Year 5 Newsletter

What a great week in Year 5!  One of our highlights has been writing persusive leaflets in science in order encourage others to make wise choices when it comes to packing a packed lunch.  "Don't let your lunch cost of the Earth" is our message.  Look out for leaflets in packed lunch boxes and around town as we spread the word!  In English, we have been looking at how to write formally in the context of persuasion.  Interestingly, using long words and avoiding contractions can make us sound both clever and persuasive at the same time (even if others don't even understand what it is that we are trying to persuade them to do!).   Following the theme of Global goal number 5, gender equality, we have been planning and researching out topic write.  Many of us were particularly outraged to discover that the prize money in the women's FA cup was 100 times smaller than the prize money for men!  We have also really enjoyed exploring 3D shapes in maths, particularly, understanding the origin of cube numbers and understanding the differences between cubes and cuboids.

Panacke Day Treat

On Tuesday it was pancake day so all the children in nursery had the oportunity to help make pancakes. We had a very sepcial receipe which involoved just using eggs and banana so that everyone in nursery could take part. The children loved mashing the bananas with a fork and then adding the egg. Mrs McCormick did brilliantly at then flipping the pancakes which was incredibly exciting. Then finally we all got to try some of the pancake which were delicicous!

Year 2 Colchester Castle Trip

On Wednesday Year 2 visited Colchester Castle as part of our Castles topic. Read on to find out what we got up to with our day:



After the long coach trip to Colchester, we arrived! We were full of excitement and we couldn't wait to get exploring!

During our trip we participated in some interesting activities that helped us to learn about what living in a castle and what life during the medieval period was like.

We learnt that they used herbs as medicines and we got to touch and spell them as well as talk about what each of these were used for - although we weren't too keen on garlic as it really ponged!



We looked at what the cooks of the castle would use and we explored what people in medieval times would eat compared to what we eat now.





We looked at some beautiful writing and illustrations from the medieval period and we discussed how they wouldn't have had a pen and paper like we do at school, instead it was a quill and parchment. We couldn't believe that parchment is made from animal skin! We also then had a go at colouring some of our own medieval lettering.



In the other activities, we looked at different materials that would have been used to make products in the medieval period and we looked at the people who worked in castles and what they'd use.




We were given a guided tour by a jester and a knight, and they showed us all the different parts of the castle.


We pretended that we were in a siege, and we invaded the castle by charging across the drawbridge towards the castle door! We had to scream really loudly so that we sounded terrifying!


They showed us the well where people would get their water from. It was really deep! They would have to drop a bucket all the way down to collect the water and then pull it all the way up again.


The guides took us to the roof, where you could see all of land surrounding the castle. On our way up, we had to climb some really wonky stairs. The guides explained how the spiral staircase could be used if enemies invaded. The knights would hide on the thinner part of the stairs, and wait for the enemies to climb up the wider parts and then chop their heads off on the way up! There were also carvings in the walls that the knights had made with their swords when they were bored.


They showed us lots of different parts of the castle - including the toilet (or rather a hole in the wall)! Did you know that they didn't have flushing toilets, but instead they had to use a stick? YUK!


We also had some time to explore the museum. We did sketching using our art skills that we've been learning and tried on different outfits from that period including some knights helmets. They were really heavy!





After we'd eaten some lunch, we then got back on the coach for the journey home. Although we were tired, we had a really great time on the trip! We all had different favourite parts, but most of us loved the guided tour as we learnt so much!

Looking after ourselves in Reception

In Reception, we have been thinking about how to be healthy. 

"We need to eat healthy foods like apples and vegetables!"

"We have to do exercise and run to make our heart beat faster and faster!"

"If we sneeze, or if we are going to have snack, or if we have gone to the toilet, we have to wash our hands!"

This got us thinking about what we can do to look after ourselves and our friends. In particular, we spoke about keeping our hands clean before we eat. We explored just how dirty our hands can be by engaging in lots of messy play! Before we sat down for our snack, we made sure that we thoroughly cleaned our hands with soap and water. 

Year 6 Newsletter

This week in Year 6 we have introduced our new English unit- news reports. The children began the week by exploring a range of news reports to identify key features of structure and language within the texts. We were then able to identify what makes a good newspaper article. From our analysis, we have started to write our own front page stories. Based on our guided reading book, the Boy in the Tower, the children have been journalists reporting on the strange occurrences that take place in the story; many of them have added their own sensational twists.

Next week is filled with exciting activities including our topic drama workshop, learning about the Parthenon Marbles from Ancient Greece and World Book Day! Keep your eyes peeled for more blogs to see what we're up to!

Dissecting daffodils in Year 2

In Science, we have been continuing our topic about plants. 

We carefully dissected a daffodil and used magnifying glasses to observe the different parts of the flower. 

We were ‘Agent Inquirers’ and asked lots of questions and discussed our findings. We used our scientific knowledge to label each part of the plant and discovered why each part was important. 

We discovered that plants have male and female parts and started to understand how plants reproduce.

Exploring police equipment

This week, in mini-police, Magritte police explored the unforms worn and equipment carried by the police.  We enjoyed learning about the purpose of everything and how uniforms and equipment has changed over time. In particular, we were surprised by how heavy the stab vests were and who thought that a truncheon shaped like a gun would have been a good idea...

Elephant Poaching must STOP!

Elephant poaching must STOP!

Today we have been learning about elephant poaching in Africa. We looked at a model tusk and discussed in our trios how we felt about poaching. Through role play, we took on the role of a poacher or an activist to discuss why poaching happens and why it should stop. We looked at videos and images to really help us understand the problem.

African Masks

On Monday, year 1 used pulp to create a 3D effect to begin making their African masks. We will be using papier-mâché and paint to finish these off over the next few weeks.

Year 1 Barnaby Bear

Starting from next week (3rd March), the children will be bringing home Barnaby Bear for 2 nights a week. We will send home a book and a bear. On the first page there is an example of what to write when you receive the bear. If your child brings home the bear on Monday, please could you return it on Wednesday. If your child brings home the bear on Wednesday, please could you return it on Friday. If your child brings home the bear on Friday, please could you return it on Monday.

Please do not go out of your way to do anything special with the bear. It could just be a picture of Barnaby having dinner, attending a club with your child or walking home from school.

Equaliteam Blog- 24.2.20

This week in the Equaliteam meeting we discussed our upcoming Anti-bullying day.

The children shared ideas of what they thought we could do on the day, including hosting an assembly for their peers in the morning to introduce the day.

They also thought:

We could tell people how to address it, where to get help

Show people how to reflect somehow, be kinder to people

Make things for our friends to show them we care about them

Role play- role playing the bully and victim, experience bullying in the role play

Hot seating a pretend character who bullies or a victim to see how they felt

Play games

Have worry boxes in every class

Watch this space for updates on our plans for the day!