Reading helps us to better understand the world in which we live

Today I spent the morning with Mrs Ibbotson, our Reading Leader, looking at our Reading Strategy in action. It was a pleasure to see children so engaged in their Reading lessons across Year 2 to Year 6, whereby we spotted pupils practising their reading aloud, in order to develop their fluency so that they can then better understand their text. They were engaging in texts which would support them to better answer their guiding question for their current expedition. In some classes, the children were answering questions about the text and their Teachers were checking their understanding using protocols such as whip around and cold call. I particularly loved being in Crew Boswell, where they were being challenged by Mr B to further develop their oracy skills by providing a detailed response when asked a question. This session really made my day, to hear our pupils articulating their ideas with such elegance. Finally, I loved seeing so much collaboration in nearly every class including lots of paired reading and supporting one another to answer questions. Another lovely morning where I left feeling proud of what we are achieving together as a school.

Staff Days

Reminder that school will be closed on Friday 11th March and Monday 14th March.

World Book Day! 📚

What an amazing day in Crew Nursery! We have loved seeing all of your fantastic costumes, some of us even got to dress up twice!

We have had so much fun talking about our favourite stories, looking at different books and drawing pictures of ‘The Gingerbread Man’.

World Book Day in Crew FE

Well what a day in Crew FE! We have had so much fun dressing up and sharing a love of reading. We enjoyed sharing some of our favourite stories whilst tucking into a biscuit and a cup of milkshake.

The Crew FE staff came dressed as the characters from the story we are focusing on over the next few weeks, The Gingerbread Man. We have spent time this week retelling the story in different ways and the children have loved it! Why not see if they can share the story with you this weekend?

Thank you to all of our grown ups for helping us to celebrate World Book Day.

Bikes and Scooters

A friendly reminder that children are not allowed to ride their bikes or scooters on the school playground. This is to prevent accidents occurring.

Thank you for your cooperation Carcroft Crew

A Wonderful Wednesday at Carcroft School

Yesterday I saw some fabulous learning going on across our school. I started off in Year 5, where Crew Boswell were practising their spelling rules using a range of methods in their spelling book. Then next door, Crew MI had moved into their English lesson, where I spotted children using Mrs Ibbotson’s anchor charts at the front of their classroom to help them to generate their ideas.

Next I visited Year 6 where I spotted Year 6 working as Geographers. They were discussing the concept ‘Fairtrade’ following a silent conversation. I noticed pupils answering questions and Miss McLoughlin was supporting the children to develop their answers to provide a more in depth response. Deacon worked hard to extend his answer in order to get smarter today which was fab!

Crew Fox were using a silent conversation to help Mrs Fox to understand what they already knew about ‘Fairtrade’; everyone was fully immersed in their learning and were working sensibly as a crew.

After that I went upstairs to have peak in Y4 and Y5. Y5 were being Geographers, they had learned facts about Columbia and were using this information to then create information posters. The children were extremely focussed.

In Y4 the children were Musicians. The children were able to recall subject specific language such as ‘Forte’ and ‘Piano’ when chanting their rhyme with actions. Awesome crew work!

Finally I spent some time in Crew Gerrard and Crew Welburn. In Crew G, I was amazed that every single child was so focussed on their learning. The learning environment oozed ‘working hard’. And in Crew Welburn, children were enjoying their reading for pleasure book whilst sipping on their milk. I also spotted Shania undertaking her stewardship role, ensuring all pencils were sharp and ready for the writing lesson.

A lovely morning with our fabulous pupils! There really is some great Teaching and Learning going on around our school.

On an afternoon, we are Mathematicians

I spent Monday afternoon with Mr Longley (our Maths Lead) talking through the Mathematics curriculum at Carcroft School as it’s a little bit different to the Maths Curriculum we had in place last year. Mr Longley showed me ‘Magic Maths’ in practise and I spotted our Y3 Crew Flaherty and Crew Gerrard practising their written methods for addition.

We then went and had a little look at Magic in Y5, where we spotted Crew MI practising converting mixed fractions. They were able to use Mrs McClare’s anchor chart to support them with the new method they had been taught.

Next we had a little look in Crew McLoughlin, who were working hard to get smart using metric measures. Mrs McLoughlin was re-modelling some of the learning with a small group of pupils and I noticed other children working on either fluency or reasoning and problem solving questions.

It was great to see nearly every pupil working hard to get smart on a Monday afternoon. Keep up the great work Carcroft Mathematicians.

Perfect pancake makers and super sugar shakers!

Crew Nursery have made their own pancakes today! They talked about where the ingredients had come from and they explored them by touching and smelling them. The children watched the ingredients change as they were mixed together and observed safely as the ingredients were cooked in a hot pan.

The children chose their own sauces and toppings before eating their pancakes. Chocolate sauce with banana and a sprinkling of icing sugar was the crew’s favourite topping!

Crew Nursery = Star Bakers!