Term 6

What a very busy term! The children have done a fantastic job across all their subjects and have stayed motivated right up until the end.

In English we looked at Myths and Legends, learning about The Founding of Rome with Romulus and Remus before exploring the legend of Hercules. With inspiration from the Disney film, we wrote our own versions of Hercules vs a three-headed dragon using a variety of descriptive techniques. Then we explored Chronological reports about different points in Roman Britain History. We wrote our own recount of Boudicca's rebellion and enjoyed listening to the Horrible Histories Song. 

In Maths we recapped fractions and began to look at finding parts of a number. We used counters to assist us as well as imagining sharing different foods (we won't discuss the birthday cake!). Then we explored money and went to the class shop to find out how much we could spend using £5. Finally we started time, looking at am and pm whilst discussing how long different activities would take. We were very good at calculating how long until home time! 

In RE we explored Special Places to Christians and how we can create harmony within the classroom. The children shared special places to them, discussing how they felt in these places and who may have been with them. We performed out Liturgy about Reconciliation. 

In Science our topic was Plants and we did numerous investigations as we explored the outside environment. We discovered what plants need to grow healthy by comparing plants growing in the sun and shade, observed how water is transported up through the stem with food colouring and discussed how the parts of a leaf help to absorb sunlight. 

In History we continued with the Romans, discovering how they invade Britain and the impact it had. We went to Dover Museum and investigated different real life artefacts from the Roman period and made Roman Soldier's heads out of clay. At school we delved deeper into the strength of the Roman Army, designing and creating our own shields. 

In Art, we learnt about Katie Scott and her botanical art work as well as botanical weaving. We had a go ourselves and found it a bit tricky!

We had the RNLI come in to discuss water safety and some of us got to try the uniform on, it was quite heavy!

We did a fantastic job with the readathon, spending time outside and sharing our favourite stories. 

As the school year now comes to an end, well done to all the students in Class 3 for their hard work and perseverance. I wish you all the best in Class 4 and hope you have a restful and enjoyable Summer Holidays.

Term 5

Another very busy term, where the children have remained motivated and enthusiastic towards all their learning!

In English we read 'The Leopard in the Golden Cage', a portal story where young Joe gets transported back to Ancient Rome and must find a way to return back with the help of his new friend Lucy. We recreated our own Dolphin Mosaics, influenced by the one found in Fishbourne Palace, and pictured how it might feel to travel back in time. The children created some fantastic stories about Ancient Rome, using their senses and similes to describe their settings. 

We also looked at a Diary Entry from a young child's point of view based on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Using our knowledge from last term about volcanoes, we created oil pastels of the volcano and explored the famous eruption of AD 79 before writing our own diary entries imagining that how we would escape. 

In Maths we started with Fractions, exploring parts and wholes as well as equivalent fractions. We visualised these fractions as different types of food, ensuring that all parts were cut equally. Most lessons ended with us all feeling quite hungry!

We then went on to mass, volume and capacity, again using food and drink as a way to aid our learning. We used scales to find out the mass of different objects  as well as looking at weighing out different ingredients to make imaginary sweet treats. Looking at measuring jugs, we calculated the volume and capacity whilst also comparing different objects on whether their volume and capacity would be measured in Litres or Millilitres. We all agreed it would take forever to measure a swimming pool in Millilitres!

In RE we learnt about Ascension Day and Pentecost, visiting Father Matthew to discover more about the 'Birthday of the Church'. Using our new knowledge, we then shared this during our Liturgy, discussing the importance of Pentecost, Jesus' ascension and the Holy Spirit's descent to share its' gifts. We discussed how we could use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help ourselves and others during this time. 

Our topic in Science was Light and Shadow, we investigated outside what shadows were and how they could be created. We noticed that when it was sunny, shadows were more visible but when there were clouds in the way, the shadows were lighter and harder to see. We made different shapes and animals with our hands outside, can you guess what animal is in the picture?

We had various different investigations in our Science topic focusing on researching, pattern seeking, observing, identifying, classifying and grouping. We experimented how light travels and what types of material absorb and block light. This reminded us about how materials can be transparent, translucent or opaque.  We looked at reflective materials too and discussed how these can be useful when it is dark, like a bike reflector or certain coats. We also spoke about how light can be harmful, especially the Sun, and how we can protect ourselves against the Sun through 5 steps: wear suncream, find shade, wear loose clothing, drink lots of water, wear hats and sunglasses. This will come in handy during next term when we are out in the Sun a bit more (hopefully!). 

We began our History topic of Emperors and Empires, looking at the Romans and how they invaded Britain. The children created some amazing projects over the Easter holidays and we spent some time presenting these, introducing us to various aspects of Roman life. We studied different Roman artefacts, predicting what they were used for. We found the strigil a bit disgusting! We researched about daily life in Ancient Rome to answer some of our initial questions before we were introduced to some famous Roman Emperors. During this, we disputed whether these Emperors were good and helpful to the empire or bad and greedy. This caused a huge debate as we tried to rank them based on their significance. We concluded that Emperors like Commodus and Caligula were quite evil, with the Horrible Histories 'They're Bad' song solidifying our decision. 

In PE we have spent lots of time outdoors on the field learning softball and cricket. The children enjoyed being outside developing their team skills and co-ordination, especially when the teachers joined in with cricket!

Although cold and very wet, Forest School was lots of fun. Instead of roasting marshmallows, we coated apple pieces in sugar and cinnamon, making our own toffee apples (they were delicious!). We worked in teams to created dens that were waterproof and big enough to fit 10!

Term 4

We have had a very busy term with a school trip, World Book Day, Science Day and an Easter Performance. The children have worked incredibly hard.

In English we explored 'The Iron Man' looking at similes and creating our own monster to defeat. The we focused on explanations and the use of fronted adverbials of time, writing up an explanation on fossil hunting. 

For World Book Day we dressed up as our favourite characters from books and explored 'Quest' by Aaron Becker. We wrote descriptions of each setting found in the book. 

In Maths we continued on with measuring, advancing onto perimeter. We learn that this is the pathway around the outside of a shape and calculated this by adding the lengths together. We also had fun measuring and comparing lengths of each other and objects in the class. 

In Science we created magnetic mazes and used a metal ball to moved around and escape the mazes. We also recapped rocks and fossilisation in preparation for our school trip. We visited Betteshanger Park and hunted for fossils using special equipment. The children had great fun, many finding different types of fossils to take home. 

For Science Day we investigated which biscuit is the best for dunking. We had a variety of biscuits and measured how long it took for them to disintegrate in water. Surprisingly, Rich Tea was the best and lasted 6 minutes and 37 seconds!

In Geography, we continued our topic Rocks, Relics and Rumbles. the children researched volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, creating fact files. 

In DT we explored cam mechanisms, making different types and seeing which one we liked the most. We then designed our own automaton toys which were Easter themed. 

The children performed in 'Good News' with Class 4, a play focused on Holy Week. They did amazing and enjoyed dressing up.

All things Easter, the children created some wonderful Easter bonnets and completed an Easter Egg Hunt outside.

Term 3 

We started Term 3 with 'The Firework-Maker's Daughter', exploring Lila's quest to become the greatest firework maker. The children created some amazing artwork using oil pastels to show the bright, colourful fireworks. After creating a tool kit for quest stories, the children wrote their own with ideas like becoming the best chocolate maker, defeat a dragon and find lost treasure in space! 

We then went on to explore crystals, using water colours to create various gems like rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Focusing on diamonds, the children researched and created information texts discussing how diamonds were formed, what colours they could be and where they could be found. 

In Maths we continued on with multiplication and division whilst practising our times tables. The children solved 2 digit numbers multiplied or divided by 1 digit numbers using dominoes and a dice. These were quite challenging and the children did a fantastic job showing their working out and using part whole models to help them. 

The children began the new topic of measuring, looking at objects in the classroom and comparing their lengths. They recognised that 10mm = 1cm before going on to 100cm = 1m. Outside we measured how far we could throw bean bags in Metres. 

For Science this term we have been studying forces and magnets. We have done various investigations such as analysing how friction can slow down a moving object, what Newton Meters are and how magnets attract and repel.  Through this we have been fair testing, research, identifying, classifying and grouping. 

Stop Animation

We have been using a new app called iMotion to create our own animations..  We are really pleased with how they came out :@)

As part our 'Through the Ages' history topic we have been learning about life in the Stone Age.  We had special visitors who immersed us in the stone age using costumes, props and activities.  The children had a chance to sort types of stone age rock, shape chalk into drums, drill a whole through stone with a bow drill, make their own stone age weapons as well as a photo opportunity! We engaged with a stone age story and retold it through drama.  We had a go at pot making with a rabbit bone.  We learned a rhyme/chant and much much more.  The children really did enjoy it and learned so much, a great day was had by all! 

Our DT project is 'Cook Well, Eat Well'.  We have been learning about the food wheel and a healthy diet.  This session was about different ways to prepare potatoes and which ways are healthiest.  Huge thanks to Jacob in the kitchen who prepared potatoes in so many ways that even I was surprised.  The children got to help prepare, see Jacob's knife skills and most importantly tasted many of the different methods.  They were good at identifying the healthiest options and to all of our surprise the class were huge fans of plain old boiled spuds!