10/07/20

Hello once again,

This week in school, it has been STEM week! This stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. On Wednesday, we carried out a lovely experiment which involved growing our own rainbows. We cut kitchen roll into the shape of a rainbow and coloured 2cm of the bottom. Then we dipped the colours into small dishes of water and watched the rainbow grow! It was great fun, why don't you have a go at home?

On Thursday 16th July, we will be having our final class zoom. Please feel free to come along to say goodbye to Kingfisher's class! It has been a pleasure to teach you all (even if it was only for a short amount of time!)

Have a great weekend,

Miss Ashton

03/07/20

Hello everyone,

It was lovely to see so many of you on our class zoom last night. We did a scavenger hunt around the house and it was so funny to see all of the items everyone found. I am hoping to do a last Kingfishers Class zoom before the end of term just to say goodbye. Perhaps if you want to join, you could think of your favourite moment of being in Kingfishers Class and then we could share them.

In school this week, our theme has been 'Superheroes'. We have been designing our own heroes and villains and then creating comic strips using these characters.

We also do a 'draw with Rob' once a day. This is a drawing tutorial by author and illustrator Rob Biddulph. We love learning how to draw different characters and it has even helped me to learn how to draw!! If you want to take part, I will post the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYbUsFfT50EI-5luLJ7mBzGIlummnjwby

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Ashton

26/06/20

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well. It was great to see so many of you on Zoom last week! I have missed you all greatly. I am in the process of arranging another Zoom meeting for next week so please keep an eye out for an invitation to take part. We are going to do an exciting activity that might involve you having to find things around your house.... I hope to see you all there. 

This week, in school, our topic has been the Olympics. We had our Sports Day on Wednesday which I know a lot of you also joined in with. We have been designing new medals, new mascots, making powerpoints and other things! We have also been watching the opening ceremony from the London 2012 Olympics. I will attached a link in case you want to watch it at home, it is brilliant!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4As0e4de-rI

I have sent those of you who wanted to be part of the class photo an email on Purple Mash so have a look and make sure you take your picture over the next week.

I can't wait to see you all back in school soon and I hope you have a great weekend.

Miss Ashton

22/05/20

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. The theme in school this week was travelling around the world. Miss Jones and I decided to spend yesterday looking at Italy. We had a great day learning the language, looking at Italy's culture and creating some Italian art! I have put a photo above so you can see some of the fabulous work that was produced!

Just to let you know that I will not be writing on this blog over the next week as it is half term. However, I will be back to write on Monday 1st June. I will also continue to check my emails and I have set some new 'to-dos' on Purple Mash for you to complete. Don't forget to check My Maths too!

Have a lovely half term and I hope to see you all again soon.

Miss Ashton

18/05/20

Hello everyone!

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I am back with another recipe today (as is tradition now on a Monday!)

Today I thought we could have a go at making a pink marble sandwich cake...

Ingredients:

• 225g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for the tin
• 225g golden caster sugar
• 225g self-raising flour
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 tbsp seedless raspberry jam
• a few drops of pink food colouring (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting

For the white chocolate layer:

• 200g white chocolate, chopped
• 100ml double cream

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line the bases of two 18cm sandwich tins. Beat the butter, sugar, flour and eggs together in a large bowl using an electric whisk until it's lump-free.

2. Divide the mixture between two bowls. Beat half the jam and the food colouring, if using, into one, and beat the vanilla into the other. 

3. Spoon alternating dollops of the mixes into the prepared cake tins, then swirl together using a skewer. Do this carefully – if you overdo it, you won’t see the pattern. Smooth the tops with the back of a spoon. 

4. Bake for 20-25 mins until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 mins, then turn out.

5. Meanwhile, to make the white chocolate layer, put the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of just simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir until the chocolate has melted into the cream and you’re left with a smooth, glossy mixture. Leave to cool completely in the fridge, stirring occasionally. 

6. Sandwich the cakes together with the remaining raspberry jam and the white chocolate mixture, then generously dust the top with icing sugar. Slice and serve.

As always, let me know if you make it and send me photos on Purple Mash!

Miss Ashton

15/05/20

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and staying safe!

I was in school on Wednesday and we had a lovely day designing and creating our own bug hotels!

Firstly, we researched the different types of bug hotels and drew a design for our own room on a piece of paper. We then got into pairs and went outside to collect the different materials that we would need to create our bug bedrooms. We used wood, sticks, grass, flowers, tin cans, moss, bark and other materials to create our rooms and then put them together so we had a bug hotel!

I have attached some photos of our hotel above. Why don't you have a go at creating a bug hotel and then send me a picture of your finished product? Perhaps you could even create a log to see which bugs come to visit!

See you soon,

Miss Ashton

11/05/20

Good afternoon Kingfishers,

I hope you all had a lovely bank holiday weekend and that you celebrated VE day in style! We had afternoon tea and enjoyed singing along to 'We'll meet again'. We were so lucky with the weather!

As it is Monday, I thought I would carry on my tradition of sharing a recipe that I used recently and enjoyed. Of course, because it is me, it has to be a chocolate recipe today.

So today's Monday recipe is.... Chocolate Tiffin!

Here are the ingredients:

• 150g butter, cubed, plus extra for the tin
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• 6 tsp cocoa powder
• 225g biscuits, crushed
• handful of raisins
• 110g milk chocolate
• 110g dark chocolate

Method:

1. Butter and line a 15-20cm tin with baking parchment. In a large saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, syrup and cocoa. Stir through the biscuits and raisins.

2. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and press down, then smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Microwave both chocolates in short 20 second bursts, stirring frequently, until melted. Pour them over the mixture in the tin. Use a palette knife or spoon to smooth over, so it's completely coated in chocolate.

3. Put the tin into the fridge and leave for about 2 hrs to set, or overnight. Run a kitchen knife under the hot tap then cut into squares.

It has been lovely to see that some of you have been following the recipes I post and sending me pictures through of the finished products. Keep sharing them with me through Purple Mash emails!

I hope you all have a lovely day.

Miss Ashton

06/05/20

Hello all,

Just a quick message to say that I hope you are all ok and staying safe.

I was having a scroll through Hampshire Music Service's website the other day and I found this! It is from last year when we attended 'The Wherwell Cockatrice'! See if you can remember the words and join in if you want!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5wm-qkcDh8

See you soon

Miss Ashton

04/05/20

Happy May the Fourth be with you (Star Wars fans will understand!)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I had a very productive weekend, sorting out and tidying my house! I also tried out a really cool recipe for 'slow cooker fudge'. It turned out brilliantly and was delicious! So, once again, I have decided to share the recipe with you all at home, just in case you are really bored and want to do a spot of baking!

Ingredients: 

• 1 can of condensed milk
• 500g Milk Chocolate - It is recommended to get the cheapest chocolate available as they have way less oil in and will make fudge set better. 
• Box of Maltesers (or other fillings)
• Tbsp of butter

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker on low for an hour and give a good stir every 15mins.

2. When finished and all combined, mix in half the maltesers through.

3. Tip straight into a lined tray preferable square about 20cm for nice even chunks.

4. Let it set for about 10mins then place the rest of the maltesers on top. You can also drizzle some white chocolate over and sprinkles to make it extra pretty but... It's fine plain too. 

It's as easy as that!

Let me know, via Purple Mash email, if you make the fudge at home!

Miss Ashton

01/05/20

Hello everybody,

Happy 1st May! This is a very exciting month as it is my (and lots of yours too) birthday month! I am ever hopeful that the weather will continue to improve and that we will have a lovely summery month which can be spent outdoors.

Just a quick message today:

I've been having a look recently at the BBC Bitesize lessons which are fab for all sorts of different topics. I mentioned on Purple Mash that our new topics this half term are The Tudors and States of Matter. It would be great if you wanted to do some of the online lessons on Bitesize surrounding these topics. Have a look and see what interesting things you can find out. Email me if you learn something new!

Here is the link in case you can't find it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/dailylessons 

Have a good weekend!

Miss Ashton

29/04/20

Hello everyone,

I spent a lovely day in school yesterday with the children who came in. We started off by doing some drama with Mrs Hancox. We used masks to demonstrate how we can express our emotions through body language and we used the expressions on the masks to tell a story. This was great fun and there were some incredibly creative ideas!

In the afternoon, the children got into groups and created their own puppet shows! We had The Wizard of Oz, Jack and the Beanstalk and other original ideas!

Above are some of the great puppet shows that were created!

Hope you are all well!

Miss Ashton

27/04/20

Good afternoon Kingfishers,

I hope you are all well and are staying indoors as much as you can!

This weekend, I made some amazing brownies and I would love to share the recipe with you. It is from BBC Good Food and the brownies tasted incredible. Lovely and gooey!

The ingredients:

• 185g unsalted butter
• 185g best dark chocolate
• 85g plain flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 50g white chocolate
• 50g milk chocolate
• 3 large eggs
• 275g golden caster sugar

The method:

1. Cut 185g unsalted butter into small cubes and tip into a bowl. Break 185g dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl.

2. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.

3. While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to 180C/ 160C fan/ gas 4.

4. Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking paper to line the base. Tip 85g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl. Tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.

5. Chop 50g white chocolate and 50g milk chocolate into chunks on a board.

6. Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer, on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar. They will look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is. You’ll know it’s ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you’re there.

7. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like.

8. Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly.

9. Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don’t want to overdo this mixing.

10. Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks until they’re dotted throughout.

11. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it.

12. Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 mins. When the buzzer goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit and gently shake the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it’s not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven.

13. Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold, then, if you’re using the brownie tin, lift up the protruding rim slightly and slide the uncut brownie out on its base. If you’re using a normal tin, lift out the brownie with the foil. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into triangles.

14. They’ll keep in an airtight container for a good two weeks and in the freezer for up to a month.

If you are able to get hold of the ingredients, definitely have a go at making these lovely brownies and send me a photo in a Purple Mash email!

Miss Ashton

24/04/20

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe indoors with your family. It has been a lovely day and I have really enjoyed reading some of your emails and seeing lots of the work you have completed on Purple Mash. The new '2dos' are surrounding our new topics for this term. I hope you are able to do some research around them and enjoy completing them. 

It has also been really good to see how many of you have logged into My Maths and have enjoyed completing the tasks. Keep up all of the hard work!

Have a lovely weekend and I will update the blog again on Monday!

Miss Ashton

22/04/20

Hello everyone,

I had a great day yesterday looking after the children in school! We did some fantastic work around a book called 'Stuck' by Oliver Jeffers. It is about a little boy who gets his kite stuck in a tree and, as a result, has to throw other objects at his kite to try and get it down. However, they get stuck too! In the end, he gets a total of 22 objects stuck in the tree before eventually getting his kite down.

We started by drawing all of the objects in the tree and then we made our own kites! They were lovely and colourful and we really enjoyed flying them outside. 

Above are some pictures of our great kites!

I hope you are all well,

Miss Ashton

20/04/20

Hello everyone,

I hope you have all had a restful and enjoyable Easter. I can't believe how lucky we have been with the amazing weather!

I had a lovely break with Ryan and I spent a lot of time in the garden and doing lots of little bits around the house. I also went into school last Thursday and finally managed to clear out the classroom cupboard! It looks so much tidier but the classroom looks really empty and sad without everyone's chatter and laughter. I miss you all a lot!

I hope you have a lovely week and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Miss Ashton

03/04/20

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe indoors. We have been so lucky with the weather and I have heard that is going get even hotter over the weekend, which should be lovely!

Just a quick message to let you know that I will not be writing on this blog over the next two weeks as it is the Easter Holidays however, I will be back to writing on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday again from the 20th April. I will also continue to check my emails daily and I have set some new 'to-dos' on Purple Mash for you to complete. Please carry on writing to me to let me know how you all are. It is fantastic to receive so many messages from you all.

For now, however, have a fantastic Easter and don't work too hard! I'm sure you (and your parents!) all deserve a well-earned break.

See you all soon,

Miss Ashton

01/04/20

Hello,

Happy April Fools Day! I hope that none of you had a joke played on you or played one on your family!

Yesterday, I was in school looking after the children who came in. We had a lovely day which began with a drama workshop about 'The Three Little Pigs' led by Mrs Hancox. It was great fun and we really enjoyed getting into character. We then did some work on Purple Mash and in our home learning packs. In the afternoon, we had a go at some Easter crafts and built houses for the Three Little Pigs.

It was nice to see the children enjoying themselves but I did miss teaching in Kingfishers class.

I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday and today!

Miss Ashton

30/03/20

Hello all,

I hope you had a good weekend and have enjoyed spending time with your families. 

Please make sure you are reading to yourself or to a family member, even if it is only for 10 minutes a day! It is a lovely way to share a story that you have been enjoying or are interested in reading. Also, remember to complete some tasks from your home learning packs. 

Miss Ashton

27/03/2020

Hello my fellow Kingfishers,

I hope you have all had a lovely week and have been outside as much as possible.

I have some new Purple Mash 'to-dos' going live next week about Easter so hopefully you will enjoy completing those at home. I will also set up a battle against Herons and Woodpeckers in TTRockstars. Let's see if we can finally beat both of them!!!

Enjoy your weekends, remember to help your parents as much as you can and email me if you need me or just want to talk - I love hearing from you all.

Miss Ashton

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update on a sunny Wednesday afternoon:

It has been lovely reading all of the work that has been submitted onto Purple Mash and I have loved reading and replying to everyone who has emailed me. It is great to hear how everyone is getting on and what you have all been doing at home. I miss you all a lot!!

I have spent today in my garden doing some planting and enjoying the lovely weather. I am back in school on Friday with Miss Jeffries to look after the children who will be in.

Hope you are all staying safe.

Miss Ashton

Hello my lovely Kingfishers,

Yesterday was a very strange day as I walked into school and there was no noise of children chatting in the corridors! I missed you all greatly and hope you are staying safe at home.

Miss Jones and I had 15 children across KS2 to look after and we spent most of the day enjoying the fresh air. It was great to see everyone having fun outdoors but the school seemed very quiet without all of you.

I have replied to a few emails I received on purple mash and I will continue to check to make sure I don't miss any!

Stay safe, enjoy time with your families and I will see you all again soon!

PS make sure you are joining in with Joe Wicks every morning on his Youtube for a bit of daily exercise!