{MENEarly Years and Key Stage 1
This year our classes are organised as following:
2015/ 2016
| Robin Class | Foundation Stage | Miss Robertson |
| Kingfisher Class | Year 1 | Miss Sykes/ Mrs Grieve |
| Blackbird Class | Year 1/ Year 2 | Mrs Smith |
| Finch Class | Year 2/ Year 3 | Mr Hillier |
Topic summary- 2015/2016
Summer Term 2016
Robin Class
Our topics for the Summer Term are ‘Castles, Knights and Dragons’ and ‘Under the Sea.’ The first part of the term we will be visiting Dunster Castle and learning about dragons and armour. We will have the opportunity to dress up and take part in several workshops such as hobby horse jousting and other age related learning experiences. We will be writing recounts about our trip in our Literacy and looking at Fantasy stories and will have the chance to create our own story. In the second part of the term we will be learning all about animals that live under the sea. We will be writing fact books about different animals that live under the sea, learning a range of songs relating to sea-life. We will hopefully have the chance to visit Bristol Aquarium to get up close and personal with the creatures that live under the sea and learn about the life cycles of these animals.
Blackbird Class
In Blackbird Class, as the weather improves, we are thinking of living things and how plants and animals grow in our topic GROW IT, EAT IT! We have taken two raised beds at the Moat Garden ( behind The George – go and look!) and we will be growing onions, salad, edible flowers and anything else we can squeeze in. When it is all ready to pick we will be taking it to school and eating it! We are going to visit a garden and supermarket to see how our food is grown, distributed and cooked.
Our health week will include a visit from the Wessex Life Education bus where we learn about friendships and how to look after our health. The Fire Service will be giving us life-saving tips to keep us safe.
This term sees the Key Stage tests for Year 2. The children are tested on their learning in English, maths and reading. This year we will be doing these tests within one week in May.
In maths we are focusing on shape – both 2d and 3d and also finding out about measures and how to tell the time. Of course, we will be continuing to practise calculations and place value and also the 2,5,10x tables.
Every morning the children arrive and ‘quiz’ using Accelerated Reader (AR) which is really helping the comprehension and fluency of their reading. We will continue to have a class story book - which is garden themed. Our English writing includes grammar and spelling strategies so that the children are able to use their amazing imaginations to write longer stories more independently.
Kingfisher Class
This term Kingfisher class are learning all about Our World. Our main focus is Science and we will be learning all about our body, how to keep healthy, plants and animals and seasons. Within our topic we will also be learning about healthy eating in DT and making healthy snacks to try. In art we will be printing using different fruit and vegetables and developing our pencil skills through sketching plants and mini beasts.
Finch Class
The Summer term will be spent learning all about dinosaurs! We will focus in on different types of dinosaurs, dinosaur statistics and where dinosaurs originate from. Our class trip will take us to Charmouth Heritage Centre on the Jurassic Coast, to learn all about fossils, with children able to fossil hunt themselves.
The dinosaur theme will be carried across into our English work as we study lots of dinosaur stories. Children will be reading, planning, writing and editing their own work and the work of others.
Maths sees our focus turn to measurement (length, mass and capacity) and statistics (tally charts, pictograms and bar charts).
Athletics, tennis and rounders take centre stage in our P.E. lessons.
Spring Term 2016
Robin Class
This term in Robin Class we are learning about Space. In Literacy we will be focussing on a range of different Space related books such as Aliens Love Underpants, Man on the Moon and Whatever Next. We will be writing about what happens in the stories and have the chance to re-tell them using pictures and props. We will even make up our own space story and act it out in front of the class. We will be imagining what it will be like to be an astronaut and how they walk when they are in space and thinking about what we might hear and see whilst visiting space. We will be learning a variety of songs and rhymes to help us learn the order of the planets and mixing colours together to create Papier Mache planets. We will create rockets and flying saucers which we will display around the class and work together to create our space station role play area. In Maths we will be learning how to add and subtract using a number line and investigating capacity using different sized containers. We will also be learning about doubling, halving, sharing and solving problems as a class involving these skills. If you child has anything they can bring in related to space I would love to see it during our show and tell sessions on Thursdays.
Twitter: @CaryRobinClass
Kingfisher Class
This term Kingfisher class will be setting sail on their class pirate ship! We will be learning about the oceans and continents of the world in Geography and investing floating and sinking to make our own pirate ships in Design Technology. In English we will be learning about famous pirates and pirate facts, reading, writing and performing pirate poetry, creating our very own pirate characters and writing pirate stories. In Maths we are focusing on measures so we will be measuring our pirate deck, weighing our pirate gold, learning to tell the time for setting sail and measuring out water to create oceans and islands.
Twitter: @CaryKingfisher
Blackbird Class
This term in Blackbird we are enjoying NEW experiences in our What’s New? topic.
As we have a new British astronaut on the space station we will be using space travel as a basis for exploring new vocabulary and trying to use expanded noun phrases (lots of interesting adjectives) to help our writing come alive. We will also be learning and performing poetry.
In geography and history we will research New Delhi, New York and Newcastle and comparing these places to Castle Cary!
It is the year of the monkey – Chinese New Year – and we will enjoy Chinese themed activities during the last week before half term.
Pete the Poet came in for a day to work with Year Two on emotions and empathy. This ties in with the PSHE focus we have this term. We are learning what emotion looks and feels like in ourselves and others and how we want to be treated when we are cross, upset or happy.
Our maths learning is multiplication and division. We want all the children to be able to use 2, 5 and 10x tables with ease and some children will also be learning 3, 4 and 8x. To do this we are concentrating on our ‘fixed points’ – facts we ‘just know’ eg 5x10 = 50 so 5x9 = ?
All the children are learning to use our new Accelerated Reader scheme which involves a daily online comprehension quiz. This scheme is designed to promote and improve comprehension and reading fluency.
Twitter: @ccaryblackbird
Finch Class
Blast Off!
This term we are learning all about Earth and space. We will be looking at the eight planets and reciting their order from the Sun. We will also finding out and observing the weather across the four seasons, and the movement of the Sun during the daytime. We are hoping to tie in our Earth and space topic with a visit to @Bristol. English this term will continue the theme of Earth and space, following texts that include Man on the Moon, aliens love underpants and whatever next. In maths we are working with fractions and properties of shapes.
Twitter: @CCaryFinch
Autumn Term 2015
Robin Class
Marvellous Me!
Welcome to Robin Class!
This term our topic is ‘Marvellous Me’. We will be getting to know ourselves, others and the local environment by visiting the town of Castle Cary and our school. We will be practising our letter formation using a range of media inside and outside of the classroom. We will be creating self-portraits and talking about what we like and dislike. We will be learning about the seasons and exploring the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of autumn during a visit to Carymoor. After half term we will be focussing on ‘Traditional Stories’, this will include re-telling stories using props and puppets and learning our numbers and shapes. We will also be preparing for the Christmas Nativity which we are really excited about already!
Kingfisher Class
'The Time Machine!'
This term Kingfisher class will be travelling back in time in our class time machine. We will be learning about the history of Castle Cary and visiting different periods of history to meet some significant historical figures. Within Literacy we will be learning about non fiction texts and writing our own instructions and explanations for the time machines we will design and create through D&T. We will also be creating our own fantasy stories based on the exciting historical adventures we will be having. In Science we will be learning about electricity; we will be drawing and making our own circuits which we will then use in our very own time machine models.
Blackbird Class
'Good Day Mr Brunel'
This term in Blackbird we are learning about ourselves, our school and our locality. We will be thinking about our rights and creating our class charters.
Our topic is Good Day Mr Brunel! We will be visiting the SS Great Britain and learning about this famous local historical figure. We will be designing boats using his designs as inspiration. In maths, we are focussing particularly on learning number facts and place value.
In English, we are focusing on writing using correct punctuation and describing the settings of our stories. We will be listening to and reading traditional stories. We are learning about programming through our toys and games. Year 2 children are going to learn to play the recorder.
All of us are looking forward to singing songs and learning poems for Harvest and Christmas and we are already looking forward to our Nativity!
Finch Class
This term Finch Class will be learning all about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. We will be finding out who Brunel is and what he is famous for, whilst looking at his designs and creations. An exciting visit to SS Great Britain will help to consolidate our learning. In English our focus is ‘traditional tales’ and starts with ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’. This will be a ‘Talk for Writing’ unit where the children will learn the story through actions and become excellent storytellers. In other subjects we will be focusing on place value, addition and subtraction in mathematics and forces, movements and magnets in science.
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Curriculum Coverage in 2014/2015
SPRING TERM 2015
Stop Press! This term our whole school are engaging in Take One Picture, The National Gallery's approach to curriculum planning, all based around the painting 'Mr and Mrs Andrews' by Thomas Gainborough. How would you link this painting to the National Curriculum?
Willow Class
Summer Term 2015
In Willow Class our summer topics are ‘Pirates, Superheroes and Dinosaurs’. In Physical Development we will be practising the roles of pirates from; scrubbing the decks to walking the plank. During our literacy sessions we will be describing what a pirate looks like and what they do, create our own stories pretending to be a superhero and write facts about Dinosaurs. We will carry out an experiment to find out which material is the best to use for a superhero cloak!
After half term, our topic is Mini-beasts and Animals and to kick start our topic the children shared some questions they would like to find the answers to. Questions from; “Can male cows make milk?” to “How do Ladybirds fly?” Hopefully we will be able to answer some of these questions this term. We are very excited to be visiting Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, where we will be attending an African Animals Workshop and have the chance to feed and handle some of the animals.
Spring Term 2015
In Willow Class our topics are ‘Take One Picture’ and ‘Knights and Castles!’. To introduce the topic ‘Take One Picture’ we listened to the soundscape relating to the painting. The children then drew pictures of all the animals that they heard. The painting was revealed to the children and different aspects of the painting were discussed. From this painting we are going to write our own class fantasy story, create our own portraits and create 3D animal models. We are very excited about visiting our local farm to discuss the similarities and differences compared with the painting! In the second part of the term we will be focusing on ‘Knights and Castles’. We will visit Farleigh Hungerford Castle and learn all about who lived in castles and their roles. We will have the opportunity to dress up and take part in several workshops. We look forward to seeing where our learning takes us!
Beech and Rowan Class
Spring Term 2015
Our topic this term in Beech and Rowan class is inspired by the painting ‘Mr and Mrs Andrews’ by Thomas Gainsborough. In our English lessons, we will be describing the characters and the setting of this painting. We will also be using our imaginations to describe what Mr and Mrs Andrews are looking at. We will be researching the painting and the artist using iPads and writing information texts and creating posters. In history, we will be placing events and artefacts in order on a timeline and use words such as past, present, older and newer. We are also going to find out about the history of fashion and farming. As table manners were just being introduced when this picture was painted, we will be focussing on table manners, table settings and mealtime etiquette! For art and design, we will be using the children’s ideas to create our work inspired by the painting. We will also be learning dances from that time to hold our very own Fete Champetre.
After half term, we will be learning all about World War One. We will visit Haynes Motor Museum to look at transport and vehicles from that time to compare with what we have today. In design and technology, we will use what we learn in history and science to make our own vehicles from that time using appropriate materials.
Willow, Beech and Rowan Class
Autumn Term 2014
This term in Willow, Rowan and Beech we are learning about ourselves, our school and our local environment. We will be walking around town and to Lodge Hill and visiting our Moat Garden. Every class will be thinking about our rights and creating our class charters. We are how to program movements to make our Beebots move!
In Willow our topics are ‘If you go down to the woods today’ and ‘Traditional stories’. We are focussing on numbers, learning how to write our names and holding a pencil correctly.
In Rowan and Beech our topic is ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where do I live?’. In maths, we are focussing on counting, adding and subtracting, shapes and measuring. In English, we are writing all about ourselves using adjectives and listening to and reading lots of stories. We are also very excited to visit Carymoor where we will build shelters.
All three classes will be learning songs and poems for Harvest and Christmas and are already looking forward to our Nativity!
Curriculum coverage in 2013/2014
Rowan and Willow Class (Early Years/ Year 1/ Year 2)
Please note: Rowan Class Year 2 children will also be accessing the Beech Class curriculum in addition to this.
Summer Term 2014
Our topic for the Summer Term is ‘Once Upon a time’ The primary focus of our learning is going to be History, Science and Art based, as we look at how people lived the past ,specifically those in and around castles. We will be using the Take One Picture approach, to look at ‘The Enchanted Castle’ by Claude Lorrain. Our topic is going to include a visit to Dunster Castle, here the children will take part in several workshops which are age related fun learning experiences. We will be writing recounts about our trip in our Literacy and looking at Fantasy stories and Fairy Tales. We will be looking at who lived in castles and their roles, we will make coats of arms, drawbridges and step into the painting to take on a role of a person who lived there. In science we will be looking at different materials and their properties and how they were used. Then study light and dark, where we look at light sources (natural and man-made) and compare what we use now and what was used then.
If your child does anything at home that supports their topic, please send it in as it’s always lovely to celebrate children’s enthusiasm for learning!
Spring Term 2014
Our topics for the Spring Term are ‘Off we go!’ and ‘Are we there yet?’ The primary focus of our learning is going to be based around History and Science, as we look at how vehicles have changed through the years, looking at similarities and differences and through lots of investigations and experiment learn about forces (pushes and pulls). In other curriculum areas we will make papier mache hot air balloons and moving vehicles.
Our topic is going to take off with a visit to the Fleet Air Arm Museum, here the children will take part in several workshops which are age related fun learning experiences. We will be writing recounts about our trip in our Literacy and creating our very own transport shape poems. Our Primary focus moves onto Geograhy and RE, as we look at how we use transport to reach other destinations. We will be exploring contrasting localities, cultures, food and traditions.
If your child does anything at home that supports their topic, please send it in as it’s always lovely to celebrate children’s enthusiasm for learning!
Autumn Term 2013
Willow and Rowan classes are starting their year with the topic Alien Invasion! We will be visited by some special friends from another planet and learning about what makes us special. We will be getting to know ourselves, others and the local environment by teaching our special visitors all about the town of Castle Cary and our school. We will be doing lots of descriptive writing, letter writing and writing some of our own stories all about our amazing visitors from another planet! We will also be learning about the seasons and exploring the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of autumn.
This term we will be visited by a theatre group, visit the local Millennium Garden on our welly walk, whilst also having a class visit to the local church.
After half term we will be getting ready for our topic ‘Party Time!’ where we will be learning about lots of different celebrations from all around the world. We will be exploring light & sound and writing shopping lists, invitations and instructions for our own end of term celebrations.
Beech Class (Year 2)
Summer Term 2014
This term Beech Class is joining Rowan and Willow for ’Knights and Castles’! We will be visiting Dunster Castle and learning about dragons and armour. Our science is Keeping Healthy and Materials. We will be devising experiments and finding out why armour was made of metal. In the second half of the term we are looking at paintings in history and practising new art techniques. We will be making the most of the lovely outdoors in Outdoor Learning, science and PE as well as polishing up our tap shoes ready for the Cary Showcase Talent show!
Spring Term 2014
Beech class are joining with Rowan and Willow this term on out topic Off We Go! We visited the Fleet Air Arm Museum this week and had a fantastic time making balloon buggies, parachutes and looking at all the planes. We are using our experiences of this trip in our literacy, maths, science, art, PE, DT and ICT! We are going to use the photos and video we took to make an information book about transport and we will be learning how to make a movie!
Curriculum coverage in 2012/2013
Squirrel Class (Early Years)
Welcome to Squirrel Class.
We have had a brilliant start to school, all the children have settled into school life well. It is great to see so many children taking part in Wake and Shake in the mornings and they are certainly becoming more independent.
Lots of learning has already taken place too!
Autumn Term topics have included ‘Marvellous Me’ and ‘Magical Worlds’. We have really enjoyed sharing our personal passports and finding out what we like and dislike, thank you tom Mums and Dads for their support in produucing these! We have found out lots about each other and how we are all different and special. We have painted our self-portraits and looked at how to mix colours to make new ones.
Through stories and role play we are discovering Magical Worlds, encouraging ‘Talk for Writing’ and imagination. Encompassed in this was our Christmas Nativity, entitled ‘The Landlord’s Cat’. We have also had a visit from Story Box Puppet Theatre, which the children thoroughly enjoyed.
The class have been busy working on their phonics too. Through Jolly Phonics and Bug Club, we have covered the phonemes made by the 26 letters of the alphabet and the diagraph ‘ck’.
We really appreciate the support parents give to their children with practising their phonics, learning their tag words and sharing their reading books.
Spring term:
During the Spring Term, Squirrel Class have been learning all about Our Brilliant Bodies!
In discovering the world we have labelled external and internal parts of the body, using information books to find out what role they play. We've also explored our five senses and how we use them.
In Physical Development we have been learning how to keep our bodies fit and healthy, with work on healthy lunchboxes and teeth cleaning.
All of this, combined with a healthy swap day in Key Stage 1, where we took part in Zumba dancing, fruit tasting and learnt how to wash hands properly.
Summer Term 2013
This half term the whole school is taking part in a project called ‘Take One Picture’. The National Gallery, London, over the last several years have inspired teachers and schools across the nation to take a painting and use it to teach not only art but all curriculum areas. The painting that has been chosen for Squirrel class is ‘A tropical forest with monkeys’ by Henri Julian Rosseau. To introduce the topic we started by listening to sounds of the rainforest (the children weren’t told where the sounds were from), they drew a picture of where they thought they were and the animals they heard. Then the painting was slowly revealed to the children and patches discussed. As a result the children then came up with questions about what they wanted to learn about. They have shown an interest in learning about: rainforest plants and animals, monkeys, Henri Rosseau and snakes. Let's see where our learning journey takes us!
Ladybird Class (Year 1/2)
Ladybird Class have had an exciting and busy start to the academic year. We began our time with a focus on Marvellous Me where we learnt all about each other and what makes us special. We made our very own special books and Me boxes containing things that mean a lot to us.
Ladybird Class have also been enjoying lots of storytelling this term in our topic Magical Worlds. They have made their own Three little pigs puppet shows, met the big bad wolf himself, had a visit from the fantastic Storybox Puppet Theatre and made their very own Potion Shop role play area.
Butterfly Class (Year 1/2)
This term’s topic has been Magical Worlds. We have been looking at fantasy stories, and as part of this we have designed our very own Potion Shop. The children have designed their own potions, which do very strange and magical things. They have also come up with some disgusting recipes! As part of magical worlds, we had Rod Burnett perform a magical puppet show for the children. The children enjoyed all of the different stories he told with amazing puppets, and they especially enjoyed the magic tricks! As part of the topic, we have also been learning about electricity, leading into designing and making lamps for our Potion Shop.
Spring Term
As parallel classes, Ladybird and Butterfly are doing lots of work together this term and are covering the same curriculum. We have also been learning about our Brilliant Bodies!
We have used ICT and the library to research some fantastic facts. In Literacy we have created our very own Brilliant Body information books. In art we have been creating brilliant body pictures by learning different printing skills. In science we have been learning about our internal and external body parts and the important jobs they do. We have also learnt all about being healthy and the types of food we need to eat to keep our bodies fit and happy.
During our health week we had a healthy swap day in Early Years and Key Stage 1. We all took part in Zumba dancing, healthy fruit tasting and learnt about how to wash our hands properly.
Summer Term 2013
This term Ladybirds and Butterflies are very excited to be going on an ‘Amazon Adventure’!
Within our rainforest topic we will be looking closely at the picture ‘Surprise’ By Henri Rousseau. From this painting we are going to write jungle adventure stories, create rainforest information books, make some jungle music, create nocturnal jungle animals and practice our sketching skills when creating camouflage.
In our classrooms you may find us exploring footprints, catching butterflies, making bird noises or using our binoculars and clip boards to spot animals and take notes in our exciting jungle role play area.
We are all looking forward to our exciting trip to Bristol Zoo on 1st May where we will have time to see all the animals and take part in a rainforest experience workshop to learn more about the animals and plants in the Amazon.
Take One Picture – ‘Surprise’ By Henri Rousseau
Some of the questions and thoughts the children have about the picture:
‘Why is called surprise?’
‘What is the weather like?’
‘Is it a real place or imaginary?’
‘Why is the tiger showing its teeth?’
‘Why are there no other animals in the picture?’
‘I think it is called surprise because if you came across a tiger…it would be a surprise!’
‘I like the picture because it makes you think about what has happened before and what might happen next’
‘I don’t think it is set in England because there are different plants and no tigers….but it is raining!’
