This week, Year 4 were lucky enough to have an amazing workshop form Mrs Moore and Mrs Millward about the Mary Rose Tudor boat! We were taught what life on board the shop might be like including the jobs that needed to be done. “Climb the rigging! Check port! Check starboard! Scrub the deck!” We then learnt that 8 golden rules on how to survive life in on board a Tudor boat!
This afternoon, the children in Year 5 were taken aboard the Mary Rose and they learned all about the life aboard during the Tudor times. The children acted out different jobs that the Tudor crew would have been responsible for and how busy and chaotic day on a ship would be. Eventually, the children were given a four hour sleep as a break and a “nice” hot meal of salted fish....
The children thoroughly enjoyed the energy in the room whilst miming the events that they experienced on board The Mary Rose and they learnt lots of key facts about the life of the Tudor sailors.
Today in science, year 4 looked at the skulls and teeth of different creatures and investigated who they each belonged to. We were given images of skulls, the diet of the creature and am interesting fact about the teeth before the names were revealed!
Did you know, pangolins don’t have teeth?! Instead, they eat small rocks and these break down the food inside as if they were teeth chewing!
Also, did you know that a rabbit/ hamster / guinea pig skull looks like this.... as a class of rabbit lovers, we were fascinated!
We also got very messy today playing with shaving foam with our hands making big circles and other shapes.
In Science today, Year 2 have been investigating which material would help to stop a nappy leaking! We tested plastic, metal, newspaper, fabric and paper towel.
To make it a fair test, we dropped the same amount of water on each material to check if the water would go through or run off.
Some of the results really surprised us! Most of the materials were waterproof with just a few drops of water but weren't waterproof when we continued to drop water on.
This morning, we were visited by Tom from Retune who explored mental health and well-being with the children. We learnt that it is important to take a moment when we are finding things difficult or stressful to ‘retune’ ourselves and there are six different ways we can do this - more sleep, being creative, being active, listening and taking notice, focusing on the Earth around us and socialising with our friends and family.
In year 6 today, we stepped into the shoes of Carl Linnaeus as we invented our classification systems for our own belongings. We understood first hand how it would have been hard to narrow down categories, select categories and find the best fit for items that were not typical of their groups. Amazingly, although we had the same items, all our systems were different!
In Science today, year 4 learnt how to keep our teeth healthy and what could happen if we don’t look after them properly.
By cleaning your teeth twice a day, flossing and using mouthwash, we can prevent problems such as gum disease, cavities, oral cancer, plaque, teething falling out, root canal and mouth sores.
Mrs Rawding kindly let us show the children how much plaque she had in her teeth using a purple tablet. Her teeth are extremely clean!
Using all this information, we each produced a poster telling people how to look after their teeth.
Anne Boleyn was hands on, modern mother.
Anne Boleyn was an intelligent, talented woman.
Anne Boleyn was a religious and education reformist.
Anne Boleyn was a fashion icon.
Anne Boleyn was a... criminal?
Today Year 4 looked at the different roles and passions that Anne Boleyn took on during her reign as Queen of England whilst married to Henry VIII. We learnt that she was a confident, progressive thinking woman who really wanted to make a difference to the life of women and poor people in England. We each took an aspect of her life and then presented this information to the class in ‘Anne’s final words’ before her execution.
Once ‘Anne’ was beheaded we discovered that all the accusations against her were never even proven true!!
We have, as a team, been truly delighted at how the children have come back; they have immersed themselves in every, single lesson and really enjoyed the return to school life.
In writing, we have continued with our 'disruption to the normal' theme and have really benefited from sharing ideas as a class, brainstorming, and learning what a 'cinematic experience' looks like on paper. These bigger, bolder, brighter descriptions have paid off in style. We have received pieces of work that have transported us to different time periods, different streets and different fantastical occurrences.
Wonderfuly writing - and editing - from Tiggy, Ianthe, Frankie, Reuben and Charlotte
Maths has seen the children learning to master algebra - and what a great job they have made of this! We have a new generations of pure mathematicians in the making, with everyone using their skills to solve these mathematical puzzles!
Cracking the code with Connor and Scarlett:
The children have also continued to learn about more 'Amazing Places' as part of our mini topic. This week we flew to Canada...and we all want to visit. A quick stop off in Quebec to use our French, followed by a trip to Niagara Falls...rounded off with a ski trip to Banff would be just perfect! The children have also put their newfound knowledge about Canada into practice for art and created some beautiful Totem poles. We thought carefully about how native Canadians used a lot of animal symbolism, and how we, too, could use different animals to represent our unique personalities.
Classification, in science, has contined to fuel some fascinating discussion in class. This week we created classification keys, using the animals of Canada as a guide. The children have posed so many excellent questions, and we have all enjoyed delving into the whys and wherefores of how animals are classified - and the subtle differences between many living things.
Year 6, what a week! We are so very proud of how you have come back - ready and raring. As always, your outstanding attitudes to learning speak for themselves. We could not be happier to be back in class with you all.
It's been so lovely to see the children back in school. We have all been so impressed with how they've dealt with being back in the school routine and how positive they've been every day. We've had a strong focus on PSHE this week, with a well-being lesson every day. We have encouraged children to discuss any anxieties they have had and have talked through the positive times they have had over these last two months.
We read the story The Invisible String and talked about that the children have invisible string made of love, that connects them to the people they love, when they are not with them.
We have continued with our African topic and after making some wonderful observational drawings of masks in home-learning, this week, we got to start making our own masks. We used a 3d mask template and covered it with papier mache. Some of us used some foam packaging 'chips' to go over the eyebrows to create an enhanced 3d effect. The children really enjoyed getting their hands gloopy and can't wait to continue it next week!
Staying with the Africa theme, in Topic, we have been taking a closer look at some of the African countries (specifically Uganda and South Africa) on Google Earth. We then discussed other ways of looking at countries of the world and then explored a selection of atlases. The children found their favourite pages and discussed why. We looked at the flags, continents and oceans. We even sang songs to help us remember the names of all the 7 continents and 5 oceans and labelled a giant class map.
