Character descriptions
In year 5/6, we have been using figurative language to describe a character from the poem- The Raven. Here are some highlights- well done Alfie and Ruby!
“His frail, gaunt body was as weak as a dying tree in the darkness….”
“In his room of doom, he was a priest praying for his mislaid, charming love- Lenore.”
Bradford Media Museum
Yesterday, we had a fantastic school trip to Bradford Media Museum. We watched a film in 3D at the IMAX and we were all inspired to become engineers and ‘think big’ which was the message in the film.
The most popular exhibition was in the games studio where we played games dating back to the 1970s! Donkey Kong and Pacman were just a couple of the old games we enjoyed.
We took part in a workshop in the Wonderlab studio, where we found out about sound and light waves and how they are used in fibre optics to help us communicate with people around the world.
A very special visitor
Earlier this week, we welcomed a very special guest into our classroom – none other than Mrs Richardson’s dad! He came in to talk to us about rationing and evacuation, which links into our topic work on food throughout time – as well as our current class novel ‘Friend or Foe’.
We all found it fascinating hearing about what life was like growing up in the war and what kinds of foods he ate – some of them sounded quite weird!
We’d like to say a big thank you to Mrs Richardson’s dad for giving up his time and giving us such a memorable experience.
Fiddly Fingers Stay and Play
Thank you to the parents and children who joined us for the Fiddly Fingers Stay and Play today. We hope you enjoyed the session and feel confident to help support fine motor skills at home. It’s always so lovely to see how excited the children are to show their learning to their family. We really appreciate your support.
Odd socks for anti-bullying
On Monday, to kick off anti-bullying week, we joined in by wearing odd socks with many other children in the school and around the country.
The idea was to celebrate the fact that everybody is different, everybody is unique and we should celebrate our differences. We had a circle where we reminded ourselves what bullying is and what we can do to prevent it.
Our school message is: STOP
Several Times On Purpose
We then reminded ourselves that we should:
Start Telling Other People
York Castle Museum Adventure
This week, Year 1 and 2 visited York Castle Museum to learn more about their topic: Time Travel – houses.
The children visited and heard diary entries from people who lived in the types of rooms they were viewing. They enjoyed trying to guess which type of house they were looking at.
Leah – “First, we saw some poor and rich Victorian houses that were fancy…After that, we looked at some old and new kitchens.”
The children also explored a Victorian street and spoke to some actors from the Victorian era – their favourite spots in the Victorian street were the police station and school.
Brooklyn – “I saw an old sweet shop. It didn’t have any Smarties.”
The children had a brilliant day with excellent behaviour by all – a member of the public commented to us to say how well she thought the children were acting, behaving and listening. Well done, Year 1 and 2!
Lest we forget
We continued our poetry theme by reading one of the best known poems from WWI, Flanders Field.
Some children performed the poem to the rest of the school in Collective Worship.
Narrative poetry
This week, we started to read the narrative poem- The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe. There are some challenging words in the poem such as quaint, surcease, entreating and implore, so we spent some time predicting the meaning of these words and then using a dictionary to see if we were right or not.
We then watched a version of The Raven re-told by The Simpsons characters.
We answered some RIC (retrieve, interpret, choice) questions about the video clip and thought about what we liked and disliked about this version of the poem and how it’s presented.
“We will remember them”
Remembrance Day 2018
For reflection time this week, Foundation watched a presentation and had a discussion about the importance of the poppy emblems that many of the children have brought into school. We spoke about Remembrance Day, who we are remembering and about the centenary.
Ask your child if they can remember how many years it has been since the end of World War I
The children created some beautiful poppy decorations which they were very proud to take home in the afternoon.
If you’re attending any parades or services at the weekend, we’d love to hear about it in class. Perhaps your child could draw a picture or write a sentence about the experience, to share with their friends.
If you’re attending the parade in Wetherby this weekend, you may spot some familiar faces! Miss Beatson and some children from our school will be walking in the parade.
Home-Link Challenge:
Next week, for Anti-Bullying Week 2018, Foundation will be thinking about kind and unkind behaviours or actions. In preparation for this, we’d like you to have a discussion with your child about their friends. Please use this prompt: “Tell me about a time when one of your friends has been kind to you.” Please write down exactly what your child says, in their own words. We’ll use their responses in our learning this week.
Parent Reminders
Monday 12 November: Odd Socks Day- Anti-Bullying Week. Please send your child to school in odd socks.
Parents / carers of all Foundation children are invited to our interactive Fiddly Fingers Stay and Play, Wednesday 14 November, 3.15-3.45 pm. You’ll be able to take part in activities focused on developing fine motor skills. Whether you can stay for five or the full thirty minutes, we hope to see many of you there.
Friday 16 November: Children in Need. Please send your child to school wearing something yellow. We will be collecting donations for the charity.
Thank you.
Living and Learning: I can show perseverance
Our Christian value this half term is perseverance. This week it was the focus of our Living and Learning session. We looked closely at the words in this definition: ‘Persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success’.
Everyone closed their eyes and said the first thing that came into their heads related to the word ‘persevere’:
“To try and try again.”– Jessica
“Challenge yourself, don’t give up”. – Lily
“Be resilient, like one of the 8 Rs.” – Hannah
“When I persevere towards a goal I feel happy because I know I’m challenging myself.”-Emily
I posed the phrase ‘practice makes perfect’, but was very astutely corrected by Oliver: “No, practice makes progress, not perfect.”
Finally we watched an animated clip about one animal’s perseverance to overcome all the obstacles in his way. He didn’t give up and remained focused on his goal.
We left the session with a small task for next week:
Think of an achievable goal or target you are going to work towards.
You’ll need to demonstrate how you showed perseverance to accomplish your target.
We’ve all got until Christmas to work on our chosen goal.