Attendance

Merlins - 97%
Kestrels - 99%
Kingfishers - 95%
Skylarks - 99%
Wrens - 93 %

Overall school attendance - 97%

Congratulations to Skylarks and Kestrels for the highest attendance this week. Very close to my challenge of 100%.  I'm still looking for the class with 100%.

Top tip for the week - update your parent knowledge on how you can keep your children safe online

At Abberley, I am passionate about educating both pupils and parents about online safety. Here is a letter I received this week regarding a FREE parent online conference hosted by West Mercia Police. I have put the flyer further down the newsletter with the QR code or click on the link below to attend 

Online Safety Conference (office.com)  Teams

Select a Date & Time - Calendly  To attend in person

Abberley tea towel

Order forms for the tea towel have been handed out today.  Please complete and return by Monday 20th November.  Thank you.

This week the Wrens have been learning all about Remembrance.  We used the books "Where the Poppies now Grow"  by Hiliary Robinson and Martin Impney which follows the story of Ben and Ray who join the army to serve during the First World War. The second story "Flo of the Somme" is a story about the important role animals played in the war effort. These books are written in an age appropriate way and introduce the importance of Remembrance to a young audience.  

In maths we have enjoyed playing some games to practise our careful counting, number recognition and subitising skills.  Simple board games are a really good way to practise basic maths skills so maybe you can try this at home. 

At Forest School we talked about how the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer.  We all worked together to make a large den which was very dark and had great fun playing in it with our torches.

In RE this week we have been learning all about how different faiths celebrate family.  On Monday we learnt about the Muslim ceremony Aqiqah which welcomes new babies to the Islamic faith.   We learnt out how the father whispers the Shahadah to a new baby  so it is the first thing they hear. We talked about what we would whisper to a new baby to welcome them and let them know they are loved.  On Friday we learnt about the Hindu festival of  Raksha Bandhan which celebrates the love between brothers and sisters.  We made our own Rakhi bracelets and gave them to family and friends to show them that we appreciate their love.

The children looked fantastic in their superhero Children in Need outfits today and we were very impressed by the determination and resilience they showed in our RunPudsey event in the afternoon.  Great work Wrens!

In English, we have continued working around the book Meerkat Mail. Year 2 have been learning how to describe using the five senses. They have been thinking carefully about making their sentences exciting through their use of adjectives and have completed a setting description. Year 1 have used their phonetical knowledge this week to write a postcard home describing an adventure Sunny the meerkat might have been on.

In maths, Year 1 have begun learning about subtraction. They have used subtraction to identify a missing part and to identify fact families. Year 1 have also been subtracting by taking away and creating short stories to match take away picture and calculation.

Year 2 have been using a variety of methods, including using number lines, to subtract. They have been working hard to subtract 1-digit numbers from 2-digit numbers.

In history this week, we travelled back in time with the help of some music to the year 1914 to learn about World War One. The children found it fascinating to discover how soldiers lived in trenches. They were extremely curious and had lots of questions. They pretended to be soldiers in the trenches and used their five senses to describe what it was like. The children also dressed up as soldiers and built their own trenches as a team. 

This week we are coming to the end of our addition and subtraction work. The children were getting to grips with estimation and inverse operations this week. During next week we will be moving onto multiplication and division. 

In English we have completed our first piece of writing for the Firework maker's daughter. The children have completed a recount letter from the point of view of Lila, the daughter, and her journey to becoming a firework maker in her own right.

This week in PSHE, we looked at resolving conflict and what form conflict can take from the playground to Interational affairs. 

In geography, we looked in more detail at how mountains and volcanoes are formed along the edge of tectonic plate boundaries. The children used atlases to identify mountain ranges and mark them on their own map.

In the RE lesson we delved into the story of Svetuketu and how this is used to help Hindus understand their relationship with their God. 

In DT we are working towards the creation of mechanism using a pneumatic system. We will be thinking about some designs for this next week.

In English, we have started our new book 'The Night Bus Hero'. This is a story about a boy called Hector who is open about the fact he is a bully. Then something happens and he becomes determined to be a hero, he just needs to show everyone that he has changed. So far, we have learned about the horrible and mean things he does to other children at school. The children have used this information to create a description of Hector using expanded noun phrases and relative clauses.

In maths, Y4 have been focusing on times tables, particularly the 3 and 6 times tables and the links between them. They were given the challenge of improving their TTRS speeds on these tables and most children met this challenge! Y5 have been learning about multiples, common multiples and factors. This also needed them to use their times tables knowledge to 'see' answers to questions.

In Merlins class this week, we have continued to read the story ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by CS Lewis. We were introduced to the character of Mr Tumnus, a friendly faun who greets Lucy upon her arrival in Narnia. The children have been using descriptions of Mr Tumnus in the story to write their very own detailed character description of him. All have thought carefully about how to describe the setting, as well as a character, using similes, metaphors and expanded noun phrases. We also explored how to punctuate dialogue and have attempted to use these new skills within the character descriptions. 

This week in maths, we have continued our topic of fractions. The children have been comparing and ordering fractions and using fractions that have like and unlike denominators and numerators. Towards the end of the week, we moved onto adding and subtracting fractions.

In science this week, we continued with our topic of 'Humans and other animals' and looked in more detail at the heart and how it works. The children learned about the different veins and arteries that carry blood to and from the heart, the four chambers of the heart and the role each of these plays in pumping blood around the body.

In RE, we started our topic of Hinduism. The children looked at different words, symbols and pictures that are important to the religion and used their prior knowledge to describe what these were called, represented or meant and then shared this information with the rest of the class.

This week in DT we have been designing our very own steady hand game. The children have had to think carefully about the shape of their wire, the base, the backboard and the circuit which should contain all important electrical components. Next week will be moving onto creating our base which will have some link or relevance to the shape of the wire. 

In geography, this week we have continued our study of the Alps. We have been exploring what life is like and the significance of the climate zone and biome the Alps lies within. We have identified on a map what countries the Alps runs through and next week we will be thinking about how using a topography map identifies and compares land height. 

Please see below information from within the community and independent of the school