January 2024

News
 
WC - 29.1.24
 
Year 3
It has been another fantastic week in year 3. We are getting to the end of our English book ‘Call Me Lion’. We will be writing a newspaper article about the Disco dance competition and this week we have started looking at all the features included in a newspaper.
 
We have been developing different methods of how to solve multiplying a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number these included using base ten materials, drawings and column method. We have been amazed with how quickly the children have adapted to this new concept.
 
Ask us about Boudicca who we have been learning about in History during our Roman topic. She was a fierce Celtic Queen based in South East England.
 
In art we are continuing our study of Sandra Silberzweig.
 
Year 4
 
We have been looking at division/division with remainders in maths this week and have been using lots of equipment to help us divide. 
In computing, we have been using turtle playground to programme logos. We now know how to move the turtle forward, backwards, left and right.
 
In science this week, we have been investigating sound insulators. We tested a variety of materials such as foil, cotton wool, fabric and paper to see which materials best absorb sound. We found out that softer materials such as cotton wool absorb the sound best as they have small holes throughout which trap the sound.
 
In PE, we were practicing our target practice for Boccia. We used our throwing skills from the previous week to help us.
Year 6
The Dodgeball tournament was a triumph this week! A massive congratulations to our team for winning the event. You all made us extremely proud!
 
In Art this week, we have been practising continuous line drawings. It would be a great skill for you to have another go at at home. 
 
In Geography, we have been taking a closer look at the Grand Canyon. Can you tell your adults some facts that you have learnt?
 
Writing has continued to be a success this week and the children are lapping up the book, 'The Final Year'. We are finishing publishing them in the next couple of days. They have really got the hang of writing using colloquial language. 
 
In Maths, we have been very impressed by their understanding of BIDMAS. Don't forget the order is important!  
 
 
WC - 22.1.24
 
Year 3
It has been another wonderful week in year 3. We wrote some impressive diary entries in English and did a fantastic job relating to the characters emotions.
 
In P.E. we developed our tennis skills by introducing tennis racquets and trying to maintain a rally. 

We dived deeper into our knowledge of plants and how they create their own food. We used some very fancy scientific vocabulary such as glucose.
 
In art, we enjoyed experimenting with chalk pastels and blending them using analogous colours.
 
Year 4
Another fantastic week for Year 4! We have begun writing our setting descriptions of the volcano eruption in Pompeii and WOW! The vocabulary and skills that the children are using are blowing use away! The children have been working excellently together, editing each others work and up levelling to improve their writing.
 
In Geography, we have learnt about the layers of the Earth and tectonic plates. We have identified countries that live near tectonic plates and ones that do not and have made predictions about what might happen at these spots.
 
Both classes have carried on their Ukulele lessons this week. The children are loving learning this instrument and are impressing us with their musical skills already!
 
In Science, we have investigated how sound travels through different mediums (air, liquid and solids) through a range of experiments. 
 
Year 5

We've had another wonderful week. 5WO have shown fabulous behaviour each afternoon, while at Calday Pool. They have demonstrated amazing resilience and determination to improve their swimming techniques. The staff at the pool commented on their wonderful behaviour and attitudes. That makes us all so proud. Meanwhile, 5W have continued their non-core curriculum by learning lots of facts about The Amazon Rainforest. They look forward to going swimming next week.

 
Year 6
 
Wow! What a fantastic week for our writing. Both classes have been exploring the features of a diary and we have been impressed with them highlighting the structural and language features on texts. We have also been getting stuck into grammar lessons ready to feed into our diary writing next week. 
 
In Maths, we have been working hard to unpick strategies for arithmetic so that we can increase the arithmetic scores. So many children have been getting Rainbow certificates as they have shown great resilience and they are determined to improve their scores. We have been focused on multiplying fractions...'Keep, change, flip' as well as multiplying fractions...'times along the line'. Can you show off your skills at home?
 
The Science investigation did not disappoint and helped to illustrate the impact diet can have on arteries. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped model arteries visual to the class. Check out Twitter for some photographs. 
 
In PSHE, we have been focusing on caring for others. We have looked at the shared responsibilities we all have for caring for other people and living things.
  • What do we care about in our day to day lives?
  • What else do we care about and how do we show this care/concern?
 
 
WC - 15.01.24
 
Year 3
What an amazing week, it snowed! we had lots of fun working together to make the biggest snowballs/ snowmen possible. Clubs started this week and it wondering seeing so many year 3 children take part in the clubs.
 
We have really enjoyed reading more of our class book 'Call Me Lion', we have been emerging ourselves in the story and trying to understand how it feels to be a selective mute. We have also been working on fronted adverbials, subordinate conjunctions and apostrophes in preparation for writing our own diary next week. 
 
It has been a challenging week in maths. We have been trying to use a doubling strategy to learn our 8x table. We have made great progress and with a bit practice we will know them off by heart. Science will be interesting this week. We have planted some seeds, hopefully they grow with the current temperatures. In history we have been learning about Roman society, some things are still the same and some things have changed! In P.E. we have begun developing our tennis skills. Watch out Andy Murray!
 
Year 4
What another fantastic, fun-filled week for Year 4! This week, we began our Ukulele lessons. We learnt about the different parts to the ukulele, how to hold it and had a go at playing. We definitely have some amazing musicians!
 
In art this week, we started our new drawing and painting topic looking at the famous artists and illustrators Quentin Blake and Edward Ardizzone. During the lesson, we had the opportunity to experiment with the mediums they use; watercolour and black fine line pens. We are blown away with the outcome from the children.
Our English lessons have been filled with excitement, from researching and understanding Pompeii and its famous Mount Vesuvius to exploring our senses through videos and our own science volcano explosion. 
 
In Science, we have begun our new topic 'Sound'. We have learnt that sound is made through vibrations, how sound is made and how it travels to our ear canal. 
 
Year 5
We've loved learning about colour wheels and Monet's use of light. We can't wait to start our own versions of his 'Waterlillies'. 
 
We used Flotsam as a hook into our writing and are very proud of the work the children have produced.
 
Science was baffling when we started to investigate the effects of gravity but we slowly unpicked what it involved. We looked at the work of Sir Isaac Newton. Do you know what he is famous for?
 
Year 6
 
What an exciting week with all of the snow! It has been so lovely watching the children playing in it and building massive snowmen! We hope you have seen the photographs on Twitter.
 
Year 6 have been immersed into our new class book this week...'The Final Year'. At first, they couldn't believe it that staff had read it in 2 hours as it has got nearly 300 pages...but once they started it, they could soon see why! Who is your favourite character so far?
 
In Science, we have been learning about the human heart...can you remember how many chambers it has got? Next week's lesson should be fun with an investigation linked to arteries. 
 
WC - 8.1.24 
 
Our RockSteady Music lessons have begun for children in the school. The children taking lessons were extremely excited, becoming familiar with their new instrument, getting to know their band mates more and choosing the name of their band. We cannot wait for our lessons next week!
 
Year 3
It’s been fantastic having the children back in school with us. we have missed them! 
This week we have enjoyed delving deep into our new book ‘Call Me Lion’. We have been working hard to put ourself in the main characters shoes who is a selective mute. In history, we have begun learning about the Romans and how Rome was created. Ask us to retell you the story of Romulus and Remus. In art we are starting to work with charcoal, it might get messy!
 
Year 4
What a fantastic start to the new year! This week, we had our DT were we gathered together as a year group in the hall to create our lanterns. We learnt new skills such as using a hacksaw to cut pieces of wood and the 'Butt joint' to join the wood together using a glue gun. We are so impressed with how the lanterns turned out!
In Geography this week, we have begun our new topic 'Volcanoes and Earthquakes'. The children are so excited about this topic and are looking forwards to our next lesson. Our new English book links nicely into this topic. The book is called 'Escape to Pompeii'. During lessons, we have made predictions, identified nouns and made them into expanded noun phrases. Additionally, we have looked at the word 'escape' and discussed the meaning of it, how it you feel as well as the location of Pompeii itself.
 
 
Year 5
What a great start to the new year!
This week, Year 5 have started our exciting new geography topic on rainforests. Biomes are a fascinating topic. Do you know the difference between climate and weather? 
Monet's waterlillies have inspired our art work. We will continue to learn more about his use of light, while creating our own versions using mixed media. 
 
Year 6
What a wonderful start to 2024! It has been so lovely having Year 6 back in school and they have come back ready to learn. 
In English, we have been completing non-chronological reports on the Galapagos Islands. A big well done to those of you who completed additional research at home as it certainly helped your writing. Your enthusiasm has been great!
In Maths, we have been continuing to learn useful tips and tricks for arithmetic as well as unpicking where mistakes were made in the Autumn Term assessments so that everyone knows how tackle questions this term.
There was a buzz in the classrooms over Geography this week. Can you name any mountains or mountain ranges?
Keep up the hard work and focus! :)