The Courier

Over the last two weeks we have been looking at celebrations of light.  In English, we wrote some super bonfire night poems using exciting adjectives to describe what we could hear, see, smell, taste and touch.

In RE, the children have been learning about the importance of light in Diwali celebrations. We made and decorated our own diva lamps to help us retell the story of Rama and Sita.

The pictures attached show their creativity.

Children in Class I are beginning their DT project about Vehicles.  They have explored, through play, different toy vehicles and can find similarities and differences.  They have then been able to sketch and label their favourite toy vehicle.

Class II children continued their learning around the properties and uses of materials with a real life investigation into which fabric would make the sturdiest pair of dungarees for a toddler.  We predicted then tested resilience against the playground floor, recorded our results and shared/agreed conclusions.

It has been a varied week for Class III.  We began our new Design Technology project following the design process to create fantastic Christmas hats. Look out for future photos as we plan to arrange a hat parade at the end of term! 

In Maths we have been using our times table knowledge to help us find fractions of a number and of objects.  We divided up chocolate bars to reinforce our learning!

In English we have been continuing stories through planning a drama and today we wrote up our stories of when a baby dragon was found. Very busy, very engaging and fun!

With many of Year 5 out at Crackley Hall for the Choral day, Class VF and VY were amalgamated to enjoy an ICT based maths problem solving lesson. They had to plan their own school fundraising tombola.

Using their knowledge of factors they had to choose the number of winning tickets they required and the total amount to spend on the prizes. We had a profit making scoreboard which was topped by our two new pupils, Holly and Zebedee.

Well done to both.

Year 5 have been learning about life in Ancient Egypt and this week, Class VY were tasked with finding the answer to 'Was it really the slaves who built the Pyramids?' After watching a clip from Prince of Egypt showing slaves building the pyramids, the children had to consider a range of evidence both supporting and contrasting this view. Their skills of enquiry and acceptance of others' opinions was tested as they had to work in pairs to place themselves on a line of certainty in answer to the question. 

This weekend, see if they can explain their reasoning to you.

In Class VF, we have begun to focus on multiplication and division. We started with mental skills that can extend from times and dividing table facts. Pupils combined them with the skill of using decimals and multiples of 10s and 100s too to produce a calculation web. So using 4x6=24, the pupils realise that 0.6x400=240, mentally. 

How many of you have read books by Philip Pullman?

Class VI have been reading Clockwork and Northern lights, looking at the style, the use of language and character development. As part of their work they have been recognising there are different styles of writing; so the children this week have broken Clockwork into chunks and have either created a play-script or a graphic novel page. Both require different skills but attention to the finer details to move the story forward.

Class VI are researching, designing and making wonderful clocks in their DT lessons this week.  You can see their work in the attached photos.

This term a few children from Years 5 and 6 have joined me on a Tuesday morning before school for Philosophy Club. It's a great way to start the day.

I want to get children talking, articulating values and discussing things that matter (and do not matter) through group discussion, individual opinions and games but most importantly, of course, always listening and valuing what others have to say, even if they do not agree.

It is a time where differences are welcomed and explored.  The discussions are varied, sometimes heated but they always bring a smile to our faces.