19.07.19 - Well we are at the end of the school year and the children have all been amazing! This week the children have been helping to tidy and have enjoyed some extra time to do their own learning. The potatoes planted in spring have been harvested and eaten, the children have all spent the afternoon as Year 1's and 2's and all the new children have visited. We have even enjoyed ice creams thanks to the Friends of Denby Free. The children have also chosen the colours for the pots they made which will have their final firing soon and will be ready at school in September.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents who have helped out in school and on trips and all the Reception Team. Your continued support has been wonderful especially during my absence which once again I would like to apologise for. My final thanks goes to Mrs Dawes who has been an amazing constant for all the children.
I wish you all a wonderful summer holiday and look forward to seeing you all safe and sound on Wednesday 4th September.
12.07.19 - We have been basing our learning on minibeasts and under the sea creatures this week. We have continued with lots of art activities and the children have painted paper plate shells, made jellyfish, starfish, octopus tentacles and lots more, you can see our work on display in the hall on Monday after school at the Open Afternoon.
The children have also been solving and writing riddles for their animal of choice and these will also be on display for you to test yourselves on Monday. We enjoyed an extra visit to the church this week when the children had chance to really explore, they noticed the crosses, stained glass windows and secret doors and stairs. 
Sports Day was a great success and all the children and staff had a wonderful time, thank you to everyone who was able to come along and support us.
If you would like a copy of your child's learning journey for the year I have enclosed a permission slip for you to complete, sign and return to school. Also please let us know if you would like any books for over the holidays.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
05.07.19 - We have had an amazing 'Arts Week' and all the children have produced some astounding pieces of art. The children have been using natural materials to make faces, they have been painting on a large scale outside, knitting snakes, making bubble pictures, making Lego models and lots, lots more.
The highlight of the week was on Wednesday when Mr Pearson the potter joined us. He showed us how to make pots and then the children used their imaginations to decorate them. We will have these on show once they have been fired in the kiln.
For the next two weeks we will be combining under the sea animals and minibeasts. We look forward to seeing you at Sports Day on Wednesday morning.
Many thanks for your continued support.
27.06.19 - Another fantastic week in Sparrow class. The children have enjoyed listening to Elmer stories, making multi-coloured loom band bracelets, using the multi-coloured water beads to test out their thinking on capacity and they have been making 'special places' for their characters.
We all enjoyed the Year 4 drumming performance which inspired the Sparrows to turn the large empty plant pots upside down and use those as their drums. We enjoyed Kane's and Evie's Chatterboxes and we loved having the pedal bikes out. The children have enjoyed learning about syllables in words and cutting up different words. We have also said a sad goodbye to Ben who we will miss hugely.
Next week is art week and we are going to have some fun with clay.
Wishing you all a lovely long weekend.
21.06.19 - We have had a very busy week in Sparrow class this week learning about 'big cats'. The children have been making lion masks, pouring tea for the tigers, prowling like jaguars on the climbing equipment outside and making tigers in the play dough.
Reception have been learning the 'er' sound and all the children have been learning about position and direction using the 'beanbag bop' song. In RE the children have been explaining what they think makes a 'special place' and have been reflecting quietly on where their special place is.
We had an exciting visit from Matilda's Mum on Friday who did some super science with us. She got the children sorting different things that fly into groups, testing how to make the paper glide and then making and testing our own helicopters. We had great fun sending them over the wall and watching them spin down onto the field. Huge thanks to Matilda's Mum and Darcy for coming in.
Next week we will be basing our learning around elephants and particularly Elmer.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
We had a wonderful visit to Conkers and the weather was very kind to us. We had fun making dens, on the park, finally getting our lunch (after asking constantly for it from 10.30am!), in the cold, wet and muddy barefoot walk and on the wobbly bridge. There was plenty more that we didn't get to explore so if you get the chance I'm sure they would love to return with you. Many thanks to the adults who came along and The Friends of Denby Free who made the visit possible.
14.06.19—We have been monkeying around in the jungle this week. We have been writing about all the facts we have learnt about monkeys, we have been climbing and jumping like monkeys, drawing and making monkeys and lots more.
All the children have been consolidating their knowledge of telling the time and some of the children can now tell the time to quarter past and quarter to the hour—amazing! Reception have learnt the ‘ure’ sound and Year 1’s have completed the phonics screening check and did really well.
All the children have been wonderful, welcoming all the new children on their taster visits. We also enjoyed a delicious 'munching maths' on Monday with great thanks to Kane who made two delicious gluten free victoria sponges that we cut up into fractions for everyone to enjoy.
Next week we have Sport’s Day on Tuesday morning and Conkers on Wednesday (fingers crossed for the weather). And we will be learning about big cats.
Hope to see lots of you at the Summer Fayre on Saturday.
07.06.19 - We have had a very busy week. We have begun our new theme of ‘Animals around the World’, in particular looking at giraffes and zebras and also  preparing for the Eco-Fair. We have also enjoyed the two Chatterbox sessions from Thomas and Isla.
The children have been making giraffes and zebras, listening to the story of ‘Giraffes can’t dance’ and then congaing around school, making cakes and cookies for the Eco-Fair and then being the most amazing waiters and waitresses in the café. Many thanks to everyone who came along to the fair.
We have all been refreshing our knowledge on time and even telling the time to half past, quarter past and quarter to the hour. The children enjoyed playing 'What's the time Mr Wolf'. Reception have been learning the ‘ear’ sound and Year 1’s preparing for their phonic screening next week.
Next week we will be monkeying around.

Sparrow Class on the 2019 Mud Run

23.05.19—It’s been a very healthy and active week in Sparrow class. The children have listened to the stories of Oliver’s Vegetables and Oliver’s Fruit Salad, they have found out that a water melon floats, filled healthy and unhealthy lunchboxes, chopped and tried different vegetables and fruits and have been counting steps on the pedometers. We have been making and moving like robots and using cameras and recording equipment.
Year 1’s have been writing poems about tiny seeds and Reception have been learning the ‘air’ sound.
The children have shown that they are superstars on the bikes and thank you to everyone who came along to our mini celebration.
Next term we will begin the theme of ‘Animals around the world’ and the topic map is on the main Sparrow page.
Hopefully tomorrow's Mud Run will be great fun and a huge success.
Wishing you all a wonderful break.
17.05.19—We have really made the most of the sunshine this week. We have spent lots of time outside on the field litter picking, bike riding, making nature bracelets, watering plants and completing the trim track.
Everyone has been writing a wonderful story about where they would travel in a rocket. We have also been testing ourselves with subtraction number sentences and fractions, looking at 1/2 and 1/4 of shapes and numbers. Reception have been learning the ‘oi’ sound.
Next week we will be concentrating our learning on healthy eating and being active and using the books ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’, ‘Oliver’s Fruit Salad’ and ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ to support this.
The ‘Balanceability’ sessions have finished now and we have had some amazing successes. We would love it if any/all of you could come and join us on Wednesday afternoon at 2.45pm to watch what we can now all do on the bikes. After that we look forward to seeing you sliding through the water with us on Friday from 1.45pm onwards.
10.05.19 - The children have been basing their learning around the book 'Dinosaurs and all that rubbish'. They have been collecting and sorting rubbish for recycling, recycling CD's to make decorative hanging items, they have been recycling pipe cleaners and beads to make friendship bracelets and even recycling the rain water.
The children have been planning and writing their own stories about what adventures they would have in a rocket. They have been doubling, halving and sharing amounts. In phonics the Reception children have been learning the 'ow' sound and have made crowns. In RE Year 1's enjoyed a Shabbat meal and Reception made a crocodile with Mrs Callaghan to remind them of the Sikh story about the crocodile and the priest.
All the children seemed to enjoy their second balanceability session and having the bikes out during learning time.
Next week we will continue with the recycling theme. 
03.05.19 - We have had a wonderful week back after the Easter break. The children have been learning about seeds, plants and growing. We have been planting our own mystery seeds and predicting what they will grow into, writing instructions to plant a seed, making flower potions in the water, helping out in the garden centre, painting flowers, planting a flower number line and planting sounds to make words in the mud playdough.
The children have been having lots of doubling fun and travelling through the doubling tunnel. The Year 1 children have been solving and drawing their own multiplication problems. In phonics the Reception children have been learning the 'or' and 'ur' sounds.
All the Reception children seemed to enjoy their first balanceability session. Many thanks to the adults who helped out. Our first Chatterbox was Evie and she did an amazing job telling us about her trip to London and about her Egyptian models. Another special mention goes to Sophie and Isaac for their wonderful class reads.
Next week we will learn about the effects rubbish is having on our environment.
​Wishing you all a lovely long weekend.
12.04.19 - It's been an eggstra special extravaganza of a week in Sparrow class. The children have estimated how many mini eggs inside the egg, they have solved clues to guess what is inside the egg, they have weighed eggs, bounced them and painted them. The children have really enjoyed learning about the Easter story, they have joined in the Easter experience, made story crosses and expressive pictures based on the different elements of the story.
Reception children have been learning the 'ar' sound and we have all been finding one less than numbers large and small.
We hope you enjoyed our Easter collective worship in the 'Spinney' and our singing, we enjoyed hot cross buns on our return to school. Many thanks to all the parent's who joined us for our walk to the bluebell woods, we had a wonderful time and sang 'In and out of the dusty bluebells'. The children did a great job hunting out the Easter eggs on their return and then sharing them out equally.
Balanceability will commence on our return and 'Show and Tell' will be replaced by Chatterbox which will involve two children a week and there will be more details to follow.
The theme next term is 'All things green' and our learning will be based around growing things, the environment and recycling. You can find a topic map on the main Sparrow page.
​Wishing you all a wonderful Easter break.
Sparrow Class and all the Year 1's enjoyed an Easter Experience on Monday afternoon. The children had listened and watched the Easter story and then we talked about why Easter is important to Christians. We then acted out the different parts of the story starting with Jesus' ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, then the last supper and Jesus' washing his friend's feet. Next we shared bread and wine (blackcurrant squash), then we prayed in the prayer garden, then Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday. Finally on Easter Sunday Jesus rose from the tomb and was alive again. The children were amazing at following the different parts of the story and understanding the meaning behind Easter.
05.05.19 - How time flies when you're having fun! The children have been writing in custard, boxes, slime and on post cards and sending lots of letters in our post office. All the children have been learning to tell the time to the o'clock and half past the hour. We have been carrying out a transport survey using tally marks while continue to practise our Green Cross Code.  The Year 1's have been making pinch pots, writing instructions for safely crossing the road and counting in 2's, 5's and 10's. All the children have enjoyed following the recipe to make 'Sparkle Cakes' in the mud kitchen and moving the ducks into a smaller pond in the water. It was lovely to see most of you at the parent's meetings and I thank you for your patience with my poor time keeping. Next week our learning will be based around Easter.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
 29.03.19 - Another busy week. The children have been using the correct money in the toy shop to pay for their purchases, they have been learning about capacity in the water (sorry about the blue socks), learning about road safety using our crossing and traffic lights, they have made a 3D map of the village using a large sheet of cardboard outside and enjoying the story of Rosie's Walk and making a map to show her journey. A particular hit this week has been our walk around the village. The children enjoyed visiting different places, seeing some of the children's homes, finding their way around the maze and then enjoying themselves on the park.
We have all continued to learn about money and started to tell the time and hip hopping around the clock. Year 1's have continued with their work on capacity in numeracy and writing a recount of their walk in literacy. Reception have been learning about the 'oa' sound.
Next week the children will be running a post office and will continue to learn to tell the time.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and we wish all the Mum's a Happy Mother's Day.
22.03.19 - We have had a money mad week in Sparrow Class this week. We have been making coin prints in the playdough to show the cost of different toys, we have been hunting in the sand for coins using the metal detectors, paying for train journeys to London and other destinations and making coin rubbing pictures. The children have also enjoyed filling 3D shapes with the water beads, finding the hidden shape and reading the high frequency word on it and building structures using the cups, blocks and lolly sticks. The children have also been looking at different styles of houses and writing about their homes.
Reception have been learning the 'ee' and 'igh' sounds and Year 1's have been learning about split diagraphs. 
Next week we will continue with the village and money as a focus for our learning. We are also hoping to go on a local walk during the week. 
I hope you have received your slip for your parent's evening meeting, please ask if you need to change this.
Many thanks for your continued support.
15.03.19 - Lots and lots of learning everywhere this week. The children have been learning about 3D shapes, making them with playdough and straws, grapes and cocktail sticks and the construction set outside. There have been some fabulous 2D pictures and prints. The school role play area has been a particular hit with great impersonations of myself and Mrs Dawes from the children. We have been adding with our interactive adding machine outside and taking away with our subtraction squish boards in the playdough.
The Reception children have been learning about what makes a sentence and writing their own, they have also learnt the ‘ng’ and ‘ai’ sounds. Year 1’s have been comparing the school past and present, doing lots of measuring and comparing lengths and learning the ‘wh’ and ‘ph’ sounds.
Next week we will continue learning about our local area and will look at where we live (it would help if you could talk to your child about their house number, type of house, how many windows you can see at the front etc.). We will also be learning about money and the different coins and any fun you can have with these at home will help.
​Wising you all a relaxing weekend.
The children all came in some fantastic costumes for Book Week. Ben (Little Pig) and Daniel (Dumbo) won the prizes for their costumes in Sparrow Class. The children chose Sophie's book 'Little Red Riding Hood', Amelia's book 'Great Women of the World' and Kane's book 'Oi Frog!' as the classes favourites with each receiving 25 votes.
08.03.19 - We have had a very busy book week. The children have enjoyed bringing in their favourite books and sharing them with the class. They have painted and drawn the covers of their favourite books to share with the school and display. We all enjoyed a visit from Mr Simms who shared some of his favourite books with us. We have based our learning on some of our favourite stories by making potions in the water based on 'Room on the Broom', we have been hiding in the cave based on 'The Gruffalo', we have made snails in the playdough based on 'Sharing the Shell' and lots, lots more.
All the children have been learning about 2D shapes and enjoying shape obstacle courses and this will continue next week but we will start looking at 3D shapes. Reception have been learning the 'ch' and 'th' sounds and Year 1's the 'aw' and 'au' sounds.
Another highlight this week were the pancakes - the children loved watching them being made and really enjoyed eating them.
Next week we will begin this term's theme of the 'Local Area' and in particular we will be looking at the school.
Many thanks for your continued support.
01.03.19 - It has been a fantastic first week back in Sparrow Class. The children have been basing their learning around the book 'We're going on a Bear Hunt'. They have been writing invitations for a bear hunt, rescuing bears from the slime, acting out the story using our very own bear cave and enjoyed ourselves on our own 'Bear Hunt'.
Year 1's have started looking at measuring in numeracy and everyone has been learning about the number 20. Reception have been learning the 'sh' sound and Year 1's the 'ue' and 'ew' sounds.
Next week is 'Book Week' and all our learning will be based around this theme. The children can bring in their favourite books to share with the class and we look forward to seeing them dressed up on Friday as their favourite book character.
Finally I would like to thank you all for being so patient and understanding during my absence, I am so very happy to be back in school and working with your amazing children.
​Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
15.2.19
Super busy end to this term. This week the children have been planting magic beans and had our very own beanstalk in our learning area. We have been singing songs all about Jack and the Beanstalk using rhyming words. We also had a very special picnic on Wednesday which we made ourselves. We've also been using magic beans to help us with our counting, forwards, backwards, 1 more, 1 less and finally finding the missing number. The number of the week has been 19. Year one have been doing 1 more and 1 less than a given number. Year one have been writing an adventure story based on traditional tales.
In phonics reception have learned the sounds 'q' and 'k' and year one have worked on 'ir' and 'ue'.
We would like to thank Mrs. Venkus for teaching us the last few weeks and we welcome Mrs. Foulke back after the break. 
The Sparrow team would like to wish you all a lovely holiday.
​8.2.19
The children have had a very busy week again.
We have been celebrating Chinese New Year this week, we have decorated dragons, made lanterns and tried to eat satsumas using chopsticks!
Reception have welcomed the return of the wolf this week we have learnt all about Little Red Riding Hood. We acted out the story, made story paths, used number bonds to count grandma’s food and weaved baskets. Year one’s literacy has been based on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
In phonics the Reception sound has been ‘w’ and YR1’s ‘ea’ and ‘oy’.
Number of the week has been 18. Year one have been working on doubles and ordering numbers smallest to largest.
The Sparrow team would like to wish you a lovely weekend.
​ 1-2-19
Another week has flown by again. Reception children’s literacy has been based on ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’. They have acted out the story, discussed characters, thought of rhyming words, sung songs, played billy goat games, made troll faces and made trolls out of tubes and playdoh. They have been super busy.
Year one’s learning has been based on Jack and the Beanstalk. They have done giant character descriptions in readiness for their story and designed their own story map.
In phonics, Reception have learned the sounds ‘v’ and ‘y’ and YR1 have done ‘ie’ and ‘ea’.
The number of the week has been ‘17’ and YR1 have been doing number bonds to 20 in different ways.
The Sparrow team would like to wish you all a lovely weekend.

 
​25.1.19
This week has flown by again. Reception have been learning about ‘Cinderella’. There has been a Cinderella palace in the classroom and we have been sending out invites to our own tea parties. The children have had fun using our magic words to cast spells in the classroom and we made pumpkin carriages. We have also been learning about the hands on a clock.
Year one’s learning has been focussed on ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. We have listened to and acted different parts of the story. We also wrote out questions we could ask different characters in the story.
In phonics, Reception have done the sounds ‘h’ and ‘r’ and YR1 ‘ou’.
The number of the week has been 16 and YR1 have been adding by making 10.
Next week, Reception will be doing ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ and YR1 will continue with ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’
Have a lovely weekend.
18.1.19
Sparrows have had a really busy week, Reception have focussed their learning on 'The Three Little Pigs'. They have made houses of straw, sticks and bricks which the wolf has tried to blow down. We made 'WANTED' posters for the wolf and helped him write a letter to say sorry to the three little pigs. Year one have been sequencing the story of 'Little red Riding Hood'. They have also planned and written an alternative version of their own.
The number of the week has been '15'. Year one have been working on number bonds to 20.
In phonics, Reception have been learning the sound 'e' and YR1 'ay'.
Next week Reception will be finding out about Princes, Princesses and Palace Parties and YR1 will be doing 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.
​​​Happy New Year
11.1.19 – This week has been as busy as ever. In literacy, reception have been learning about Rapunzel. Some of the activities they have done include retelling and sequencing the story, role play in ‘The Salon’, sending letters to Rapunzel in the tower, hot seating characters and building castles from 3D shapes. Yr1 have been working on ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. They hot seated a very special visitor. The BIG BAD wolf!
The number of the week has been 14.
In numeracy, Yr1 have been working on number bonds to 10 in readiness for number bonds to 20 next week.
Receptions sound of the week has been ‘c’ and Yr1’s have been revising previous sounds before moving onto the next phase.
The Sparrow team would like to wish you all a lovely weekend. 
21.12.18 -  It has been a great end to 2018 . The children have enjoyed lots of Christmas activities.  We have made Christingles, been to a Christmas party, met Santa, watched movies, had popcorn and much more. We have ended the year with a beautiful Christingle service in church. I am sure you will agree with us  the children have made us so proud, their nativity was fantastic.
​ Mrs. Dawes and Mrs. Venskus would like to take this opportunity to  say a special  ‘THANK YOU’ to all volunteers who give up their time to come into school and help us and a huge ‘THANK YOU’ to Mrs. Ward for taking good care of Sparkle  she is very spoilt and wont want to come back to Denby I’m sure.
 
All the staff in Sparrows would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a great new year.

​14.12.18
We have had a very busy, sparkly week. We have made Christmas decorations, baked gingerbread star biscuits and much more. Nativity rehearsals are ongoing daily and our first dress rehearsal went well.
The number of the week has been 13. The children have been doing simple additions with a Christmas theme and Christmassy colour by numbers.
In RE the theme has been 'thankfulness'.
We look forward to seeing you at the nativity next week, be prepared to be blown away.
Have a great weekend from all the Sparrow team.
We are currently trying to raise some money for  equipment for Doves and Sparrows. Mrs. Dawes has kindly offered to crochet some 'tabwarmers'. Initially we started with red as it is the uniform colour but other colours have been requested. They come with the option of a button for decoration. Very competitively priced at £3.00. Please see Mrs. Dawes if you wish to order one. THANK YOU for your continued support. 
7.11.18-​Another busy week has flown by! In phonics the reception have been working on the ‘oa’ sound and YR1 have been recapping all sounds learned to date.
In numeracy and literacy reception listened to ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’ posting and delivering letters in order and finding missing numbers. YR1 have been revisiting Place Value and using their peg dolls to write a story.
We have also made Christmassy decorations and started to open our huge advent calendar.
Amongst all this we have practised our nativity.
A reminder that reading club is now finished till after Christmas
Have a wonderful weekend from all the Sparrow team.
30.11.18- We have had an exciting week Christmas has arrived in the Sparrow class! We have enjoyed exploring Santa's Workshop, the Christmas role play and we have decorated our tree.
The Reception children have been learning the sounds 'j' and 'ai' and YR 1's have been working on two syllable words.  Reception have been re-telling and acting out the story of 'The Christmas Collar' and YR 1 have been working on instructions, they have followed instructions to make a peg doll.  The dolls will be used next week to write our own stories.  Our number of the week has been 11 and Year one have been consolidating their learning on Place Value. 
Thank you for your contributions to the Christmas Fayre your support is much appreciated.
​Have a lovely weekend.
23.11.18- This week has flown by it must be because we have been so busy. The Reception children have been learning the sounds 'f' and 'l' and YR 1's 'ure' and 'er'. In literacy Reception children have listened to 'Dogger' and made a LOST poster to try and find him! The Year 1's literacy has been based on Brugals painting of children playing games. 
The number of the week has been 10. The reception children have been finding pairs of numbers  that make 10  and YR 1's have been working on Place Value of numbers 11-20.
Many thanks for the plastic bottles the reception loved making the 'Cup and Ball'. YR 1 will be making theirs next week. 

Have a fantastic weekend.
16.11.18 - Wow yet another very busy working week.  Reception have been learning the 'l' and 'u' sound and Year 1's 'ear' and 'air'. Our number of the week  has been 9 and Year 1's have continued their learning on 3D shapes. We have also enjoyed shopping in our own toy shop.
Respect has been part of Anti- Bullying week we learned a little poem about respect and sang it to the whole school in Collective Worship. 
Year 1's got to play with some very old toys and Reception sorted toys into different categories. On Friday we all came to school in something spotty for Children In Need.
Please could the children bring an empty bottle into school next week so we can make a toy? 
​Thank you for your continued support.
9.11.18 - We have had a very busy first week back in school.  Reception have been learning all about the number 8 and Year 1's about 3D shapes. Reception have been learning the sounds 'g' and 'o' and Year 1's 'ow' and 'oi'. They have also made some super rockets. On Wednesday we were lucky enough to have Archie and he helped the children paint some fab firework pictures. You will notice some beautiful poppies in the churchyard the children loved making them.  Our  Dough Disco and Cosmic Yoga was a lot of fun.  We have also practised our number formation in glitter. This gave us a very pretty, shimmery carpet! 
A reminder it is Anti- Bullying week next week based on respect and good manners. Could the children please wear odd socks on Monday 12th November. 
Our 'Toy' topic will continue next week. 
​Thank you for your continued support.
26.10.18 - We have reached the end of a really busy half term. The children have been busy making stick superheroes, their own laminated superheroes which they have used to perform puppet shows with, writing about their superhero powers, and dressing as superheroes.
We have all been learning about the number 7. Reception have been learning the 'd' and 'm' sounds and Year 1's the 'ow' sound. We have been counting really high using the Numicon and Ruby Rabbit has been stealing numbers again and getting the children to complete her number line. The Year 1's have been adding using their fingers, heads, counters, Numicon and number lines. They have also been designing, making and eating salad faces.
It was lovely to see you all at the parent's meetings, thank you.
We wish you all a relaxing break and look forward to seeing you all safe on Monday 5th November 2018.
19.10.18 - We have been having great fun with the story of Superworm this week. The children have been measuring with worms, making Cheerio worm bird feeders, play dough worms and faces and talking and writing about what Superworm would have said, thought and felt at different parts of the story.
We have been learning about the number 6 and having lots of practise with our number and letter formation. Reception have been learning the 'i' and 'n' sounds and Year 1's the 'or' and 'ur' sounds.
Everyone enjoyed 'Going on a Bear Hunt' for our cosmic yoga session this week particularly going through the river!
Next week we will complete the 'All About Me' theme with more superhero activities and on Friday we would love all the children to come dressed as a superhero and we can have some fun. Also a reminder of school photographs on Wednesday and walk to school on Thursday.
​Many thanks for your continued support.
12.10.18 - A wonderful Superhero filled week has been had by all in Sparrow Class this week. We have had lots of fun and games with Supertato and the Evil Pea. On Tuesday the Evil Pea took Sparkle the rabbit and our vegetables and so we made wanted posters and set traps. We have had peas (aqua beads) in the water, we have been tying up the Evil Peas, unlocking the trapped vegetables, dressing as Superheroes and much much more!
The number of the week has been 5 and Year 1's have been learning about number pairs that make 10. Reception have learnt the 't' and 'p' sounds and Year 1's the 'oo' and 'ar' sounds.
Next week we will continue with the Superhero theme and basing lots of our learning around the story of Superworm.
Apologies, I have tried at length to upload the Harvest Festival performance but without success if you would like to see this I will be showing it at Reading Club or you can pop in after school.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
05.10.18 - We have had a harvest packed week learning all about the Little Red Hen. We have made and eaten bread, had fun acting out the story in song version adding our own characters. We visited Cracker the Dragon during our Cosmic Yoga session and we have been rolling down the hall. We enjoyed a wonderful autumn walk  where we compared leaf and stick sizes and colours and collected conkers but best of all we played on the park afterwards.
We have been learning all about the number 4. Reception have learnt the 's' and 'a' sounds and the Year 1's have learnt the 'igh' and 'oa' sounds.
Next week we will be basing our learning on Superheroes and in particular Supertato.
​Many thanks for your continued support.
28.09.18 - Sparrow Class have had another wonderful week filled with fun and learning. We have been listening to and watching Funnybone stories, making skeleton pictures, putting together Mr Funnybones, having great fun in our hospital, counting skeletons in the sand and much, much more.
We have been learning about the number 3 and made a list of all the rhymes, songs and stories with the number 3 in. Year 1 have learnt the 'ai' and 'ee' sounds, they have been using symbols to compare numbers, finding 1 more and 1 less than a given number to 20 and writing their own stories.
A lot of the children have been using the collective worship theme of 'generosity' to give lots of their learning time to helping tidy up our playground, they did a wonderful job clearing away all the leaves, thank you.
Unfortunately the Harvest Festival will take place now without parents because the church is out of use. I will endeavour to film our short performance and try to post this on the website so that you can see what we did. We would still love you to join us for Harvest Breakfast next Friday morning (5th October). 
Next week we will be basing our learning on the harvest and in particular 'The Little Red Hen'.
Many thanks to all the parents who were able to attend the Reception reading meeting, the powerpoint for this is now on the Sparrow page.
Enjoy the weekend.
21.09.18 - We have had a wonderful week in Sparrow Class. The children have enjoyed the new water wall, picking sunflower seeds for Sparkle, the marble challenge, visiting the church for the first time and completing the Mr Men challenge.
We have been learning all about the number 2 and the Year 1's have been identifying missing numbers. We have been listening to and sequencing the story of 'Pete the cat and his magic sunglasses' and the Year 1's have been writing about this.
Reception have been having fun with rhyming words and Year 1 have been learning the 'ch' 'sh' and 'th' sounds.
Show and Tell will start next week with Reds and Blues on a Thursday and Greens and Yellows on a Friday.  Next week we will be basing our learning on the Funnybones characters and books.
Thanks to all the parents who attended the Reception meeting on Monday and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Thursday (27th) for the Reading meeting.
​Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend and hopefully I will see a few of you at the Denby Dash on Sunday.
14.09.18 - The children all seem to be settling into Sparrow Class and School routines brilliantly. This week we have been watching and reading lots of the Mr Men and Little Miss books and completing challenges based on the books and designing our very own character. We have been learning all about the number 1 and feeding teddy the correct number of cakes. Reception children have played listening games and the Year 1's have been recapping sounds in phonics. Year 1's have also been drawing self portraits and then writing sentences about them and in numeracy they have been looking at teen numbers and identifying the tens and ones in them.
The children are excited to have Sparkle the rabbit back and have been watching her. We have been crawling in physical literacy and catching balloons in our Peace Out mindfulness session. Some of the children have been ensuring our road is safe by acting as the police.
I look forward to seeing as many of the Reception parents as possible on Monday (17th) at the EYFS meeting.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
07.09.18 - We have had an absolutely wonderful first week in Sparrow Class. We have 21 new children (20 Reception and 1 new Year 1) and our wonderful 8 existing Year 1's (29 in total) and everyone has settled in just brilliantly. The existing Year 1 children have really helped the new children find their feet and understand the rules and routines.
We have been learning inside and out, in the playdough, the sand, water, building site, on the stage, with the train set, new scooters and lots, lots more. The children have been making poppies for the Flower Festival display in church which will take place over the weekend which you are all very welcome to go and enjoy.  They have listened to the story of 'The Tiger who came to Tea' and they have been retelling this by making a story path and using stick puppets. In numeracy the Year 1 children have been matching numerals to amounts and identifying the larger and smaller numbers.
Next week we have the Year 1 meeting on Thursday 13th September at 3.30pm and the week after on Monday 17th at 3.30pm the meeting for Reception parents. There will also be a reading and phonics meeting for Reception parents on Thursday 27th September at 3.30pm, I hope you can make these, if not please let me know and I can try to arrange the information or another time for you.
I hope you enjoy looking through the photographs that are put on the website weekly it should give you a little more idea of what we have been learning and how much fun we have.
For the next couple of weeks we will be basing our learning on the Mr Men and Little Miss Books.
The Sparrow of the Day badge will start to be given out for things like kindness, great behaviour, improving work etc from next week, if your child receives the badge please take the opportunity to celebrate with them and then please return the badge the next day ready for the next recipient. 
We hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sparrow Class 2018/2019

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! And that isn't nearly enough thank you's. Many thanks for the lovely gifts at the end of the year it was very kind and thoughtful of you all. Sparrow Class has been wonderful to teach this year and watch all the children grow in confidence and ability, I am so very proud of each and everyone of them.
Also many thanks to Mrs Dawes for making the fantastic cute crochet keyrings and to everyone who bought one, they have helped us raise over £150 to go towards new scooters and helmets.
A final thank you to the Ward family who are very kindly looking after Sparkle over the summer holidays, I hope she behaves herself!

Wow, Wow, Wow!!! Can you believe it’s the end of the school year? How time flies when you’re having fun. We've had a wonderful final week which has included the open afternoon, a trip to Denby Beach, Move-up afternoon and a visit from the ice-cream van. The children have been and are AMAZING and we will miss them lots over the holidays.
Many, many thanks for your fantastic support without it the year wouldn’t have been the success it has been.
Wishing you all a wonderful break and looking forward to seeing you all safe and well on Tuesday 4th September.
 
13.07.18 - The unexpected flood on Monday allowed us to make the most of the continued good weather and base our classroom on the field for the week. The children have enjoyed lots of learning activities and have been finding out about Grace Darling and her amazing feat. We also got to enjoy a Collective Worship outside on the field with the rest of the school.
The children enjoyed making pizzas for our 'seaside' themed picnic and loved eating them along with the clam biscuits and other treats.
I hope to see as many of you as possible at the Open Afternoon on Monday at 3.20pm. You will be able to look at your child's work and if you bring a memory stick we can save their learning journals for the year to it.
Tuesday is our annual trip to Denby Beach please let us know if you can help and please ensure your child has a cap and sun cream on. They will also be allowed to bring one piece of play equipment with them such as a bucket or a spade.
I hope to see some of you tomorrow at the Summer Fayre.
Many thanks for your continued support.
06.07.18 - It's been another fantastic week in Sparrow Class packed with lots of learning opportunities. The children have enjoyed using the electric wires, bulbs, batteries and switches to make circuits and then use their working light on their lighthouses. We have been beside the sea outside with our very own ice cream van and small beach. The children have enjoyed making boats with the resources and then sailing to lands faraway.
We have watched and listed to 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch' and other stories and then used bossy verbs to write instructions to make our own sandwiches. We then enjoyed making these sandwiches and our favourite part was eating them at our small picnic on Friday afternoon.
We have been visited once again by next year's Reception children and Sparrow Class were very welcoming as always. 
Thank you to everyone who was able to come along to Sports Day we hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as us. I was really proud of all of Sparrow Class for their wonderful attitude and enthusiasm. There are photos of the event on the 'Celebrate' page.
Next week we will continue with the seaside theme.
If there is anyone out there who would like to look after Sparkle over the summer holidays please let me know.
Enjoy the weekend and Come On England!!!
28.06.18 - We have made the most of the beautiful weather and continued our learning outside on the field this week. We have been listening to, watching and writing to Katie Morag. We have been learning about number bonds to 10 and playing lots of games to support this. We have also been consolidating our knowledge on telling the time to the hour and even half past the hour. The children have been practising letter names alongside their sounds with a little help from Usher and Sesame Street.
A favourite with the children has been the opportunity they have had to put on some wonderful performances and share them with the class. We clearly have many potential BAFTA and Oscar winners in Sparrow Class.
​Enjoy the extended weekend and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at next Friday's Sports Day. 
Please can you help us raise some funds for cycle helmets and some replacement scooters? Mrs Dawes has been very busy making these cute character keyrings - if you would like to purchase one please ask us in the morning or at the end of the day - they are wonderful and competitively priced at £2. Many thanks.
22.06.18 - Sparrow Class have really enjoyed Science Week and learning all about the environment, ways we can protect the Earth and about mini-beasts.
The children have loved the week on the field and the weather has been perfect. They have enjoyed exploring with the new equipment including magnifying glasses, metal detectors, microscopes, torches and litter pickers. They have made their own pledges to protect the planet, made life cycles of caterpillars, made dens, drawn diagrams, picked up lots of litter, hunted for mini-beasts and lots, lots more.
We all enjoyed the visit from the Medical Mavericks and experimenting with all their equipment. We have made a class scrapbook to record our wonderful week, please pop in and have a look.
Next week we will be basing some of our learning on Katie Morag. We also have lunchtime visits from next year's Reception children. 
15.06.18 - Another week has flown by. We have been using the book 'The Train Ride' to base our learning on and the children have been writing about what they could see from the carriage. We have been finding halves of numbers and the Year 1's have been doing lots of place value work. Reception have learnt the 'ar' sound and Year 1's did brilliantly with the phonics screening check. Lots of the children have been celebrating learning to go down the pole independently and all the children have been fabulous with the new starters for September. 
Next week is 'Science week' and Sparrow Class will be learning all about environmental science including minibeasts and recycling.
08.06.18 - We have had an amazing Active Day! The children have really enjoyed the Superhero Circuits, the parachute, the dancing and especially the inflatable obstacle course. Thanks to the parents who came in and took part. Next week  we will continue with the Train Ride and our seaside theme and we will also welcome some of the next year's reception children.
We had a wonderful time at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, hopefully you should see some of the animals we saw on the photographs. We got to go on a Wallaby Walkabout, walk through the Lemur Woods, see polar bears, lions, tigers, meerkats, giraffes, camels, zebras and many more amazing animals. We had lots of fun in the Jungle Lookout and enjoyed our much anticipated lunch.
Thank you to 'The Friends of Denby' for contributing £10 for each child to support the visit and of course to the many parents who came along to help and made the trip possible.
11.05.18 - It's been a short week but a very busy one. We had Animal Magic in on Tuesday and went on a wonderful walk to the Bluebell Woods on Thursday with thanks to the parent helpers for making it possible. The children used their sense of smell, hearing and sight in the woods and later we sang and joined in the ring game; 'In and Out of the Dusty Bluebells'. 
The busy week has meant we have only managed one read with your child but they have been doing other reading challenges in class. Year 1’s have been recapping all the sounds and Reception have learnt the ‘oo’ sound.
Thank you to all the children who have brought in 2 and 3d shapes for us to look at. Thank you also to Hanna's Dad for bringing in Laslo and to Jessica's Mum who has very kindly made us a new and wonderful Sparrow of the Day badge.
It will be the final Balanceability sessions on Tuesday afternoon for the Reception children if you would like to join us to celebrate their successes.
Many thanks for your continued support.
I hope you enjoy our performance of Prehistoric Animal Brigade.
09.02.18 - We have had a wonderful week stomping around in the Prehistoric Animal Brigade! The children have been having fun inside and outside with the dinosaurs.  They have been painting and writing about their very own dinosaur - look out for these very soon!
We have been learning all about the number 18.  Reception have been learning the 'j' and 'v' sounds and the Year 1's have been learning the 'ea' and 'oy' sounds. All the children have been working hard on their writing; Year 1's have been writing dinosaur adventure stories and Reception have been concentrating on sounding out and spelling cvc words. More dinosaurs and of course Book Week next week.
​Enjoy the weekend.
02.02.18 - A very busy week in Sparrow Class with the waiting time in our hospital going way beyond NHS targets. We have been having great fun in the water beads and watching them grow, we have been measuring around our bodies with blocks, making dark, dark houses with different shapes and fixing Mr Funnybones and his dog. We have been learning all about the number 17 and Reception have been learning about the double 'll', 'ff' and 'ss' sounds and Year 1's the 'ie' sound.
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Happy New Year! We are all looking forward to a busy and exciting 2018 with lots of fun learning.
Everyone looked fantastic in their crowns to celebrate Epiphany - thank you for all the effort that went into making them.
The Reception children have been learning the 'ck' sound.
​Next week we will begin learning about Christopher Columbus and Pirates.
21.12.17 - We have reached the end of the autumn term! We hope you enjoyed the Nativity as much as we did performing it for you. We also hope you got to see the wonderful Christingle service.  The children had great fun watching the film, eating their Christmas lunch and then dancing and playing games at the Christmas party. 
We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 4th January wearing your Epiphany crowns.
Enjoy the Christmas break and we will see you safe and sound in 2018.
Thank you for your support.
​Mrs Foulke, Mrs Dawes, Mrs Clay and Mrs Mellor.
15.12.17 - A wonderful wintery week of fun in Sparrow Class.  The children have been making snow and ice sculptures and having a fab time trying their best to clear the snow from the playground. We have been making lots of Christmas crafts and getting ready for the nativity which we can't wait for you to see on Monday. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Christingle service next Thursday morning. If you would like any extra reading books for over the Christmas break please let us know and we will arrange that.
08.12.17 - As you can imagine it's been another very hectic week in Sparrow class.  The Year 1's have been making gingerbread houses and sharing them with the rest of the class. We have been counting baubles, decorating the classroom, counting out pom poms for the counting trees, counting the reindeers and snowmen etc on the wrapping paper, writing clues for riddles, writing Santa lists and doing lots more work on the nativity performance.
Reception have learnt the 'c' and 'k' sounds and Year 1's the 'oi' sound.We have all been learning about the number 12.
​Enjoy the weekend and any snow that falls.
1.12.17 - Another week has flown by and we have made gingerbread dough, ordered gingerbread men, made split pin gingerbread men and matched buttons to the numerals. The children had great fun using their hand and foot prints to make the nativity display. Year 1's have learnt the 'ow' sound and Reception the 'g' and 'o' sounds. We have all been learning about the number 11 and everyone loved their last Forest School session with Mr Chuck. We have rehoused Sparkle in a penthouse hutch thanks to Mr Stevenson. If anyone would like to have Sparkle over the Christmas holidays please pop in for a chat.  We have also revamped the construction area thanks to Mr Lenton, Mr Stevenson and Mr Chamberlain and the children are loving it.
​We have been preparing for Christmas by making our Advent Tree and with lots of nativity practise.
**Reminder - we are collecting tins and packets of food (please see Reverse Advent calendar letter) for Hope for Belper food bank as part of our Reverse Advent.  Please send in donations as often as you can in the lead up to Christmas so that we can help those in need and help Sparrow class have a chance of winning the competition.
10.11.17 - Another week has whizzed by and it has been filled with lots of fun learning.  The week started with Mr Chuck taking the Sparrows for Forest School, the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves but were very tired afterwards.  We have been learning about the Three Billy Goats Gruff and the Three Little Pigs, we even had a visit from Mr Wolf so that we could ask him any questions we had.  The children have painted poppies on stones ready to be placed on the War Memorial in the churchyard for Remembrance Sunday. In PE the children have been controlling different sized balls; throwing, catching and rolling. We have been learning about the number 8.  Reception have been learning the 't' and 'p' sounds and Year 1's have been working on sound buttons and using the sounds they know to write sentences.  Next week we will do lots more learning based on the Three Little Pigs and it is also 'Sharing the Love week' where friendship and kindness will be celebrated throughout the school.
03.11.17 - A great but very busy week back with all the activities preparing for the Tournament.  The children have been completing lots of activities based on Jack and the Beanstalk and making cakes, games and posters for the Tournament.  We have been learning about the number 7 and the Reception children have been learning the 's' and 'a' sounds.  Have a fun and safe Bonfire Night!
20.10.17 - The children have had a wonderful last week of the half term with the castle visit the highlight.  We had a wonderful time at Bolsover Castle exploring the old and new parts and of course the fantastic park!  The children found out lots more facts about castles, they enjoyed exploring the ruins and the secret rooms, they got hands on with some of the exhibits and enjoyed the views that surrounded us.  Three particular favourites were the packed lunch (they would have gladly tucked into this at 10am!), the castle play park was a huge hit, but most fun was had around the fountain and if you're not sure why make sure you ask your child!
The children were a credit to the school.  Thank you to the adults who made this visit possible and a day full of fantastic memories!
It was great to see you all at Parent's Evening. Wishing you all a wonderful break.  See you on Tuesday 31st October.

13.10.17 - We've had lots of autumn fun in Sparrow Class this week.  The children have been on an autumn walk and collected leaves, apples and conkers. We had a fantastic time on the park afterwards. The children have been making leaf rubbings, prints and sun catchers and racing conkers down a drainpipe track. The Year 1's have been making catapults, designing and writing about their dragons, finding different ways to make numbers under 10 and learning the 'oa' and 'oo' sounds.  Reception have been practising their listening skills and completing lots of rhyming games.  The number of the week has been 5.  We have all been learning about the importance of forgiveness in RE and looking how we can do this in school.
​We are all very excited about our trip to Bolsover Castle next week.
6.10.17 - Wow another week has whizzed by with lots of learning happening everywhere you look.  The children have been making swords and wands, they have been writing to Rapunzel whose tower suddenly appeared in our playground on Monday and they have been navigating and balancing their way along the obstacle course.  In physical literacy the children have been crawling and slithering along the floor and under the benches.  In phonics the Year 1's have been learning the 'ea' sound and Reception have been practising their listening skills with lots of sound games. We have all been looking at more and less, with the Year 1's learning the symbols for this and having fun with the crocodile eating the bigger number.  Our number of the week has been 4. Next week we will base our learning on autumn and hope to have a short walk across to the park next week to investigate the changes of season (and have some fun).  Have a lovely autumnal weekend.
29.09.17 - Another wonderful week in Sparrow Class. The children have all been practising for the Harvest Festival, we hope you enjoyed it? Year 1’s have been painting a harvest rainbow, searching for a knight and comparing numbers.  Reception have been acting out the story of The Enormous Turnip, making bread and even shaking a pot of cream until it turned into butter.  Everyone enjoyed sharing the turnip soup, bread and butter.
All of the children enjoyed the visit from Mr and Mrs Bowler who told us all about being a knight.  They let us try on some of the armour, hold swords and helped us understand what life would have been like for a knight in medieval times.
Thank you to all that attended the Reception reading meeting yesterday, I have put the presentation on the Sparrow homepage.
Wishing you all a fantastic weekend.
 
18.07.17 - We have had a wonderful day today!  The children really enjoyed the whole experience from the coach journey to the fantastic train ride with a very special driver - Mr Chuck's Dad!  Then in Wirksworth we got to work with Nicky and make a wonderful collage of a train using our rubbish from lunch.
14.7.17 - Sparrow Class have had a great week on the field (when it wasn't raining).  The children have enjoyed exploring their environment, finding and drawing minibeasts, reading in the hammock, writing and receiving letters from Sparklebell Moondust Fairy and playing football. We have also eaten the potatoes we grew with Mrs Bell and enjoyed the Year 1 plays.
07.07.17 - The Sparrows have had a very hoppy week learning all about frogs.  The children have made paper plate frogs, bounced on space hoppers, enjoyed rhyming based on the 'Oi Frog' book and we released our beautiful butterflies onto the field.
30.06.17 - Another wonderful week in Sparrow class. The children have enjoyed writing their own version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar story and also done a fantastic job of looking after the new children over lunchtime.  They had a treat this week when they got a cricket training session from Jake.  All the children really enjoyed themselves and Jamie got a special mention as a potential cricket star of the future.
16.6.17 The Sparrows have had a really busy week in school. We have been doing lots of things such as Father's Day cards, ladybird doubling and practising for Sports Day. Please look on the News Section of the website for our sporting pictures. The class really enjoyed racing each other and winning points for their teams. They also had fun during the week practising. I'm sure you'll all agree we could have some future Olympians and World Champions in our ranks! Special mention to our biking superstar Lola who competed for 'Team Denby Free' and out-cycled a team of year 2's from another school.
09.06.17 - The children have had a great week back in school. They have been running a shop, making the most of the sun popping out, hunting for snails and worms and painting their own minibeasts.
25.05.17 - Sparrows have had a wonderful last week of term outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  We have been flying rockets, learning the story of the Lost Sheep, watching the mummy and daddy blue tits feeding their chicks, performing on stage, painting on a grand scale, making chameleon costumes and having great fun washing the stones.  We hope you enjoy the break.
19.05.17 - Where do we begin?  The week has been packed full of learning! We have had great fun getting to grips with the new wheelies we have received thanks to Mrs Simms and Councillor Kevin Buttery.  We have had a small disco, been writing in boxes, had story time from Miss Adams, made butterflies and shape aliens and played squash subtraction.  You may notice some very interesting photographs, this is thanks to the photography skills of Lola and Isabella who have taken control of the camera.   
12.05.17 - Another fun filled week of learning in Sparrow class. Making and flying into space in our rocket, space writing under the tables, making dens on the moon and lots of children riding a pedal bike with two wheels!
5/5/17 Some pictures of our week in Sparrows.
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28th April 2017 - We have had a great week back following the Easter break. The children have enjoyed constructing and experimenting with the marble run, travelling in our hot air balloon, filling containers with rice and getting sticky using paper mache to make their own hot air balloons.

Our sound this week is 'th' This is a funny phoneme as it makes two sounds. Please watch the video below which shows the two sounds it makes.

17.03.17 - Shiver me timbers, "Why are pirates called pirates? Because they Arrrrrrrrrr!"
The children have had a wonderful week learning about boats, submarines and in particular pirates and pirate ships.  We have made gullies for boats that have been used as truck washes, we have learnt a fantastic pirate song which we have enjoyed singing and dancing to and we have had great fun walking the plank on our climbing frame pirate ship.
10.03.17 - Goodness we have been having so much fun on our bikes, scooters and even roller skates this week without too many bumps and bruises! The girls have had great fun role playing 'Families' and changing their hair colour.  In RE we talked about Spring and the baby animals we start seeing at this time of the year.  To show how amazing the world is with the changes that happen we really enjoyed making a 3D version of the life cycle of a butterfly.
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3.3.17 Sparrow Class have had another fantastic week filled with lots of different learning activities.  We have made hobby horses and trained them to jump the obstacles on the playground and we have taken Rosie and the other animals for a walk around the farmyard. We enjoyed pancake making so much that the children have been experimenting with their own batter mixtures outside and then they were found having a go at flipping their pancakes.
27.01.17 - Sparrow Class have had another wonderfully busy week.  The children have been making the most of the new dress up clothes thanks to Daisy's Mum, they have enjoyed PE, singing with Mrs Watson, secret 9 writing on the playground, celebrating Chinese New Year by making Roosters and lots, lots more as you can see from the photographs.
20.01.17 - We had a fantastic time at Derby Museum looking at all the exhibits especially the Children's Television section and the best time ever at The Quad exploring the light show.  The children loved moving around, pressing the symbols and watching what appeared in front of their eyes and we all enjoyed lying in the middle very quietly and watching the walls come to life with the lights, sounds and creatures.  The staff at the museum told us that they thought the children were great and even members of the public commented on what happy children we had as we walked across town. Many thanks to all the parents who came along and made the visit possible.
We have done lots of other learning this week including making and flying our own kites.
13.01.17 - Just look at all our learning this week!  We have had fun outside in the rain finding out what happens when the powder paint mixes in the puddles.  We have had a wonderful time making and shaking rain sticks, we investigated what happens when we use droppers and coloured water on kitchen paper and we have enjoyed playing with a new toy which was kindly given to us by Isabella and her Mum.  I haven't even mentioned the fun we have had with ducks, spiders and drainpipes! 
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We're very pleased to have the wonderful Mrs Foulke back in Reception this term.
Here she is teaching The Sparrows RE on a Wednesday afternoon.
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The Sparrows have had a lovely first week back in school.  The children have enjoyed seeing their friends again and telling them about the holidays. We have begun our Weather Topic and we have been doing some rainbow name writing, we have made some props for our TV weather studio and investigated the ice on the playground.  Our sound this week was 'c' and our number was '6'.
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Sparrow class received a very special visit on party day from Father Christmas.  They asked him lots of questions about his reindeer and his sleigh and they were lucky enough to receive an early present.  Thanks Santa!
Here is a photograph of James sounding out the names on his Christmas cards before he handed them out to his friends.
The Sparrows have had a fun week in school. For the first half of the week we practised our Nativity and performed for the rest of the school. On Wednesday before our Nativity we watched the Junior's carol concert in the church. The class really enjoyed the Nativity and are all proud of themselves. On Thursday and Friday we had Christmas dinner and made cards and calendars. Because of our Christmas preperationsm we have not done phonics or numbertime this week, so no new sounds are attached to the bookbags. If you would like any books for your child during the holidays please let us know in the communication book. The Sparrows have had a wonderful first term in school. So we'll spend Monday and Tuesday doing lovely Christmas activities, parties and watching films. 
The Sparrows have had a fun week starting our preparations for Christmas. Each morning has been Nativity practise, learning the dances and songs. In class we have been building playdoh snow people, counting penguins, making a Christmas tree numberline, playing with a Happyland snow scene and decorating our tree. On Monday the class had a visit from Denby's Posada. The children really enjoyed looking after the Mary and Joseph dolls. Our sound this week is 'o' and our number is 5. Next week we are continuing our Christmas topic. 
Mrs Burgess and her son Thomas visited The Sparrows today to deliver Denby's Posada. She introduced the Mary and Joseph dolls to the class and led us in a prayer. The Posada will visit a new class each day and then different houses in the village until it is recieved by the church in time for Chritmas.
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The Sparrows have had a fun week learning about Firefighters and fire safety. The class had fun roleplayimg in the fire station and colouring in Fireman Sam pictures. At register we have had a fire safety challenge to complete when the class have identified a hazard in the classroom. We then talked about staying safe near these hazards and telling an adult. The class have also enjoyed building obstacle courses and water runs outside. In the art area we have been making angels for our JOY display as well as practising for the nativity. Next week we are learning about Christmas and Winter. Our sound this week was 'g' and our number was 4.
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Jessica's Mum visited the Sparrows this week to tell us all about being a nurse. The class were fascinated by all the medical equipment she brought to show us, particularly the eye torch. We all got the chance to listen to our tummy with the stethoscope and ask lots of questions about being a nurse.
Many of you will have seen The Sparrow's newest helper on the playground in the morning, so we thought we'd better introduce her so you can say hello. Miss Lane is a first year BED student at The University of Derby. She's training to become a teacher and is doing her first placement in our school. As always the Sparrow's have been very welcoming and have given Miss Lane lots of advice about what we do in school! Miss Lane will be with us each Thursday until Christmas and then for a whole five weeks in February and March.
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The Sparrows had a visit this week from Jacob's Mum who told us all about being a vet. She showed us how to bandage up poorly cats and dogs and helped the class listen to their heartbeat with her stethoscope. The class were very interested to hear all about the animals she has treated and asked lots of excellent questions. Mrs Hardy inspired the class so much that lots of the Sparrows said they want to be vets in the future.
The Sparrows have enjoyed learning about Dr's, Nurses and Vets this week. We have been caring for poorly babies in our class hospital,making x ray pictures of our hands and playing the game operation. As part of 'Celebrating Differences' week we have been solving daily conundrums, performed a friendship song to the school and made our own unique Elmer pictures. Our sounds this week are i and n and our number of the week is 2. 
The Sparrows have had a fun week being police officers. The class have enjoyed playing in the police station, making police badges and shape police cars. In  RE we have been writing thank you cards to our friends as part of our topic on giving and receiving. On Friday the whole school went to the church cenotaph for a Remembrance Day assembly. The children made and wore poppies as a sign of respect. 
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This week we have been enjoying The Bear Hunt story. We have made bear finger puppets, baked bear biscuits and made binoculars to help us find and rescue a bear. We all enjoyed going on a bear hunt and also firing rockets we made the week before. (Can you spot the rocket in the photo?) The Sparrows have had a wonderful half term. We are pleased with how they have settled. After half term our topic is 'people who help us' starting with teachers for the first week. The class have all done wonderfully with their reading this half term. Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful half term break.
The Sparrows have had another fun week learning about the story Whatever Next. This week the class have made rockets, bubble wrap moon pictures, played in our space tent and picked moon rocks out of alien jelly. Our physical literacy exercise this week was kneeling whilst keeping our bodies tall. Next week we are learning about The Bear Hunt and preparing for our Teddy Bear's Picnic. 
This week Sparrows have enjoyed their first week of Whatever Next. We had fun blasting into space with our colander helmets and box rockets. Thank you for all the boxes and colanders you sent in. In physical literacy we have been practising our crawling whilst lifting our legs and arms to improve core strength. In phonics we have been learning about rhyming words. Next week we are continuing our Whatever Next theme. Our first reading club was a real success. The children all really enjoyed it.
The Sparrows have had lots of fun learning about Goldilocks and The three Bears these last two weeks. This week we have been bear threading, building obstacle courses, making Numicon patterns and playing with the dolls house. For Harvest Festival we painted fruit pictures from the story ‘Handa’s Surprise’, tasted fruit juice and wowed the school with our rendition of ‘Stir up the Porridge’. We also painted cupcakes which we used to make a card for Mrs. Briggs who sadly left on Friday.  
Sparrow Class had lots of fun this week learning about Goldilocks and The Three Bears. We have had fun playing in our Goldilocks house and with the happyland toys. The class have also been investigating caterpillars and painting teddy bears. Each morning we do physical literacy exercises to help us improve our core strength, this week we have been crawling. We have also started phonics and reading books this week. All the class have read brilliantly. Thank you for reading at home with them. They are all very enthusiastic. Next week we are continuing our Goldilocks topic. 
The Sparrows have had a fantastic second week in school. The class are settling really well and making friends. We have had lots of fun making things from the story 'Peace at Last' including paper aeroplanes and night-time pictures. Our dance lessons with Miss Emily started this week. The class had lots of fun skipping and dancing to the music. In RE we made handprints for a display that shows we are all individuals but part of a group. 
Sparrow Class have had a wonderful first week in school. The class have had lots of fun making new friends. Today the children met their partner who looks after them in church each Friday. Our activities this week have included playing 'Farmer, Farmer' on the field and singing songs about bears. In RE we painted a picture of our mum's and dad's and talked about why they are special. 
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Wow Alana! We have just found out that Sparrow class has their very own harpist.  Alana played 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Lavender's Blue and Hot Cross Buns beautifully. Well done Alana you are AMAZING!
Wow, another busy week in Sparrow class.  We have been playing (and falling in) the paddling pool, learning lots about floating and sinking, we found out that watermelons float, we have been building boats, selling ice-creams in our ice-cream shop and spent Tuesday afternoon finding out about life in Swift class. We would like to thanks The Friends of Denby Free for our yummy ice-creams (real ones this time!) on Thursday afternoon.  Our sounds this week were 'ure' and 'er'.  
It is less of 'what have Sparrows been doing this week?' and more of 'what haven't we done?'  I think all the children will need a rest over the weekend after our very busy week.  On Tuesday we enjoyed our visit to a mosque in Derby.  Wednesday saw the Animal People visit us and what a great way to spend the money we raised earlier in the year on this wonderful experience. You can see from the slideshow below we had two very cute baby meerkats, Shimmer the snake, Fudge the skunk, a lovely owl, a chameleon and not forgetting the tarantula that the very brave Mr. Chuck dared to hold.  Thursday saw us travel to Wirksworth on the train and make a fabulous collage using our rubbish from lunchtime.  The children really enjoyed the bus and train rides and meeting Mr. Chuck's Dad who really looked after us, we hope they have told you all about it?  There are some photographs above of our trip.
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The Sparrows have had a fun week learning all about Turtles and Tortoises. We have made Hero Turtle Apples, sculpted like Donatello, drawn portraits like Raphael, decorated the climbing frame like Michelangelo and designed helicopters like Leonardo.  The children really enjoyed Sports Day especially the obstacle and relay races.  Our sound this week was 'ear'. 
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The Sparrows have had a lovely week learning all about elephants. We have painted Elmer pictures and written kind things about our friends.  The children had a wonderful time watching 'My Pet Monster and Me', they especially loved watching Daisy the cow (also known as: Mr. Chuck) being milked. Our sound this week was 'oi'.
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Sparrows have had an amazing week learning about big cats.  The children have made lion puppets and paintings, they have written shopping lists inspired by the story 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea' and enjoyed feeding him in the role play area.  The class have shown how mature they are this week by looking after the new starters and have been really caring and kind, thank you!  We got a treat on Thursday, we had a cricket lesson with Jake and all the children thoroughly enjoyed it, I think we may have some potential England players in the class.  Our sounds this week have been 'ur' and 'ow'.
Sparrow class have had a busy week learning all about monkeys, gorillas and even orangutans.  The children have sold tickets to enter the monkey tree house and sent banana messages to one another down the chute.  The balance bikes and some pedal bikes have been out all week and it has been wonderful to see how the children have progressed.  We have completed some monkey maths challenges where we had to add or take away bananas and we also named and halved shapes.  We have learnt the sounds 'or' and 'ur'.
Sparrows have had a lovely first week back in school.  The weather has been lovely and hot unlike the polar region, so we have spent most of the week outside learning about penguins.  We have written letters to Percy the Penguin, measured ourselves against different types of penguins and played ice hockey.  On Friday we enjoyed celebrating the Queen's birthday by making her some cakes and having a bit of a party in the afternoon.  Our sounds this week were 'oo' and 'ar'.
Sparrows have had a brilliant week learning all about trees, we hope you enjoy the collection of photographs below.  We have spent the whole week on the field, activities have included making fairy doors and writing letters to them, we have made a leaf book after collecting and identifying them, we have been reading in the hammock, sending cars down tunnels and pipes, making kites, measuring trees and having fun in our willow dome tea shop.  Our sounds this week are 'igh' and 'oa'.  When we return our topic is 'Animals from around the World' and we will begin with 'Polar Animals'.
The Sparrows have been learning all about recycling this week.  We have been busy making things from rubbish, including robots, Wall-E, water cannons, and outside fire stations.  The class have written sentences about how they would save the planet, with ideas ranging from turning the TV off to shutting the door to keep the heat in.  We have been weaving with different materials and making hanging baskets from old bicycle wheels.  Our sounds this week are 'ai' and 'ee'.  

The Sparrows have had a great week learning about vegetables.  We have weighed them, sorted them, made potato heads from them and painted them.  We made some delicious vegetable soup where we followed instructions and used the language of weight.  The class have been busy in the water tray building ramps and experimenting with the flow of water.  Our sound this week was 'ng'.  Next week we are learning about recycling, so any cereal boxes, kitchen roll tubes, plastic bottles etc. would be a great addition and I am sure they will be turned into something fabulous!
06.05.16 Sparrow class have been very busy this week learning all about Spring.  We started the week by exploring the school field for signs of Spring, we found lots of different flowers and then drew them carefully.  In class we have been measuring plants, painting blossom pictures, making dandelion clocks and writing wishes to go with them.  The fantastic weather means we have been outside lots and we have even given the outdoors a spring clean.  We finished the week off with a lovely walk to the woods and a game of in and out of the dusty bluebellls. 
This week the Sparrows have enjoyed doing lots of activities based on one of our favourite books 'Eat your Peas'.  We have made pea pods, fluffy pencil cases and Princess and the Pea pictures. The class have done squishy peas subtraction and written about things they don't like.  We have listened to the story of Bilal and the Butterfly, talked and written about how wonderful the world is and the changes that happen and then made our own craft version of the life cycle of a butterfly.  We also had great fun racing cars and working on ordinal numbers, presenting rosettes to each position. Our sounds this week were 'sh' and 'th'.
Superworm saved the week in Sparrow class.  The children have been writing sentences about Superworm's powers, they have made wormeries and after holding the worms the children wrote some descriptive words about them.  Great fun has been had outside building and balancing on the obstacle course to save Floppy, planting potatoes and playing lots of games.  The number of the week was 20 and the sound was 'ch'.
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Sparrows have really enjoyed their first week back after the break learning about what plants need to grow.  We have been ordering sun, soil and worm numbers all the way to 20 and even further for some of the children.  We have been outside digging over the raised beds ready for planting. We have our own garden centre and have made Native American headbands complete with rain dances and I do think we may have been responsible for the downpours on Monday evening.  Our sounds this week have been z, zz and qu and our number of the week was 19. 
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We said a sad goodbye to Kitty at the end of term, we wish her well in her new school and hope she comes to see us all again soon.
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Congratulations James, you were the Sparrow class Easter Bonnet competition winner with your fantastic  hat.
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The Sparrows have had a fantastic Easter week, we decorated a cross to take across to church along with our donkeys. We have baked hot cross buns, washed one another's feet, made crowns, had egg and spoon races and enjoyed a fun Easter afternoon on Thursday with games and a little picnic.  Many thanks for your continued support we hope you enjoy the Easter break.
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Sparrow class have been out and about lots this week practising our road safety, we had a fantastic walk around Denby Village on Monday and even spent some time at the park and then on Thursday we went to George Farm and enjoyed looking at the cows, calves, horses and tractors. We have written about both trips and the things we have seen.  We made and ate yummy gingerbread houses and have been playing the organ in our role play church.  Our sounds of the week were 'w' and 'x' and our number was 18.
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The Sparrows have had a lovely week learning about farms.  We have made some wonderful farm pictures from pasta, weighed out bird seed, played in our farm shop and we even made a scarecrow for our playground.  We made hens and houses for them and overnight they laid eggs and the following day they had hatched into chicks. Our sounds of the week were 'j' and 'v' and our number was 17.  Next week we will be learning all about Denby Village.
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A fantastic week for Sparrow Class learning all about 'Our School'. We have been on a shape hunt around school finding circles, triangles, squares and rectangles. The school in the role play has been very popular with all the children pretending to be mini Mr Chuck's and Mrs Bell's. We painted pictures of all the teachers and wrote a sentence about them.  It was the last week of Balanceability which has proven to be a great success with everyone now able to glide, well done Sparrows! Our number of the week was 16 and our sounds were 'f' and 'l'. Next week we will be learning about farms.
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Congratulations to Wesley for winning the book poster competition, his fantastic poster was a golden ticket for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Also congratulations to Ollie for winning the best 's' costume for his fantastic Solar System outfit. Well done boys!
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26.2.16 Sparrow class have really enjoyed book week and have based our learning activities around our favourite books from Little Rabbit Foo Foo, The Gruffalo, The Blue Balloon and many more. On Wednesday Miss Herrett came to read to us and Mr Chuck went to read to Eagle class. The children have had a fantastic try with their sponsored spell and the book posters entered in the competition were brilliant! The week was topped off by some fantastic costumes beginning with 's', we had Superman, scarecrows, spaceships and even a skateboarder, thank you everyone! Our letter of the week was 'b' and the number of the week was '15'. Next week we are learning about 'Our School'.
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Just thought we would share a picture of Miss Hallam receiving her leaving card and gift. Good luck Miss Hallam we will miss you.
12.2.16 A great week in Sparrow Class, after using some of the Gruffalo Cafe money to purchase 4 cycle helmets the children have had the balance bikes out all week and in the last Balanceability session we had everyone gliding, a FANTASTIC achievement - Well Done Sparrows! Rob and PC Midgley came to watch the end of our session and then security marked all of our bikes to keep them safe, thank you. On Tuesday we had great fun making, flipping and especially eating pancakes. We have been learning about 'The Jolly Postman' and sending lots of letters to one another and then playing the post-person and delivering them. Our sound of the week was 'h' and the number of the week was '14'. We said a sad goodbye to Miss Hallam who has been a wonderful support to the class and we wish her well in her next placement. We hope you have a restful half term holiday.
4.2.16 The Sparrows have had a fun week learning about the Elves and the Shoemaker. We have measured shoes, made elf hats, painted with wellies, played in our shoe shop, done some sewing and found numbers that are less or more.  Our number of the week was 13 and we learnt the 'r' sound. Next week we are learning about the Jolly Postman.
29.1.16 Another wonderful week for Sparrows class. We have been busy huffing and puffing this week and have really enjoyed all the learning activities based around the story of The Three Little Pigs. We have had the '3 Pigs Building Site' in our role play area, made houses from straw, twigs and bricks and made some fantastic 'Wolf Wanted' posters. Our sounds this week were 'e' and 'u'. We had great fun using the wind by making and flying kites on Friday and have got our classroom ready for celebrating the Chinese New Year with some beautiful lanterns. We also cannot forget the grand opening of our new bike and scooter pods with Rob and John with Ollie cutting the ribbon.
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