Our biology experiment!
This week in years 3 and 4 we have continued our learning about plants. We carried our an experiment to investigate how much water cress requires to grow. We planted our seeds and then poured different amounts of water in each pot. We will keep observing the cress by measuring it every two days. 
This week’s message (Friday 29 April 2022)
This half-term, your child is a geographer. This week’s message, from Mr Wilks, our Sphere Federation Topic Leader, helps you to support your child at home…
However, before we dive right in, here’s a reminder about topics and what they look like.
What do we mean by topics?
Topics are the vehicle for delivering much of the learning in the foundation subjects (eg History, Art, Geography, DT). Each half-termly topic has a driving subject – the main focus for teaching pupils the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life. The driver changes with each topic to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum.
Although the learning in each topic is provided by the driving subject, there are opportunities for enrichment through other subjects. For example, learning in a history driven subject may be enriched by observational drawing of an artefact. In this example, the enricher is art.
For more information about the intent, implementation and impact of our topics, click here.
What is this half-term’s topic?
This half-term, we’re geographers. The topic is called Explorers.
We’re comparing a place in the United Kingdom with a place in another country. Y1,2 children are heading to Kenya in Africa; Y3,4 children are having a mini-break in Venice; and Y5,6 children are trekking through the Amazon Rainforest in South America.
Across the year groups, children are developing their understanding of some key geographical concepts:
- Space is a precise location, eg a country, city a latitude or longitude.
- Place = location + meaning. This includes the physical and human geography that make a place unique. Importantly, place is not rigid. It is changing and can be perceived in different ways.
- Scale is defined by the relative sizes of places. This could be differences in area, population, distances. Scale can also be defined by our view of the world. For example, we may consider an aspect of geography on a local, national and international scale.
- Interdependence is the idea that the world is connected and that countries or individuals do not act in isolation. Our actions here affect people in different countries around the world. For example, food, energy, holidays, climate.
Click this link to the Curriculum Statement for more information about key concepts (page 19) and age-related expectations and vocabulary (page 22 and 23).
Years 1 and 2
Children begin the topic by learning about the different continents and oceans in the world. They learn about the Equator and how it splits the Earth into two hemispheres. They then focus on a specific continent, Africa, and a specific country within that continent, Kenya. They compare Nairobi in Kenya to London, with a focus on the physical and human geography of these two places. Finally, they take a visit into the countryside and compare features of the Yorkshire Dales with a National Park just outside Nairobi.
Years 3 and 4
Children recap learning about the Equator and hemispheres. They then develop that by learning about the tropics and climate zones. A focus on European and world cities and countries follows; this links to climate zone learning. After that, they focus in on Venice in Italy and its physical and human geography which they compare with York. They’ll learn about the positives and benefits that tourism brings, putting themselves in the shoes of both tourists visiting the places and locals who live there. Finally, they’ll learn about the problems posed by flooding in both localities and the solutions they have introduced to limit the consequences of flooding.
Years 5 and 6
We begin the topic by learning about the different types of biomes found on Earth and how these are linked to climate. Children then focus on the biomes found in Brazil and the UK. They then focus on Brazil more generally, building their understanding of it as a place. Next, they learn about the Amazon Rainforest and its importance to Brazil in terms of the economy as well as its importance ecologically. They’ll learn about the threats to the rainforest and the impact that deforestation is having. Finally, children consider what Brazil – and we – need to do to slow down deforestation and what we can do to slow deforestation.
How can you help?
Regardless of the year group your child is in, Google Earth is a brilliant tool to help develop children’s understanding of space, place, scale and interdependence. Zoom right in on your home and then zoom out to reveal the area of Leeds that you live in. Zoom further out to see what city you live. Zoom further for the county. A little further and you might start to spot some national parks. Further still and you can see the country that we live in. Keep zooming and you’ll see the continent we live in (though this isn’t labelled). Before you know it, you’re floating in space and circling the Earth!
Google Maps is another great tool for comparing places. Try the street view option and you can walk along a street in Nairobi and a street in London. Take a drive through the lush Yorkshire Dales and compare this to the Kenyan countryside. You could wander down the Shambles in York and compare this to the streets in Venice. You can also compare images of the same street from different points in time.
Quizzing your children about some locational knowledge will help them to remember important information. I’ve listed some examples below. Use the age-related expectations (see the links to our Curriculum Statement, above) to find the right pitch for your child.
- Which continent do we live in?
- Which country do we live in?
- In which hemisphere is our country located?
- Which county do we live in?
- Which city do we live in?
- Which part of Leeds do we live in?
- Which four countries make up the United Kingdom?
If you can, go to the library and get some geography-related books, especially an atlas. You could compare maps of the same place to see what type of information they show. For example, you find lots of maps of the United Kingdom. One might show the countries and capital cities. Another might show the mountains, rivers and national parks. Another might give information about the climate.
For older children, there are lots of different games and activities on the Ordnance Survey Mapzone website. I especially like the jigsaws in the Map Puzzles section of the Games!
Also for children in Key Stage 2, there are lots of information and some tasks and quizzes on the BBC Bitesize website.
Marvellous minibeasts
Literacy
This week, the children had fun writing their own versions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. They came up with some fantastic ideas.
BI – The Very Hungry Bee
CW – The Very Hungry Ant
CW – The Very Hungry Worm
HD – The Very Hungry Spider
BA – The Very Hungry Dragonfly
Next week, we’ll study the artist Alexander Calder and create our own representations of his butterfly work.
BREAKING NEWS!
On Monday, Mr Atkins brought us a box – it was our caterpillars! The children were so excited. When they arrived, they were amazed at how tiny they were. Throughout the next few weeks, the children will be observing them on a daily basis and writing in their caterpillar diaries. This week, we’ve been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly.
Ask your child if they can remember the four stages of the life cycle. 
The minibeast learning continued in the areas…
We went looking for minibeasts in our outdoor area. We talked about what they look like and their habitats.
We painted symmetrical butterflies.
We used natural objects to create minibeasts.
Diary dates
Friday 13 May – School closed: training day
Friday 27 May – Jubilee celebrations in school
Thursday 23 June – Moving from Reception to Year 1 transition meeting. This one is in person – not by Zoom (finally!).
Tuesday 05 July – Sports Day (morning)
Friday 08 July – PTA Summer Fair
Home-Link Challenge
I hope you all have a happy and healthy bank holiday.
See you on Tuesday!
29 March 2022
Y1 – The /l/ sound spelt -el at the end of words.
table, apple, bottle, little, middle
Y2 – This week, the year 2 children have been focusing on homophones. It’s important to know the difference in meaning between homophones.
there/their/they’re, here/hear, night/knight, blue/blew, be/bee
29 April 2022
This week, we have been learning about unusual spelling patterns. Please learn the following words for a test on Thursday 05 May.
- amateur
- ancient
- bargain
- bruise
- conscience
- environment
- foreign
- mischievous
- prejudice
29 April 2022
The latest Talk Time relates to our current Geography topic, Explorers:
I can show off my knowledge of world geography.
Years 1 and 2:
I know the world’s seven continents and the world’s five oceans.
Years 3 and 4 (as above plus):
I know at least four European countries and their capital cities (not including those in the UK) and I know some of the main rivers and mountains in Europe.
Years 5 and 6 (as above plus):
I know some world-wide countries and some of their major cities.
Think back to your lessons as a geographer so far this year. What strategies have you used, or could you use, to help you remember these facts? It could be drawings, pictures, map, videos, songs or other resources.
Our oracy focus this half term is vocabulary so when having your discussions at home, make sure to use the correct terminology eg city, capital city, country, continent.
29 April 2022
These words all have an alternative grapheme ‘ch’ to make the ‘k’ sound.
ache
stomach
echo
anchor
character
school
technology
chemist
choir
mechanic
The children will be tested on Friday 06 May 2022.
Science – Plants
This half term we are learning about plants. We will be focussing on:
- naming a variety of common, garden and wild plants.
- identifying and naming various deciduous and evergreen trees.
- identifying and describing the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.
Here is a list of some of the vocabulary that will be taught in the coming weeks.
Today, we discussed the difference between a garden and wild plant and identified some plants. We also went on a plant hunt around school and used the iPads to take pictures of the plants we found. We then classified them into garden and/or wild plants.
Challenge: Can your child identify any of these garden and wild plants? Can they classify them into garden and/or wild plants?
Living and Learning – I can take part in democratic decisions
This week, we have been discussing in class what it means to be part of a democratic decision.
The children were given a choice of two songs to sing in collective worship. We had a vote and the song with the most votes was the song we sung. We discussed how sometimes things might not go your way but we have to be respectful to the decision.
Isla “That’s ok because next time we might get to sing the song I chose.”
Today, we had another democratic decision to make. On Friday 27th May we will be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee-that’s 70 years as Queen! Each class will learn and perform a dance from each of her reigning decades, which we will share at the party.
The children were given a choice of two songs from the 90s (are chosen decade) and we had a vote. The song we will be performing is 5,6,7,8 by Steps.
We are gymnasts!
Year 3 have started some gymnastics with some coaches. Their first lesson was full of energy and enjoyed by all of the children.
