Year 3
What a shining success our trip to Audley End House and Gardens was! Year 3 enjoyed glorious sunshine, brilliant behaviour, and big smiles all round. From Victorian dressing-up to imagining ourselves in a secret garden, it was history, hilarity, and hands-on (when permitted) fun! Do look at the photographs on the school website or School News app.
This week in maths, we’ve been tackling unit and non-unit fractions (think 1/5 of 20 = 4 or 2/3 of 15 = 10) using arrays and solving word problems with confidence and cheer (the children really did cheer when we started their independent tasks!).
In English, we’ve been persuading people to visit Colchester Castle, using the text map we have learned to write an imitation text, and diving into The Iron Man with whole class reading and comprehension questions (the children pleaded for more of the story!). Our grammar skills are sharpening by the week with fun checks and activities.
In DT, Year 3 threaded needles, learnt running stitch, and helped each other through the fiddly bits – a joy to see! In PE, tennis with Mrs Crook continues to impress (class certificate earned for positivity and partner work last week!), while in RE they explored the Christian symbols of Salt and Light with Mrs Chittock. PSHE brought different jobs and the skills needed to do them, thanks to Miss Spinks!
Please keep up the brilliant work you do to support the children’s learning – reading, practising maths targets and doing home learning – as it makes such a difference!
Hope you are able to profit from the bank holiday weekend!
The Year 3 team (Miss Murphy, Mrs Troughton and Mrs Dobson)
Year 4
Well, what a fab start to the week. I think I would like to do that every week. The children really enjoyed their trip. They were kept busy every moment of the day with some really fun activities. The food was great and there was plenty of it. The rooms were clean and had plenty of space. The staff were kind and helpful. The funniest part - watching the children make their beds! I think I can speak on behalf of all the staff when I say that the children really did all of us, and you, proud. Their manners were impeccable, they were kind and caring towards one another, and they even enjoyed setting and clearing the table and serving one another.
We have also managed some classroom learning this week;-
Maths - With Mrs Harper the children worked in groups to solve a maths mystery. With Mrs Chittock the children recapped their learning on decimals ready to build on that learning next week.
English - With Mrs Harper the children created an acrostic poem with Burwell House being their inspiration. With Mrs Chittock they wrote a recount in diary style about their trip.
Science and Computing were combined this week - the children started creating a powerpoint presentation about different invertebrate groups.
Music - This week, working in groups, the children composed a piece using body percussion writing a score which they then performed to the rest of the class.
RE - This week the children started looking at their new unit, looking at Christianity, and 'Why do Christians believe they are 'people on a Mission'.
Thank you for all your hard work ensuring the children were correctly prepared for the trip to Burwell House. This really helped to make the trip memorable as there were no problems with being too hot or too cold, not having contraband confiscated, and the children being prepared to have fun. It really makes a difference.
Have a lovely long weekend and see you all again on Tuesday 6th May (where is the time going?)
Mrs Chittock and the Year 4 team
Year 5
In Maths this week we have been learning all about percentages. We've thought about what percent means, and had a go at calculating many different percentages using the bubble method. Some of us were a bit rusty when halving numbers, so we'll recap that next week.
In English, we have been investigating Victorian workhouses. We had a look at some photos of workhouses and annotated it. It felt necessary to watch the very start of Oliver!, where they are served gruel and sing 'Food, Glorious Food'. We then spent some time planning a recount to a Victorian workhouse, inspired by Dickens' work. The children wrote their recounts on Thursday and spent a bit more time finishing them today. The ones I have read so far are great!
In History, we learnt about Victoria's childhood. We thought she'd probably had a great time - who wouldn't want to grow up in a palace? However, because she was the heir, she was very precious and every aspect of her life was controlled. She wasn't allowed to go up or downstairs without holding the hands of an adult!
You've probably heard all about our science lesson on changes the body goes through and puberty this week. For some, it was the 'greatest lesson ever'; for others it was the 'most horrifying thing they've ever lived through'. Mixed reviews but I think they'll remember it!
In Computing, we had our final, final development lesson on our games. It's been lovely to see the children develop their confidence with Scratch. We have some natural coders in Y5, many of whom were good enough to help me solve problems when I couldn't quite work something out (apparently, putting code in a forever loop doesn't solve everything). We will be inviting other classes to play them in the next few weeks. In RE, we finished our work on the Easter story. The children remembered lots of details from the story.
We had our first swimming session this week. The instructors were very impressed with Y5's behaviour and good attitude. They've all been assessed and put into groups. There are lots of opportunities for the children in the shallow end to move up to the deep end.
Have a lovely long weekend. See you on Tuesday, 6th May.
Miss Rutter, Mrs Marsh and Mrs Nichols
Year 6
We’ve had a busy and productive week in Year 6.
In maths, we have now completed our unit on algebra and have been revising a range of other key topics, including symmetry, translation, and fractions of amounts.
In English, we’ve been reading Chinese Cinderella and exploring the text in detail. The children have been practising using the APE structure (Answer, Prove, Explain) to respond to questions about Chapters 1–3. We are now preparing to write in role as the narrator, Adeline, which has led to some thoughtful and empathetic discussions.
In History, our focus has been on the complex relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. We've also explored the reign of Mary I, debating whether she truly deserves the nickname 'Bloody Mary'—a topic that has sparked lots of lively and considered discussion.
We have spoken to the children about the upcoming SATs week, and everything is calm and on track. We’re confident that they will approach the week with focus and do themselves proud.
To help ensure you feel informed and prepared too, I would like to invite you to a brief SATs information session on Thursday after school. This will last around 15 minutes and will give you the chance to ask any questions you may have.
Wishing you all a super Bank Holiday weekend!
Mrs Gilmore
