Spring
DT- Designing and Making a Model Vehicle- This term, the children have designed, then built and evaluated their own vehicles. As part of our discussions, we at examples of chassis on other vehicles and evaluated which one would best suit their own model vehicle. The children then measured and cut their own axles to join on to the chassis.
Open Afternoon: It was lovely to welcome parents (and some grandparents!) into our classroom last Friday for the Open Afternoon. The children were very excited and proud to show them their books, our classroom and the rest of the school!
Science: we have investigated different types of seeds and learnt about what is inside a seed and a bulb. Having planted our own sunflower seeds, we researched and then described the life cycle of a sunflower seed and we have explained what it will need to grow and be healthy.
History: we had a fantastic trip to London to visit the Monument to the Great Fire, Pudding Lane where it all started, and the Tower of London to take part in a Fire! Fire! workshop. What a great day!
Whole School Clay Day: the children created their own clay plot by rolling their clay to the required size, adding a pattern using a rolling pin, cutting around a template and then sealing the clay around the tube, before creating a base and joining the pieces together. Once they have been fired in the kiln, the children are looking forward to painting their pots.
Geography: we have been learning about a family in the Mexican village of Tocuaro who make and sell masks as part of their fiesta celebrations. The children then created their own masks including patterns, flowers and animals.
Science Week: we have had a wonderful week conducting investigations (one was about waterproof materials and another about temperature changes in sand and water), learning about different scientists, discussing climate change, visiting the Science Show at Sevenoaks School, anaylysing scientific pictures and inventing our own designs!
PSHE: Aurelia's Mum, in Nursery, came to talk to us about her work as a lawyer and we discussed why we have laws, the difference between rules and the law; and where and how laws are made.
World Book Day: in our "Starbooks" Book Café, we shared our favourite books and created our own Book Tasting Menu. Some children also took part in a Book Character Battle to convince the rest of the class that theirs was the best!
Whole School Project: after looking through and discussing the story and the beautiful illustrations in the picture book "Journey" by Aaron Becker, the children then used their senses and interesting similes to write a descriptive poem about a magical journey.
Dance: we have been dancing to some Rock 'n' Roll music and learning to hand jive!
Maths: after discussing non-unit fractions (where the top number of the fraction is greater than 1), the children created their own images of non-unit fractions using various resources.
Emerald House Day: our Year 6 Emerald helpers told us about St Frances Cabrini's inspiring work helping children and immigrants, and how Hospice in the Weald was the chosen charity for today's fundraising. Our excellent Emerald helpers also joined us to make some delicious fruit kebabs!
Art: after studying the work of Metzinger, the children created their own landscape paintings using their fingertips to create a mosaic effect of the fire ball on the top of the Monument for the Great Fire of London.
History: the children wrote about how after the Great Fire, King Charles II ordered that London should be rebuilt with buildings made from bricks rather than wood, for houses to be built further apart and for the streets to be cleaner.
History and English: using their knowledge of the Great Fire of London, the children wrote these letters from the perspective of a Londoner, a firefighter or Samuel Pepys and then they had fun staining them to make them look old!
Mental Health Week: using the beautiful text "The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse" by Charlie Mackesy, we discussed how important it is to spread kindness, not to compare ourselves to others and to celebrate all the things that make us special!
Celebration of the Word: the children did a great job of explaining how Jesus told his first Disciples to become "fishers of people".
Art: inspired by the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh and with their knowledge of the Great Fire of London, the children used bold brushstrokes and the silhouettes of buildings to create these eye-catching landscape paintings.
History: the children imagined they were living in London at the time of the Great Fire. Using fire hooks, water squirts and fire engines they exclaimed "Help me to lift this water squirt!", "We need to create a fire break", "Quick, help me to pull down the houses!", "This fire is too hot!", "Stand back, I'm going to light the fuse on this gunpowder!" and "We need to get more water from the River Thames".
Science: we have been investigating the properties of different materials. Our first investigation explored which balls bounced the highest and our second investigation looked at how flexible different objects are and why.
Forest School: we had great fun collecting wood to light a fire, using a saw to cut off a piece of wood and decorating it, as well as using magnifying glasses to explore our surroundings. We finished off our exciting day by toasting marshmallows and drinking yummy hot chocolate!
Maths: we created equal groups using cubes and then recorded what the cubes represented, e.g. 4 groups of 5.
Science: investigating different materials around the classroom and describing their properties. Our investigation tested different materials to see which were the most waterproof to keep our teddy bear dry!
PSHE: we carefully thought about our New Year's resolutions for our learning this year.
Sapphire Day: making doves as part of our whole school display to celebrate the Jubilee Year which Pope Francis has declared a Holy Year of Hope.
PE: in gymnastics we have been incorporating balance movements whilst holding various gymnastic shapes, experimenting with different ways of travelling on the apparatus and using high and low movements.
