Today, Summer Term 1 has come to an end. It has been a truly wonderful half-term, filled with so much learning progress, memories and fun!

From everyone at GVPA, we would like to thank our parents and families for their continued support. It really is valued and appreciated.

Attendance to date is 94.5%. Please remember, your child's target and school target is 96%.

Wishing you all a relaxing and good week – enjoy the sunshine!

Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild are super proud of every children achievements in Summer Term 1. Here are a few highlights from the past two weeks:

Drawing Club and Literacy

Last week in Drawing Club, we read The Tortoise and The Hare. Using the vocabulary ‘plodding’, the children drew the racetrack, a new animal to enter the race and a prize for the winner.

This week, we have read The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg. Inspired by the Postman, Reception Maple have written their own letters to the Reception children at Glascote Academy. Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild are so proud of how the children are applying their fantastic phonics and decoding skills to their writing.

Phonics and Reading

Reception are continuing to work hard and remember how to write tricky words. Lots of children are now choosing to use their whiteboards in the provision to get some extra practice! 

The Reception children are continuing to amaze Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild with their fantastic writing skills! They love to write phrases independently and are continuously accessing the writing provision and activities to practice and consolidate their skills.

Mathematics

In Maths, Reception has been composing and decomposing shapes. After reading the book Pezzettino by Leo Leonni, the children investigated what other 2D shapes they could find inside a 2D square. We then created our own 2D shape pictures, describing which 2D shapes we had used. We have also investigated which 2D shapes make up the faces of a 3D shape by printing them in paint.

This week in Maths, the children have re-capped their knowledge of odd and even and explored sharing and grouping. We have been using the vocabulary fair, unfair, and equal to describe what happens when we share between 2 or 3 people. The children especially enjoyed pretending to share sweets between Pip and Mr Bill! The children have been fantastic at applying their knowledge of odds and evens to the sharing activities, linking together even and fair, and odd and unfair. 

Understanding the World

Reception were very excited to release their butterflies last week. After a short stay at Miss Matthews’ house under the careful watch of her dog Louie, all 8 chrysalises hatched into Painted Lady Butterflies. Nursery and Year 1 joined us on the playground to watch them fly away. We have also said goodbye to the Nursery’s chicks and ducks! Thank you, Miss Collins for bringing them in to see us.

As the weather has got warmer, the children have become interested in plants and gardening. We have been exploring the parts of a plant and what plants need to grow. The children enjoyed using the creative materials to make their own plant diagrams which show the stem, leaves, flower and roots!

This half-term, we have explored world landscapes, specifically the Sahara Desert and Antarctica. We first started by discussing the countries we have visited, and where we would like to visit. Then, after learning about the Sahara Desert and Antarctica, the children became explorers. They sorted the characteristics of both landscapes, and helped Miss Matthews pack a bag for her holiday to both of the destinations.

Expressive Art & Design

In Music, Reception have explored different types of transport. After a discussion about different types of transport, we practised using our voices to make the noise of a boat, a car, and a train. This week, we’ve read our own music score to perform a Transport music piece. The children were very interested in how people used their voices, or instruments, to make music together. We listened to, and watched, an orchestra play the Bluey theme song, Golden, and Baby Shark. We’ve learnt what a conductor does, and the different names of the instruments. We even learnt that Miss Matthews’ daddy can play the electric guitar and couldn’t believe that Miss Matthews played the trombone when she was at school! Feeling inspired, Reception rushed off into the provision to draw the instrument they would like to learn to play. Their favourites were the flute, piano, electric guitar, trumpet, and double bass.

Literacy Tree

In English, we explored the story Beegu, sequencing the events and retelling it in our own words. The children then designed their own aliens and wrote their own versions of the story. Their writing is truly outstanding—we couldn’t be prouder of the talented authors they are becoming.

Maths

In Maths, the children have been learning all about fractions. We have been finding halves and quarters of both shapes and objects, folding different shapes to explore the many ways we can make equal parts. One of the highlights was cutting up our favourite sprinkle cake to discover different ways to split a cube—what a delicious way to learn! We have also been finding halves and quarters of quantities, and it has been wonderful to see the children applying this understanding during their independent choosing time. 

Phonics and Reading

In Phonics and Reading, the children have been working extremely hard in preparation for the phonics screening check. Their fluency continues to improve, and their comprehension skills are fantastic - well done, Year 1!

Art

In Art, we have completed our sculpture unit, applying all of our new skills to a fantastic whole-class project inspired by Louise Bourgeois - our very own spider! The children demonstrated fantastic teamwork, rolling tubes, bending them into shape, covering them with paper mâché, and painting the final piece. Every child played an important role in bringing this amazing creation to life.

Science

In Science, we have been learning about deciduous and evergreen trees and spotting the differences between them.  Year 1 also enjoyed the morning when the ducklings came to visit their classroom!

Geography

In Geography, we concluded our learning about Shanghai. The children were fascinated by how different it is from our own town. Using Google Maps, they explored the city and worked together to identify human and physical features, comparing them to their own surroundings.

Summer Term 

Uniform

Please can you ensure that your child wears the correct uniform, including black school shoes, not trainers. School ties are GVPA uniform expectations.

Also, please can you ensure that your child's book bag is brought to school daily so that reading books/diaries can be accessed.

It is wonderful to see so many children walking, biking and scootering to school.

If you need to drive to school, if possible, please park on Eagle Drive and avoid parking directly outside of school. 

Thank you for your co-operation.

This week, Mrs Burke met with the Trust SENCO's at GVPA to celebrate and share good practice for our children.

For further information about the Trust, please use this link: Fierté Multi-Academy Trust - Home

Telephone: 01827 214630

Office Email: office@gardenvillage.fierte.org

Headteacher / SENCO: headteacher@gardenvillage.fierte.org