Driffield Church Of England Voluntary Controlled Infant School

This week we have learnt all about environmentalism. An environmentalist believes we should look after the world and everything in it. As our topic is under the sea, we have been looking at plastic pollution in the ocean and what we can do to reduce it. The children have learnt about different materials and what is made from plastic. We have talked about single use plastics and plastics we can use again. We have looked at straws and drinks bottles and discussed how single use plastic is not good for the oceans and the creatures living there. We have learn about recycling plastic and reusing it for something else.

Next Thursday, the 13th February, we are holding an exhibition in the school hall to show you everything we have learnt. Please come along and join us from 2pm to learn all about our environmentalism project.

This week our Book of the Week was written by an environmentalist, Ellie Jackson. She has written a series of children's books focused on educating young children about climate change and the things we can do at home to help. This week our book was 'Marli's Tangled Tale.' This is the story of a puffin who gets tangled in the string from a balloon and needs rescuing and taking to the wildlife sanctuary. The children really enjoyed the story and the important message it was passing on.

Following on from the story, the children worked together to reuse old plastic bags to create a large collage of Marli the puffin. We have also been using the plastic bottles you sent in to create some wonderful, colourful fish, using sweet wrappers, plastic and shiny paper. If you have any more small bottles at home, please send them in on Monday, as we will continue making fish on Monday and Tuesday next week. 

In phonics this week we have been reading and spelling longer words by chunking them into smaller parts. For example, reading carpet, as car and pet and then putting them together to read carpet. If your child comes across any longer words in their reading books try this method to support their decoding.

In maths this week we have been learning about doubles. You could reinforce this learning at home by playing games with two dice. Can the children identify when they have rolled a double and do the know the total without counting all the dots? Try playing a game on dominoes with traditional dominoes. Can the children look through the set and find all the doubles?

Next Tuesday is our trip to The Deep. We are all really looking forward to this exciting visit and hope to learn much more about the creatures who live in the sea. All the children will take part in a workshop aimed at raising their awareness of plastic pollution and the things we can do to reduce it. Please make sure your child arrives on time and wearing their school uniform. Lunch will be provided and your child doesn't need any spending money with them, as we won't be using the shop on the day of the visit. 

If you have any questions about the visit to The Deep, the exhibition on Thursday or anything else, please don't hesitate to ask. 

Kind regards

Mrs Dean and Miss Wain