Nurture

Nurture: Summer 2 - Week 5

A strange week in Nurture this week due to our earlier closure. the boys have, however, returned to school happily and were more than thrilled when the ice cream van turned up yesterday!

Nurture: Summer 2 - Week 5

What a great week. We began by writing our own version of Pig the Pug - they are brilliant. The boys will be able to show you on parent evening. In science, we thought about the qualities of a good pet and created our own imaginary pets. We continued to learn how to programme our sprites in computing, this week, we introduced new multiple sprites with different backgrounds, we had lots of fun making them do silly things. 

In RE, we learnt about the reasoning behind Buddhist meditation, it was quite complicated, but we enjoyed trying to meditate using different methods. The week finished with a class trip to Tenpin Bexleyheath- we had an absolute ball and the boys were on their best behaviour!

Nurture: Summer 2 - Week 4

We have been very busy again this week. On Monday, we thought about what humans need to survive and be happy, we were surprised to see that this is almost identical to what our pets need! We continued our computing topic, we have learnt how to add a value to our sprites on Scratch Jr, the sprites behaved in a very funny way once we started the programme. 

In R.E, we heard the story of 'The Monkey King', we were sad to hear that the king sacrificed himself to save his friends. Today we have had lots of fun in music, listening to 'Me, Myself and I' by De La Soul.

Nurture: Summer 2 - Week 3

We have had a fantastic week celebrating 'Cultural Week' across the school. We began festivities, with a dance and samba workshop. The boys created a fantastic dance performance for the whole school. They also learnt to play drums - we really liked the biggest, loudest one!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we made masks for our carnival celebration. The boys were super creative and super sticky once they had finished. We spent yesterday making chicken and vegetable kebabs. Each class made a dish for our feast- it all looked delicious and nobody wanted to wait to eat it all.

Today, our special week drew to a close. We came together as a school and watched all of the practices and performances from each class. We then enjoyed a carnival feast - yum!

Back to normal next week, but we have had so much fun!

Nurture: Summer 2 - Week 2

This week, we arrived in class to find a dog bowl with the word 'mine' etched on it and lots of squeaky dog toys! We have since discovered the bowl belongs to 'Pig the Pug'. The boys have been thinking about what sort of character Pig is and have been comparing him to Trevor the sausage dog.

In computing, we have been programming our sprite to find different objects, the boys loved discovering where thing was hidden. We learnt about the Buddhist story, Siddartha and the Swan, which tells us that we should care for all animals and humans equally. 

In science, we went on a hunt for woodlice and created special habitats for them. we have made observations all week and have discovered that they love eating apples!

Nurture: Summer 2 - Week 1

Welcome back, we hope that you had a good half term and were able to celebrate the Queens' Platinum Jubilee.  

The boys have returned to school, eager to learn and have been very focused this week. This half term we have lots of new topics to look at. In science, we are focusing on animals and humans - in particular, pets. This week, we went on a minibeast hunt and discovered lots of bugs that live in our playground. In R.E, we continue to learn about Buddhism, we discovered that Buddhists have lots of symbols associated with their religion and played a matching game, matching meanings and symbols. We are beginning a new music unit - the Fresh Prince of Belair, this will give the boys a chance to develop their rapping skills!

We will begin our new English book next week, it is based on a book called 'Pig the Pug' and is all about friendship.

As ever, please do not hesitate to contact either Miss Sutton or myself, if you would like to discuss anything. 

Nurture: Summer 1- Week 5

This week has been assessment week for the whole school. The boys have been truly amazing! they have all tried their upmost to focus and do their best, even though at times they were overwhelmed.

Miss Sutton and I are super proud of them all. Well done boys!

Next week, we are back to our regular timetable. 

Nurture: Summer 1 - Week 4

This week has been a little different in Nurture. Our Year 2 boys have been taking part in their KS1 SATs, they have worked really hard and tried their best in both the Reading and Maths tests. Mrs Robinson spent some time in class with the boys whilst the others did the tests, they had lots of fun thinking about what they would need to survive on a desert island. they were allowed to choose one object for happiness and were baffled that they would not be able to take an electronic device!

In computing, we looked at editing our documents, the boys were able to work independently on Google Docs and are becoming far more confident in their actions. 

We have spent a lot of time this week looking at contractions, but we now seem to have mastered the concept of removing some letters and replacing them with an apostrophe. 

Nurture: Summer 1 - Week 3

This week in Nurture, we have continued to work on The Odd Egg, we had to think about how Duck felt with no egg and have written diary entries. The boys are becoming much more independent in both their English and maths work. 

We learnt about Mary Seacole in history and why she was a significant figure for us, they were very surprised to hear that Mary was judged by the colour of her skin! In computing, we have continued to find our way around the keyboard and in P.E, the boys have been learning how to use a bat and ball safely, they are becoming real team players. 

We loved moving our classroom outside this morning to learn in the sunshine!

Nurture: Summer 1 - Week 2

Another busy week in Nurture. We arrived at school on Monday to find a basket full of mysterious eggs in class. We are very curious to know what might hatch! This signals the beginning of our new class book, 'The Odd Egg'. The boys have been imagining and writing about what might hatch, they have also been 'thought tapping' - thinking about how the characters in the book feel about their special eggs.

In science, we have been matching babies to their parents. We were all very surprised to learn what a baby ladybird looks like. We have been learning about the work of Florence Nightingale in history and why she is a significant, even today. 

Nurture: Summer 1 - Week 1

Welcome back to the summer term at Waterside. It was lovely to hear about the boys Easter break (and the amount of chocolate that they had all eaten)!

This half term will be a busy one, our Year 2 children will be taking their KS1 Sats tests in a couple of weeks. We will keep this a low key as possible for them and ensure that it is a positive experience.  we will also be having a whole school assessment week during week 4 of the term, again, pupils will be supported and the process should be stress free. 

We have had a very maths focused week this week, revisiting some of the topics that we have already covered to ensure that our pupils are retaining what has been taught. These sessions have been very practical, using manipulatives and even Numberblocks to sup[port our understanding.

We have begun our new topic unit, this is focusing on significant people in a history, with an emphasis on nurturing nurses. The boys loved the first lesson which looked at significant people in their own lives and what the word 'significant' actually means.

In computing, we are looking at digital writing and the boys had the opportunity to explore the keyboard and discover the functions of various keys.

Next week, we will begin our new English topic - more to follow then.

As ever, please feel free to contact me or Miss Sutton if you need to talk to us about anything. 

Nurture: Spring 2 -  Week 6

What a week it has been. The boys were blown away by our visit from Sublime Science, the workshop was absolutely brilliant. We particularly liked making snow and the disappearing water trick. 

We continued our science theme with an experiment looking at rigidity, we had to be very careful the weights did not drop near our toes. 

We hope that you have a lovely Easter break and recharge your batteries, ready for the summer term.

Nurture: Spring 2 - Week 5

This week, we have had great fun celebrating STEM Week. We started the week with an investigation into the strength of eggs. We discovered, thanks to Reece in Year 4, that eggs are in fat very strong and learnt about the science behind this. Reece had to walk, bare foot, across not one, but five dozen eggs! We could not believe our eyes, when only a few broke - Mr Macey was not so lucky!

We spent each afternoon, carrying out scientific investigations. We have created our own lava lamps, made a sachet submarine and even an exploding volcano! On Thursday, we held a cake sale at school. The boys had to make our treats, using their maths skills to weigh and measure ingredients and to calculate our profit. Sadly, we came second in the competition, however, we had a lot of fun anyway.

Nurture: Spring 2 - Week 4

It has been wonderful to see a little sunshine this week! As usual, we have been very busy. This week, we continued to focus on our school book, writing letters of advice to Fox and also thinking about our favourite parts of the text. In maths, we have been trying to work in groups on column addition, the boys have really helped one another to develop their understanding. 

In science, we considered the elasticity of different materials and conducted our own investigation using rubber bands and marbles. We were very surprised that the band did not snap! In R.E, we continued to learn about Buddhism and made our own Wesak lanterns, they were very sparkly. 

Today, we celebrated Red Nose Day. The boys loved Miss Sutton's obstacle course and making iced biscuits. 

Nurture: Spring 1 Week 3

A quiet week in Nurture, but still very productive. We are all very excited that Mick will be joining the class from our Nest provision on Monday.

This week, we have continued to work on our whole school text and spent lots of time thinking about friendship and how Fox must have felt when he realised that he could not find his only friend. We created 'lost' posters and also wrote a letter of advice to Fox to explain what he could do to find his friend.

We have continued to work on various maths activities across the class, from column addition, to the two times table and also division problems. The boys are all very focused during these sessions and their confidence is building.

Towards the end of the week, we learnt about Buddhist places of worship, the boys created some really beautiful art work, picturing Buddhist temples.   

Nurture: Spring 2 Week 2

Another busy week in Nurture. We arrived at school on Monday to discover that our classroom had become a forest, there was even a package buried in the foliage! This was the hook for our new book, The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith. The boys played a game called 'Fact or Fib' and had to sort statements about the stars, they were surprised to discover that the stars do not come out at night, they are there all the time. They have also been thinking about friendship and what it means to be a true friend. 

We celebrated both Pancake Day and World Book Day this week. The boys looked great in their woodland animal costumes. 

In science, we created an investigation to discover which of our class balls was the bounciest. we talked about what it means to have a 'fair' test and how we could ensure that our investigation was fair. 

In R.E, we learnt about the main beliefs held by Buddhists, we had lots of fun creating our own game and trying to reach Nirvana. 

Nurture: Spring 2 - Week 1

The children have settled back after the half term holiday and have been enjoying the sunshine today. This half term we are going to focus on a whole school text - details to follow next week. As part of our class text and to celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March, the children are invited to come to school dressed as a woodland creature. Details have gone out on Parentmail. 

This half term we are going to be learning about Buddhism in R.E, this week we heard the story of Buddha, the boys were able to retell the story using prompt cards. In computing, we have begun to look at grouping data, we realised that sometimes in can be quite a challenge to allocate something to a single group. We have also started our new music topic which is focusing on the songs of Abba, Miss Sutton and I are looking forward to hearing the boys develop their rhythm. 

Nurture - Week 6 Spring 1

Our beans have continued to grow which has surprised many of the boys! The cress heads have also sprouted and are ready to be taken home. We are  looking forward to hearing about the egg and cress sandwiches the boys have enjoyed.

I have also attached some maths pictures from last week, apologies, I had not realised that they did not upload.

Nurture - Spring 1 Week 5

This week, we have continued to look at how to grow healthy plants. the boys were very excited to see that their bean seeds had begun to grow, admittedly slower than many  would like. In our lesson this week, we looked at time lapse video of cress growing from seed, we could not believe that it only took 144 hours for the seeds to grow into cress - ready to eat! We have planted our own cress seeds and are hoping they will be ready before the end of term. 

Nurture: Spring 1 Week 3

We have been working hard this week. In science, we have continued to think about seed dispersal, we made our own seed burrs, using clay and the boys thought about their favourite method of dispersal. In computing, we began to programme the Beebots using forwards and backwards instructions. We have also been working on our mapping skills. We spent a lot of time learning to use an atlas and finding various places in the United Kingdom. 

Nurture: Spring 1 Week 2

We have had another busy week in Nurture. The boys have been working very hard on their maths, they use manipulatives, for example, Base Ten or Unifix to help them to develop their understanding of concepts. In science, we have been thinking about seed dispersal, we made our own dandelion seeds, the boys thought that they looked a little like Covid germs! Our art topic this half term, is 'Masks', we worked with Ali to create these beautiful animal masks. 

Nurture- Spring 1 Week 1

Welcome Back - 2022

Miss Sutton, Mr Walter and I, would like to wish you all a very happy 2022. This week we have welcomed Branden and Blake to Nurture, they are a fantastic addition to the Waterside family and have worked hard to understand their new routines and make new friends this week. 

We have spent the week settling in and revisiting our class goals. Today has been a strange day, we have discovered lots of dragons around the school and then I remembered a fantastic book called 'The Dragon Machine', this will be our English focus for the half term.

As ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to speak to us about anything. 

Nurture - Autumn 2 Week 7

The boys have had lots of fun this week with all things festive. A big shame our gingerbread was a disaster, but it brought lots of laughs to everyone. 

Mr Walter, Miss Sutton and I would all like to wish a wonderful Christmas, a restful holiday and hopefully a more settled 2022 to follow. 

Autumn 2 - Week 6

Another busy week in Nurture. We are really enjoying our printing lessons. This week we tried string printing, it was a little messy, but lots of fun. We also made our star decorations in readiness for the Christmas Tree assembly, we particularly liked our reindeers. In R.E, we continued to learn about the Nativity Story, this week we heard about the three wise men and their visit to see King Herod. We played the True or False game to see how much of the story we could remembered. 

Autumn 2 - Week 5

The festive excitement has begun in Nurture. We had great fun making stars for our Christmas Tree assembly next week, we have also bee practicing our song, 'Twinkle, Twinkle'. We have been working hard on our 'wolves' topic. this week we were nouning wolf artefacts and creating captions for our labels. We also used 'Talk to the Hand' to help us think of questions about wolves. We have been continuing to think about our feelings with Zones of Regulation, this week Nurture won the Zones target award, this means that we have been really thinking about how we feel, what zone we are in and how this might affect others. 

Nurture Week 4 - Autumn 2

It has been a quiet week in Nurture this week, but we have still managed to get lots of work completed. We have continued to work on our ‘Wolves’ topic, the boys created a grammar splat describing the wolf. They then wrote an interesting description of a fairy tale wolf. In science, Raheem enjoyed planting some flowers and winter vegetables in our garden: garlic, potatoes, crocus’ and onions. Mythias and Raheem also had fun acting out the Nativity story,  next week they will add the shepherds and wise men to their characters.

Nurture Week 3 - Autumn 2

This week has been Cultural Week at Waterside. We have been learning about what 'culture' means and have been enjoying lots of fun activities. On Monday, we learnt about Mexico and had fun making a weather forecast. We then spent a few days cooking, we made some delicious salsa, a bean dip and also a cucumber dip. We had fun enjoying these new foods with our friends. On Thursday we learnt about the Mexican festival 'Day of the Dead', this is a celebration where the dead are honoured. It is not a sad, it is a time of rejoicing and memories! We decorated face masks, they were pretty scary! Friday was Children in Need day, we got to dress up and had great fun learning the Mexican Hat dance with Mr Toke.

Autumn 2 - Week 2

As part of our new English topic 'Wolves', we had a special visitor in class. perhaps you may recognise him from story books. Mr Wolf has asked us to write some information booklets for him, to show the world that not everything you read about wolves is true!

Week 1 - Autumn 2

We hope that you had a great half term holiday. I am pleased to say that the boys have returned to school ready to learn! This is a busy half term for Nurture and the wider school. Today we have been making bug hotels to go in our garden, this helped us to finish off our focus on habitats and begin to focus on gardens and allotments. We are going to be growing our own winter vegetables, although they will not be ready for some time yet. 

We are also going to be learning about the birth of Jesus in the lead up to Christmas. We will  be investigating our local area in geography and hope to be able to go on visits locally to explore the neighbourhood around us. 

We will begin our new English topic next week, I don't want to spoil it for everyone, so please tune in next week for updates.!

We have been very busy in Nurture. This week, we had an unexpected visit from Goldilocks! She was ever so sorry that she had upset the bears. Luckily she missed bumping into PC Lockemup - phew! The boys spent a lot of time writing their own version of the story, they used time adverbials to help to sequence the events. 

We have been learning about technology in Computing, we had to decide whether objects were technology or not. Did you know that technology is something that is made my people to help you, a pencil is technology!

We all have separate maths mastery lessons in class, Orrin is working on multiplication and division, Raheem is now beginning to learn about column addition. Kyle and Mythias are now working on numbers to 20. All of the boys really focus in the lessons and enjoy using the resources to support their understanding. 

We had a busy week. The children really enjoyed the introduction to our science unit 'Habitats'. We spent ages in the garden looking for things that were alive, things that were dead and also things that have never lived. We managed to find plenty of spiders, ants, snails and a slug. I was very impressed when Mythias found a piece of bone and told me that this used to live. 

Sadly, we also said goodbye to Nathan. We went to the cafe for lunch and had fun thinking about all of things we had got up to in the past year. We wish him every success in his new school!

Welcome to the Nurture Class Page

Welcome to our class page, you will always be able to find out what we have been learning about here. If you have any questions or just need to talk to either Mr Walter or myself, please call the office. 

We have just started our new English topic, Goldilocks & The Three Bears. As our 'hook', PC Lockemup came to visit. He was on the hunt for a wanted person, there had been a break in at the three bears house and he needed help with the description. 

The children have all settled in well and are enjoying being back. As part of our Jigsaw PHSE, we spent some time creating a new class charter. The boys came up with some brilliant suggestions as to how we should behave, one of the most important was to be kind to ourselves! In our wider curriculum, we are looking at 'Habitats' in Science and 'Toys Now & Then' in History, we are hoping to visit Bethnal Green Toy Museum later this term. 

https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/transforming-the-va-museum-of-childhood