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Giants are coming!

This term we have made some changes to how we plan and teach our foundation subjects. Through these changes we are hoping to better develop our children’s subject specific knowledge and, for example, their understanding of what it means to be an historian, artist or designer. You will be able to see examples of this in our blog this week: Year 3/4 have been learning about joining in their design technology lessons; and, Year 5/6 have been learning about ocean currents in their geography lessons. We believe this approach will promote many of our subjects, increase engagement and, maybe, even unlock hidden talents! You can also read about how much our Year 1/2 children have grown and Year R’s attempt to grow a beanstalk - just like Jack from the famous traditional tale. I hope that we don't have any giants come to visit us!

Year R - Jack and the Beanstalk

Year R have been enjoying learning about the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. We have planted our own bean seeds and are very excited that they have started to grow! The children have also been learning how to make different shades of green paint by mixing blue and yellow, ordering numbers to create a beanstalk from blocks and drawing their own maps of the story.

Year 1/2 - Mastering Measuring

Year 1 and 2 have been learning all about measuring this week. They have had a great time working out how much they have grown since September – some children had grown taller by 5cm! 

Here are the children’s top tips for using a ruler:

  1. Always start at 0cm.
  2. Put the ruler right next to what you are measuring.
  3. Look to see where the object goes up to.
  4. Remember to say what you are measuring in.

Year 3/4 - Investigating Joins

This week, Year 3/4 have been investigating joins in our design technology topic.  Using lolly sticks, bulldog clips; blu tack and some elastic bands the children were challenged to make a bridge that spanned a 10cm gap.  After learning about triangles and their inherent strength, we practised making various joins before setting off to build the structure for a bridge. This phase of the topic was an experimental stage to test out ideas for the following stage where we’ll use wood to make the bridge.  We’ll post some pictures when the final wooden bridges have been constructed and hopefully you’ll be able to see the progress we’ve made!

Year 5/6 - Ocean Currents

Following the extended weekend, the children came back fully recharged and ready to go. We finished our Science topic with an investigation into irreversible changes. We followed two lines of enquiry: how the height and mass of a candle would change over time after being lit. Mr Brown’s class candles reduced in weight by about 3g and in height by 1cm every 20 minutes. We discovered these changes happened due to the melting wax, burning wick and because new substances were being created and given off during the combustion process. The children also looked at how the properties of different items had changed showing that they were irreversible. In geography, the children began to learn about ocean currents. We looked at different types of currents, how they are created and where some can be found on a map of the world. In our new history topic, the children began to learn about Early Islamic Civilisation and how and where it began. 

 

A belated ‘Thank You!’ to our indoor athletes who performed amazingly a couple of weeks ago and managed to get both a Determination award as well as a Self-Belief award.

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