Welcome to Seals

Teacher - Seals Amanda Waters
Photo of Amanda Waters

Welcome to Seals Class! We are an energetic and lively group of 10 children supported by 5 adults.

We use lots of different approaches to our learning but we particularly enjoy singing with sign along, designing and building towers and writing and drawing. Where possible our learning is linked, so our English lessons will support our learning in Maths, History and even cooking! We enjoy working together on our communication and language development and we are learning to support each other with our emotional understanding. We have a positive attitude to learning and developing and we aim to make every day fun!

 

Spring Term 1 Timetable 2021

 

Spring Term 2 2021 Great Inventors & ExplorersCurriculum Info for Parents - Support communication and language development, emotional growth and generally embed a positive attitude to learning and developing.
EnglishOur theme this term is ‘Great Explorers and Inventors’ which will give us a chance to explore and develop our understanding of using non-fiction texts and non-chronological reports as well as continuing work on developing our understanding of phonic sounds and decoding and blending to read and write words. We will be looking at a new inventor or explorer each week and collecting facts to put into our own non-fiction class book. We will learn about Neil Armstrong and his travels in Space, Francis Drake and his voyage around the world, Thomas Edison and his invention of the lightbulb and The Wright Brothers’ first airplane amongst others. Books such as ‘Look inside: How things work’ by Usborne will help us develop our understanding of how things are made and stories such as ‘The Way Back Home’ by Oliver Jeffers will allow us to build on our own imaginative inventions and journeys through role play and storytelling. We will practise reading and writing through a range of interactive and sensory activities in order to develop and strengthen our fine motor control needed for writing. Throughout the term, we will be using cross curricular links between PSHE, maths, D.T., science, art, geography and more! At home, to support the children with their learning why not look out for stories or videos about famous explorers and inventors. BBC Bitesize has lots of ideas and games for budding inventors and explorers too!
MathsIn Maths we will be learning about counting on and back, using number lines, time lines and rulers supported by our ‘Great Explorers and Inventors’ topic. We will be experimenting with our own inventions, measuring how far they travel, how long they travel for or how high they go. In our role plays as explorers, we will be creating and using maps to build on our previous learning of using directional and positional language to find and locate things around the class and school. We will also be experimenting with water, giving us a chance to explore things that float and sink and record our findings in simple graphs to represent what we have found out. The children will be encouraged to explore both natural and man-made resources to design and build boats of their own, including measurements and listing items, which will be supported in our English and Science lessons. To support your child’s learning at home you could try using a tape measure around the house to measure and compare lengths of various household items, commenting on items that are bigger/smaller, higher/lower, longer or shorter. You could also have fun experimenting at bath time or in the kitchen sink with natural and man-made items, making predictions on whether they will float or sink.
SceinceIn ‘Great Explorers and Inventors’ Science, Seals class will be learning about everyday materials and their uses and explore how they have been used to inspire various inventions, such as plastic to make Lego, invented by Ole Kirk Christainson. We will be looking at and comparing their properties and using them to design and create inventions of our own. We will be linking some of this learning with a story called ‘If I built a Car’ by Chris Van Dusen and ‘The Most Magnificent Thing’ by Ashley Spires. Natural and man-made materials is also something that you could discuss with your children at home – please encourage them to notice and comment on the textures, weight and properties of the items and discuss what they are used for as well as how they might have been made. You could even do some online research and collect some basic facts to share in class! As always, feel free to share any photos or projects completed at home with us so we can share with our friends at school.
HumanitiesIn History and Geography, the children will be learning about the lives of significant individuals from the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. We will be looking at ‘The Age of Exploration’ which took place between the 15th and 17th centuries, during which time many countries in Europe sent out explorers to discover new lands, find trade routes, seek treasure, and gain territory for their country. We will be using non-fiction books to collect facts on Henry Ford, the designer of the first mass produced car, as well as other great Inventors or Explorers and placing them on a timeline across history. At home, why not try doing some research of your own using BBC bitesize and to create a poster or factsheet for your child to share with friends in class.
ComputingIn computing, in line with our Great Explorers and Inventors topic, we will explore and investigate different technology and equipment around us in everyday life, such as things that heat up/cool down, things that do jobs, things that play music/play video, things that take pictures, things we use to communicate etc. We will also experience creating representative drawings using an appropriate device in order to widen our experience of using paint tools. We will have opportunities to talk about our pictures and experience making decisions about when our work is complete in order to print it off. At home, why not have some fun using technology and apps to play with sound or light, make it louder, quieter, darker and lighter. You could also take some photos on a smartphone or tablet and experiment with the paint/editing mode, drawing onto the photos you’ve taken.
PSHEIn Personal, Social, Health and Emotional lessons the children will be learning to explore and reflect on how these great Inventors or Explorers might have felt when they made their first attempts. Did they succeed first time? If not, how might they have felt? Most explorers certainly like the adventure of going to a new place, meeting new peoples and cultures, or taking on new challenges, but do we all feel like that? We will be using examples of our own day to day challenges to develop an understanding of how to persevere with tasks, even when we feel things are really tricky. We will explore the idea that everyone has different strengths and hope to recognise the ways in which we are the same as, and different to, each other and we may all respond differently to the different challenges we face. Through a combination of structured activities and more self-selected play, we will be supporting the children in playing cooperatively alongside and with each other to achieve a shared goal or purpose. We will be talking about how this makes us feel and looking at developing the emotions involved in this process.
Art (Nikki Wardell, Tuesday am) In art we will be building on our pencil control and skills by using paint, crayons, pens and pencils to design Logos for the models and vehicles we have built in D.T. We will be looking at all sorts of different logo designs and using them as inspiration. At home, you could try looking for distinctive or iconic Logos around the home, such as or or . Can you find out what these Logos stand for? How many can you find around your home? Can you tell us what each Logo represents? Why not send in some examples to school!
D.T. (Nikki Wardell, Tuesday am) In D.T we will be designing, constructing and testing all sorts of vehicles and models, using all sorts of collected items and materials. We will be taking inspiration from our Inventors and Explorers topic to create and test all sorts of cars, boats, planes or rockets. At home, you could try making a paper plane! Or why not practise experimenting with things that float and sink? Can you find some items in the recycling that could be made into a boat? Perhaps you could try making a sail for your boat – how could you attach it? Could you use a straw to blow your boat around in the bath or a sink? Don’t forget to send in any photos of what you have made!