Archbishop Courtenay's SPORTS DAY challenges can be found here

The links above will take you to some fantastically, fun online learning resources. Please practice your phonics and handwriting daily. 

You can email Mrs Jewell on swifts@archbishopcourtenay.kent.sch.uk if you have any questions about your home learning or if you would like to share examples of what you have been doing at home. 

I would love to see what you have done!

Click on the Home Learning Blog tab above to see all the wonderful learning Swifts have been doing at home with their families.

Please would you take a few minute to nominate our school to win book tokens for our library. You could win £5,000 of National Book Tokens for our school’s library, ready to spend when schools reopen – and if your entry is picked, you'll also get £100 of National Book Tokens to spend on yourself! You know the importance of a good school library – and not just for learning. Studies show that reading for pleasure doesn't just give children an advantage academically; it can improve their well-being, too. Thank you!

Dear ABC Families,

We have a very exciting project for you!  

You may have seen the national launch of the Church of England’s new #faithathome campaign – it was amazing. We want you to get involved! There’s a song that has been written for the campaign for schools to record called ‘Looking for the Rainbow’ – it’s by Becky Drake from www.worshipforeveryone.com  - she is Chaplain at a school in Birmingham, and they have made this multi-screen video of their students singing it – watch here.  The Church of England is about to launch a campaign to get 1000 schools to record this song in time for ‘Thank a Teacher Day’ on the 20^th of May.

What do we need you to do?

1. Have a look at the lyrics and audio file below and learn the song- ‘Looking for the Rainbow’.
2. Put on your purple school jumper or polo t-shirt (we all need to look the same and represent our wonderful school together).
3. Record yourself singing the song with the backing track. (Have a look at the example schools’ video #)
4. Send your finished recording to Miss Sutherland at  jays@archbishopcourtenay.kent.sch.uk by Friday the 15^th May. Please Note: you may have to record your video in sections, if the file is too big it will not attach to the email. Perhaps you could do verse 1 and the chorus and then verse 2 and the chorus.
5. In your email to Miss Sutherland, please copy and paste the following: I consent to the attached video being shared on the school website, on social media platforms and as part of the Looking for a Rainbow Project. I consent to my child’s first name only being published.  I understand that I may withdraw my consent at any time by emailing the school office on office@archbishopcourtenay.kent.sch.uk.
6. Have fun singing, be proud of your achievement and wait for your fabulous feedback!

This is a thrilling challenge and we are so excited to see your amazing entries!

Kind regards,

Miss K Sutherland

Music Lead

Wednesday 8th April 2020

Yesterday the DFE have published an initial list of online educational resources to help children to learn at home. (Click on the image) These websites have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts and offer a wide range of support and resources for pupils of all ages. 

I have added this list as an extra source of resources for you to use should you need them.

The daily learning prompts have moved to the Swifts BLOG. Click on the tab at the top of this class page to see a learning prompt from Mrs Jewell, each Monday to Friday during term time. 

Good Morning

I'd like to encourage you to have another go at writing poetry but this time I would like you to include some dinosaur facts in your poem. This is a fun poem written by Paul Perro that includes some interesting facts about dinosaurs.  It tells us the names of some of the dinosaurs, mentions their diets, their tiny brains and that they are now extinct.

Words to discuss with your adult before reading the poem: prehistoric  suspects  defied   demise

DINOSAUR POEM by Paul Perro    

I've never seen a real dinosaur.

There are none around any more.

They lived in prehistoric time,

Let's learn about them in this rhyme.

Dinosaurs all had tiny brains

But they all had ginormous names

Triceratops, brontosaurus,

Velociraptor, stegasaurus.

Pterodactyl (with a silent 'p')

Ichthyothaur, that thwan in the thea,

And then there was the Iguanodon -

That one had a spike for a thumb.

The big tyrannosaurus rex

Was very scary, one suspects.

It had a lot of big sharp teeth,

And a ROAR that defied belief
 

Most dinosaurs liked plants to eat

Some preferred the taste of meat

But none of them ate chocolate

It had not been invented yet.

dinosaurs did not eat candy

And actually this is quite handy;

Candy causes teeth to rot,

And dinosaurs had such a lot.

I really wish that I could get

A dinosaur to be my pet

I would take him to school one day

And everyone would run away.

This won't happen, I realise,

Dinosaurs all met their demise

Fossils are all that's left, it seems,

And you can see them in museums.

Now why don't you have a go ... CBeebies has some interesting facts about dinosaurs  on their website (click on the image) for you to use in your poem.    As always I look forward to seeing/ reading/hearing what you come up with so ask your adult to email in your learning so I can put the blog..

Monday 30th March 2020

Good Morning Swifts

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. I would love to hear all about what you have been up to so remind your parents to email me any news on swifts@archbishopcourtenay.kent.sch.uk.

Well done to those who are logging onto Mathletics and TT Rockstars regularly, I have seen some great Maths practise happening on there!

This morning I would like to talk about our Maths focus for this week - MEASURING.

In Year 1 we use non-standard units to compare measurements, such as measuring length with our paper clips, weighing objects on a balance scale and comparing them to piles of blocks or using a certain cup to measure how many cupfuls of water are needed to fill different containers.

So for activity number 1 I would like you to ask your adult to take photos of you investigating different ways to measure things around your house.  Are they: lighter/heavier; shorter/longer; full/empty/half full?  Which is the: heaviest/lightest; shortest/longest; fullest?

Activity number 2 is to challenge you:  I want you to use the online Maths resources under the Maths tab at the top of this page to research and learn about different units of measurement and how we would record them. (Hint: there are some great Measurement learning resources on the Twinkl and KS1 BBC bitesize websites)

1. What unit of measurement do we use to record how much an object weighs?
2. What unit of measurement do we use to record how long/short an object is?
3. What unit of measurement do we use to record the volume of a liquid?

Activity number 3: Think about how you can demonstrate using different units of measurement in your daily life.  How do you use your Maths when baking a cake? Or pouring the perfect drink of squash and water? Or mapping out a model of a football field?

If you are looking for further Measurement challenges Mrs Bourdillon has put some worksheets up on Swallows class page for you to try out.

Looking forward to seeing some super Maths learning from you all this week.

Swifts we have had some exciting news from Ms Lapka who is the Education Coordinator for the KM Charity Team this morning.

"I am so glad to have some positive news to share ....  Wowzer noticed that Swift class did fantastic Green Travel for Walk to School (week commencing Monday 19th March) so, courtesy of Nick Butterworth, we would like to send the class a Q Pootle DVD! The DVD is packed and ready to be sent, but we will wait till your children return to school."

Thank you to Wowzer, Nick Butterworth and well done to Swifts 

Adults this is for you because we'd like to know how you and your family are.  Please would you take a few minutes to complete this simple survey which you can access by copying and pasting this link into a browser.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KMDVDSG

Thank you.

Friday 27th March 

Look at these 2 pictures of a Jurassic Jungle.

What adjectives can you think of to describe these settings? Use your senses to help you: What might it sound like?  What might it feel like?  What might it smell like?

Think about how you would feel if you were there to experience walking among the dinosaurs. Write a postcard to someone in your family describing the scene around you. Use the words you have collected to write descriptive noun phrases - the dark, green bushes, the winding river, the gushing waterfall, dinosaurs roaming around .... 

Don't forget capital letters and full stops when you are writing sentences. 

What would you use at the end of a question or exclamation sentence?

Dinosaur Art idea:

Make a dinosaur skeleton using cotton buds or pasta and tea leaves?

I shall look forward to reading your postcards and hearing all about your experiences in Jurassic world.

Thursday 26th March 2020

Good Morning Everybody

Before I begin with today's learning focus I would like to say thank you for all the emails and all the wonderful learning you are sending in to be shared on the Home Learning Blog. 

I am so proud of you Swifts, you are all super stars in my eyes!

So who has been doing PE with Joe Wicks every morning at 9am? (Click on the picture to find out what it's all about if you haven't yet discovered it)

Today I want us to think about the importance of looking after ourselves by eating healthily & keeping active and fit.  Remember the Science learning we did on healthy eating and all those amazing ideas you came up?  Well today I would like you to think of some games we could all do at home to exercise and keep fit. Try them out with your family then let us know how it goes.  It would be fantastic if you would write a set of instructions (with pictures) on how to play the game/s so we could try it out with our families too.

You could create a poster or keep fit video of instructions to share on our blog.

⇔ PS Look in the Twinkl Home Learning Hub for other at home PE ideas to do with your family.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Wednesday 25th March 2020

Good Morning Sweet Swifts

Today I want to talk about PHONICS and the importance of us keeping up to date with practicing and applying our phonics and tricky words every day. I am going to post some videos on the PHONICS page (click the tab at the top of this page to take you to it) and I would encourage you to use them to support your phonics practice every day. Doing this will really help you get better at your reading and writing.

Spellings I would like you to learn this week are the days of the week.

Here are some tips I have put together to help you practice your spellings.

Tuesday 24th March

Part 2: English prompts.

Our core text for this week is Mad About Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae & David Wojtowycz.  Don't worry if you haven't got a copy of the book at home as you can follow along with the reader in this You Tube video.  (click on the book to take you there).

Something to think about after you have read or listened to the story ... 

What did you notice about the way it is written?

This week we would like you to have a go at writing your own dinosaur poem. 

BBC bitesize has a really useful teaching unit on Poetry that we advise you listen to before you begin. (click on the image to the right)

If you have any questions send an email your teacher on the class email.  

We look forward to hearing/reading your poems!

Tuesday 24th March 2020

Morning Swifts

First up today is Maths, focusing on tens and ones within 50.

Try this activity to do with a partner.  Ask your partner to give you two numbers between 0 and 50 then use this tool -->   to show the value of these numbers using Base 10 blocks. 

How many 10s?  How many ones? Which number is greater? How do you decide if both numbers have an equal number of 10s? Remember to give a reason for all your answers

Here's my example: The two numbers I was given are 38 and 42

Here is my Base 10 representations

How many 10s?  42 has 4 tens and 38 has 3 tens

How many ones? 42 has 2 ones and 38 has 8 ones

Which number is greater?  42 is greater because it has 4 tens and 38 only has 3 tens.

After that have a go ordering numbers on the Range Arranger  (make sure you set it to numbers between 0 and 50)

Monday 23rd March 2020

Good Morning Swifts               

Let's talk Science learning for this week. Seeing as we're having such lovely sunny days you may even want to complete some of this week's Science tasks outdoors.

Task 1: What do plants need to grow?

<---  Click on the picture to watch a video all about What Plants Need to Grow.  Then design a poster to record your learning. 

You can ask an adult to photograph your poster and email it to the Year 1 team so we can have a look at your learning and share your work on our blog.

Task 2: What are the parts of a plant?

<---  Click on the picture to watch a video all about What are the parts of a plant? Look closely at the plants in your garden, ask an adult to talk to you about the different parts you can see.  Design a flower using craft supplies and label it.  See the examples below.  We would love to see what you create so ask an adult to email a photo of your work to us to put on the blog.

While all this might feel different and a little strange way of 'doing school, I really hope you enjoy this opportunity to learn together with your family. 

Friday 20th March 2020 

We would like to encourage you to check in on the class pages regularly for home learning ideas, activities, inspiration and a story share or two or three.  Today's inspiration comes to you from the  illustrator Rob Biddulph who will be hosting a #DrawWithBob every Tuesday and Thursday.

Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and get stuck in, whatever your age.

       Catch the latest video by clicking on this image -->   

In R.E. this term we are learning about Incarnation. 

Our BIG QUESTION is "Why does Christmas matter to Christians?"

We have been reading the nativity story and went on a journey to Bethlehem walk.  We heard Gabriel tell Mary she was to have a baby, we were told there was no room at the inn, we saw the baby in the stable and met some riff-raff shepherds on the hill. 

In Art we are exploring creating collages using different textures and mediums and we are using this to put together a display representing the Incarnation.

We read the Parable of the Lost sheep and discussed how christian's believe God is like the good  shepherd who is concerned about every individual.