News
Newsletter for the week ending 5th November
A very full week following half term and the children have responded with their usual high levels of energy and enthusiasm. Please do read the main section of this post to find out what has been happening in each of the classes this week.
We have been given a date of Wednesday 17th December for the nasal flu vaccination of pupils in Dophins to Year 6. We will be sending out further details (including consent forms) when we receive them.
We wish you all a lovely weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have had great fun learning about bonfire night and we celebrate it in the way that we do. We watched a video about Guy Fawkes and looked at the Houses of Parliament. We found where London was on a map. We have painted pictures of fireworks and bonfires using a range of different tools. We looked at the clothes that Guy Fawkes wear and talked about how they are same and different to the clothes we wear now. Today we have talked about the things that we need to do to stay safe tonight for our Fireworks Party.
What a lovely first week back in year 1. This week has been a whole feast of new learning. In PE we have started learning about dance. The children enjoyed moving their bodies in different ways and acting like different animals. In science, the children started to learn about ‘Autumn’. We collected lots of Autumnal natural resources and the children used this to create fab Autumn pictures. We also started our new topic this week (coast to coast); The children discussed what children in 1907 did at the beach. The children shared what they enjoyed doing at the beach and then also shared some of the negative things about the beach, including seagulls stealing icecreams. In our writing, we have started looking at the book ‘What do you do with a tail like this?’ The children have been interested in learning about what animals do with their different body parts. Have a restful weekend.
Welcome back Lundy Puffins after the half term break! Everyone has written some brilliant instructions based on the book ‘How to wash a woolly mammoth.’ There were lots of really imaginative ideas – well done! In Maths, they have been getting to grips with adding and subtracting two 2-digit numbers. Knowing number facts off by heart really does help with this, so please keep practising. We are about to start our new topic on India and there will be a new homework grid coming soon on Google Classroom, so please look out for it. The homework last term was really great; thank you and well done for all your hard work work and effort. Outdoor learning this week was all about food chains to fit in with the science topic and 8n the Art studio they put the finishing touches to their Christmas cards.
HMS Echo have had a brilliant week developing their descriptive writing skills, based on the story ‘Little Evie in the Wild Wood.’ They have really tried hard to be as ambitious as possible and take risks with new vocabulary. Here are some examples of the amazing work they produced…She could smell the soft stagnant earth where her adventurous toes protruded, disrupting the fiery leaves that had descended slowly to the ground (by Seth) and The pathway was grassy but clear. She could smell the damp dew on the grass where her sensitive feet were disturbing the leaves that had swiftly twirled to the ground (by Oscar). On Friday we visited Morrisons to investigate the ways in which they are working to encourage shoppers to reduce, reuse and recycle. The children did some great research which they are going to use to write letters to Morrisons and other supermarkets next week, explaining what they could do to make further improvements. The children were amazing on the visit and asked some great questions to gather evidence.
Year 5 watched clips of the Northern Ballet production of A Simple Man and the began to create their own dance motifs based on everyday activities. This will later be developed into a group dance exploring our throw away society! Year 6 saw a clip of Katak, South Asian Classical dance. They learnt how mudra, hand gestures, are used to tell a story. They will be developing their own mudra to tell the story of Krishna and the Mountain which links to those work on global warming and rising sea levels. Year 4 used djembe drums to explore cyclic patterns and year 3 had great fun designing symbols to represent different sounds when they began to consider graphic notation.
This week Seahunter have been continuing their learning on addition and subtraction in Maths. They have been learning how to add and subtract tens both borrowing and carrying, and how to add and subtract hundreds. In English, we have recapped the use of pronouns, written a status report about an animal from the rainforest and started planning our shared writing. In Science, we learnt how light reflects off of objects to our eyes in order for us to see them and investigated this using mirrors. The children were then tested on their knowledge of light in computing through a Kahoot quiz!
Year 5 have returned to school rested and very keen to start their new topics. In English we have started to read the epic poem, Beowulf, and learn about the monster Grendal. We have been looking at writing sentences using semi-colons and powerful adjectives. In maths we have started our work on multiplication and division. Our topic this half term will be finding out about the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. This week we have been looking at why the Anglo-Saxons started off being invaders but then became settlers. In science we have looked at the human life cycle and will be thinking about how this relates to other animal life-cycles. It was lovely having the first ‘Open the Book’ assembly this week after such a long break in assemblies. Homework will continue to be set each week, and needs to be handed into the classroom by a Wednesday.
Year 6 have been busy in Literacy writing their stories this week, which will be ready to publish next week. In Maths, it has been more about division – some really tricky calculations with remainders! In Science, they have found micro-organisms interesting and may try looking for mould at home so it might be a good idea to keep an eye on packed lunch boxes – I did suggest it wasn’t a good idea to leave them festering! In Topic, they have started to think about World War Two and what they already know – they are looking forward to being evacuees and trying out rationing. We have outdoor learning next week on Thursday so please remember your outdoor gear.
