Welcome to

The Lovely Ladybird Class!

Class Teacher - Mrs McClymont

Class Teaching Assistant - Mrs Markham

This page will give you some key information about our class and show you some of the amazing learning that takes place. You will also find useful information and links to help support your child at home.  

Term 5

Our new topic this term is: Animal Life Cycles

We will be on the hunt for minibeasts, watch our caterpillars turn to butterflies, learn about animal lifecycles, and even get to meet some amazing creatures! We are hoping to have the eggs in from Rand Farm again and watch them hatch. We will learn about different habitats for animals too. This term we will be reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar in our Talk4Writing sessions and creating our own stories. We will be revisiting our past to discover how we have changed and discovering what happens as we grow up and looking at key people from the past. In maths, we will be exploring 3D shape, go to 20 and beyond and return to 2D shape focusing on rotating and manipulating shape. We will be looking at making maps of our local area and we will also be learning how to join different materials. A very busy term for the Ladybirds!

Grandparents morning is this term. The date will be confirmed soon.

I have booked The Deep for our term 6 trip as our topic is Under the Sea. More information to follow...

A few reminders...

Wednesday - PE day. Please return your Reading for Pleasure book on Wednesday. The children will be issued with a new Reading for Pleasure book and a RWI book bag book if they have one. Please try to practise this book at least 3 times to consolidate the sounds learnt that week.

Thursday - Forest School. As the weather gets warmer, please apply sun cream before school and preferably (thin) long sleeve tops and trousers/leggings to prevent any scratches or grazes. The forest is quite sheltered from the sun so the children shouldn't get too warm.

Friday - Enrichment begins. I will remind the children what they are doing this week. If they require any resources, you will receive a Parent Hub from the teacher delivering the session.

This week's learning (week beginning Tuesday 16th April) 

Maths 

In maths we have been learning the names of 3D shapes and finding these shapes around our classroom. We read 'The Naughty Bus' by Jan Oke. We then created our own 'London' using the building blocks and identifying the 3D shapes. The naught bus decided which was his favourite! 

Literacy

The next two weeks are based on the book, The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. We have enjoyed reading this and also reading other books such as Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson with butterflies in the story. 

Understanding the world

This week, we have learnt about the lifecycle of a caterpillar. We watched a video and then sequenced the life cycle independently. 

Art and design

We looked at symmetrical patters and used sponges to create our own symmetrical patterns to create beautiful patterns. More pictures to come...

Exploring Time 

We have been busy exploring this week. We have been looking through 'telescopes', jigsaws, lots of writing and some first aid! It's great to be back with our friends. 

Forest School

We loved being in the forest this week. Spring has sprung and there are lots of beautiful bluebells and flowers; some children sketched these. The mud kitchen was very popular this week. We cleared the herb garden so we can plant some of the seeds we sewed last term. We played the giant xylophone too! 

Term 4

The week's learning (week beginning Monday 25th March)

Open Classroom

It was lovely to welcome our parents into school for Open Classroom. The children enjoyed doing Easter activities, planting sunflowers and exploring with their parents. 

Exploring time

The children had great fun during exploring time and even managed to find the ladybird from 'What the ladybird heard'! 

Egg Hunt

The Easter bunny paid us a visit and hid our eggs around the forest... he even left us a chocolate treat! 

Bassingham's Got Talent Final!

Matilda and William did fantastic in their auditions and got through to the Bassingham's Got Talent finals! Matilda was super brave and sang Taylor Swift and William told us some hilarious jokes - well done to both of you!!!

This week's learning log (Week beginning Monday 18th March) 

Maths

In maths this week, we have been learning how we can make 10 in 2 parts (6 + 4) and 3 parts (5 + 3 + 2) using the Numicon and how we can arrange 10 objects. 

Literacy

Super sounding out this week in writing. I have seen fantastic improvements in the last 5 weeks. We wrote shopping lists for a garden centre. 

All of our children had their Read Write Inc assessment this week. Great progress everyone! 

Understanding the world

We read Katie and the sunflowers by James Mayhew then we looked at the lifecycle of a sunflower and completed a cut and stick lifecycle activity. 

Art and Design

We worked as a team to make a college of a giant sunflower. We put in on our topic display. Great team work Ladybirds! 

Exploring Time

We have been outside a lot this week as the sun has been shining. We have made lots of obstacle courses, the ducks were added to the water table, we have been experimenting with the marble run, junk modelling and we have had the airport out in the small world area. 

Forest Time

Another lovely day in the forest. Lots of conservation work looking after our forest such as leaf clearing and weeding, minibeast hunts, tree climbing, leaf rubbing, hide and seek, bug house building, getting very muddy in the mud kitchen and lots of fun! 

This week's learning log (week beginning Monday 11th March) 

Maths

In maths this week, we have been focusing on 1 more and 1 less. During our guided maths group work, we used a 10 frame alongside the book 'Ten in a bed'. 

Literacy

This week we read The Enormous Turnip. In our guided writing sessions, we were describing the characters using our fab phonics! Great sounding out. 

Understanding the world

This week we have been learning about the British weather and we made wind socks. On Friday for Comic Relief we were looking at what it is like in Australia (where Bluey is from). We thought about how we would get there, where it was on a world map and compared photographs of Australia's landscape.

Art and Design

Look at our beautiful Mother's Day cards we made last week! I hope all the mummies loved them. This week we colour mixed to paint rainbows and we made wind socks. 

Exploring Time

We have been busy this week exploring. We have played schools, made a giant marble run, looked after our environment, lots of independent writing and had lots of fun with our friends!

Gardening time

A big thank you to Dean (Lily's dad) for coming into to do some gardening and make our area look lovely. There were lots of willing helpers! 

Forest Time

Another lovely day in the forest with nest building, scavenger hunts, leaf identification and leaf rubbings. Plus 'team leaf' continued to help to clear the forest. Great team work Ladybirds! 

Comic Relief 

A great day for Comic Relief! Thank you to everyone for joining in. 

This week's learning log (Week beginning Monday 4th March) 

Maths

In maths this week, we have been focusing on the number 9 and 10. We have practising subitising (the ability to look at a small set of objects and instantly know how many there are without counting them) and using a ten frame. Next week, we are looking 1 more and 1 less. 

Literacy

We have concluded our beanstalk theme with independent writing about Jasper's Beanstalk - some great sounding out using our phonics! I have seen lots of writing in exploring time too. Next week we are reading The Enormous Turnip. 

Understanding the world

We have continued our plant theme. Some wild flowers have been planted outside in Reception area for us all to enjoy. On World Book Day, we learnt about elephants, where they live and the different species. 

Art and Design

These are the beautiful paintings from last week. These are flowers picked from our school grounds. Great colour mixing and attention to detail. This week's art is a secret.... 

Exploring Time 

This week, we have been building walls, role playing with our wooden spoon characters and the road workers have been busy digging up the road and directing the traffic! A busy week in the Ladybirds! 

World Book Day 2024

What a fantastic day! We focused on the books Elmer by David McKee (well we had to with Mrs Markham dressing as Elmer this year!). We read LOTS of versions of Elmer, practised our cutting and sticking skills and created a class college of Elmer, wrote about why we were unique, coloured in Elmer using our numbers in maths, completed Elmer mazes and learnt all about elephants in the afternoon. 

Thank you to all parents and families for your fantastic efforts with costumes and wooden spoons!

I think the children were a little tired by the end of World Book Day... 

This Week's Learning Log (Week beginning Monday 26th February):

Maths

In maths, we introduced the concept of time and understanding what 1 minute feels like. We took part in activities that lasted a minute to help us understand how long this is. We also read Jasper and the Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth and The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to practice our days of the week and sequencing. Some children looked at last week's learning and practised comparing heights. 

Literacy

We have continued with our Jack and the Beanstalk theme this week. On Monday, we planted the magic beans and we are hoping they grow into a beanstalk! In writing, we used our phonics to make a list of the characters and objects in the story. Lots of children also enjoyed doing independent writing during 'Exploring Time'. 

Understanding the world

This week we learnt about the lifecycle of plants and ordered this. We also helped to take care of our plants and made sure we watered them.

Art and design

Last week, we learnt to colour mix so this week we mixed new colours and painted spring flowers from around our school grounds choosing our colours carefully. 

Music

Our unit of work this term is called ‘Our World’. In this week’s lesson, we listened to Under the Sea by Robbie Williams and then played some notes on the glockenspiels.

Outdoor Learning

Thankfully it was a little bit drier this week! We discussed looking after our environment and lots of children joined ‘Team Leaf’ to start clearing all of the autumn leaves. Mrs Markham was chief raker and the children were in charge of the wheelbarrows! It’s starting to look tidier already. Great team work and cooperation from the Ladybirds. We took part in a ‘Growing plants scavenger hunt’, found different leaves from around the forest to identify them, started to look at the number 9 and 10 ready for next week’s maths. We also spent lots of time exploring, playing hide and seek and making a ‘fire’ to keep us warm in the forest. What a fun day!

Exploring Time (Continious Provision)

Another fun week of exploring… we practiced our fine motor skills sorting ‘magic beans’ using tweezers, built houses, enjoyed writing lists, postcards and invites, explored magnets, sequenced stories and even the doctor came to visit the home corner.

This Week's Learning Log (Week beginning Monday 19th February):

Maths

In maths this week, we have learnt about shorter and longer and tallest and shortest. We worked in teams to make 'beanstalks' out of a variety of construction materials to see who could make the tallest and the shortest beanstalk! We also compared who was the shortest and tallest in class and put ourselves in order. 

Literacy

Today we read Jack and the Beanstalk and then we heard a loud bang! We think the giant may have visited our school... leaving muddy footprints, a golden goose egg and 6 magic beans in Reception! Next week, we are going to plant the beans to see what they grow into and also do some writing based on the story. 

(Don't worry though... Mr Betts made sure the giant had left the school grounds!)

Understanding the world

This week we learnt the parts of a plant and what is needed for a plant to grow. We set up our own mini investigation to see if they plants need water and if plants need sunlight... we will watch these carefully over the next few weeks. We also planted herb seeds to go near our Nature Cafe outside and tomato seeds to grow in our Discovery Den. 

Exploring Time

This week we spent lots of time exploring our Reception area. There was junk modelling, lots of sand, a puppet show and lots of fun! 

Outdoor learning

We had a fantastic and very wet day in the forest this week! We labelled parts of a plant, ordered natural objects biggest to smallest, explored the forest, cooked in mud kitchen and got VERY wet and muddy! Can't wait for next week. 

Term 4

This Term's Theme: How does your garden grow?

Our new topic is 'How does your garden grow?' where we will be focusing on plants and lifecycles. We will enjoy reading Jack and Beanstalk and also The Enormous Turnip in our Talk for Writing sessions. We will be planting herbs next to our new 'Nature's Cafe' and growing tomatoes and potatoes in our new 'Discovery Den' and we will learn what plants need to grow. We will be learning to colour mix and then painting flowers and plants around the school. In maths we will be learning about 'Length, height and time' and focusing on '9 and 10'. In the forest, we will be exploring the season of Spring and also explore linked to our topic of plants! Towards the end of the term we will also learn more about Easter! 

Uniform Information:

Monday - School Uniform  

Tuesday - School Uniform

Wednesday - PE kit

Thursday - Warm clothes, wellies, hat, scarf and gloves

Friday - School Uniform

Woodland Thursday

Our class have time to explore the forest and engage in exciting adventures outside every Thursday afternoon. We'll be outside rain or shine so please send your child to school wearing appropriate clothing. The forest can be muddy, so wellies, raincoats and waterproof trousers (ideally snow suits), and clothes you don't mind getting a little (or very) grubby are perfect! 

Reading

Children will continue with Read Write Inc this term. 

All children will receive a 'Reading for Pleasure' book. This is a book for you to read to and share with your child. We do not expect children to be able to read these books.

Most children will receive a blending book or a book bag book. Books will be changed every WEDNESDAY so please make sure they are in school.

All children will receive 'Virtual Classroom' videos via Parent Hub every Wednesday to practise the new sounds at home. 

Please also feel free to share lots of other lovely books you have at home. We want to create a love of reading as soon as possible! 

Click on the link below to find out more about Read Write Inc at Bassingham Primary School. 

Lucy the Ladybird

We have an extra member of our class - Lucy the Ladybird! She has been getting to know the children over the last few days and is always there for a cuddle! She loves listening to stories and has even enjoyed an afternoon tea in our home corner! 

Lucy likes to go home with children on Friday evenings and to come back to school on Mondays! She sits and watches all week before choosing who she would like to go and visit. She loves to join in with whatever children normally do at the weekend - she is not picky. She has a special diary to record the fun times. She loves it if children and their special adults can help fill it up by writing a note about what they have done together, and by maybe adding some photos or drawings. 

Useful Links:

Past Learning Logs