Sycamore Class
Welcome to Sycamore’s Class' information and blog page. Here you will find general class information and see what we have been up to in our learning. 
Class teacher | Mrs Waddell |
Support staff | Phase TAs will support in the class throughout the week |
PE days | PE will be on a Monday and a Wednesday. Please make sure your child has a PE Kit in school. This needs to simply be a pair of black or navy shorts, a plain white t-shirt and a pair of pumps or trainers for going outside. Black or navy zipped hoodies can also be worn in cold weather.
Children can wear their school kit all day on PE days if they wish - please note they are not permitted to wear other sports clothes. |
Homework | Homework will be set on Google Classrooms. Your child will be sent a homework grid via the school app that has a variety of English, Maths and Topic activities on it for them to complete. They choose to do at least one activity each week (although they can do more!) Your child's username and password will be stuck in their Reading Record Book. Their homework needs to be submitted by Thursday, as I will look at it before Friday and send a certificate home to those children who have completed homework. |
Reading and Times Tables | Our school expectation is that your child reads at least three times a week at home to an adult. This needs to be recorded in your child's reading record and signed by an adult. This record needs to be brought into school every day. We will check this on a Friday and children achieve a reading sticker on their bookmark. Once their bookmark is full they will receive a brand new book to keep as a prize :) If your child needs to change their reading book, it will get changed on a Friday in their Read Write Inc group. Your child will also have access and passwords to Times Table Rockstars and Purple Mash. Their usernames and passwords will be put in their Reading Record Books as soon as we have them all. |
Contact us | If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to speak to us. You can catch us most mornings before school or wait to speak to us after the children have been released to parents/carers at home time.
Or you can contact us via our class email address: sycamore@newmoston.manchester.sch.uk |
We look forward to working together in Sycamore class this year and I am sure we will have lots of fun learning together.
Sycamore trip to Eureka
We had a great day visiting Eureka.
We went on coaches and had great fun singing and chatting on the way.
At Eureka there were different zones where we could discover, learn and play.
Have a look at the photos-they show happy children having a great time!
Key Stage 1 Sports Day
The sun shone and we had a great time at Sports Day.
We all took part in some activities then we finished with some races.
Have a look at the fun we had!😁🏃♂️
Rainbow Day
Today was Rainbow Day.
We dressed in rainbow colours or as many different colours as we could.
We read The Worst Princess and also talked about Different Families Same Love.
Art
In art we have been using clay.
The children have imprinted natural objects into the clay.
Have a look at the imprints the children made.
Attendance Reward
Sycamore class we’re proud to receive the attendance reward for Key Stage 1.
They were the highest attending class for the Summer 1 term with 97.2%.
We were able to choose our reward. The class chose extra playtime with the toys out.
As you can see from the photos they really enjoyed their reward!
Performing poetry
Sycamore class have been learning about the poem “Please Mrs Butler” by Alan Ahlberg.
They have identified the features of the poem, including rhyme, repetition and alliteration, have written their own version of the poem and finally performed the poem.
Watch our video of the children performing the first verse.
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P.S.H.E.
As part of our learning in P.S.H.E. we looked at understanding the importance of and the routines for brushing teeth.
To start with we knew that we brushed our teeth to:
-get germs out of our mouths
-if we don't brush our teeth they will fall out
-we would also get cavaties and toothache
-we needed to brush our teeth for 2 minutes twice every day
We talked about food that had more sugar in and less sugar in and sorted the foods out.
We decided that to keep our teeth healthy we should eat fruit and vegetables, visit the dentist and don't eat too many sweets.
Science- Herbivore, Carnivore or Omnivore?
Today we felt inside boxes and pulled out what each of the animals ate.
We then decided on how to classify what they ate.
A herbivore eats just plants.
A carnivore eats just meat.
An omnivore eats plants and meat.
Do we take medicines even when we aren't sick?
Lilly said you might get poorly by taking the medicine.
Jason thought that if the medicine was not for you, you could die.
If you take medicine when you don't need it, when you do need it, it might not work Fletcher said.
Elizabeth has her inhaler twice a day because she has asthma. She isn't poorly but the inhaler helps to keep her healthy.
Keeping our community tidy
Olivia is a member of our Eco Team in school and is always keen to help out.
She has also been helping in the community by collecting rubbish and putting it in the bin.
Well done Olivia. We are proud of you.
P.E.
For the past few weeks Sycamore have been really enjoying fast warm up relays in P.E.
This week as well they applied all their ball skills that they have been practicing to a game where they had to try and stop their opposition rolling the ball across their goal line.
The children really enjoyed this and used great skill as well as concentration to try to be skillful.
New Moston Mental Health Week
This morning we learnt about Big Emotions.
Big emotions can include:
anxiety, fear, anger, excitement and joy.
We did a freeze frame of each emotion and what it would look like.
We also talked about how the emotion might feel for us and how we could cope with it.
Yoga
Following on from learning about Big Emotions, we learnt that yoga helps us to connect our body, breath and mind. This can help us to calm down and deal with some Big Emotions.
We did yoga to the story of The Hungry Caterpillar.
Exercise
Exercise can help us to feel better. When we exercise our brains get a ‘drink’ of serotonin which makes it happier!
Today we danced to Gummy Bear and Shake it up!
We really enjoyed it and felt better after!
Spring Walk
This afternoon we went on a walk to the park to look at the seasonal changes from winter to spring.
We saw:
-blossom on the trees
-leaves starting to grow on the branches
-daffodils and bluebells flowering
-lots of puddles from the showers
We heard birds chirping in the trees.
The weather was cool but sunny.
Easter Egg decorating competition winner
Well done to Melissa who won the competition for decorating an Easter Egg.
She used lots of different materials to make this a great entry.
Well done Melissa! 👍😁
Easter Disco
We all had a great time having fun with our friends at the Easter disco.
World Maths Day
Today we used rulers as a maths skill to help us produce a piece of art.
Some children showed great skills.
The chicks 🐣
Today the chicks that have hatched in EYFS came to visit Sycamore class.
We were able to hold them if we wanted.
Family Reading Afternoon
It was lovely to have our families join us to read this afternoon.
The children love sharing books with them.
Thank you for joining us.
Design and Technology
This week the children have been looking at butt joints using wood.
They have also experienced using a hack saw to cut wood.
World Book Day
We had a "Break the Rules" day for World Book Day!
The children had great fun! 
The teachers will be glad to be back to normality tomorrow! 
Where would you rather be-Blackpool or Rio?
We have a focus on Geography this half term and are learning about two places Rio de Janeiro in South America and Blackpool which is in Europe and in the country we live in.
We will learn lots of facts about these places, compare them and ultimately decide where we would rather be!
The knowledge organiser below will tell you more about our learning.
Certificate Winners this week! 
Well done to this week's certificate winners.
Teacher's award: well done to Ellie who was spotted this week using fantastic manners to an adult in school 
and well done to Zach who has made big improvements in the effort he is putting into all of his learning.
Champion mathematicians: Jason, Joshua and Finn have all been practicing their times tables on Times Table Rock Stars. 
Reading Champion: Abisola won this as she brings her reading folder every week-a committed reader!
Handwriting Award: This went to Lilly who uses joined up handwriting in all of her learning.
I wonder who will receive the postcard home?
PSHE-Money
Today in Sycamore the children have learnt about money.
First of all the children decided where people got money from-those ideas are on the purse below.
Then the children decided on the safest way to look after their money. They ordered from the least safe (in your pocket!) to the safest (in the bank).
We had fun thinking about why a piggy bank was safer than a drawer and bank cards safer than cash.
These are all good skills for life.
P.E.
Today in PE the children were balancing on the beams and practicing different movements. The children have really improved their skills. Some children could jump, turn and even walk backwards!
P.E.
Today everyone in Sycamore class brought their P.E. kit in! Well done everyone.
We had a great P.E. lesson practicing balancing on the beams and then trying to do this while a partner tried to pull us off.
Then we played a great game where we had an area to play in and we had to use our balancing skills to dodge and weave while our partner tried to score points by touching our knees.
We had great fun!
Art
In art this week the children experimented with mixing play dough to think about colour mixing.
they had the primary colours of red, yellow and blue and mixed these to make the secondary colours.
The children then experimenting with adding white and black to create tints, tones and shades.
The children really enjoyed the lesson and are developing their skills.
Science walk in the park
As part of our science learning about the seasons we have walked to the Nuthurst park.
we were focusing on what the trees and park look like in winter.
we talked about evergreen trees that don’t lose their leaves and deciduous trees whose leaves turn red, orange and yellow then turn brown and fall off the trees.
We saw berries for the birds to feed on in winter.
Then we had fun playing in the snow and saw birds footprints in the snow.
What do we know about our school?
We have a focus on History this half term and are learning about the history of our school-the buildings, what it was like to be a pupil here in the past and how things have changed compared to today.
The knowledge organiser below will tell you more about our learning.
Father Christmas
We we’re so lucky on party day to have Father Christmas come to visit.
The children all got to speak to him and he brought a present for everyone. 😁🎄🎅🏼
Design and Technology- making sandwiches
The children have used their cutting, mixing and tasting skills to make a mixed filling for a sandwich.
They have learnt about hygiene, safe use of knives and made their sandwich either using bread, pitta bread or a wrap,a mixed filling and added some salad.
There were mixed tasting results! 😁🥪🥙
Family reading morning
Thank you to all of our families who joined us this morning to read.
It was lovely to see you all.
The children love you to come and share in our learning.
Children in Need day!
Maths
The children had a challenge to make different shapes using art straws.
Can you see the shape with the greatest number of sides?
Science-the senses
We learnt about the senses this week.
The children felt in a feely bag and had to say how the item felt using their skin (touch).
Then we cooked the popcorn and the children said what they smelt and heard-lots of popping!
Then they said what they saw with their eyes (sight)
Finally they got to taste the popcorn and come up with words to describe the taste.
What do we know about our school?
We have a focus on Geography this half term and are learning about our school-it's location, where things are in our school and using maps, compasses and other sources.
The knowledge organiser will tell you more about our learning.
R.E.
This week we learnt about the miracle that Christians believe in: The Feeding of the Five Thousand.
The children watched the video of the story where Jesus turned 5 loaves and 2 fish into enough food to feed 5 thousand of his followers, and more.
Then they acted out the story in groups.
Geography-around our school.
This week we went on a walk around our school.
There were lots of areas of the school that some of us had not visited before.
We will be building on our knowledge of the school through our Geography learning.
Poetry
This week Sycamore have been learning about poetry.
We have been reading the poem Cats Sleep Anywhere by Eleanor Farjeon.
The poem is on the slides below as well as the new poem Sycamore class created in the same style.
There is also a video of Sycamore performing the poem.
They did a fabulous performance for Mrs Maynard.
Sycamore perfroming Cats Sleep Anywhere
Art and family celebration in Sycamore
Today we invited our families into class to celebrate our learning in Art.
The children have been learning about self portraits and the families were able to see the children.s first self portrait and the final one.
Then the children had a go at drawing their parents and the parents drew their children.
Finally we took our pencils for a walk on the page and enjoyed colouring in the patterns we made.
There were some great artists in the room today and it was lovely to have our families join in our learning with us.
Role Play in Sycamore
The children have been playing in the doctor's surgery role play this week.
They had great fun!
Certificates
Here are this week's certificate winners.
Maths-Fletcher
Handwriting-Eralba
Teacher's certificate-Andrew
Reading-Halle
Well done everyone.
Who will get the postcard home this week?
Seeds
In Science we have been doing an experiment about growing seeds in different conditions.
They were growing:
in the cupboard
on the window ledge with water
on the window ledge without water
in the fridge
on a paper towel
Look how they have grown each day.
R.E.-Who is my neighbour
At the start of the lesson, all the children told me the name of the person who lived next door to them when they were asked: "Who is your neighbour?"
After we watched the story of The Good Samaritan, the children learnt that a neighbour is someone who is kind and helpful and cares for you.
In the pictures below you can see freeze frames of helping someone find their way and helping someone who doesn't know what to do.
Handwriting awards
We have just started our new handwriting awards scheme.
There is bronze, silver and gold.
Everyone has started on working towards bronze level and has the standard stuck in their English book.
When the children have achieved all of the points in the award they will get a sticker of that colour on the front of their book and start working towards the next level.
Please read the levels and support your child at home.
This week we are particularly focusing on the correct sitting position.
Have a look at the photos below for how to sit correctly and try your best every time you write.
Hopefully you will achieve gold in no time!
New Moston Key Stage 1 Handwriting Awards
Certificates
This week's certificates have been given to Abisola and Oscar, Eva and Youseff.
Well done to you all! :)
Partitioning numbers in maths
This week we have been partitioning numbers into tens and ones and have partitioned the numbers in different wats using our equipment to help us.
The children have done a great job! :)
Music in Sycamore class
This week we really enjoyed our first music lesson.
We learnt about pulse and tried to move with the pulse and learnt to sing Rhythm in the Way we Walk.
This week's certificate winners
Well done to Lily, Jacob and Dollie for being awarded with a certificate this week.
Also to Melissa who has re-joined New Moston Primary after some time away. Welcome back!
Certificates
Well done to Finn and Harper who both got a certificate this week for having a great first week in Sycamore class.
There are two postcards in the post as well. Keep your eyes open in case one is delivered to your house!
Well done everyone on a great first week! 😁
Welcome back Sycamore!
We have had a fantastic first week back in Sycamore class.
Everyone is happy to be back in school.
We have drawn a self portrait as part of our art learning.
Have a look because the children have tried really hard with their drawings.
So much concentration! Well done everyone. 👍😁
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Design and Technology
Have a look at our finished bridges.
We have tested and evaluated them this week.
Great job everyone!
Pride Month June 2023
The children have learnt about what the Pride flag represents and why we have pride month.
They then discussed why Pride month is important and the importance of equality and tolerance in today's society.
Have a look at our flags.
D.T. Bridge building
The children have been working cooperatively to build bridges.
They have studied the structures of bridges and worked how to make them strong enough to carry weight.
Have a look at the photos of the children working together.
Science Habitats-our walk to Moston Brook
Today Sycamore class made a very hot walk to Moston Brook.
We were looking at different habitats.
We saw woodland, water, grassland and urban habitats.
The children thought about the animals they might see in each of the habitats and we took photos of the habitats and any insects/birds/animals they saw.
Environment Day
Today it was environment day.
We had a talk about endangered animals from Mark and we looked at animals' habitats.
The children created an animals' habitat afterwards in class.
It was a great day.
Manchester Libraries Author Reading
Today we were able to watch a live link to the author Emma Reynolds who read her book to us: Amara and the Bats.
This is really good for this week as the book has won prizes for its links to empathy (and it is Empathy Day on Thursday) and it also links to the environment (it is Environment Day on Friday).
First Emma read the book to us, then she showed us how to draw bats. The children really enjoyed it and it was a great start to our day.
You can listen to the book using the You Tube link below, look at some of the photos of the live event and some of our drawings of bats.
Super Homework!
Erin has made her own book over the half term.
As one of the homework tasks, the children were asked to write their own story based on a story they knew.
Erin used The Three Billy Goats Gruff and changed it to The Three Red Pandas!
It is a fantastic story.
Have a read yourself.
I am proud of you Erin and the class gave her a big round of applause after we had read it.
Computing
We are learning about spreadsheets in computing.
The children created their own spreadsheet today using Purple Mash.
Yoyo even managed to make a magic square where all the rows and columns totalled the same amount.
What a superstar!
Music in Sycamore Class
The children really enjoyed singing today in our music lesson.
We thought you would love to hear it too!
Sycamore singing Music is in me!
#Nationalnumeracyday
Today was National Numeracy Day.
All the school took part in activities relating to numeracy and watched a video with Katya Jones (Strictly Come Dancing) and Bobby Seagull (a maths expert).
We joined in with dancing and a maths quiz.
The children all enjoyed it.
Mia enjoyed dancing with Katya.
Alma enjoyed the first 3 moves of the dance.
Emily enjoyed the true and false quiz.
Luna also enjoyed trying to get the right answers in the quiz.
We learnt that whilst some people may be a little worried about maths, that's OK. Maths experts are not born as a maths expert, they learn and get the skills they need.
Homework Grid
This is your last homework grid for the year.
I hope you enjoy completing the activities.
I look forward to seeing them.
Knowledge Organiser-Why is our capital city so special?
The knowledge organiser below will give you information on what your child will be learning about in their new Geography based learning about London.
Meet the Weather Event with Caryl Hart & Bethan Woollvin
We signed up to a great event which was free through Manchester Libraries!
The children were able to watch an author and illustrator talk about their jobs and read their book.
It was great fun and the children really enjoyed it.
For the next 2 weeks you can re-watch the video of the event.
You could also go to the author's website and download some activities to do with the book-have fun! :)
https://carylhart.com/activities
The King's Coronation Celebrations.
Today we celebrated King Charles' Coronation.
Everyone dressed in red, white and blue or as royalty.
We learnt about the Coronation and King Charles then had an afternoon tea.
We had a flag competition.
Well done Rosy in Sycamore for winning!
A great day was had by all!
This week's certificates
Well done to William who has been joining in with his learning much more this week.
Well done Mia who has done fantastic Fractions learning.
Well done to all the children who have done their homework or completed their Arithmetic Ninja at home.
Great effort!
Charlie Conlon
Today we had Charlie Conlon come to visit us.
As we are having a lot of building works done at school for our new kitchen, we had an assembly about keeping safe on and near building sites.
The children watched a video about some children who weren't safe on a site and then looked at what safety equipment the builders need to wear and why. The children even got to try them on! Have a look at our photos.
The day Charlie Conlon came to visit.
Happy Eid
This week we have been learning about Eid.
This is a festival for Muslims and it is all about being thankful and giving.
The children have made Eid cards and have written inside what they are grateful for.
They are going to give the cards to Farah and Mumin on Monday as they have been at home celebrating Eid with their families today.
Happy Eid!
Certificate Winner!
Well done to Kunle who won our maths superstar this week.
He has mastered writing and reading all the numbers from 0-100.
Well done Kunle! :)
This week's certificate winners
Well done to Gaurvi, Mia, Llewellyn, Erin, Isla, Yoyo, Emily and Rosy who are all homework heroes this week.
Thank you for doing your homework.
Our maths superstar this week was Elton. Great job Elton!
Yoyo, Llewellyn and Isla have worked hard on Reading Eggs this week!
Alana and Rosy have certificates for always trying their best.
Everyone in Sycamore always tries their best-it's so hard to choose each week. So well done everyone in Sycamore for a great week's learning.
How does Pippa stay healthy?
For our Science topic we have been focusing on how pets stay healthy. Ms Maynard brought Pippa into class so we could ask her questions on how she looks after Pippa and what Pippa needs.
Meeting the ducklings 🐣
Reception have had ducklings which have hatched from their eggs.
We have been lucky and been to see them today.
Some of us held them and some of us stroked them.
Attendance Award Winners
These children have got 100% attendance for the Spring first half term.
They are Emily, Esia, Ivy, Ella and Erin on the photo as well as David and Tyler.
Well done to you all.
It is so important that we are all HEROs ( Here Everyday Ready Ontime).
Certificates!
Well done to this week’s certificate winners.
Ivy for always making good choices, Mia for trying hard to improve her handwriting and Hannah for great use of standard measurements in maths this week.
Farah, Erin and Hannah have also spent time improving their reading skills on Reading Eggs this week.
World Book Day
All the children dressed as a character from a book for World Book Day. There were some fabulous outfits!
Our parents/careers joined us at the end of the day and read books with us.
Knowledge Organiser Spring 2
This knowledge organiser will give you information on what your child will be learning in their next History based block of learning which is titled: "How have Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela helped to make the world a better place?"
You can also see the books they will be reading linked to this and may want to read these with your child at home.
Spring 2 Homework Grid
Below is the Homework Grid for Spring 2 for your child.
All the instructions and expectations are on the grid.
I can't wait to see what everyone does :)
Hello Yellow Day
Today we could all wear yellow to school to think about Mental Health Awareness.
As a class we thought about effective strategies to self soothe and self regulate.
We did some yoga together.
We also enjoyed trying out some different breathing techniques and created a "Hand of Help" on which we wrote ideas that we could use to help ourselves to stay calm and regulated.
Design and Technology-Polar Scenes
The children have been working really hard on their sewing skills.
First they designed what their own polar scene would look like after studying what a polar landscape looks like.
They then had a background to which they added sky, water and animals mostly using running stitch.
It wasn't easy and we needed all of our resilience skills and lots of patience!
The results are good though-have a look at our photos below.
Weather reporters in Sycamore
We have been learning about the season s in Science.
To help us remember facts about Summer, the children in Sycamore pretended they were weather reporters and reported about Summer.
Have a look at our videos.
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Music in Sycamore
The children have really mastered keeping in time with the rhythm using a variety of instruments.
Have a listen!
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Reading Eggs Champions!
We have looked at the Reading Eggs App together in class this week and these children have all gone home and spent time improving their reading by using the app.
Good job!
Hopefully more of you will use it too. Have fun!
Be a Reading Egg Champion like Praise, Ella, YoYo, Ivy, Isla, Erin, Farah, Gaurvi, Marnie and Mumin.
This week's certificates
Well done to:
Esia who won the handwriting award this week.
Emily who won the teacher's award for hard work giving change.
Rosy for being a reading champion.
Tyler the champion mathematician for great money work.
Also to our homework heroes-Ivy, Erin, Praise, Isla, Rosy, Hannah and Gaurvi.
Are you taller or shorter than an Emperor Penguin?
We have been learning facts about Emperor penguins.
A male penguin is 1.3 meters tall.
We measured ourselves against the penguin and decided if we were taller or shorter.
RE-what it is like to worship in a Synagogue
Today we had a visitor in school to talk to us about worshipping in a Synagogue as part of our R.E. learning.
We looked at items used to help Jewish people carry out their worship in a Synagogue.
Bagel Girls!
Today we start having Bagels available for our children every morning.
The kitchen staff are preparing them and they will be ready and waiting for the children in their classes as they arrive.
We hope the children will enjoy the new start to the day.
Happy Monday! :)
Computing
This week we have started our learning about E Books in Computing.
We have logged onto Purple Mash and used the tool 2 Create a Story to draw a character and write about the character.
Everyone did a great job and you can look at some pictures of them here.
You could also practice this at home using your Purple Mash password in your Reading Record.
A BIG thanks to our Digital Leaders who helped to put out all the laptops and our passwords and put them away. It made our lesson run much more smoothly.