Spring Term

Gordon Ramsey, step aside. The children spent an afternoon creating a healthy sandwich and we had a picnic in the sun outside to end the half-term, which was great. The children had to base their sandwich on the proportions of the eatwell plate ensuring larger fractions of vegetables and carbohydrates - they did an excellent job and I'm sure they're ready for a good half-term break.

We had an amazing time dissecting hearts for the end of our Science topic. The children found the different chambers and arteries; some managed to fit their fingers down an artery! It was certainly a great way to end the topic and, judging by the screams, squeals and laughter, I think the children had an excellent time (although some may have left a little paler than when they arrived in the morning)!

Spring Term 2019

 

This term, the children are going to be learning about Shakespeare, specifically Romeo and Juliet. This will culminate in the children writing diary extracts in the language used in Shakespearean times. In Science, the children are looking at the human body and focusing on the function of the heart. At the end of this topic, they will get to dissect a real heart to see the different chambers, veins and arteries etc. Furthermore, in DT, the children will be looking at energy levels, food and how to create a sandwich encompassing all areas of the 'eat well plate'. 

 

Pictures to follow...

 

Mr A

Welcome to the spring term

 

This term, our topic in Willow Class is Space!

 

Most of the work across the curriculum will link to our topic with the exception of Maths and History. In English, the children will be writing a different type of story in the first few weeks. Normally, we focus on writing for a 10 or 11-year-old audience, whereas this term we are looking at writing for a younger audience and using some pictures to support our writing. Furthermore, when the children have finished their work, the best pieces will be presented and read aloud to a class in Key Stage 1! Towards the end of the half term, we will be looking at poetry and some non-fiction writing.

 

In Maths this term, we will be focusing on place value in the first week as revision. It is important that the children have a secure knowledge of place value as it helps them understand calculations and the reason behind much of the maths they learn. After that, we will be covering the following: coordinates and sequences, shape, statistics and pie charts (also linking in the properties of circles). Some extra arithmetic sessions will continue to take place in the afternoons to boost the children’s speed and fluency with calculations.

 

The afternoon topic lessons this term centre around Science, Art, ICT and History.

 

In Science, we are looking at space and the solar system. Throughout the topic, we will be studying shadows, the seasons and why they occur, the planets and their distances from the sun, the moon and its orbit, gravity, friction (including making UFOs) and researching some key questions on planets. This topic will continue after half term up until Easter as there is a lot to fit in!

 

In Art this term, the children will be using a variety of different tools to draw and colour/paint the different planets. Towards the latter end of the term, the children will be getting messy and creating papier-mâché planets, which they will then paint to create life-like replicas! Our PE topic of gymnastics will continue this term and we will be completing our basketball sessions leading on to a variety of different invasions games with a focus on tactics when attacking and defending.

 

Finally, our History topic is Early Islamic Civilisation, which begins looking at the role of Baghdad, leading on to how the faith developed over time focusing on art work, the four caliphs and trade and power. This should be an interesting topic looking at a new faith and culture. Mrs Brabin will continue to teach Music on a Friday morning with Mrs Carroll continuing RE with the new topic of ‘Jesus, the man who changed life’.

 

Mr Armstrong

This week, the children have been looking at the planets in our solar system in more detail. First, they worked out the size of the planets to a scale of 1cm:15000km. This meant that Mercury was 0.3cm in comparison to The Sun at 92cm! They then drew these out and cut them out so that we could create a scale model of the solar system outside. We couldn't use the same scale for the distance between the planets as it would have meant that Neptune would have been 7.7miles away in Thornton! Therefore, we used a scale of 1cm:5,000,000km for the image above. This gave us accurate measurements to scale and we tried to reproduce this on the playground. It proved more difficult than we thought (and a little colder) to get the children to hold certain planets exactly 12cm apart but I think the image demonstrates just how vast our solar system really is! Another super effort in Science - well done!

Over the past couple of weeks, the children in our class have been creating a children's story based on space. We read a book called 'The Darkest Dark', by an astronaut called Chris Hadfield, and the children created their own version. Once they had published the books, we had 'carpet time', something that created mass hysteria in the classroom, where the children read their stories to the rest of the class. Following on from this, the class voted on their five favourite stories from each year group and the ten children then went and read their stories to Reception and Year 1. They went down a storm! Overall, a really great topic and the outcomes were absolutely fantastic from all the children, well done!

Last week, we had 'Multi-Faith Week', where the children learnt about different cultures and religions. In the pictures, you can see some of the activities the children took part in, from drumming and dancing to making rangoli patterns. They also learnt about important rituals in other faiths, such as praying, and the importance of the prayer mat and ensuring it points in the direction of Mecca. 

 

The week was a great success and the children learnt a vast amount - we even had a Sikh wedding where Alicia and Jack became husband and wife!