News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 24th February
Welcome back everybody and please find out what has been happening in the classes the week by reading the Around the Classes section of this newsletter.
Wishing you all a happy weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
ROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we made pancakes on Tuesday and loved having some pancake races outside. This led us to find out a little bit about America as some of us knew that people in America make pancakes. We found out about the landmarks in America and NASA. Cathy spoke to us about her trip to NASA when she went to America. We made collages of the landmarks.
Year 1 have had a lovely week back and have really enjoyed sharing the things they got up to over half term! We have started our new topic where we are finding out what happened during the Great Fire of London! We started by reading and sequencing the story of Toby and the Great Fire of London, we had some great questions that we are excited to find out the answers to. In writing we have started our new book ‘What happens when…’ and have been having a go at writing some questions. In PE we are carrying on with Gymnastics and practised some jumps and shapes we have learnt this week, in our outdoor sessions we are moving onto the skill of ball control.
The highlight of the week for Year 2 was the trip to the lifeboat station on Thursday morning. They were able to look at the clothes worn by the lifeboat crew and ask lots of questions. They were even able to climb inside one of the lifeboats! In Maths, they have been looking at the 10 and 5 times tables as well as the division facts to go with them. In English, they have been learning how the author in our Amelia Earhart book starts lots of sentences with ‘when’ and ‘as’. They had a go at writing some of their own sentences following this pattern. For their History work, they thought about how we should remember Grace Darling. On alternate Mondays, Year 2 will be taking part in outdoor learning at Northam Burrows. Please look out for the letter in book bags.
Year 3 considered the importance of keeping a promise. In dance, they began a unit on Katak – a style of South Asian classical dance. They used mudra – hand gestures to tell a story which linked with their work on Hinduism. Year 4 looked at how an understanding of the Quran can be seen in the way Muslims lead their lives. They began some work on composition using words to create a rhythm which will eventually become an ostinato. Year 5 explained in their own words why they felt it was important for a Christian to believe in a God who is holy and loving and considered how people with no faith know how to lead a good life. Year 6 began a unit of work looking at the events of Holy Week. They also began a unit of work on composition which linked to work they have done in their values lessons.
Seahunter class (year 3) have had a wonderful first week back! In History, we were very excited to start a new topic which is looking at changes that have happened since the Stone Age. For our first lesson, we thought about what we already knew about the Stone Age and then using some images we thought of our own questions in order to find out more. In maths, we have been measuring in metres, centimetres, and millimetres and we have learned all about equivalent lengths. In English, we have been exploring how to create multi-clause sentences and to practise we wrote a description of Arthur’s adventure from the story ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’ using a variety of conjunctions to extend our sentences. We also did some first aid training and learned how to help someone who is having difficulty breathing during an asthma attack.
Welcome back HMS Echo (year 4) ! We have been doing lots of learning this week – in English, we are starting to plan a poem in the style of The Sound Collector, ready to write a poem of their choice about a location with all the sounds being stolen. In Maths, we have begun fractions, where we have been counting in fractions, and looking at mixed numbers. In PE, we have begun our realPE unit of coordination and counterbalance, where the children have to coordinate in pairs throwing and catching multiple balls to each other. In History, we have begun looking at Victorians, and it’s great the children remember so much about their Coldharbour Mill trip before half term. In Science, we have begun a unit on Living Things and their Habitats.
Year 5 have started writing space logs in English about visiting new planets. In maths we are improving our skills on decimals and percentages; this week we have been finding equivalent fractions and decimals. We have begun our geography unit on Florida by finding out facts about some of the states in America. In the e-safety session we looked at using the child-friendly search engine of ‘swiggle’ and compared it to other search engines. It has been a busy and productive week back after the half term break. Next week we are linking with the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to take part in an ‘exploring our solar system’.
Year 6 have enjoyed reading Ice Bear by Jackie Morris this week for their text in Literacy. They have thought about how it makes them feel and what questions it poses as well as delving into some more unusual vocabulary. In maths, they have been working on calculating with decimal numbers as well as revising skills for the arithmetic paper. They have also used protractors to draw and measure angles and to calculate with angles. In grammar, they have looked at prepositions and revised some suffixes and prefixes in spelling. Reading has involved retrieval and prediction questions – work on this has gone home to be added to revision packs. They have worked hard this week and have been positively trying to make improvements to their skills and knowledge. Don’t forget, booster classes will start on Monday – thank you to those who have responded to let us know your plans.
