might like different things to our friends, that’s ok! We can still have amazing friendships and experiences with them.
Literacy: The children created fantastic self-portraits using oil pastels and a mirror. We practised our oracy by using different sentences starters “I have…”, “I can see…”. Owls loved looking at each other’s pictures and guessing who was who! We then stuck our portraits in our literacy books our fact files all about us.
Numeracy: The number for this week was 2, the children have been finding examples all around our classroom and really have a solid grasp of where we can see 2 in our everyday lives. We have also been measuring an object’s height using the key vocab ‘tall and short’. Whilst you are out this weekend with your family you could play a game, who can spot the tallest building?
Next week we will…
Next week we will be looking at what it means to be kind. Our key text will be ‘The Smartest Giant in Town” by Julia Donaldson. It is important that we show our friends and family kindness, treating them as we would like to be treated ourselves. This is why we will be creating a thank you card just like the one George the Giant received from his friends.
In Phonics, we will be introducing our special friends sounds, when two letters come together to make one sound!
After a nature walk in our forest area, we will be describing the things we saw, smelt and heard and introduce our new artist: Andy Goldsworthy.
We will be creating simple reoccurring patterns using different media and natural resources. Our number of the week: 3 will be making an appearance, maybe you can thing of traditional tales that involve this number?
Finally, the spooky season is upon us so this week lots of our busy time activities will be centred around Halloween fun with creepy pumpkin counting and phantom phonics!
Homework:
Thank you to everyone who have been using the reading diaries this week, we have really enjoyed reading about the lovely stories you share at home. This week’s homework will continue to be the phonics booklets to be returned to school by Friday 21st October, this can be found in the children’s bags as usual and a copy will be shared on Class Dojo – this week the children have covered:
j,v,y,w,z
AOB:
Harvest Service and Donations:
We are celebrating Harvest this year on Monday 17th October, Key Stage 1 and Reception (Owls, Starlings and Swallows) will celebrate at 10.30am.
If you would like to make a Harvest donation to the Food Bank, the following items are currently in short supply and would be greatly appreciated, we can collect these items anytime the week beginning Monday 17th October: rice pudding, jam, long life fruit juice, tinned fruit, jelly, tea bags, custard and tinned mashed potatoes.
Parents Evening will be on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th October.
Have a brilliant weekend!
From,
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
WB 10.10.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 6th Oct 2022 @ 9:33pm
~ OWLS WEEKLY BLOG ~
Friday Superstar: Annabel
Top table: Sophia and Tri
This week we have…
This Week's Theme: We have been exploring people who help us, looking at texts which explore the busy lives of everyday superheros. We have been discussing our own family members who have very important jobs such as being dentists or vets. On Thursday, we had a very special visitor! One of our Owls friends got quite the shock when their mummy who was a nurse, came to talk about her incredible job and we were able to explore equipment she uses everyday.
Literacy: The children have been learning about lots of important jobs through different texts, they were asked to talk about their favourite everyday hero, writing about how they help us and what tools they need for the job. We were blown away with the children's phonics knowledge, using blending skills to write their ideas and label drawings - what incredible Owls they are!
Numeracy: We have been exploring the number for this week: 1 - looking at how many ways it can be shown, the children were given the challenge of finding number 1 in our classroom. We have also been using the key words 'more, less, least and most' to describe and compare groups of objects, the children are really working on their wow sentences to show their understanding.
Next week we will…
Next week we will be exploring 'All about me!', the children will be looking at their own interests and choices. We will be investigating how this may sometimes be different to our friends and that makes our friendships even more interesting!
We will be planning a nature walk after reading 'We are Going on a Leaf Hunt' and making predictions about what we might see, smell, hear and touch. We will also be introducing our new artist: Andy Goldsworthy who will be inspiring our own Nature Art. We will be using the key words around measurement that will be introduced in Numeracy alongside our number of the week: 2, maybe you can look out for our new number of the week during your lovely weekend activities?
In Phonics, we will continue to introduce new sounds, (r, j, v, y, w) as well as revisit previously learnt sounds which the children can do at home using the green booklet provided at the start of the year.
Homework:
Thank you to everyone who have been using the reading diaries this week, we have really enjoyed reading about the lovely stories you share at home. This week’s homework will continue to be the phonics booklets to be returned to school by Friday 14th October, this can be found in the children’s bags as usual and a copy will be shared on Class Dojo – this week the children have covered:
f, e, l, h, sh
In addition, I will be sending home a short maths challenge to be completed and returned with phonics booklets by 14th October, details will be found in reading diaries.
AOB:
Telephone Catch Ups This Week:
We will continue with the catch up calls on Friday 7th October, thank you to everyone who has informed me of their availability. If you have not been able to access the calls this week, I will be directly messaging on Class Dojo to arrange another time to call next week. The phone call is a great opportunity to discuss any queries you may have about a first few weeks in school and progression going forward.
Open Day This Saturday 8th @ 9:00am - 12:00pm:
If you have child due to start school in September 2023 or know of someone locally, please tell them about our Open Day on Saturday 8th October!
Thank you again for a lovely week!
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
P.S If you are still not on Class Dojo please can you check emails (including junk folder) for the link to access. Class Dojo is a fantastic communication tool to share the children's learning journey and gain daily updates of events at school. I will be resending invites this Friday so please keep an eye on emails.
Owls Class WB 3.10.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 29th Sep 2022 @ 5:24pm
This week we have…
We have had a fantastic week here in Owls Class, we have been looking at what makes our own families special and unique to us and how families from across the world might spend their free time with one another.
Thank you to everybody who have given us pictures of their lovely families, the children have enjoyed sharing photos with their friends and talking about the amazing adventures they have been on.
This week we have launched Class Dojo for Owls Class which is an exciting way for us to interact and share the children’s fantastic learning journey with you! If you have not yet accessed Class Dojo please check your emails (including junk emails) for your invite, if it is still not there please provide your email address to the office for me to resend the invite to you.
Next week we will…
Next week we will be exploring the topic of people that help us and the jobs they do. What jobs do you think are the most important? In Numeracy, we will be using the key words ‘more and fewer’ and introducing the number of the week, 1. Finally with our lovely harvest service approaching the children will be exploring what it means to be thankful and we will be practising our harvest song!
Homework:
Reading diaries have now arrived! So they will be going home alongside the phonics homework, in the children’s bags as usual and a copy will be shared on Class Dojo – this week the children have covered:
o,c,k,u,b
Telephone Catch Ups Next Week:
Next week on Monday 3rd and Friday 7th October, I will be telephoning parents for a catch up now that our lovely Reception class have been here for a month, you will have received an electronic form from the office for you to complete, informing of your availability.
Thank you again for a lovely week!
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
Owls WB 26.9.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 23rd Sep 2022 @ 6:29pm
This week we have...
What a fantastic week we have had, even with one less day our fantastic Owls have managed to do so much this week. We have learnt 4 new sounds in phonics (i,n,p and g) and have started blending sounds.
Our key text this week was ‘The Colour Monster’, we have explored how feelings can sometimes get mixed up and can feel too busy, it is always good to talk to friends and family to sort through them together! Using the key text to inspire us, we have been creating our own colour monsters describing their unique features by learning about the different body parts.
Owls have been doing experiments with paints and predicting what new colours we have when mixing two together. We have carried on our exploration of colour by going leaf hunt to find different coloured leaves to use in our artwork next week.
Next week we will...
Next week we will be talking about our families and what makes yours unique and special to you!
Please can you bring in some lovely pictures of your family that we can keep on our family tree display this term – we will be talking about our families in class so it would be a lovely chance for children to share pictures with their friends (please feel free to email a copy if you would prefer).
In Numeracy, we will be spotting patterns and smaller groups within a larger group. Children will be exploring how seeing these smaller groups helps to reach the total amount quickly!
Please continue to bring your wellies, waterproofs and coats into school, as the weather is becoming more wet and it is important for Owls class to access our outside learning area through all weathers.
Homework packs containing phonics work and a small maths challenge has been put in your child’s school bag to be completed for next week. Thank you to everyone who has brought back their homework from last week, the writing has been fantastic to see!
As always if you have any questions please feel free to contact via email or speak to me at the gate after school.
Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone
Owls WC 19.09.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 16th Sep 2022 @ 8:25am
Top table: Emilios and Kaisie
Friday superstar: Imogen
This week we have…
Everyone has settled beautifully into our routine in Owls Class, for our first full week in school I could not be prouder of how respectful and enthusiastic the children have been, getting involved with every activity we do.
We have been exploring counting to 10 and beyond by helping the Worrysaurus to get ready for his yummy picnic and discussing what we would put in our Worrysaurus tins to help us chase away the butterflies when we feel nervous.
Our morning rainbow challenges and the dough disco has been a fantastic way for the children to get ready for their Phonics lessons by waking up our writing muscles! This week we have covered the following sounds:
m, a, s, d, t
(Friday 16th: Today we will send out a homework sheets in the children’s bag to practise their new sounds over the weekend as we are still awaiting our reading diaries).
Thank you to everyone who attended the ‘Meet the Teacher’ meeting on Wednesday evening, it was lovely talking to you about the fun things we are cooking up in Reception! I have attached the PowerPoint used for those who were unable to attend. Please get in touch if you have any questions about the information provided at the meeting.
Next week we will…
As part of our ‘Magical Me!’ topic we will be looking at the different parts of our bodies. Using our words of the week in Literacy to describe our very own colour monsters! As our key text for this week is 'The Colour Monster', we will be creating new colours by mixing different paints together.
In Maths we will be practising our super speedy subitising skills in a game of snap! In phonics we will be continuing to practise our sounds from the previous week as well as learning 5 new sounds.
Please remember the school will be closed on Monday 19th September due to the Queen’s Funeral.
Update: Unfortunately I am still awaiting verification of our Class Dojo howeer as soon as I have this I will be sending out the invites for you all to access this.
And finally, have a lovely weekend! As always if you have questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact or speak with us.
Many thanks,
Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone.
Owls Class 08.09.22, by Miss Dalby
Date: 8th Sep 2022 @ 5:17pm
Hi everybody!
Welcome to our first Owls blog post of the school year! What a wonderful start for our new Owls Class!
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Highlights from this week:
I am absolutely blown away with how well Reception have settled into the school routine! This week we have been getting to know our new teachers, friends and Year 6 buddies, the children have even created a new class prayer!
Dear God,
Thank you for our school, for the fun we have with our lovely toys.
Help us to be kind like Jesus and look after our friends, families, animals and plants.
Amen.
General info for next week:
On Wednesday 14th September, we have ‘Meet the Teacher’ sessions which will be held at 3:15pm, 3:45pm, 4:45pm and 5:15pm, come along to see what we do in the Owls Reception Class!
Complete the form to inform us which slot you’ll be attending and whether or not you’ll require the crèche facility.
Our wonderful week ahead:
Next week we will be starting our ‘Magical Me!’ topic. We will be looking at the book ‘The Worrysaurus’ by Chris Chatterton and talking about some of the things we can do when we feel a bit nervous, like cuddle our teddy or read a book. Phonics will also begin on Monday where we will be introducing Fred!
In Maths we will be counting 1 to 10, making sure that Worrysaurus has enough food in his picnic for all of his friends.
Finally, Autumn is here! Poor Mr Kettle has been tidying up fallen leaves from our outside area everyday this week. This weekend maybe you can look for other signs that autumn is here with your grownups to share with us next week.
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If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to get in contact and thank you all for a wonderful week.
Have a lovely weekend!
From Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone