Birch:, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 7th Mar 2025 @ 7:44am

We started the week with a trip to the library for year 2 and a fun World Book Day themed afternoon with year 1. Year 2 completed some World Book Day activities and found out how to apply for their very own library card. Year 1 read the story 'Mr Wolf's Pancakes' and the ate some tasty pancakes!

This week we have started our history topic on Kings, Queens and Castles. We have found out about the different castles and residencies that the King visits and talked about significant Kings and queens from the past.

In maths we have continued our learning on fractions and will move on next week to look at position and direction.

Our castles work in English is still very exciting. This week we have looked at castle 'fun', finding out what happens on 'tournament day' and at the jousting events. We will use all the knowledge that we have collected over the last two weeks to write an information page next week all about castle life.

The 'In to Win' prize was enjoyed by the blue team on Tuesday where they had a pancake race and got to eat some too!

We also had a whole school party because of our wonderful attendance last week - we had so much fun with dancing and pass the parcel! Birch attendance was so good last week that we also gained some kid's choice to enjoy this week- we enjoyed watching a film at the end of the day on Friday.

Friday was our day to celebrate World Book Day, and the children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up as either their favourite book character or in their pyjamas for a 'bedtime read'.

Next week is our school trip to BLACKPOOL ZOO. We are so excited to go and learn more about the animals and their habitats. Our trip will take place on Tuesday.

Birch- Spring 2: Week 1, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 28th Feb 2025 @ 7:38am

28.02.25

Welcome back, we hope that you have all had a lovely half term!

This week we have started our PSHE topic. We have been looking at how to keep our bodies healthy. We now know what foods are healthy and unhealthy and why getting enough sleep is important for us.

We LOVE our new English topic. We have been learning about castles! It has been so interesting finding out about the different uses of castles over time and the jobs that we might have been able to do if we lived inside a castle a long time ago.

In maths we have started anew topic this week. We are looking at FRACTIONS. We are beginning to understand how to find a half and a quarter of a shape, set of objects and number. We will continue our work on fractions next week, looking at thirds and equivalence.

In computing we have been programming using Code Studio. We found out how to use a loop or 'repeat' symbol in our algorithms.

PE has changed this half term slightly. We have continued our lessons on a Thursday with Coach Olivia but now have an outdoor PE session on a Wednesday with Mrs Dixon.

Next week we will be starting a new History topic. We are going to be finding out about Kings, Queens and castles. It is also world book day on Friday and we are allowed to come to school dressed as our favourite character from a book! Due to our attendence being so good we have also earned a whole school party!! I CANT WAIT for next week!

Birch- Week 6: 14.2.25, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 14th Feb 2025 @ 7:56am

Our final week of Spring 1 has been a busy one!
We have completed an art project based upon 'The Tiger who came to tea'. This included experimenting with different mediums including paint, oil pastel and charcoal. We then decided on the best tools for our final piece and created a picture of a tiger. 
In maths we have completed our work on 2D and 3D shapes and their properties. We are now shape experts!
We have also had lots of fun in PE with coach Olivia, putting all of our new skills into game scenarios. 
We were very lucky this afternoon to end the term with a WHOLE SCHOOL PARTY!!! We danced, played games and joined in with pass the parcel on the playground with all of our friends. It was so much fun!
After half term we have lots of exciting things to look forward to including some writing and History work all about CASTLES, KINGS AND QUEENS! We will also be completing a PSHE topic all about healthy living and how to look after our bodies.
Have a lovely break!

Birch week 5: 07.2.25, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 6th Feb 2025 @ 11:50am

7/02/25

This week has been an exciting week at Carr Mill. We have celebrated Children Mental Health week and were all awarded VIP this morning by some very important visitors! We have each been given a special badge to wear with pride on our school uniform to recognise our hard work earning the gold mental health award. This week we have also thought about our islands of personalities, thinking about what makes us special and what are passions are. We also took part in some mindfulness activities including a yoga session and colouring.

In maths we have been learning about 2D shapes. We started the week with a shape hunt around our classroom and can now describe the properties of some shapes; talking about how many vertices and sides they have.

In English, we have written instructions to create a sandwich for the tiger from the Tiger who came to Tea. We came up with some fantastic ideas and also worked hard to follow some instructions, making our own jam sandwiches!

We ended our week with a walk around the local area in geography. We had a lovely time looking for human and physical features around our school and worked hard to follow the map.

Next week is our final week before the half term. We are having an art week! We will be using lots of different mediums, including paint, crayons, charcoal and oil pastels, to create tiger pictures.

Birch- Week 4:31.01.25, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 30th Jan 2025 @ 11:44am

31/01/25
This week has been assessment week at Carr Mill and all the children have worked very hard!
In maths we have been learning about division. We know that when we divide, we must share into equal groups.
In English we have continued our work on The Tiger who came to Tea. We have been writing descriptions of the tiger in our Star Write books. Next week we will think about what we would feed him if he was to come to tea at our house!
In Geography we have continued to work on our map skills, looking at towns and cities. We found out more about St Helens and Liverpool, presenting our findings to the rest of the class. Next week we will be going on a walk around our local areas to have a look at the geographical features and learn how to follow a map.
In computing we have continued to work on our photography skills. We have been looking at the difference between landscape and portrait images.
We have been really enjoying PE. On Thursdays, we are developing our ball skills with Coach Olivia and then Mrs Wilson-Briars plays games with us on a Friday, allowing us to explore different ways to move.
Next week is also children's mental health week. We will be completing different activities each day and have the chance to take part in a 'break the rules' day on Wednesday (see School Spider and Facebook for more information).

Spring 1:Week 3 24/1/25, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 24th Jan 2025 @ 8:00am

24/01/25

This week we have started a new geography topic all about villages, towns and cities. We have looked at the 4 countries that make up the United Kingdom and their capital cities. We then focused on our capital city, London, reading maps to find out whether there are more human or physical features in the city centre.

We had a very special visitor to class on Wednesday. Child author Max and his Mum came to Carr Mill. Max has 2 sisters with autism and has written 2 books that have been published. He took questions from the class and they found the session really interesting!

In computing we have started a digital photography unit. We had so much fun this week taking photographs of each other and objects in our classroom. We had to think about what makes a good photograph and how to improve our photography skills.

In English we have started a new booked called 'The Tiger who came to Tea'. We can now all retell the story and have started to think about describing the main character, Sophie.

In maths we are learning how to divide and know that when we divide a number we must 'share into equal groups'.

Next week we will be continuing to learn about the four countries that make up the United Kingdom and we will find out more about our local cities, Manchester and Liverpool. Our VIP next week will be for someone who has shown excellent knowledge in our Geography sessions.

Spring 1:Week 3 24/1/25, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 24th Jan 2025 @ 8:00am

24/01/25

This week we have started a new geography topic all about villages, towns and cities. We have looked at the 4 countries that make up the United Kingdom and their capital cities. We then focused on our capital city, London, reading maps to find out whether there are more human or physical features in the city centre.

We had a very special visitor to class on Wednesday. Child author Max and his Mum came to Carr Mill. Max has 2 sisters with autism and has written 2 books that have been published. He took questions from the class and they found the session really interesting!

In computing we have started a digital photography unit. We had so much fun this week taking photographs of each other and objects in our classroom. We had to think about what makes a good photograph and how to improve our photography skills.

In English we have started a new booked called 'The Tiger who came to Tea'. We can now all retell the story and have started to think about describing the main character, Sophie.

In maths we are learning how to divide and know that when we divide a number we must 'share into equal groups'.

Next week we will be continuing to learn about the four countries that make up the United Kingdom and we will find out more about our local cities, Manchester and Liverpool. Our VIP next week will be for someone who has shown excellent knowledge in our Geography sessions.

Birch- Spring 1: Week 2, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 17th Jan 2025 @ 7:37am

17/01/24
We have had another fantastic week in Birch class this week. It has been Maths’s week at #TeamCarrMill and we have learnt about estimation and multiplication through the story 'How many Jellybeans?' We used our estimation skills to guess how many jellybeans were in the jar and then our multiplication skills to count the exact total. The person with the most accurate estimation got to take the whole jar home!
In English, we have been writing about a journey down a river. We have tried hard to use noun phrases in our writing to make it more interesting for the reader. We are proud of our work!
In computing we have shared some very important messages with the children around staying safe online. We used the 'Jessie and Friends video' from the 'Think U Know website to talk about what images are safe to share online and how to keep ourselves safe.
Thank you to all the children that have entered our maths story competition, we have had some fantastic entries. Well done!

We ended our week with Kid's choice because of our high attendance last week. Fingers crossed we have won again this week!
Next week brings even more excitement as we will be exploring a new story in English called 'The Tiger who came to Tea' and starting our Geography topic based on Villages, Towns and Cities. Do you know the name of the town that we live in?

First week back- Birch, by Mrs Wilson-Briars

Date: 10th Jan 2025 @ 8:05am

10/01/25

Happy New Year!

Birch Class were happy to be back to school and be part of #teamcarrmill!

This week we shared our stories from the winter break and got to meet our new student teacher, Miss O’Neill, who will be staying with us for a few weeks.

We began our week with a new book in English called ‘A River’ and have been making predictions of what will happen in the story. In science we started a new topic about habitats and which animals can live in them. Before it got too cold, we were able to look in the Friendship Garden and wooded area to see what animals or insects we could find.

Everyone was happy to see Coach Olivia back for a PE lesson where we played dodgeball where Team River won and Seleen got ‘Star Of The Day’ for her hard work.

VIP was awarded to EDEN this week for her kind and polite attitude. Well done Eden!

Next week is maths week in school! We have some exciting activities planned and a competition for you to take part in (check Seesaw for more information).