Year 1
The class had two brilliant sessions in Year 2, getting to know the Year 2 team and classroom. We enjoyed meeting Joanna (professional flautist) and watching KS2 in ‘The Wind in the Willows’ (especially when toad’s ‘poop-poop’ went Crash! and when he was chased around the stage by the police in his washerwoman’s dress and bonnet)
What we’ve been learning this week:
Phonics Reviewing previously learnt digraphs
Grow the code: /s/ st sc
/r/ wr /w/ wh
/sh/ ssi ci ct ti ch s
Review suffixes -ed and -ing
Review words with a schwa
English / Topic Making non-fiction castle booklets:
Knights: Training, tournaments and jousting
Maths Time: Hours, Minutes and Seconds
Tell the time to the hour: Show and write it
Tell the time to the half hour
Counting around the clock (in 1s, 5s and 10s)
RE What have we learnt about Shabbat
Homework: Gather your junk modelling boxes and design your castle *Bring in on Tuesday ready to model on Wednesday, please.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Brandon and the Year 1 team
Year 2
English- We have been learning lots of spelling rules this week and also completing a writing task!
Maths- We have been going over key calculations to make sure that we are confident ahead of Year 3.
Science- It has been great to think about how materials can have their shape changed. We explored a range of materials and recorded our results.
Computing- We finished our animation work using key skills such as onion skinning, careful camera skills and team work skills.
Transition- On Monday and Tuesday we had some transition afternoons exploring what it will be like in Year 3!
Craft- We were fortunate to do some crafts linked to lighthouses and our topic of Grace Darling.
Have a lovely weekend and come on England!
Thanks,
Mr T
PS: Please remember your strong carrier bag for your child's books on Monday. The filled bag will be sent home with your child on Wednesday. And, do send in a board game for Wednesday, to play with their friends.
Year 3
Our penultimate week in Year 3 has flown by! The children enjoyed their move-up sessions in Year 4 on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and it was a pleasure to send home their reports this week. Looking back on how much they have grown academically, socially and personally is a real privilege. We have one more wonderful week together, and we're looking forward to making it a memorable one.
The week included some fantastic enrichment opportunities. We were treated to a wonderful performance of the Year 5 and 6 production, and the children enjoyed an inspiring visit from a Royal Philharmonic flautist.
This week, we have been learning...
English – The children put the finishing touches to their Greek myths, editing and improving their writing like true authors. They also completed a reading comprehension based on the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, developing their retrieval and inference skills. Alongside our weekly Grammarsaurus check, the class became grammar detectives, solving a challenging grammar, punctuation and spelling mystery. Every clue had to be answered correctly before they could move on—no shortcuts past the Minotaur in this labyrinth!
Maths – We have been consolidating the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The children have produced some beautiful presentation in their books while demonstrating confidence and accuracy in their calculations.
Science – Our focus was magnetic forces. We explored which materials are magnetic and discussed where we encounter magnets in everyday life - for example, helping to keep fridge and freezer doors firmly sealed. The children made sensible predictions before testing a range of materials, discovering which were magnetic and which were not, and starting to think about why.
Computing – The children explored their folders on the pupil network, an important skill they will use independently throughout Key Stage 2. They also enjoyed creating their own animated stories in Scratch, applying the programming skills they have developed this half-term with plenty of creativity.
In PE, the children impressed Mrs Crook with both their yoga poses and their behaviour during a calm indoor yoga session. Meanwhile, Mrs Dobson (thank you!) led a thoughtful lesson celebrating diversity, where the children designed their own awards recognising what makes each person unique.
Have a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to one final fantastic week together in Year 3!
Miss Murphy and the Year 3 team
Year 4
It has been a busy week again and started a little off normal routine as we started the week with our transition sessions. I think the children really enjoyed their introduction to Year 5, they came back to me absolutely buzzing. It has been lovely watching the children across the whole school enjoying the games in Year 4 at lunchtime - cool space! (in more ways than one ??.) YAY, well done, we got Bookster Bear, all to ourselves, it was great to see some people who don't get 6 reads achieve it this week, Thank you.
Our learning this week;-
Maths - We have been looking at position and direction, looking at coordinates and translating coordinates and shapes.
English - The children used their research to write their invention text changing the building of the Titanic to the building of King Raedwald's Longship. On Wednesday they had a reading comprehension about the water cycle.
Computing - last lesson fun.
Science - an experiment using their bottles, vinegar, baking powder and balloons. Ask your child what it was all about.
Topic - Who was to blame for the sinking of the Titanic. With seven suspects the children research one person to find their own conclusion as to whether their person was to blame or not.
Next week please send in a plastic bag (bag for life) so that the children can bring their books home. My plan is to send them home on Thursday. On Friday the children are welcome to bring in a game or toy, to share with others. Please make sure that it is not able to connect to the internet or able to take pictures. If it is precious, then don't send it in! Just also be aware that if it has lots and lots of pieces it can be tricky to keep track of all of them. We will do our best to keep it safe, but accidents can happen.
Wednesday (latest) - Bags, Friday - Game or toy.
We will still be checking the reading next week, ready for Star Reader treat so please keep reading and I will be doing the spelling test next week - on Thursday.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Chittock and the Year 4 team
Year 5
In Maths this week we have worked on estimating, calculating and measuring different types of angles. We've learnt that angles on a straight line and angles in a triangle always add up to ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT-YYY (You have to read that bit like a darts caller). In English, we've gone back to the Highwayman poem. We're written a monologue as the Highwayman and created a character profile for Tim the Ostler. Tim only features in one stanza of the play, but we get the feeling he might cause trouble further down the line
On Monday and Tuesday, Y5 got to spend some time with Mrs Gilmore in Y6. They seem to have had a great time solving Crystal-Maze style puzzles and writing all about themselves for a display. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone. It seems like only yesterday they were visiting me during transition meetings!
We had our final swimming session today. A few more swimming targets were ticked off before a thrilling game of water polo. Well done to the white hats who won 2-0. According to Nicole and Jane, we are much better water polo players than the other schools they've had in this week.
It was lovely to see some of you at our performance of 'The Wind in the Willows' on Thursday afternoon. Those of you coming to see it on Monday evening are in for a delightful experience (Mrs Shipp said I couldn't use ' a real treat' because she'd already put it in her bit!)
Have a great weekend,
Miss Rutter, Mrs Grosvenor and Mrs Marsh
Year 6
What a fantastic week it has been in Year 6!
The highlight of the week has undoubtedly been our rehearsals and performances of Wind in the Willows. The children have worked incredibly hard over the past few weeks, and it was wonderful to see all of their efforts come together on stage. They performed with confidence, enthusiasm and a great sense of teamwork, making us all incredibly proud.
In geography, we continued our learning about global development by comparing a range of development indicators in Malawi and the United Kingdom. The children thoughtfully explored differences in areas such as life expectancy, access to healthcare, education and income, while considering the many factors that contribute to a country's level of development.
In English, we continued reading There's A Boy in the Girls' Bathroom. As well as enjoying the story, we have been tracking how the themes develop throughout the novel. The children have shown increasing confidence in discussing themes such as friendship, kindness, self-belief and change, supporting their ideas with evidence from the text.
In PSHE, we have been learning about the physical and emotional changes that take place during puberty. The children approached these lessons with maturity and respect, asking some excellent, thoughtful questions. We were very impressed by their willingness to engage in open, sensible discussions about this important aspect of growing up.
A few reminders for next week:
- Our Leavers' Assembly will take place on Friday at 9:05 a.m. We look forward to welcoming families as we celebrate the children's time at primary school.
- On Friday, children are welcome to bring a spare shirt and a Sharpie pen so that they can collect messages and signatures from their friends. If your child does not bring a spare shirt, we will assume that you do not give permission for them to take part in shirt signing.
We are looking forward to enjoying the children's final week with them and making it a memorable end to their primary school journey.
Nuala Gilmore
