News
Newsletter for the week ending 14th March
It’s great to see classes taking advantage of our wonderful grounds during lessons by taking aspects of learning outside of the classrooms. To find out more please read the Around the Classes section further down this post.
Comic Relief is next Friday, so it’s wear red for the day and if you are able to donate please feel free to send it in to school.
The charity Book Relief in Bideford has kindly donated a wide range of second-hand natural history books on topics the children are investigating in the Royal Society ‘Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists’ project. Similarly, The British Trust for Ornithology has also donated bird identification books. Developing a permanent library of reference books is one goal of this project.
Safeguarding conversations with pupils this week has highlighted that children are accessing online activities at ages below, in some cases significantly below, the minimum age ratings. One example is the currently popular online game Dumb Ways to Die that has a recommended age restriction of 12+. For general advice on age restrictions see here and specific app age guidelines see here
- Class photos will be taken next week on Tuesday 18th March
- School Spring Disco Friday 28th March and more information here
- Sports Day Tuesday 17th June and reserve date is Tuesday 24th June
- Please keep an eye out for communication regarding forthcoming parents evenings
Wishing you all a good weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have started learning about Spring. We have found out about the life cycle of a chicken, a frog and a butterfly. We have made chickens that move by fixing them with split pins and we have painted pictures of chickens using different resources e.g. a paintbrush and a fork to name a couple. At the end of the week we read ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ to find out more about that particular life cycle.
A super week in year 1, at the beginning of the week we went into our school woodlands looking for signs of spring. We spotted lots of spring flowers, birds nests, buds starting to grow and seedlings. On Tuesday we had a visit from some Paramedics who talked to us about what they do and how the emergency services can help us and what to do in an emergency. Then we got to look around the ambulance at all the equipment. Some of us even got to switch on the lights and siren! There are some photos on google classroom. In art we spent some time in the studio working with clay to make fish sculptures. We learnt new techniques for making patterns using different tools. They need to dry and we will be painting them in our next session.
Year 2 had a great time in the Art studio on Thursday. They were able to use clay to make a small pot which will be fired ready for painting at their next session. In their Maths work, they have been ordering and comparing lengths and are beginning to look at measuring mass using the balance scales. In English, they have been writing about sea animals in the style of the Creature Features dinosaur book. For their Geography work, they have been looking at where India is in the world and drawing maps to mark on the mountains, rivers and cities. They are continuing with their weekly trombone lesson and will soon be able to perform to a short song which we will record and put on Google Classroom for you to enjoy.
In singing assembly, years 3-6 have reached the 80’s and 90’s in their history of music timeline. They have heard how synthesized sounds including drum machines enabled musicians to experiment with different tempos and rhythms. This toes on perfectly with the work they are undertaking in class music lessons. They are busy bringing together the various component parts of their compositions including simple melodies and drum rhythms. Most children have explored how to add a subtrakt to create the foundations of those composition. In RE, year 3 looked at how Hindus celebrate Diwali, year 4 wrote diary entries for Mary, year 5 played their Samsara board games and year 6 studies the significance of Holy Communion.
Year 3 have had a fantastic week. In Maths, we learnt all about equivalent fractions. We then used number lines and bar models to find fractions that are equivalent. In English, we finished reading Arthur and the Golden Rope, and used different conjunctions to create our own multi-clause sentences to describe a part of the story. In Science, we recapped the roles of each of the seven nutrients and then discussed what a healthy meal looks like. We then designed our own healthy dinner and labelled the different nutrients. In Computing, we explored how digital devices work by receiving inputs and producing outputs. We also discussed the importance of protecting our digital devices so that our online information cannot be taken without our permission. On Tuesday, we took part in a really fun multi-skills festival at ARC where we played a variety of sports including cricket, football and tag rugby. In our PE lesson at school, we practised our sending and receiving skills and learnt how to do some counter balances with a partner.
In year 4 this week, the children have learnt about mixed numbers and improper fractions in Maths and they have practised converting between the two. They will move on to looking at equivalent fractions and the patterns they notice between equivalent fractions. In English, the children have done some research about earthquakes (which links to their Geography topic) where they are going to write a nonfiction piece on how earthquakes happen as part of their practise write. They will practise writing using a range of conjunctions and using an informal tone. In Geography, we looked at where earthquakes occur in the world by studying some maps and why earthquakes occur at these places. In Science, we looked at classifying different living things, for example vertebrates and invertebrates. They also used a classification key to identify unknown species. In PE, the children have practised their sending and receiving skills, where they practised kicking, throwing and using a tennis racket. In Gymnastics, the children practised different jumps. In Values, we looked at how feelings change as they go through puberty.
This week year 5 have had fun writing about some of the Wallace and Gromit inventions. They have been using their explanation writing skills to show how these machines work. Our maths work has continued to look at decimals numbers: comparing & ordering and rounding. The geography lesson looked at how far Reykjavik (capital of Iceland) is to other European capitals. This required some accurate measuring and using the given scale to find the distance. In science we discovered more about human gestation and prenatal development. Remember to bring in bicycles next week if you are taking part in bikeability.
Year 6 have been practising how to find percentages as well as recognising fractions as decimals and percentages. They have also been drawing pie charts and revising volume. In Literacy, most have had time to complete their celebrations and some have published their work. They have looked at a variety of questions in reading and have been making sure they know what the questions are looking for. In spelling, they have been revising prefixes and how these change words. PE has involved running this week and in Outdoor Learning, they have linked to science and classification. Booster classes have now finished, but there are lots of resources on google classroom that are still available. Children are encouraged to add their name to a list, in class, if there is anything else that they would like help with.
