News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 13th May
Once again so much going on: learning about oceans; mimibeasts writing; collage linked to a poem; physical theatre; singing the water cycle; experimenting with vocabulary choices in creative writing; Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica; cricket coaching and year 6 SATs. The attitude of our year 6 children towards their SATS was exemplary, in both the preparation for and the sitting of, and they did themselves proud. And the rest of the school showed their support by being so quiet during the tests it felt at times like the school was empty!
We have vacancies on our governing body. Please click here to find out more and how to arrange an informal conversation to find out if it is for you.
Please click here to view a letter regarding the Devon County Council SEND department Ofsted inspection. The inspection includes a survey for parents of children who have special educational needs.
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/DevonCountyCouncilRe-visitLASEND/ .The survey opens at 12 noon on Monday 16 May 2022 and will close at 12 noon on Friday 20 May 2022.
Please read on to find out more of what has been happening in and around the classes.
Have a super weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued our learning about the Ocean. We have thought about how we can look after the seas and oceans and help to stop the pollution. We had Sadie Davies come and talk to us on Wednesday. You might recognise that name as the lady that swam to Lundy a couple of years ago. We have made ‘Save the Seas’ posters.
In year 1 this week we have started to make our own lift the flap books about minibeasts. We chose which minibeasts to write about and will be drawing our pictures to go alongside our facts next week. We were very lucky to be able to have a go on the steam engine that came to school on Monday and loved our ride around the top playground. We have also been thinking about E-Safety and how to stay safe online. After lots of discussions about how to react to situations we could encounter online, we made posters to teach others how to behave safely when using the internet.
This week Lundy Puffins have been doing some amazing writing. They have changed the class story ‘The Dragon Machine’ into the ‘The Merpeople Machine’ and tried hard to write interesting verbs. In Maths, they have been practising division facts for the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Please keep practising the 2, 5 and 10x tables at home so that they are automatic – it really will help them. In their topic work they answered the question: Where in the world is Westward Ho! ? By looking at world maps and completing a world map quiz. In Art, they are creating a collage based on the poem ‘The Owl and the Pussy Cat’ and are excited about seeing the final piece.
Year 3 refined their piece of physical theatre. They have worked as a group very successfully and shown great creativity and imagination with staging of the piece. They have trusted each other and listened to each others’s point of view and the results are impressive and entertaining. Year 4 learnt and then performed counter rhythms on specific instruments. They then worked as a group to layer up the rhythms which was challenging but fun. Year 5 began a piece of drama that explored the parable of the The Centurion’s Servant. By retelling this story dramatically they were able to consider the meaning of the parable. Year 6 consolidated their knowledge of French vocabulary and updated their phrase books. All year groups enjoyed a performance and introduction to the Rock Steady teaching programme. Details about lessons and how to book will follow if your child was interested.
This week in Year 3, the children have continued their learning on fractions and have learnt how to recognise unit and non-unit fractions, how to count in fractions and how to recognise tenths. In English, we looked at prepositions and complex sentences that the author of ‘A River’ uses, discussed the use of colour in the book and the children wrote about whether they think the journey is real, giving reasons for their opinion. In Topic, the children have learnt about The Water Cycle and learnt a song to help them to remember it! In Science, we are carrying out an investigation to see which plants grow the best and why. The class thoroughly enjoyed the Rock Steady assembly on Thursday afternoon and are progressing well in their swimming and tennis skills!
HMS Echo have impressed and amazed us with their incredible writing skills this week. They practised using the skills they have learnt to retell part of The Firebird by Saviour Pirotta, ready for planning and writing their own versions. The vocabulary choices and the way they engaged their readers were really carefully thought out. We are excited to see what they do when they create their own stories.
Here are a couple of excerpts from this week’s writing:
As Ivan peeked in, he saw the dazzling bird, the flickering feathers came to an end.
“Yes, she is asleep,” said Ivan. As he saw the solid gold cage, he was stunned.By Eben
Vasili was getting tired, so he closed his eyes thinking of how proud his father would be when he returned with the firebird. When he woke up, the sun was bright and the first thing that popped into his small, irritated head was he had failed to complete the task. By Amelie
Year 5 have been busy writing their diary entries, from the view of one of the crew, about Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica. We now know more about the journey to South Georgia and what life may have been like on board the Endurance. In maths we have continued our work on angles; angles on a straight line and around a point. We have needed to show clear calculations to find these. In history we have been finding out why Spain was so wealthy and powerful in the sixteenth century and who Elizabeth 1 sea dog’s were. We have played tennis and cricket this week and listened to music with Rock Steady.
Year 6 have put all their skills into practice this week with their SATs tests. They have all worked extremely hard and been determined to do their best which has been fantastic. They have enjoyed rounders, cricket and hockey in between their scheduled tests and have started to look at their end of year production which should prove to be some well earned fun. We will now start our final topic on Islands and have a visitor from Lundy next Thursday afternoon. Thank you to all those who have replied to the Wake Park letter – payments can be made online.
