Ashton Under Hill First School

Shaping Bright Futures Together


2627 Hawthorn 16th October

What a busy few weeks we have had in Hawthorn class leading up to half term!

Forest School and swimming have been definite highlights! The children have loved exploring outdoors, and in swimming, their confidence in the water is growing and their strokes and movement is getting stronger each week.

In Maths, we have been exploring numbers, making 20 using number bonds, estimating on number lines and using number bonds to work systematically to discover what comes next in a pattern.  We then played snakes and ladders to practise counting on.

In English, we have been learning about the famous historical figures Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. We discovered that both were nurses who wanted to improve cleanliness in hospitals. We have loved learning about the Lady of the Lamp and the Nurse of the Army! We have also explored nouns, verbs and adjectives to make our writing more exciting.

In RE, we have been learning about Islam and the Muslim faith. We have been exploring what Muslims believe about Allah, why He is special to them and how their beliefs influence the way they live.

In Science, we have had great fun using our senses to taste, smell and touch some unusual things! The children loved the smell of Marmite, were less keen on Worcestershire sauce, enjoyed tasting sour lemons and thoroughly enjoyed the salty pretzels!

We have created self-portraits in Art and explored the organic shapes that make up our faces, discovering that our features would look rather strange if they were made from perfect circles and squares!

Thank you for all your support with reading at home. It has been lovely to see the children choosing stories in our reading corner during Discovery Time and even acting out their favourite books at home.

We hope you have a lovely half term when it arrives! After the break, we look forward to starting exciting new topics, including fairy tale writing, materials in Science and preparing for our Christmas Nativity.  Photos for Parents here