Mars
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Welcome to Mars Class!
Mars class is a mixed class of Year 1 and Year 2 children.
Our teacher is Miss Kelly, and Mrs Williams is our teaching assistant.
We are lucky to have our own outdoor learning area and enjoy playing outside come rain or shine! The ethos of our class is to develop happy, confident and independent learners who are willing to try their best and find success in their everyday learning. Every child is unique and we aim to tailor lessons to the individual needs of the children.
On this page you can find updates about our learning and any special adventures we have been on. We hope you enjoy reading about our learning journey!
Mathletics Information
Mars Class 2022.2023
Summer Term
Last week of school!
In true last week style I have had so much fun with the kids that I did not remember to take photos.
This past week we have been full of creativity, after practising using the clay and making prototypes of our clay houses the children finally finished them and I am so amazed by how quickly their skills have improved. Though I do hope they all reached to you in one piece! The children joined Jupiter to take part in a mini Lego robots league. We watched an interesting documentary about the inventors The Wright brothers and have been creating a daily weather report to finish our science learning about the seasons.
Finally, we had reward day where we played games, lots of colouring and watched a film altogether for the last time as Mars Class.
I have been so lucky to watch these children grow from when they first walked through the door in Reception and I know they will continue to amaze us next year! Well done Mars Class!
Have a lovely summer and see you in September!
Week Commencing 26/6/23:
This week we had our transition afternoon with new Mars Class and it was so lovely to see new relations forming already. I cannot wait for September!
This week in English the children have been looking at poetry by Shirley Hughes. The children identified features of a poem, what sparked their imagination and created a word bank to compose their own poem.
In Maths we have revisited division and exploring the relationship it has with multiplication.
The children have also completed their topic independent project, in PSHE we looked at what makes ourselves special, in PE we practised our throwing skills and in DT we evaluated our musical instruments.
Week Commencing 19/6/23:
This week has been assessment week, Year 1s did amazing and I am so proud of all their progress this year.
In maths we have revisited our understanding of time and numberbonds to 10. In english we finished our adverts for our own musical instruments that they made in DT this week. In Science we finished our learning on plants by creating a plan for how we would grow our chosen mystery seed. We also started our new art project focusing on creating form and texture using clay, we experimented with hands and tools to do this.
We were also so luck to visit the animal center at Shuttleworth College. It was amazing we got to see an array of exotic animals and even saw some planes land on the runway.
Have a lovely weekend!
Week Commencing 5/6/23:
How is it the last half term? This year is flying!
We started the week with an R.E/ art day, the children answered questions about a religion and responded to a piece of artwork using the umbrella. In Exciting writing the children wrote a fantasy story about Clark falling down a rabbit hole to doggy paradise. This week we continued with our master of maths looking at the number 8.
In Dt the children have started designing musical instruments, in PE we have been practising our running skills for sports day and in topic we have begun to research for our chosen inventor question.
Week Commencing 22/5/23:
This week the children have been having lots of fun with their learning.
In English we have been looking at character descriptions and wrote some of our own. In maths the children have been looking in depth at tally charts and making their own from data they have collected.
In DT we started to look at different musical instruments and explored the materials they are made from, in topic we completed a 'escape room' style lesson finding information about Marie Curie to add to their timeline. In P.E the children developed their skills to turn the ball when dribbling, in music we have been practising playing the glockenspiel in time with our group and we completed our independent art project. It is amazing to see how inspired the children were when creating their own portrait art.
Have a lovely half term!
Week commencing 15/5/23: This week the Year 2’s have completed their secret agent tests and I am so ridiculously proud of each and every one of them! I have popped a video up on tapestry of them receiving their secret agent certificates in celebration assembly.
In maths this week we have began to start to look at statistics and tally charts. In English we have looked back on a few of our writing pieces and with a friend been improving them. All children have now been benchmarked so please check out their new book level.
In R.E we looked at a variety of Jewish artefacts to create a museum page in our books. In music we have been practising three little birds by Bob Marley with glockenspiels and finally in art the children are beginning to finish their final art piece.
Week commencing 8\5\23:
This week the year 2’s completed another 2 SATs tests, they are doing such a fantastic job!
This week in maths the years 1’s continued to learn about position and direction using half turn and full turn. The year 2’s have been practising their maths skills and revising shapes.
In English we have focused on punctuation and spelling, following an exciting writing of a poem. In our art session the children recorded their artistic journey it is lovely to see how inspired they all are. In topic we became an inventor looking at Leonardo Da Vinci and made our own parachute. And in R.E we started to look at Judaism and the story of Moses.
Have a lovely weekend!
Week commencing 1/5/23:
It was a short week though we filled it with lots of learning!
The Year 2s completed 2 SATs (secret agent tests if you are not in the know) and they smashed them.
This week in maths the Year 2s consolidated their arithmetic skills and Year 1s looked at position and direction of shapes and objects.
In English we looked at characters in Julia Donaldson books and compared the character creating similarities and differences.
We also wrote a letter as if we were King Charles talking to our royal subjects.
The children have also been practising their scoring skills in P.E, continued to learn to play notes using the glockenspiel, identified parts of plants in Science and took part in the playground party on Friday.
Have a lovely bank holiday!
Week Commencing 17/04/23:
First week back of summer term? This year is flying by!
In math's this week the children have been recapping fractions and identifying a half and a quarter of shapes and quantities.
This week the children have been immersed in their new topic 'ingenious inventions', the children completed their KWHL grid and looked at a few amazing inventors to create a timeline.
The children have spent some time completing their independent art projects with a focus on portraits. The children began to respond to the artists they choose last time and began exploring different light in their photos. I hope you will enjoy their photos as much as I did!
In P.E we have been looking at Olympic values in sport and practised our teamwork through football skills.
Have a lovely weekend!
Spring Term
WC 27.3.23:
Last week! This week we consolidated our learning in maths and in English we wrote a recount of our trip to Kimbolton castle. We started the week with a rocksteady concert, which was amazing! Well done to the children who took part!
In PE we created our own mini golf course, it was so much fun! In art we started our new independent project by thinking about what is a portrait and discovered new artists to inspire us. On Wednesday we also had our Easter service at the church. Finally today was reward day we had an Easter egg hunt, movies and craft and a special hula hoop visitor.
Have a lovely Easter everyone
Week Commencing 20/3/23:
This week we have had lots of fun finishing off some of our projects.
In English we have been looking at instructions, we have been identifying ’bossy verbs’ and where they are placed in a sentence and we have looked at time conjunctions. We discussed that instructions should be short and simple to follow. To end our week we created instructions of how to walk through a magical world.
In maths this week we have continued with measurement with mass by identifying when to use grams or kilograms and reading accurate measurements from weighing scales.
This week we have also in R.E compared Muslims fasting during Ramadan and Christians fasting during lent, in topic we looked at the the variety of jobs in a castle. In art the children finished their prints using their relief block print, the children created such amazing prints using the different skills we have been learning. And finally in computing the children have been learning skills of how to edit photos and manipulate them in preparation for their independent art project.
I am so proud of all the amazing learning Mars continue to do, only 1 week left till Easter!
WC. 13.3.23
This week was British Science week, we took part in so many activities! We interviewed an engineer and then became one by using our science knowledge of materials to design solutions to problems from Mrs Whiting, Mrs Whitley and Miss Maxwell. We also conducted an experiment investigating whether wheel sizes change the distance travelled, we also took part in a life lesson of how tractors are linked to space, we conducted our own materials experiment, the children also created animal habitats during forest school with Mercury and to finish off we had a science visitor talk about renewable energy. We have been very busy scientists!
In English we have continued to use persuasive language to create our own adverts for the Easter service.
In maths we have continued measuring but this time with mass, we started using ‘lighter’ and ‘heavier’ to compare weight using balancing scales to measuring accurately with weighing scales in grams or kilograms.
Week commencing 6/3/23:
This week was assessment week and I am super proud of the Year 1s completing their first tests and the year 2s trying another practise SATs.
This week we also come up ideas how to grow potatoes for Mrs Tickle’s competition, reflected on inspirational women for International women’s day, practised our putting skills in p.e. The children practiced using xylophones to create music to a beat and evaluated their world book day books.
Have a lovely weekend and look after yourselves!
Week Commencing 20/2/23:
What a busy first week back!
This week in phonics we have been focusing on split diagraphs and Year 2s have been practising spelling common exception words.
In English we have been looking at persuasive writing, the children wrote arguments for and against going to bed late. They then took part in their very own debate!
In maths we have been looking at measuring length and height. Year 1s have been looking at using unusual measurements for e.g. 4 cubes tall and then have been using cm to measure objects.
Year 2s have been measuring using cm and m and rounding to the nearest cm as well as using accurate measurement. Finally we compared measurements using greater than, less than and equal to symbols.
We were very lucky to have a joint PE lesson with Jupiter making team games, in DT we looked at wheel mechanisms, levers and sliders, we also designed our bedtime stories page and finally in R.E we have began to look at Islam and learned all about the prophet Muhammad.
Have a lovely weekend
Week commencing 6/2/23:
This last week we have been super busy!
In spag and phonics we have been looking at apostrophes both for possession and contraction. The children have been applying their phonics skills to both read and write them in sentences.
In English we have gone Baba Yaga mad! Baba Yaga is a slavic folktale about a witch capturing two children, folk tales are told by spoken word over and over again. The children created their own story map for their Baba Yaga story. The children also spent time writing their own folk story and I am super proud of the interesting folk tales they have created.
In Maths we looked at multiplying numbers by 2 and dividing by 2 and the patterns between those numbers. We also looked at the fraction 1/2 and doubling.
We have also in music, created our own lyrics using call and response. In topic we researched further into kings and queens. For safer internet day the children took part in a live lesson and created posters to put up around school. Finally in art we created our own relief prints ready to use when returning back to school.
Have a lovely half term holiday!
Week commencing 30/01/23:
This week the children have been looking at prefixes and recapping split diagraphs in phonics and spelling. They loved creating cheeky sentences using the prefix ‘mis’ and ‘dis’.
In English the children have finished writing their fantasy stories and started their new English topic of folk tales. Mrs Passan told them a story of a wicked witch who captured 2 children, the children have been creating story maps to help them retell the story.
In maths we have been looking at division, using a variety of methods to divide numbers by 5 and 10.
In art we have been continuing making repeated prints this time by creating collagraphs to create a relief print. In science the children have been finding out which materials are magnetic and why it is a useful property and in music the children have continued to develop using different percussion instruments to create a rhythm read to be used with their spoken word rap.
Week Commencing 16.1.23:
This week in Mars Class, in English the children have continued looking at fantasy stories. We have focused on past tense verbs and past progressive sentences - please ask the children to share their actions for adjectives, verbs and nouns they love showing you! Year 2s also recapped using speech marks and different synonyms for said to make their writing more interesting.
In maths we have been going money mad! The children have recapped identifying different coins and notes and used their knowledge of tens and ones to find out the change given.
We have also started our new art topic of printing, we tried experimenting with overprinting and did some artist research on William Morris. In P.E the children applied their understanding of team games to create their own, it was lovely to see the children play these at break aswell! In Science we identified and grouped materials according to their properties and in forest school the children went on a bug hunt to find out which bugs are still out and about in the cold season.
Week Commencing 9.1.23:
Last week we crammed so much learning into the week despite a trip to Grafham!
In English we started our fantasy story ‘Lost and found’ by Oliver Jeffers. At first the children used their knowledge of stories to work out the story order before we had even read the story. We later looked at using speech to convey what the characters are feeling and identifying obstacles and solutions.
In maths the children identified 2D and 3D shapes and explored their properties.
In Science we investigated materials, we played guess the material, identified properties through touch, asked questions about materials and sorted materials by their properties.
As well as all of that we also created sunset or sunrise art, played team games in PE and have been learning our spelling rules for alternative spellings.
Autumn Term
Week Commencing 20/12/22:
This last week we have been in the festive spirit!
On Monday we had Mrs David teach us the last of our dance routine, the children have really enjoyed their sessions with Mrs David. We also were lucky to have a range of mystery readers visit us and read their favourite stories, thank you to all the visitors who volunteered to come and read us a story. Tuesday, the children have been learning how to sew. The children knew it would take lots of determination to sew but they really tried their hardest. Then looking at the Christmas Selfridges windows we took inspiration to make our own Christmas baubles.
The children took great care designing and making their Christmas baubles.
Finally on Wednesday we had reward day.
Have a lovely Christmas break!!
Week Commencing 12/12/22:
This week we finished our poetry topic in English. The children were on the hot seat pretending to be Pie Corbett whilst the children asked questions. The children looked at the features of a haiku poem, we also looked at how we can improve adjectives for our poem. The children wrote some amazing Christmas haikus!
In maths Year 2 have recapped addition and subtraction skills and Year 1s have been identifying tens and ones in numbers to 20.
In forest school Mars and Mercury experimented mixing colours on the ice using water colour paint and powder paint. The children adored seeing how their nature ice cubes turned out!
We have also been retelling the nativity story in R.E and in topic we have been identifying the local river and the rivers in the UK.
Week Commencing 5/12/22:
This week was obviously a very special week as the children had their nativity! Thank you to all the parents who have supported the children for this, they loved the parents reaction and hope you enjoyed it as much as them!
In English this week we have been looking at poems, we looked at Christmas Scarecrow by Pie Corbett. First, we formed an opinion on the poem. Then we looked at phrases that we liked and the different features of a poem.
In maths, Year 1s have been looking at place value to 20 and Year 2s finished looking at addition and subtraction. We practised applying our techniques to different problems.
Alongside all of this, in Science we created habitats for woodlice, created beautiful Christmas cards and in Forest school create leaf wreaths.
Have a lovely weekend!
Week Commencing 21/11/22:
This week has been assessment week and well done to all my little ones for being such super stars and trying their best! An extra special well done to the Year 2s for having a go at their first mock SATS tests.
We have also spent the week practising our nativity, the children experimented with fruit combinations in DT, the children continued their penguin dances with Mrs David and in topic we looked at the highest peaks in the UK and plotted their locations on a map using symbols in a key.
Have a lovely weekend
Week Commencing 14/11/22:
This week the children were looking at the book 'Meerkat mail' in English and it has truly captured the children's imagination! The children have looked at different ways to represent speech. And a variety of conjunctions to connect their sentences in a more interest way.
In maths Year 1s have been looking at different number bonds to 10 and rearranging to make a fact family. Year 2s have been looking at number bonds to 100 and quicker ways to add numbers together. We also have been looking at the importance of showing our working out in our books.
In science we have continued to identify the animal group on their features, in art we have done a first drawing of our final landscape piece and in topic the children have created maps of the school using map symbols. Alongside practising for the nativity of course!
The children had such fun today for children in need and it is so lovely that you have helped us raise money!
Have a lovely weekend!
Week Commencing 7/11/22:
In English we have been continuing to look at the story 'The day the crayons quit', the children have been continuing to develop their understanding of letter features and applying their knowledge. They have also been looking at ways to represent dialogue through speech marks and playscripts.
In maths Year 1 have been using their number bond knowledge to create different representations of number sentences through, tens frams, part-whole models and fact families.
Year 2s have been also applying their number knowledge of number bonds to 10 but applying this to quickly identify number bonds to 100.
We have also been looking in art how to draw from a single point perspective, in P.E we have been learning about performing a dance and learning a variety of dance moves and we have also been practising our nativity songs. In PSHE we reflected on why we remember previous wars and identified how a child may have felt during the first world war.
Have a lovely weekend
Week Commencing 31.10.22:
Wow its been a busy week! In maths year 1s have been continuing using part whole models to add 2 parts that make a whole, Year 2s have been looking at fact families.
In English we started to look at our book ‘The day the crayons quit’ by Drew Daywalt, we can only read this away from the crayons so our crayons don’t get the same idea to quit. They thought of complaints the crayons may have to us and wrote a letter to another colour crayon.
We have also been practising using tools in DT and in forest school we looked at signs on autumn and created leaf kebabs. We have also been looking at firework safety and created our own posters.
Nativity: Lines will be sent home with the children on Monday.
Have a lovely firework weekend!
Week Commencing 17.10.22:
This week we have been super busy!
In maths Year 2 recapped their learning of counting in 3s and flexible partitioning. Year 1s were introduced to part-whole models. In exciting writing the children wrote me a persuasive piece of writing to convince me how they should deserve a halloween book.
In music we composed our own soul music using a variety of instruments. In Science we met Speedy the tortoise we identified what animal group she belongs to and what she would need in her habitat, the children designed their own. In PE we continued to focus on our agility skills, it was lovely to see Year 2s lead the cool down. In R.E we looked at the features of a church and made our own church, some children volunteered to be part of a pretend baptism with a pretend font. In art we looked at different tones using different pencils.
Week commencing 10/10/22:
Another week full of learning! This week in English the children have been loolong at creating role play based around the characters in Anthony Brownes stories. Year 2 have started to use speech marks and focus on their spelling knowledge of adding the suffix ing. For exciting writing we created our own Autumn poems outside to take inspiration from our surrounding.
In maths both children have continued to practise comparing numbers. Year 2s have been practising counting on 2s, 5s, 10s and now 3s.
In art we have been continuing our landscape art study. We looked at the composition, colour and line. We also looked at the artist Monet and created our artwork in the same style.
Finally I am so so proud of my little superstars and their amazing singing. I also apologise for ruining George Ezra for you all!
Have an amazing weekend everyone!
Week Commencing 3.10.22:
This week in phonics Year 1 have learnt 7 blue sounds and becoming more and more confident decoding phase 5 words. We have updated the children’s phonics packs with these sounds. Year 2 have been focusing on vowels and consonants and spelling rules when adding the suffix ing.
In English we have continued to look at Anthony Browne books, this week was Silly Billy. We role played giving advice and then wrote down our own worries and gave ourselves advice. It is also so lovely to hear the children are picking Anthony Browne’s books outside of school! To follow this in forest school we created our own worry dolls.
In maths Year 1 have been comparing numbers and objects, I am so impressed how the children are always using mathematical vocabulary in their explanations. Year 2 have looked at flexible partitioning and also comparing numbers to 100.
We have also been practising our harvest song for next week, tasting fruit in DT. In topic we were looking at Victorian holidays where the children choose their activity: creating a advert, writing a postcard or planning a Victorian holiday. Lastly in PE we have continued to practise our balancing skills.
Mars Class: Wow my super learners have come back with such great enthusiasm!
The first week we were looking at PSHE relating to The Barnabus Project. We thought about our right to freedom and how we would feel trapped. We also looked at 6 b’s and created our own b mascots. We also made our own failed projects out of clay applying our clay skills from last year.
In maths we have been looking at place value, Year 1 numbers to 20 and Year 2 numbers to 100. Year 1 have been practising counting forwards and backwards. Year 2 have been reinforcing understanding of tens and ones and partitioning. In English we have been recapping our SPaG knowledge and this week we have been focusing on the author Anthony Browne.
For our topic ‘Great Great Britain’ we looked at the 4 nations that make Great Britain. We have been focusing on identify human and physical features.
