Maple Class

Silver Birch is a mixed Year 1 and 2 class. We have 2 part time teachers: Mrs Mayhew and Mrs Mejri and our TA is called Mrs Gomulak. We start every day with an English and Maths lesson. Phonics is taught at the same time every day throughout the school with children working with a member of staff in small groups. The afternoons are spent learning about our topic. At the beginning of every term we involve the children in an Impact Week. Our Impact Weeks are full of exciting and engaging activities to develop the children’s interests in their topics.

Out of this world

Family learning – mod roc planets

We had great fun at our family learning morning, we used mod roc to make planets. we were very imaginative, trying to form rivers, craters and mountains, some of us even tried to include some rings around our planets. Thank you to all our wonderful family members who came to help us.

D&T – making Moon buggies

We began by investigating the wheels and axles on some of our own cars. Then we used KNex to make vehicles with moveable wheels and axles. We finally put all of our knowledge into designing and making our own Moon Buggies with moveable wheels and axles.

MEMORY BOX

Topic-web-Memory-box

POWer-Project-1-Toys-from-the-past-

Maths

We have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes. We made 3D shapes using nets, we used straws and blu-tack as well as making them from cardboard.

Learning about place value.

Geography

history

In Geography we have been learning about physical and human geography. We started by exploring Happisburgh and then looked at atlases and maps, finding England, Norfolk and Happisburgh. We finished by learning the compass points North, South, East and West and followed them on a compass.

In History we have been learning about ‘Toys’. We began by looking at our favourite toys. Then we compared modern toys to toys from the past. We researched toys that have been played with through time, like dolls, board games and balls. Finally we found out about the life and work of Frank Hornby.

science

Identifying and sorting plants and trees.

computing

Learning what technology is, using the touch pad on a computer. Drawing a picture and writing a sentence.

Music

We have been learning to find the tempo and beat in different songs and learning how to play the xylophone.

Nativity

Seaside and shipwrecks – Summer Topic

Topic Web showing what the children in Silver Birch will be learning about this term

Topic-Web-Seasides-and-Shipwrecks

Some interesting and exciting projects to look at and complete at home to help with our learning on Seasides and Shipwrecks, this half term the homework focus is Pirates.

Homework-Pirate-Theme-Summer-1

History

We have been learning all about Grace Darling and Henry Blogg in history and how they bravely went out to sea in all weathers to rescue people in danger. Today Mr Risby who volunteers for the RNLI at Happisburgh came and explained how things have changed. We were lucky enough to be able to try on the lifejacket and helmet and asked lots of very interesting questions.

D&T

It all began with the book ‘The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch’ and looking at how Mrs Grinling sent the lunch to Mr Grinling. We looked at ‘pulleys’ in the environment and why they are used. Then we went on to make some simple ones of our own. Finally we used our very own pulley system to lift a heavy bucket of water up above our heads. And obviously because our pulley system was so good, we didn’t get wet, until Mrs Mayhew got hold of the bucket!

Mini olympics

We all participated in a Mini Olympics with children from St Marys, Roughton, we ran races, jumped over hurdles threw tennis balls and javelins and finished up with a relay around the field. We all had a fantastic time. Some of us gained enough points to get a medal and a trophy but we all achieved a medal. Fantastic team work shown by everyone.

Art , Science , RE.

In Art, we have been developing our line drawing techniques on both paper and textiles and using our sewing and weaving skills to produce a class seascape.
In Science, we began by discussing what is alive, never alive, and once alive. We then looked at microhabitats and what might be living in them. Finally we found out about Ocean life and some of the many different species of crab that can be found.
In Re, our big question was ‘What do my senses tell me about the world of Religion?’ We went and used our senses inside St Mary’s Church Happisburgh. We also experienced a Hindu Puja tray and discussed what senses are used in Hindu worship.

Maths and English

We have been learning all about weight in Maths, we’ve practised using scales to compare different weights and then we put our weighing skills into practise to weigh out the ingredients to make some delicious biscuits.

In English we have been looking at rhyming poems about the Sea. We began by learning a poem and adding our own actions. We learnt about rhyming words, onomatopoeia and alliteration and then had a go at writing our own poems.

sea-poems

Maths; Multiplication

Making arrays, playing times tables games and counting in 5’s, many of the different activities we have been completed to learn about multiplication.

Prayer space day

We had a wonderful Prayer Space day, learning all about the Bible Story ‘The Good Samaritan’. So many wonderful experiences and activities.

Impact week

We have had a brilliant impact week. We began by having a pirate themed day, where we all dressed as Pirates, spoke like Pirates, wrote a message to put in a bottle and made magnified rock pool images. Then we focused our learning on the seaside and made lighthouses on rocks. We experimented with wires, batteries, bulbs and switches to see if we could make a lightbulb turn on and off. Finally we used salt dough to make creatures that we may find at the seaside.

Class Trip – Banham Zoo

Silver Birch had a fantastic time when they visited Banham Zoo. They learnt lots about the different animals and were interested to find out where they could be found living in the wild from the maps.

Poles Apart – Spring Topic

Poles Apart topic Web showing what the children in Silver Birch will be learning about this term
POWer-Project-Life-on-the-ice-

Some interesting and exciting projects to look at and complete at home to help with our learning on the Polar Regions.

POWer-Project-2-A-day-in-the-life-of-a-polar-animal-1-6

Impact Week Activities

Silver Birch received a letter asking us to defrost some precious cargo that had been sent inside some frozen eggs. We experimented to find out what was the quickest and safest method.
Polar Regions diorama’s made during Impact Week.
Practising our measuring skills, reading the heights of the different species of penguin in centimetres on our rulers.
We looked carefully at animals who live in the Polar Regions and then sculpted some from Fimo.
Team work to make shelters for our precious cargo.

Homework

Look at some of the amazing homework the children in Silver Birch have brought in to share with their class mates and the rest of the school.

Maths


In maths, we have been learning about fractions and quarters. We decorated a cake with 4 slices. Each slice had to have the same decorations.
We have been learning how to add by using our number bonds to 10 to help us.

Phonics

We teach phonics every morning in small differentiated groups and we follow the ‘All Aboard’ phonics scheme. Our phonic sessions are practical and quick paced and we always recap on previous learning before introducing new sounds during each week. We then practice this learning in guided reading sessions and encourage the children to use their knowledge of sounds when writing.

music

We learnt how to play the drums like the Inuits do in Polar regions. We also made our own Inuit drums.

science

We have been learning all about Polar animals and in this experiment we learnt what helps keep those animals warm.

art

We are so proud of our Art this term. We began by using powder paint to depict the Northern Lights. Then we used art straws and left over card to show the mountains and icebergs. Finally we studied Monet’s snow scenes and used his techniques to paint our snowy landscapes.

Reading

We encourage the children to read every day in class. We provide the class with topic related books and we also give the children reading scheme books to take home. These are linked to their learning in phonics session.

re

In RE, we having been trying to answer our Big Question: Can love and kindness change the world?
We learnt about global warming and climate change. We designed some posters about how we can try to make our world a better place

geography

We have used atlases and maps to find out where in the world the Arctic and Antarctic are.

history

In History we have been learning all about Ernest Shackleton and his expedition to the Antarctic on his ship, Endurance. We have learnt how to find out about the past, looked at a range of artefacts, took on the role of Shackleton and some of his crew and finally put events on a timeline from the moment he left England to when he rescued his crew from Elephant Island.

Marvellous middle

What a Marvellous Middle we’ve had. During the holidays we were visited by an explorer. He left all his equipment for us to try on. We made and played with snow, had a team building morning, made igloos out of marshmallows and finally we made our own shelters and tested them to see if they were waterproof.

Let’s Explore London – Autumn Topic

Autumn Term 2021. Lot’s of great learning through our topic ‘Let’s explore London.’