We have completed The National Phonics Check!

The National Phonics Check week has passed, hurrah! Great Bear have worked very hard over the whole year towards the Phonics Check.

We have 20-30 minutes of Phonics learning every day and I mean every day unless there is a very good reason and those don't come up very often, some children also take part in individualised and regularly assessed one to one phonics activities several times a week. Over the last half term some children also took part in very small grouped booster sessions 3 times a week. So as you can see we take phonics very seriously in Great Bear class and it isn't purely for the Phonic Check. Children's reading, writing, spelling and confidence improve hugely over the year when they are engaged in very regular, fun and focused phonics sessions.

Unfortunately at the moment I can not tell you if your child has passed the check or not as the pass mark will not be released until the end of June. When the pass mark has been published you will be written to with your child or children's results. If your child does not pass the check, I am more than happy to discuss with you what I will be putting place to further develop their Phonics skills, ways you can further support your child at home and what will happen in Year 2.

Rio Week

This coming week 20th-24th June is Devizes Primary Schools' Cluster Rio Day! We will be getting together with the local Primary schools to have an amazing week that will hopefully make some amazing memories.

Here are just a few reminders for our special week. Please return your permission slips so that your child can attend their event.

There are two large events that Great Bear are attending as a class, a Year One Athletics/Games event at Trinity School and a Whole School Athletics/Closing Ceremony event at Southbroom St.James. For both of these we will be travelling by coach and the children will need a packed lunch.

Some events are being held at Rowde, these are Judo and Swimming.

Some events are being held at other locations, these are Gymnastics-Melksham School of Gymnastics, Alternative Sports-Lavington School, Dance-Wansdyke. Children attending these events will be travelling by car and will need a car seat brought into school on the morning of their activity. No car seat will mean no travelling to their event.

Children will need their PE kit/swimming kit for their activity. If they are outside, they will need hat and sun cream and cold/wet weather clothes depending on the weather!

If your child is part of the Friday athletics they will need a white t-shirt with their PE kit.

If your child is a procession leader for the closing ceremony they will need their house coloured PE
 t-shirt, black shorts, trousers or leggings with black trainers, shoes or daps. They will also be wearing a Rio carnival costume in an Olympic colour, this will be made at school during next week.

Any questions, please do come in and ask me.

I will make sure lots and lots of photos are taken and posted on the blog,
If you are reading this blog please do tell other Great Bear parents! I love blogging and would like everyone to read it and see their wonderful children in action, especially during such an exciting week.

Home Learning Olympic Poetry

As part of this term's Home Learning I have offer the children the option of writing and Olympic themed poem. We have written lots of poetry during the year and the children have brilliant ideas and word choices.

I have mentioned on the Home Learning grid that I would offer you some ideas for writing poetry at home.

O is for Olympics- a list of words beginning with o then a few sentences using some of the words.

Acrostic poem, Each line starts with a letter from the word Olympics( written in order!)

A pyramid poem-here is my example!

                                                               The sprinter
                                                             The speedy sprinter
                                                          The speedy, fast sprinter
                                                  The speedy, fast as lightning sprinter
                                        The speedy ,fast as lightning sprinter wins the race
                           The speedy, fast as lightning sprinter wins the race and a gold medal!

I hope this helps!

Phonics Check

This coming week, 13th June to 17th June is The National Phonics Check week. Great Bear Class will be having a final push on phonics during the week and taking the check. The check will be administered by myself on a one to one basis in a quiet room. There is no time limit and I will make sure that it is as calm and normal as possible. The children have been through the process of the check several times this year and the reading of real and non-real words is part of their Phonics sessions which happen every day.

The children will be reading 40 words, split into 2 sections which allows for a break if the child needs one. Each 20 word section will be made up from 10 non-real/alien words and 10 real words, with section two having more challenging words than section 1. The non real/alien words have a cartoon alien next to them to highlight that they are non a real word and that the children should not try to make them sound like a real word.

Non-real/alien words are included to test the children's phonics skills, that  they  can segment the word, break the word down into its individual sounds and then blend those sounds together into one word. E.G.   drak- d,r,a,k=drak    

The check is either pass or fail, with the pass mark being published late June, last year the pass mark was 32 out of 40. You will of course be informed of your child's results, either passed or not passed.

If your child does not pass the check this year, extra phonics support will be put in place during Year Two and they will take the 2017 check in Year Two to ensure progress.

I have every confidence in Great Bear Class and know that they will do nothing but their very best as they always do.

You can help by hearing your child read, practising sounding out unfamiliar words and by using their phonics pack if I have sent one home to you.

Art Day

On the last day of term the whole school split into house groups and went to other classes to spend a whole day of reflective, thoughtful Art based around Bible stories, Mindfulness and Spirituality. In Great Bear Class we looked at Noah's Arc and God's promise represented by a rainbow, positive words and thoughts and what makes us feel peaceful.

Here we are learning and working together.

Tae Kwon Do Taster Session

Great Bear Class had an exciting morning, we had a Tae Kwon Do taster session. We learnt travelling moves, counting in Korean and using the pads to punch and kick. It was very energetic and fun but we also learnt that these skills stay in the Tae Kwon Do session and are not practised outside in the class, playground or at home. Miss Franks our instructor holds classes at Devizes Leisure Centre.

Here are lots of photos!

Shape Shadows

In Numeracy we have been looking at shapes, 2D and 3D. Great Bear class know lots about shapes and so we are trying to extend our understanding of their features and properties. We looked at shadows made by 3D shapes and discussed which shape could of made the shadow. Mrs D. gave us a clue, that some shadows could be made by several shapes. There was lots of super discussions and we used 3D shapes to help us reason.

If you love Maths problems take a look at this website nrich.maths.org

Here we are with our answers.