Year Groups

In Year 5 in Autumn 1 we have been blogging to share our ideas about online safety. We have also been learning how to use our word processing skills and develop confidence using both hands when typing.

In our first lesson we looked at how to format text on word by changing the size, font, colour and using the cut and paste function. Year 5 then used these skills to create their own pupil files similar to what the teachers handed out in transition week. We spoke about how to make responsible choices with our online identities before creating our own files about ourselves for a class book with a paragraph about family, hobbies and school.

Year 5 have discussed online safety and the importance of communicating effectively online. We then created our own safe passwords on edublogs. We used this website to create a class blog where we all wrote our own post about the learning we had done so far this term. In our final lesson we explored the quality of information available on the internet and considered how we access it. We then wrote a post on our class blog outlining what we have learned about using the internet to research information.

The children have settled really well into Year 4 and we have been so pleased with the enthusiasm that they have demonstrated towards their learning. We are really proud of the children and we are looking forward to seeing this continue and flourish over the year!

In History this half term, we have been focussing on the Romans. The children have enjoyed taking a look at some different Roman artefacts to decipher what they may have been used for. They have examined and compared what life was like before and after the Romans invaded Britain. They produced some wonderful work on this and loved adding their creative touches to their double page spread! More recently, the children have imagined what it would have been like during Queen Boudicca’s revolt. They looked at the battles through the eyes of a number of different people including the Roman Governor, a Roman Slave and a Celtic farmer.

In Maths, we have started the year by looking at place value of four digit numbers. The children have been able to use a range of equipment such as Base 10, counters and place value charts to support understanding. We have also recently completed our topic on Addition and Subtraction and it was great to see how confident the children were with using the column method already. Our most recent topic is Perimeter and Area. Despite the poor weather, we were able to get outside and measure the perimeter of 2D shapes on the playground. The children were most inventive and used a range of classroom resources to estimate the perimeter!

During our writing sessions, we have focussed on Fantasy stories followed by Newspaper Reports. The children have demonstrated knowledge of past tense, fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases. We have been particularly impressed with the ideas the children generated for the Roman Gladiator fight newspaper report. Their mock gladiator fights on the playground supported them in producing some very atmospheric newspaper reports! The children have loved combining our History and English topic together.

In Science, our topic has been States of Matter, the children have been very enthusiastic about the experiments and particularly enjoyed melting different solids (even if it did make some of them hungry). They have enjoyed demonstrating their understanding of how solids, liquids and gasses move and how they can change state when heated or cooled.

This half term in Guided Reading, we have been reading ‘Romans on the Rampage’ by Jeremy Strong. The children have thoroughly enjoyed Jeremy Strong’s humour throughout the book so far! Their favourite activity has been designing their own invention like the inventor in the story (Maddasbananus). When answering the questions based on the book, the children have been using the VIPERS (Vocabulary, Infer, Predict, Explain, Retrieve and Summarise) skills to support them.

In PE this half term the children have been working on their gymnastic skills, in particular, rotations, balances and supported balances. The supported balances have been particularly impressive, as they have had to put a lot of trust in their partner in order to be successful. It has been great to see their teamwork in the classes! They have also enjoyed challenging themselves in the Real PE sessions to find new and different ways to travel from one point to another. They have practiced footwork skills such as hopscotch, skipping, side stepping and hopping!

On Wednesday 11^th October, Year 3 visited the Norwich Cathedral and participated in their Sacred Science programme of study. We explored different aspects of Science and learnt all about the history of why the cathedral was constructed. We re-capped our geographical learning with compass points and absorbed the magnificence of the cathedral as a historic building.

As part of our current Science unit: Forces, we explored how effective the force of gravity was in the construction of the cathedral during William the Conqueror’s reign. We used the medieval mason’s template to re-create an archway. We worked together beautifully to create our arches, we displayed determination, resilience and perseverance which enabled us to be successful medieval stonemasons.

As part of our upcoming Science unit: Light, we also explored Opaque, Translucent and Transparent materials. We discussed how our bodies block the sun, causing shadows.

We examined the effect of stained glass on light. Exploring the translucent qualities that create the vibrant colours of the cathedral windows. We compared the stained glass windows with the clear glass of the modern section of the cathedral and observed that it was transparent.

We all had the opportunity to create our own stained glass window, with opaque and translucent materials. We explored depth of colour and during the process we explored the effect of light on our own creations. The work was amazing and we are creating a year group display of them.

After learning so much new information, including that the cathedral has its own cat: Budge, we left at the end of the day able to talk about our fabulous experience.

Pupil quotes about the day:

“I loved going to the cathedral because we learned more about Forces which is our Science topic.” Emmy-Mae

“I liked making the stained glass windows because they were really colourful. It showed us how the stained glass is translucent.” Anni and Alice.

“I loved being in such an old building and knowing people still go to pray today.”

“I really liked learning about how the windows tell a story.” Kendra

“I liked learning about gravity because I didn’t know what it was.” Elliott

On Monday 9^th October, the year 1 children were lucky enough to have a visit from Ian at Wycomb Mobile Petting Farm. Ian brought with him some familiar animals who came to school last year like Thumbelina the Shetland Pony, Marvin and Minnie the goats as well as sheep, guinea pigs and rabbits. There were also some new animals like Chocolate Buttons the poodle and a chicken!

This was all part of the children’s topic ‘Animal Life’ where the children have been learning about grouping and classifying animals as well as identifying their body parts. The children are also going to use this visit to write a recount in English too.

Jasper said, ‘It was the best day ever!’ Louie said, ‘My favourite animal was the black goat, Minnie!’

‘I wish the farm could come every day,’ Freddie said!