Mrs Lawrence

I am Emerald Class Teacher. I have worked at Homer for 17 years and I have been lucky to work across all year groups.  My favourite lessons to teach are Maths (as I enjoy numbers and finding patterns) and History/Geography (finding out about past events and the world around us). I live in Windsor with my husband, our 3 children and our dog Odie. Outside of school I enjoy socialising with friends and family, walking my dog and watching my son play football. I am very exciting about this year and looking forward to getting to know all the children. I am planning lots of fun activities to support and extend the learning in the classroom.

Ms Carlton

I am Emerald Class teaching assistant. I joined Homer when my two sons were pupils here and I enjoyed it so much that I am still working here 19 years later! When I am not at school I spend lots of time with friends, shopping and eating out. I am really looking forward to working and having fun together throughout the coming year.

Mrs Bleach

I teach lots of classes across the school. I love teaching Science and Music and I also lead the singing assemblies. I enjoy putting on shows and performances across the school. You'll often hear me singing or humming to myself as I walk around. You might also see me in the school gardens with the Homer Growers, making our outside areas look good. I'm looking forward  to being in Emerald this year and teaching you Science.

Spring Term 2

English

•     Postcards and Letters,  John Patrick Norman McHennessey

•     Poetry,  The Owl and the Pussycat

Maths

•     Length and Height

•     Mass, Capacity & Temperature

Science

•     Material World

History

•     Local Area- Windsor Castle

Music

•     Who stole my chickens and my hens?

Computing

•     Animated Story books

Art

•     Painting and mixed media – Colour Splash

RE

•     How should the Church celebrate Easter?

PSHE

•     Staying healthy – Healthy eating

•     Hazard watch – Is it safe to eat or drink?

PE

•     REAL PE: Creative

Spring Term

After a lovely Christmas break, everyone has been excited to be back with their friends in the classroom. As a class we have begun daily to use the computer program TT Rockstars, which helps develop multiplication and division skills up to the 12 times tables. This program has quickly become a favourite, with students pushing themselves to improve. Additionally, the children are now beginning to practice joining letters during their handwriting lessons.

Maths

This term, we have been learning about money. The children have explored the value of various coins and notes used in daily life and applied their knowledge to add and subtract amounts. They’ve particularly enjoyed using different coins to role-play in our class-made shops, where some children practiced adding totals to afford items, while others acted as shopkeepers calculating and giving the correct change. Next, we’ll move on to multiplication and division, with TT Rockstars playing a valuable role in supporting the children’s learning in this area.

English

We’ve been exploring ‘silly poems,’ focusing on My Old Man’s a Dustman, which has brought plenty of laughter to the classroom! The children have had great fun identifying rhyming words and are starting to write their own silly poems. Next, we’ll delve into the traditional tale The Three Little Pigs. Since the children are already familiar with this story, I’m confident they’ll enjoy adapting and transforming the original to create their own unique traditional tale!

History

We are exploring the fascinating topic of 'Old' and 'New' toys, which has sparked great curiosity among the children, especially regarding the old toys. In February, we have an exciting museum visit planned, where the children will have the chance to discover and play with a variety of toys that have been popular over the past century!

Music

In music, we have revisited The Menu Song and are now learning a new song about football. The children are building on their previous knowledge to identify various instruments while exploring different beats, tempos, and pitches.

Science

Young children thrive on curiosity and hands-on experiences, making the exploration of different materials an essential part of their learning. Through activities involving materials like sand, water, clay, fabrics, and paper, children develop their sensory and fine motor skills while discovering properties such as texture, weight, flexibility, and durability. These explorations not only stimulate creativity and problem-solving but also lay the groundwork for understanding concepts in science, art, and design. Whether building with blocks, experimenting with paint, or investigating how materials respond to water, children are encouraged to observe, ask questions, and engage with the world around them in meaningful ways.

RE

We have been reflecting on the various celebrations that take place throughout the year and considering how and with whom we celebrate them. Our discussions have included a mix of personal and religious celebrations, as we explore their significance and meaning.

PE

This term, we are lucky to have specialist coaches coming into school to teach the children hockey on Mondays. Then, on Fridays, gymnastics coaches join us to demonstrate techniques, provide support, and help the children use a variety of equipment while performing different movements with their bodies.

Design Technology / Art

We are currently exploring the concept of stability by learning how to use paper to create a chair for Baby Bear. So far, we’ve experimented with shaping play dough to determine which shapes provide the most strength, using this knowledge to inform our designs. The children will then construct and test their chairs to see if they can hold Baby Bear’s weight—an exciting challenge!

In Art, the focus is on the three primary colours: red, yellow, and blue. The children will experiment with mixing these colours to create secondary colours and will also explore how to change the shades of a single colour. 

PSHE - Sharing Images

Teaching young children the importance of seeking permission before uploading or displaying pictures or personal information online is crucial in fostering a sense of responsibility and safety in the digital age. It helps them understand the value of privacy, respect for others, and the potential risks of sharing personal details publicly. By learning to ask for permission, children begin to recognize that images and information belong to individuals, and sharing them without consent can lead to unintended consequences, such as misuse or breaches of privacy. This early understanding builds a strong foundation for respectful and secure online behaviour as they grow.

Computing

This term, we are using Purple Mash to explore the basics of email. On this safe platform, the children are learning how to create and reply to emails, as well as how to attach pictures and other files.

Curriculum Update

Spring Term 1 & 2

Next term:

English 

• Silly Poems 

• Traditional Tales, The Three Little Pigs

• Postcards and Letters,  John Patrick Norman McHennessey

• Poetry,  The Owl and the Pussycat

Maths 

• Money
• Multiplication & Division
• Length and Height
• Mass, Capacity & Temperature

Science 

• Materials 

History 

• Toys - Old & New 
• Local Area- Windsor Castle 

Music 

• Football
• Who stole my chickens and my hens?

Computing 

• Online Safety 
• Making Music 
• Animated Story Books 

DT

• Baby Bear's Chair

Art 

• Painting and mixed media – Colour Splash

RE

• Is it important to celebrate the New Year?
• How should the Church celebrate Easter?

PSHE

• Computer safety – Image sharing Internet safety day Mental health week
• Staying healthy – Healthy eating Hazard watch – Is it safe to eat or drink?

PE

• Gymnastics 
• Hockey 

Reindeer Visit

What an amazing way to kick off the week! We had the pleasure of welcoming two beautiful reindeer, Flash and Jet, to visit Homer.

The children were captivated as they listened and learned all about these incredible animals.

We discovered that reindeer come from the Arctic Circle and countries like Sweden. Did you know they can run up to 40 mph for over two hours? We also learned that they shed their antlers every year just after Christmas, and within 12 weeks, a brand-new set grows back—identical to the ones before!

Reindeer are herbivores, meaning they only eat moss, grass, and leaves. What a fascinating experience for everyone involved!

Anti-Bullying Week

This week, we explored the concepts of being a 'bully' and being 'bullied.' Through thoughtful discussions, the children shared their understanding of these terms. They all agreed that bullying is not the right path and emphasised the importance of treating one another with respect. To reinforce this message, the children coloured meaningful words that highlight the significance of Choosing Respect.

Coming Up for Autumn Term 2

Maths         - Additions/Subtractions

                   - Shape 

English      - Poetry - Ten Things in a Wizards Pocket 

                   - Recount - Oh No George!

Science      - Seasons and their changes

Computing - Purple Mash - Lego Builders

                                              - Effective Searching

Art              - Make Your Mark 

Music         - Colonel Hath's March

Geography - Why is our world wonderful?

RE              - Should you wear symbols?

                   - Special things belonging, special occasions

PE              - Real PE - Social

PHSE         - Hoax Calling

                   - Road Safety

Autumn Term 1

What a fantastic start we have had in Emerald class with all children settling well. Everyone is enjoying their learning and challenging themselves ensuring they do their best! All children are reading daily and we have already earned a Mufti-day because of this. Well done!

Maths - This term in Maths we have revisited Place Value 0-20 and also extended our learning using numbers to 100. We have become extremely confident using number bonds and are able to use these to solve number problems. We are currently using them to support our learning of adding and subtracting numbers up to 100 and also comparing the value of numbers. The children are using the correct mathematical symbols to show the greater/less or equal number. We will continue focusing on addition and subtraction using 2-digit numbers as well as crossing over a 10 number. In addition to our daily Maths, we use Mastering Number (10 minutes 4 times a week) to support number fluency and confidence. This is thoroughly enjoyed by all!

English - We use Talk For Writing and started by using the losing tale 'Dogger' as our focus. The children all enjoyed the story and added actions using their text maps to support their recall of events throughout it. We have completed a variety of work such as discussing new vocabulary(understand the meaning), extending sentences and using connectives (because, but, so, and), created a 'toolkit' which enables the children to think about what they need to include in their story (full stops, capital letters, finger spaces, adjectives, etc). The children then used the original story to create their own new version. Finally they used their learning to write their very own losing tale. Our current focus text is 'How to wash a Woolly Mammoth'. The children are really enjoying this text and have again completed various tasks to extend their learning such as using time connectives and bossy verbs. The children are now in the process of choosing their own animal that they would like to write instructions on how to wash them.

Geography - This term we have been learning all about where we live. We have used Google Earth to see how the world is structured and atlases to see where we actually are in the world. The children have used aerial view maps of Windsor and have been able to identify places such as our school, Windsor Castle and other surrounding places. We have learnt that Windsor is a town and what the differences are in villages, towns and cities. 

Music - The Menu Song has been our feature and the children have used actions to help recall it. It has been highly successful with all the children learning it and remembering what food is connected to what day of the week. The children have enjoyed using their bodies to follow and display different beats, instruments and pitches.

Science - This term the children have been learning all about plants. They planted their own beans and monitored their growth using a diary. The beans grew so successfully we had to move them to Mr Bleach's allotment! Along with plants the children have been learning about the four seasons and how different things happen in each.

RE - We have used the bible story of Moses to reflect on how people influence us and had lots of discussions on when some peoples influences are good but not all. The children have recognised a variety of different people in different areas of their lives that have influenced them.

Computing - This is an extremely popular activity and the children really focus and enjoy accessing Purple Mash. They are able to move around the program with growing understanding of how it all works. The children have also learnt about Online Safety and how important it is. Recently the children have been given access to Numbots and it appears to be highly successful.

PE - We have been fortunate to have specialist sports coaches in twice a week to work with the children. On a Monday the children have been practising and learning new football skills and how teamwork is essential. Friday mornings the children have been focusing on fundamentals which include developing balancing, agility, running, jumping as well as coordination.

Design Technology - We have tried and tasted a variety of different fruits and vegetables in order that we could create a smoothie. The children identified what a fruit is compared to a vegetable. They really enjoyed juicing lemons, limes and oranges which we then added to our final smoothie.

PSHE - This term using Decision 1 we have been looking at relationships especially bullying. The children have watched videos whereby they can choose which form of action the characters should take. Once they have chosen, the videos continue showing the outcome and then show the children what could have happen if they had chosen the other option.  This has really helped children to gain a stronger understanding of bullying and its consequences. It has also given them advice should they ever feel under pressure from others.

Instructions 

We created our Witches Houses today and next we will be writing up how we actually created them step by step.