Living & Learning
This week we are thinking about how humans change and grow over time.
As we are in the final term of Year 4 and reflect on all that our superstars have achieved within and beyond the classroom, it would be a lovely opportunity to dig out some old photos and reminisce about how far they have come.
You might choose to look at some photos of your child(ren) as a baby or toddler. What did they enjoy doing? Do they have any of the same interests now? Can they imagine a time before they could walk? If you are in the photo, have you changed?
You might choose to look at photos of when they started school and notice how their bodies have changed in the past 5 years. As well as getting taller, have other things changed? Has anything stayed the same?
If your child has a favourite photo they might want to bring a copy to school or email a copy to me for them to share with the class.
Let the games begin!
We are in full swing with our end of year production – Let the games begin.
Children have thoroughly enjoyed learning their lines and practicing together. Next week, we will be moving to the hall to step up our preparations.
Thank you for helping your child with their costumes, any questions about this, please let me know asap.
Finally, just a reminder that we will be performing our play on Tuesday 8th July (1.45pm) and Wednesday 9th July (6pm).
Design and Technology – Structures
Our current topic is Design and Technology. So far, we’ve learnt about the importance of asking questions at all stages of the design process.
- What is the product for?
- Who will use it?
- How will it help the user?
- What materials will be used?
- How will the materials be joined?
- Did the product match the design?
- How could the product be improved?
We’ve also discussed the importance of stability in structures. The children enjoyed using their maths learning to mould some 3D shapes out of play-doh and test their stability.
We concluded that stable structures have a flat base and might be wider at the top than the bottom.
Help at home by building some structures. Which 3D shapes might you use to make a stable structure?
Maths: Finding a half and a quarter
Today, we read Peg and Cat: The Pizza Problem by Jennifer Oxley. (This is a YouTube link. Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip). We learnt that every whole can be divided into two equal halves.
After the story, we explored wholes, halves and quarters using wraps and discovered how to identify a whole, split it into two halves and even divide it further into four quarters.
Help at Home: Find a piece of food (fruit, bread or a wrap like we used at school). Try cutting it in half and for an extra challenge, cut it into quarters. Can you see how many halves or quarters make one whole?
Use the sentence stems:
- There are two halves in every whole.
- There are four quarters in every whole.
The Night Pirates
Ahoy, Me Hearties!
This week, we’ve been reading The Night Pirates by Peter Harris.
This is a story about a group of ‘Rough, tough little girl pirates‘ who take a little boy called Tom, on an adventure.
We looked at some repeated phrases in the story and how the author had chosen to end the story exactly as it had begun.
This great book has inspired our learning in the areas of provision.
Understanding the world; Identifying land and sea
Our ‘Word of the week’ is country. We know that we live in the country of England.
We’ve been looking closely at the globe and we’ve been discussing how we can identify which parts are the land and which is the sea.
Next week our focus book is Seaside Poem.
Have a lovely week.
Terrific Transport
This week, our special topic has been all about transport. We have been reading the book ‘The Train Ride’ by June Crebbin.
We thought of some different types of transport that we might use. We talked about how important it is to stay safe on transport and to put your seat belt on before you start your journey.
After looking at some familiar places, we decided how we might get to them.
“I went on an aeroplane to go on holiday.” Blossom
“I ride my bike to school.” Frankie
“We can drive or walk to Morrisons.” Wyatt
We created our own paper aeroplanes and had lots of fun in the playground. Although it was a really windy day, we enjoyed seeing who could get their plane to travel the furthest!
Next week, we will be reading ‘Duck In A Truck’ by Jez Alborough.
Help at home: Discuss staying safe when using different types of transport with your child. Why not have a look at the books we have been enjoying?
PE – cricket
We’ve enjoyed sharing Year 5’s expertise in our cricket lesson this afternoon.
Year 5 joined us as coaches to help us develop our skills hitting a ball with a cricket bat. We started hitting a ball balanced on a cone then progressed to hitting a ball dropped close to us. Finally we moved on to hitting a ball that was bowled to us by a partner.
Thank you for the expert coaching, Year 5!
Year 6 Residential – Day 3
Our final morning at Robinwood was a wet one…
We put on our waterproof clothes and made our way to the lake for canoeing. The children demonstrated fantastic communication – essential for not paddling around in circles!
After canoeing, we stayed at the lake for raft building. Children learnt to tie knots and used their skills to attach tyres and buoys to a raft. Then, it was time to test their seaworthiness… some were more successful than others!
Our session at the lake concluded with a dip – we jumped into the lake in a skydiving position, making for some excellent photos!
Our trip to Robinwood concluded in the caves, testing us with a series of tunnels to negotiate and navigate. There were some nerves at first but the children showed courage and perseverance and, on the whole, enjoyed the challenge.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the trip and I was so impressed by how proud they were to represent our school. They were positive and polite, modelling and embodying our school vision.
Fruit and Vegetables in Year 1
Today we became fruit and veg detectives! The children explored juicy strawberries and crunchy carrots, using their senses to investigate how they look, feel and taste. There were lots of surprised faces and thoughtful comments as they compared the sweet and earthy flavours.
Austin “The strawberry has seeds on the outside.”
Jolyon “The strawberries grow from the flower.”
George “The carrot is crunchy!”
Gracie “The carrot is the root.”
Alfie “We can eat ALL of a plant!”
Olivia “The carrot is tough and rough”
Spirituality
It wasn’t just about tasting — we also took time to pause and admire the beauty of nature. From the tiny seeds on a strawberry to the bright orange of a carrot, the children were filled with awe and wonder. A deliciously fun and thoughtful afternoon of learning! 🍓🥕
Reading – Rosie Revere, Engineer
This week, we’ve been exploring the imaginative world of Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. This book links to our topic this half term – D&T.
The story of Rosie, a young girl who dreams of becoming a great engineer, has sparked curiosity in our classroom, leading to some brilliant questions.
We’ve discussed perseverance and the importance of learning from mistakes. The children were inspired by Rosie’s resilience and her ability to reflect on her failures. Her ability to evaluate demonstrates an important part of the design process.
The children enjoyed embodying Rosie Revere and writing a note to her Aunt using lots of fabulous adjectives.
Rosie Revere, Engineer has taught us that with a bit of imagination and a lot of perseverance, anything is possible! Mistakes help us to learn and grow!
Help at home by asking your child about a time when they’ve had to persevere after an initial failure. What did they learn from not giving up?
Enjoy the story at home here.
Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog (it’s along the play bar) and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.