This week in Form 1, the children have loved exploring the topic of castles.

In preparation for our trip we read the book Shhhh by Sally Gridley and Peter Utton. The story takes the children through a giant’s castle, all the while remembering to be quiet so as not to wake the scary giant sleeping in his room! The children engaged really enthusiastically with this story and we used it as a vehicle for our literacy work. The children wrote simple sentences such as; I can see a rat. I can see a cat.’ We linked to the characters that we met as we ventured through the castle. Their ability to segment and record the sounds they hear is developing extremely well and

they all produced fantastic sentences.

We had a visit from the Perform Drama Workshop this week, which was lots of fun. During the session, the children went on an imaginary adventure to party land. They learned how important it is to look after our planet and reduce, reuse and recycle. They all joined in enthusiastically and had a great time.

On Tuesday, the children were very excited to visit Hever Castle! We enjoyed a private tour of the castle led by our tour guide, Roxanne, who was simply brilliant with the class. She explained all the different features of the castle and the children were fascinated by how life was different 600 years ago compared to today. The children learned about greedy King Henry who had 8 wives and loved eating so much that he would consume the equivalent of 6,000 calories a day! The children were fascinated by all the different rooms and the jobs people would have had. The Tudor toilet was very surprising to the children, as was finding out that being a royal bottom

wiper was actually considered a rather great job! After our tour, we enjoyed some time in the various play areas and then had our packed lunches, which was very exciting and much enjoyed! After lunch, we explored the grounds further, completed the maze and even had time to play in the huge castle in the larger play area.

During our trip, the children were great at asking questions, sharing their ideas and listening to find out more. They learned an incredible amount and there was so much language and new vocabulary that came from

their conversations with one another and with our guide. Whilst exploring the grounds, the children each had their own map and we used these to find out where we were and the direction we needed to travel in to get to our next location. Some super maths language was used to explain where we should be going!

The next day, the children learned how to draw their own castle using a step-by-step guide. This created the foundation for them to add additional features that they remembered from visiting the real castle. They used black pens to create the shape and used pastels to add colour. The children could remember lots of the features of the castle such as the drawbridge, arrow slits and a moat.

In maths this week we have continued to explore addition. The children have also practised their number formation and how to make teen numbers using a group of 10. This week we looked at one more and how we can work out one more by looking at the number line to see the next door number or by counting on one out loud. The children used their trusty 10s frames and identified the first amount and then added one more by drawing the counter. To extend their understanding, we have also been writing number sentences to match what we have been doing, for example; 4 + 1= 5.

The children have also been working hard on their Coffee Morning presentation and very much enjoyed sharing it with you all on Friday. A busy but wonderful end to the first half of the Autumn Term!