Class News

Reading: Oracy (Railway Carriage)

In reading this week, the children are learning about, and performing, the poem ‘Railway Carriage’ by Robert Louis Stevenson written in 1885.

We recapped our oracy targets from this year and identified which ones would be relevant when performing a poem aloud to peers.

Help at home: Can your child learn this poem off by heart?

Word Book Day

We’re very excited to be celebrating World Book Day on Thursday in school!

If your child would like to, they can come to school dressed as their favourite book character or in something book-related. Please don’t feel any pressure to go out and buy a costume.

Throughout the day, we’ll be taking part in a range of challenges inspired by different books. One of our creative activities will be making a milk bottle Elmer. To help with this activity, we would really appreciate it if you could send your child in with an empty milk bottle (rinsed out, please!).

Love of Reading Stay & Learn
We also have a love of reading stay and learn in class on Thursday 9.00am-9.30am, you are more than welcome to join us for this session. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to watch one of our daily Poetry Basket sessions and share and enjoy lots of stories with your child.

We look forward to celebrating our love of books together!

Reading – Class Novel

To say we are enjoying our new class novel, The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell, is an understatement!

This half term we are trying a new way of reading our class novel.  As we listen to the book being read, we are documenting (through words or pictures) what we learn about the characters and the details of the plot.

I hope you enjoy sharing the next chapter of the book together this weekend (photocopies provided with homework sheets.) Please let me know if this is something you enjoy doing and we can make it a regular thing!

Reviews for Wolf Wilder from some highly respected authors

A gorgeous flight of imagination set in a snowy Russian fantasy world, this has both the beauty and the fierce, funny and uncompromising storytelling style that sets Katherine Rundell’s books apart. The Wolf Wilder is a Fabergé egg of a novel – rich, bright and perfect ― Robin Stevens

A triumph! Exciting, moving, highly original, fierce, completely convincing ― Philip Pullman

The Wolf Wilder has everything: it’s a truly compelling read; it’s beautifully written; it’s totally original and yet has the familiar feel of an established classic ― Jacqueline Wilson

Help at home: Watch the ‘Introduction to the Wolf Wilder’ video on Authorfy https://authorfy.com/masterclasses/katherinerundell/ From our reading this week, can your child remember the names of the wolves that refuse to be re-wilded? From what they have read so far, do they agree or disagree with the reviews from Stevens, Pullman and Wilson?

Computing

In Year 6, we’ve really enjoyed the first week of our new computing topic. As part of this week, we’ve learnt about how search engines work. We found this video useful:

https://youtu.be/0eKVizvYSUQ

We were happy to discover that school filtering blocks content deemed inappropriate: this is done to keep us safe online whilst at school.

We have also been learning about logical reasoning.

Logical reasoning means thinking step by step to figure something out. Computers use logical reasoning by following instructions to make decisions and solve problems.

The children then used logical reasoning to solve sudokus. They were able to look carefully at the clues, eliminate what cannot be correct, and choose the only answer that makes sense. We knew this was NOT a guessing game. We were able to prove why each number belongs in a particular place.

Help at home – try solving sudokus together at home. Can your child explain why a number should go in a certain place?

Fun in the Mud at Forest School

This week, the children enjoyed a wonderfully muddy first Forest School session! They explored the space with great curiosity, searching for signs of spring and noticing changes in the natural environment. The children also took part in games, working together and building confidence. These experiences encouraged them to slow down and develop a sense of awe, wonder, and respect for the world around them.

Writing

Over the next few weeks, we will be writing a narrative using the video ‘Francis’ as its stimulus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9xX6lQ_gdY&t=35s

This film is perfect at building tension: the narrator uses pauses and varies the speed at which he speaks to build the suspense. As well as speech used to create tension, the music also plays a key part in creating suspense.

Help at home: Watch the video with your child with and without music. How does this alter the tension created?

Living and Learning – Helpful or Harmful?

This week in Living and Learning, we’ve been thinking about the different things that can go into our bodies and onto our skin, and whether they’re helpful, harmful or sometimes a bit of both!

We started by sharing our ideas about:

• What might go into our mouth

• What might go into our nose or ears

• What might go onto our skin

The children had some brilliant ideas! We talked about things like:

• Food and water

• Medicines

• Fresh air and smoke

• Creams and sun cream

• Plasters

• Fizzy drinks and sweets

• Insect bites

We discussed how these things can change how someone looks or feels. For example:

• Fresh air and water help us feel good.

• Too many sweets can make us feel poorly.

• Sun cream protects our skin.

• Smoke and exhaust fumes can harm our bodies.

The children were fantastic at recognising that some things can be both helpful and harmful. It often depends on:

• How much we have

• How we use it

• Whether we’ve asked a trusted adult

We talked about how we know if something might be harmful. The children suggested:

• Looking for warning labels or hazard symbols

• Listening to what a trusted adult says

• Not touching things we don’t recognise

• Telling an adult if something feels wrong

We finished by thinking about who can help us in different situations. The children know it’s important to always tell a trusted adult if:

• They feel unwell

• Something gets in their eyes

• They spill something they shouldn’t touch

• They hurt themselves

We reminded everyone that we should never put something into our body or onto our skin if we don’t know what it is or if we don’t have permission.

Help at home by:

• Looking at labels together on food, medicines or cleaning products.

• Talking about whether the item is helpful, harmful or could be both.

• Reminding your child who they should tell if they’re unsure about something.

Living & Learning – I know what a drug is

In Living & Learning this term, we’re learning about drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

This week we have defined a drug as:

A substance that changes the way the body or mind works.

We considered a range of medicines and household products and spoke about their benefits.

• Medicine – helps us to get better when we’re ill
• Soap – helps us to keep good hand hygiene to protect us from germs and keep us healthy
• Bleach – helps us to keep our homes clean and free from germs which helps to keep us healthy

We discussed the importance of staying safe when using these products. We identified the risks and how we can reduce these risks.

Help at home – discuss which medicines and household products you have at home and how you use them safely.  Challenge your child to think about how they could check if it is safe to use these products (such as checking labels and asking an adult) and to explain what they would need to do to use them safely.

This Green Moon

Today was a very special day for our Reception class as we went on our very first school trip to This Green Moon! As soon as we opened the door this morning, the children were buzzing with excitement.

When we arrived at Green Moon, we were warmly greeted by the two leaders, Paul and Matt, who took us on the most amazing adventure.

From the moment we stepped onto the coach to the minute we arrived back at school, the children were exceptional – what a credit they were to our school! Their behaviour, listening skills and enthusiasm were wonderful to see.

We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day outdoors, exploring the natural world around us. The children took part in so many exciting activities: making a fire, creating sculptures using potatoes, designing bracelets with pieces of coloured wool we found in the forest, and even working together to create a giant piece of artwork. It was fantastic to see their creativity and curiosity shining through.

What a fantastic day full of learning, laughter and adventure. Well done, Reception – we’re so proud of you all!

Living and Learning; I know what a drug is

This week, we have been learning about what a drug is.

We learned the definition:
A drug is a substance that changes the way the body or mind works.

We discussed how some substances at home are drugs, such as medicines, because they change the way the body works. We also talked about other household substances, like cleaning products. Although cleaning products are not drugs, they are still important to learn about because they can be harmful if used incorrectly. We discussed why we use these substances. For example, medicines help us feel better when we are ill and cleaning products help keep our homes clean and safe.

We also discussed the risks. Some drugs can be harmful if they are used in the wrong way, taken in the wrong amount or touched without permission. That is why it is very important that children only take medicine given to them by a trusted adult.

We looked carefully at a medicine packet and discussed the important information on it:

We learned that this information is there to help keep us safe.

The children showed great maturity during this discussion and asked thoughtful questions about staying safe at home.

You can support your child by:

• Talking about what medicines are used for in your home.

• Reminding children that medicines should only be taken with a trusted adult.

• Looking at labels together and discussing why instructions and warnings are important.

• Explaining that cleaning products are not for children to use and should always be kept safely stored.

Thank you for supporting our learning about staying safe.