Bar graphs

This week the EYFS children (Nico, Kai, Sergi, Katie, Carla, Ivet, Cloe, Ona, Julien and Luke) have been working on data collection in maths! From tallying things we see in our surrounding  to creating bar graphs of eye colours in the class; they have responded very well to the activities! Kai did a wonderful job drawing five different coloured eyes and he then created a tally to show the results of the different coloured eyes in the class. When creating graphs, Sergi showed his impressive ability to colour neatly and accurately between the lines. When questioned about the results in his graph, he also answered questions well and showed that he had a good understanding of how to read and comprehend a graph. Katie loved hunting around the garden to find the items on her activity sheet. She was very confident to record her findings, using a tally chart and she clearly understood hOeOe to record the results in groups of five; correctly using the tally method.

Our topic of plants has continued, and this week we were looking more into the plants we eat. Nico was particularly impressive as we categorised the plants we eat into flower, seed, root and leafed fruit and vegetables. He could independently notice the distinction. Carla was wonderful as we worked through riddles about plants that we eat, listening for their descriptions and often answering first. Ivet is responding so well to the new songs that we´ve been learning about plants.. She particularly enjoys those with actions and is getting better and better at keeping up with the pace of the song. Cloe impressively identified all of the colours of flowers that she saw in a documentary all about plants. She was very confident and independent when saying the colour names in English. Julien was very engaged and concentrated when collaging a sun for our presentation at the end of the term. He sat peacefully and enjoyed the activity a lot. Ona responded very well to our plant hunt and recognised all of the flowers and plants that she needed to find in the garden, such as dandelions, clovers, and daisies.

Luke is still spending time with his family in Lithuania. We miss him and look forward to welcoming him back soon.

The KS1 children (Jordi, Arlet, Marcel, Carla, Thais, Joana and Noa) have been revising the 10's and 2's in maths. Arlet and Marcel have really started to understand the different number patterns and could confidently order all the way up to 200 in 10s and 50 in 2's. Jordi, Noa, Thais, Joana and Carla are getting more and more confident with theirs tens, going as high as 100 independently.

Within our plant topic we have been focusing on the needs of plants., particularly the four main things which a plant needs: water, sun, air and soil nutrients. They have done so well to remember all of the things a plant needs. They can also now name the parts of the plant. They worked so well as a team to create a class display, whereby they all contributed some writing and creative input. I was so impressed with the result! They did such a good job working together and in their team groups; earning themselves lots of beads for their pots!!

The KS2 children (Judit, Sara B, Blanca, Sofia, Tatiana, Arnau, Nil, Pau and Sara) have been working on data collection in maths this week. Nil really impressed me with the ability he had to read and comprehend information in a table. Everyday he completed his work confidently and independently and was then keen to complete some challenge work. It was great to see him so confident as he developed the role of the teacher; helping the other children on his table to complete their work. Tatiana also had a good understanding of how to extract information from a table and it was great to see how focused and independent she was when answering the data collection questions. I am very proud of how well Tatiana and Arnau have worked as a team this week. They initially found it difficult working together but I was particularly impressed by how keen Arnau was to complete his work first so that he could then help Tatiana with hers. Great teamwork, keep it up!

In our plant topic, the whole class have enjoyed taking part in plant hunts around the school and also in the park in Matarò. It was a pleasure to see how engaged and enthusiastic the children were when drawing and writing down the plants they had found. I was particularly proud of the comma list Sara created. Sara was keen to record the plants nearly and she was very focused on ensuring that she put commas between each plant and she then consistently included an end at the end of each line of plants, which she had recorded. I was also very impressed by Sara B’s focus on our plant hunt in the farm. Sara was keen to record every plant which she saw and then when returning to school she independently researched the names of each of the plants in English, using our plant book and her tablet. Sara was very keen to be accurate and she created a great comma list of all the plants she had found. When further researching different and typical plants, which grow in Spain, it was great to see how concentrated Pau was when answering questions about the climate and conditions which plants are most suited to when living in Spain. Pau didn’t find it easy to answer the questions but he was very determined and didn’t give up. When starting our presentation project, about plants in Spain, it was great to see how well the children worked to find out information about the plants. The children had to work in  teams to create their presentation. Sofia initially found it very difficulty to work in a team and compromise on the ideas each of the people in the group had. However, after recognising that her team weren’t progressing well with their project, Sofia took the initiative to organise her group. It was great to see the patience she had when speaking to her team mates. She was very sensitive of everyone’s ideas and was keen to ensure that everyone was happy with the way in which the project was presented and the information which would be included. I  was great to see how mature and cooperative Sofia was. Well done!

Blanca and Judit started completing their real SAT’s exams this week. Although they have been super nervous and scared to complete their exams, I have been really proud of how they have approached the tests and have completed them with confidence. Keep it up next week, girls!

Topic of plants

This week has been a difficult week for parents, children and staff as we have been fighting to keep our school open  I am really proud of how well the children have coped with having people taking photos and videos of them working in the classroom and doing activities on the farm. They had a well deserved treat in the swimming pool to reward them for being so mature and sensible during the time the camera people were there. They still worked really hard and were focused well in their class activities. Well done everyone!

This week the EYFS children  (Carla, Ona, Katie, Ivet, Cloe,  Nico, Sergi, Julien, Kai and Luke) have been looking closer at patterns of colours, numbers and shapes. Carla loved making a bracelet to consolidate what she learnt the previous week of patterns. She understood the sequence of up to 5 different colours, and had her own pretty bracelet to take home, too.

We have also been looking at our class topic of plants. Katie did such a great job at tracing plant related words, she didn´t need any assistance and her hand is getting steadier and steadier. She has also loved learning a new song that we´ll perform in the new presentation, all about the growth of plants from a seedling to a flower! Ivet got very involved in our class collage of a watering can and water drop for a classroom display. She cut up small pieces just as I had asked and really enjoyed sticking them as she liked! Cloe loved our scavenger hunt through the garden. She spotted all the different coloured flowers, trees of different shapes and sizes and insects that we were looking for. She´s becoming more and more confident to speak aloud and showing how well she is absorbing vocabulary.  Ona has really taken on board the progress of growing. She has loved watching our class bean growing; taking in the vocabulary of all the parts of a plant and she understood the order of sequences in a plants growth.

In phonics time,  Gabrielle was very impressed with Nico’s ability to read. She is also impressed daily with how able he is to sound out the letters and pronounce the words. He is often the winner in our phonics card game, remembering so well the names of the objects. During the handwriting lesson, Gabrielle was also very impressed with Sergi, as he was able to trace his own name. He then identified the letters amongst the rest of the alphabet to add to the page, and freely decorated it with imaginative patterns! During our art session, it was great to see how much more confident Kai now is to draw. He was very concentrated and created a very nice, colourful mouse to put in our class house.

On Friday we also welcomed back our friend, Julien.  After a month in his home country ( Germany) he slipped back into the routines well,  particularly  reading a book titled, ´”can I eat that”, which  was all about the origins of food and plants!

Luke is still in Lithuania with his family but we look forward to seeing him back soon  and hope he is having a lovely time with his family.

The KS1 children (Noa, Carla, Joana, Thais, Marcel, Jordi and Arlet) have also been learning about plants this week. They have been able to verbalise in English what the different parts of a plant  are They all created a lovely little booklet and tried sounding out the letters to spell each component! They all tried their very best!  The group have also been discussing what a plant needs to grow. They have  have learnt that plants need sun, soil, air and water. They have done lots of work to help them remember this.

In maths, the children have continued to work on sequences of numbers and have spent the week learning how to count in tens. Jordi, Arlet and marcel were quick to understand this concept and were even given extra challenges, which they found difficult.  However they all kept asking for help when they needed it and they didn’t give up until they completed their challenges. Joana, Thais, Carla and Noa are now starting to recognise and verbalise some multiples of 10 and they are now able to order the multiples to 100 correctly. 

The KS2 children (Arnau, Tatiana, Nil, Sara, Sara B, Judit, Blanca, Sofia and Pau) have been learning all about data collection in maths. I was particularly impressed with how well Sara B grasped the concept of a tally chart. She was so concentrated when researching the names of different plants. She then confidently questioned all of the children and teachers about their favourite plants’. Sara B then independently and accurately created a tally chart to show her results. Well done Sara B! When working on our charts, it was great to see the confidence which Sara hard to understand pie charts. She was able to independently comprehend the information within  the pies and it was lovely to see how happy she was to be able to help her friends, who were finding the concept more difficult. When creating bar graphs to represent their data about the class’ favourite plants, I  was really impressed with the perseverance of Nil and Pau. They both found the concept of creating the graph difficult but they were keen to listen to my advice and make the necessary corrections to ensure that their graphs were correct and accurate. Both boys had a good understanding of the information their graphs showed and could correctly answer questions about the data they had collected.

In topic, the children have also been learning about plants. We have focused on the concept of photosynthesis. Arnau and Tatiana were very focused when completing a cutting and sticking activity of photosynthesis. They both correctly identified that plants need carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to create food for the plant. They confidently identified and stuck each element in the correct place and could explain the process of photosynthesis really well, when questioned. Sofia has been really keen this week. She understand photosynthesis really well and was keen to complete challenge work. She was able to read a comprehension and answer some complicated scientific questions, with only a little help. Well done, Sofia! Judit and Blanca have also worked really hard to understand the concept of photosynthesis. They both wrote fantastic information to show what they had learnt about plants this week. Judit even bravely read all of the information she had written as the film crew filmed her. You did a great job!

Thank you to all of the parents for your support this week. Look forward to seeing you all next week and hoping for a calmer week ahead. 

Presentation of projects May 2017

The EYFS children (Kai, Sergi, Luke, Julien, Katie, Andrés, Nico, Cloe, Ivet, Carla and Ona) have been focusing this week on the story of Goldilocks, whilst also consolidating their understanding of the stories of Cinderella and Goldilocks and The Three Bears. When doing a hunt around the farm to find characters and objects from each of the three stories, Sergi was very enthusiastic and keen to lead the others to each part of the farm and he was very confident to say the names of each of the things on the pictures, in English. When returning to the classroom, Katie and Ona did a great job of organising the pictures and putting them with the corresponding stories. They were confident to say what the pictures showed and which story they belonged to. When learning the song, ‘Three Brown Bears’ for the presentation, it was great to see how involved Cloe and Ivet were and how they tried so hard to sing the words and do the actions correctly. They were watching  teachers intently and were keen to be involved in the song.

In art, we have been focusing on creating our mouse mansion and also designing rooms for the house in our classroom. Kai enjoyed getting involved, when creating a pond and grass area for our class house. He was very focused and keen to listen to instructions. He then helped a lot to find materials and stick the correct colours on the pond and grass. In music, Carla understood the concept of pitch really well. She was able to correctly identify high, low and middle pitches and use the appropriate move for each pitch, when hearing it on the glockenspiel. She then worked really hard to use the beaters to correctly hit the different bars on the instrument, to lead the game for her friends.

When introducing the story of The Gingerbread Man, the children enjoyed designing a bridge for the gingerbread man to use to cross the river. They were given a range of materials and had to think about which would make the strongest bridge and how they would join the material to the wooden blocks. I was very impressed with both Nico and Andrès as they both thought of very original ideas and created unique bridges. Nico decided to push sticks through the plasticine to create a stable structure. He then used velcro  to attach his bricks to the wooden  blocks. He made three bridges and the gingerbread man was able to cross successfully, using two of his bridges. Andrès also thought of a unique idea of using lollipop sticks, joined together with plasticine. He then used a peg to try and attach the bridge to the wooden blocks. His bridge ended up collapsing but I was very proud of how he thought it through and tried to create a stable bridge.

Unfortunately, Luke and Julien have not been with us again this week. We miss them and hope to see them back next week.

The KS1 children (Carla, Noa, Marcel, Arlet, Jordi, Joana and Thais) have also been working hard to prepare for their presentation. Arlet did a fantastic job and was very perseverant when practising reading the Cinderella story. She did such a fantastic job in the presentation. I was very proud of how well she read. Thais was also keen to read a full sentence and Jo was really impressed by how concentrated she was on practising the sentence.

In phonics time, Thais has developed much more motivation this week to practise reading and is making a great improvement with the phase 2 phonics sentences which we are reading   Carla has also developed her concentration when reading. She is trying so hard to read the sentences and Jo is really pleased to see that she is now developing her concentration and focus when completing activities.

In maths, the children have been learning about repeating colour and shape patterns. Jo was very impressed with Marcel and the ability he has to complete more complicated, repeated  colour and shape patterns. He was confident to continue Jo’s patterns but was then able to independently create his own. Well done Marcel, you were very concentrated. When working on colours, I was impressed to see how well Noa and Joana were able to read the names of each of the colours. They were then able to correctly select the colours for each part of the rainbow. They was able to colour each part independently and even correctly identified the difference between indigo and violet.

When writing, the children have been focusing  on the concept of capital letters; thinking about when they should be used. We have started by focusing on the children’s names, encouraging them to recognise that we only need a capital letter at the beginning and not in the middle of their names. Jordi initially found this concept really difficult and was repeatedly writing capital letters in the middle of his name. However, he listened really carefully to Jo and was keen to write his name correctly. After lots of practise, he now understands this concept and is working hard to remember when writing his name independently. Well done for not giving up, Jordi!

The KS2 children (Judit, Sara B, Sara, Blanca, Sofia, Sira, Arnau, Tatiana, Nil and Pau) have also been working hard to prepare for the presentation. I was really impressed by Sofia and Sara B’s determination and enthusiasm when drawing the pictures to illustrate their stories for the presentation. They were both keen to draw pictures to show what was happening in every part of their story. They are so determined to do a good job, they spent most of their free time at lunch time drawing to ensure that they were ready for the presentation. The pictures looked great girls, well done! In preparation for the presentation, the children have been practising reading their stories aloud. I am so impressed with the confidence Arnau has gained when reading aloud. When practising, he was really focused and keen to do a good job and it was great to see that he is now much more confident when performing in front of his friends. Sira also really impressed me with her reading. She has developed such confidence to read in English and I am amazed by how quickly she is learning and using the language to read and write. You are working so hard Sira, keep it up! In our reading comprehension lessons, we have been focusing on different traditional tales, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, The Gingerbread Man, The Enormous Turnip and Little Red Riding Hood. I was very impressed by how keen the children were to read the stories and complete the comprehension questions. I was particularly happy with Tatiana, as she worked so hard to help her table mates to read and understand the questions. It was lovely to see her so focused on her work and to see her working so nicely with others. Keep it up, Tatiana.

In maths, we have been learning about tesselation. Nil has been very focused when drawing the different shapes and he was really keen to ensure that he drew each of the shapes to the correct scale. He found the concept of tessellating  the shapes more difficult but after completing a tessellating shape  hunt around the farm, he began to understand the concept and could spot the different quadrilateral shapes, which tessellated within the environment. Although Sara was only with us at the beginning of the week, she also enjoyed completing the shape hunt and she was super motivated when spotting a tessellating pattern on the teacher’s cabin, which  was made from an irregular shape. Pau really impressed me this week with his knowledge and understanding of mathematical vocabulary. As part of his extension work, Pay was able to correctly label the different quadrilateral shapes, dependant on their angles, parallel lines and sides. He managed to complete the activity mostly independently and it was great to see him enjoying his challenge work.

Blanca and Judit have been working really hard; preparing for their SAT’s exams. I was really proud of how well they did on the mental arithmetic rest and it is great to see that they are now working more quickly and confidently when answering the questions. Keep it up girls, you are doing a great job! 

Story structure

This week we were only in school for four days but we managed to have lots of fun and learn a lot. 

This week, the EYFS children (Ivet, Ona, Cloe, Andrès, Katie, Sergi, Carla, Kai, Nico, Luke and Julien) have been focusing on pattern work within their maths time. Andres worked so hard and completed a great piece of pattern work. He really showed that he understood the concept of alternating colours.  He was then able to move on to more complicated patterns, up to four different colours. 

The children have also been looking closely at our third traditional tale, Cinderella. They have had a great time also working on this and there was a clear link between maths and topic, as the children were matching and noticing pairs in things, like Cinderella's glass shoes! Sergi  found it very easy to recognise pairs. His ability to notice the matching complicated patterns (he particularly enjoyed this with socks) was great. 

When discussing the key events in the story, Kai enjoyed hunting for the key features of the story within the garden. He raced around with a clear idea of what he was searching for and he was able to pronounce the words very clearly! Nico also listened intently as we read through several versions of the story and he could answer questions afterwards;  really showing that he had taken on-board the vocabulary and understood the sequence of the story. When focusing on the key events of the story, Katie got into character beautifully as Cinderella. She was particularly great at acting out the scene, where  she was trying on the glass slipper with the Prince. She was also great at helping others to remember the vocabulary, and showed how well she is able to use the focus language. Cloe loved drawing around her foot (and then decorating it) as we focused on the foot size aspect of the story, she then helped to organise the smallest feet in the class to the biggest. She seemed to really grasp concept of size comparison.

When talking about the key characters in the story, Ivet did a wonderful drawing of the main characters of the story. Gabrielle was really impressed by her understanding of the facial features and body parts and the way in which Ivet was able to position them correctly in her picture.

When discussing the theme of kindness, Ona was able to participate fantastically in our discussion. She reflected well on the lack of it towards Cinderella in the story. She then worked hard to incorporate what she had learnt in the classroom; showing extra loyalty and friendship by helping her class friends. 

In our phonics lessons, Carla raced into first place with our game practicing phonics sounds. She quickly identified the  objects on the flash cards and was able to speak with very clear English. 

Luke and Julien have not been with us this week, as they are spending time with their families. We look forward to seeing them back soon.

The KS1 children (Noa, Joana, Thais, Arlet, Marcel, Jordi and Carla) have also been working on the Cinderella, as part of our traditional tales unit. Noa and Joana completed a lovely piece of work about what made them happy in the Cinderella story. They confidently wrote a little caption  to explain what they had drawn. Jo has noticed a real improvement this week with Noa and joana's independent spelling. They have been trying really hard to sound out the letters and they are now starting to merge letters together when reading, to sound out the full word. 

In maths this week the children have been focusing on sequences of numbers, with a particular focus on counting in twos. Arlet, Marcel, Carla and Jordi worked really hard trying to count in twos.  Jordi struggled at first but really took his time and by the end of the  week he understand how to count in twos, by missing a number within the number chart each time. Carla also initially found it difficult to  understand to concept of counting in twos but by the end of the week she was able to complete some sums independently! Her formation of the numbers 0-20 has also really improved. Well done Carla! Arlet and Marcel enjoyed having their own challenge activities and this really motivated them. They have been working completely  independently and have been able to solve the two times table problems in their heads! 

During phonics time, Jo has been really  impressed by Thais when completing the phonics assessment. She has a brilliant knowledge of the sounds and read the words very easily!

The KS2 children (Blanca, Judit, Sara. B, Pau, Sofia, Tatiana, Arnau, Sara, Sira and Nil) have also been working on the story of Cinderella. Blanca write an excellent recount of the story. She included all of the details of the story and included a great range of to describe all of the different characters. Her stories are always a pleasure to read! Paul is also working hard on his story writing skills. This week I have noticed an increase in Pau’s confidence when writing down his story ideas. He has also improved his story structure and is now trying hard to correctly use paragraphs when writing down the different parts of his story. Tatiana presented her story in an imaginative way, when deciding to lay out her story in a newspaper format. It was great to see her thinking about the different captions she wanted to write in each box. She just needs more focus and motivation to stay on task. Sira has impressed me again this week. Everyday, her writing is improving. She is now working much more independently when writing her story. Her attitude is fantastic and she is keen to learn how to write using the correct structures in English. I can see that she is listening and trying to take my advice as I can clearly see the improvements when reading her stories. Well done, Sira! Nil has been much more focused this week and he was able to create his own ideas and write his story, much more independently. It is great to see the confidence he is developing when story writing. 

Sara has only been in school one day this week. Despite this, she did a fantastic job of completing a trading comprehension of the Cinderella story. I was very impressed by Sara’s independence  when reading and answering the questions. She has made great with her ability to read in English and she can now deduce the relevant information, which  she needs to answer the questions, completely independently. A real improvement, well done! 

In maths this week, we have been  working on recognising and continuing number sequences. Sara N has worked really hard. I have really challenged her this week, with much higher level work. She really rose to the challenge and was able to complete sequences, containing negative and decimal numbers. Sara only needed a little help and she was very motivated by the additional challenge. Sofia has also done a great job with number sequences. She has been focusing on sequences within the multiplication tables. This is a concept she finds particularly difficult. However, Sofia remained really focused to complete the sequences and didn’t give up. She managed to complete all of the sequences correctly; counting both forwards and backwards. Arnau was also very motivated by the concept of number sequences. He enjoyed completing an activity, whereby he needed to work out how much was being added or subtracted each time and then complete the sequence. He really impressed me with how well he could naturally identify the sequence of numbers and he was confident to explain how he should continue the sequence. 

Judit has been completing lots of SATs practise papers this week. She has not found them easy but I am really impressed with her level of knowledge and the progress she is making with each test. Well done, Judit. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.