Hello and welcome to P2/3’s first blog post for the 23/24 school year.

The children have settled in to their new class (for some!) and their new routines fantastically.

Maths & Numeracy

This term we started by looking at Number Processes and Place Value. The children learned to count on and back from any number, read and write numbers in both numerals and words and also to order 1-digit and 2-digit numbers.

Over the last few weeks of term, we have also been learning about Money. The children are encouraged to use their weekly budget of 25p to pay for art and craft items during Independent Learning so it was important to make sure they all have a good understanding of coin recognition and value, how to make amounts and how to calculate change.

 

Literacy

Reading

We have been reading everyday during this term – in our reading groups, for Higher Order Reading and our class novel – The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton.

To help us better understand the text, we have been learning to predict what may happen next, to ask each other questions about the text and also to visualise ourselves as a character in the text and think about what we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel.

Listening and Talking

Along with other schools in Forres, we undertook a specific listening and talking session to help us better understand how we can assess and ensure we are meeting the needs of the children in this area.

P2/3 really enjoyed the task – where they had to give and listen to instructions in order to build the same model as their partner!

Writing

This term, we have using Wraparound Phonics and Wraparound Spelling strategies to help us understand letter patterns and their sounds.

In Talk for Writing, we have been learning the story of the Baby Mouse. We have learned how to write a good opening sentence and co-constructed the toolkit we should use for writing a journey story.

Health & Wellbeing

We started the term by talking about our feelings. We used the Colour Monster to discuss the feelings in colours which links to the Zones of Regulation. The children enjoy playing with the monster toys and are confident in using them to help talk about what makes them feel happy, sad, calm and angry.

In PE we have been focusing on learning the skills to move with control. So far we have practised the skills of balancing, dodging, falling and galloping.

Our Play Journey

In P2/3, we have at least one session per day of Independent Learning – play. The children have access to all the resources in the classroom, from construction toys like Lego, K’Nex and wooden blocks to art and craft materials, maths resources and loose parts. There is no pre-determined learning intention during this time, instead, we observe the children as they play so we can focus on the skills they are developing such as teamwork, problem solving, communication, collaboration and imagination.

Thank you for reading our blog post – to see many more photos and find out more about our learning each week, please check our Google Classroom.

Mrs Franklin 😊