2018-2019

As part of Fairtrade fortnight Class 2 have been learning all about Fairtrade.

They've done lots of research and even done some persuasive writing on the topic.

Class 2 have been enjoying taking part in some cricket coaching sessions this half term.

Class 2 have been having lots of fun learning how to play rugby this term.

Mrs Steel's class followed a recipe to measure out the ingredients to make pancakes.

They then had fun watching Mrs Steel try to flip them before eating them with their favourite toppings!

The children in Class 2 have been making sculptures with natural materials found in the school grounds. They worked in groups to share their ideas and work together. The sculptures were inspired by the artist Andy Goldsworthy.

Year 1 have been learning about fractions.

They created a pizza with different toppings and cut it into halves and quarters.

Year 2 wrote invitations to invite Year 1 to celebrate the end of their SATs tests.

Year 2 made pizzas for the whole class. We sat outside in the sunshine, ate our snack and played with our friends.

Class 2 have had some yoga sessions. They have been practicing different stretches and breathing techniques.

Zoolab came in and showed Year 4 all sorts of fascinating creatures, including hissing cockroaches, hedgehogs, snakes and giant African land snails!

Year 4 used a stencilling technique and sponge painting to create haunted house art work.

We all enjoy having the chance to choose a book to read for pleasure when the Library Bus comes to visit us!

We have been inspired by the colours of Harvest to write our own descriptive poems in Class 4.

Throughout our school, the children have been thinking about the features of poetry.

On National Poetry Day, all of KS2 took part in the BBC Live Lesson led by poets Joseph Coelho and Tony Walsh.

We took part in the lesson by thinking of similes, metaphors and alliteration linked to the theme of Change.

It was fantastic to be part of such an exciting learning experience and our school even got a mention on the screen!

We made soup using the vegetables from our school garden.

We then wrote our own set of instructions on how we had made it, so that we could try it out at home.

We watched and discussed "The Christmas Truce" from Literacy Shed to debate the true meaning of Christmas.

We then used printing techniques and water colours to create a picture in memory of those who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

Our Power of Reading book, "Storm" by Kevin Crossley-Holland inspired us to write some fantastic descriptions, as well as create our own stormy pictures using a blow-painting technique.

Christmas Crafts

In Class 4 we have enjoyed preparing for the festive season by making :

* Magic reindeer food to sprinkle on Christmas Eve to guide Santa's sleigh

* A wooden tree decoration

* A clay Diwali lamp and holder

* Christmas cards

* A special bookmark to help us with our reading

We have been improving our reading by using these key skills (VIPERS) to understand the text:

Vocabulary

Inference

Predict

Explain

Retrieve

Summarise

We have been problem-solving in our Maths lessons. We enjoy working together and discussing our methods.

Every morning we pair up with the Year 1 and 2 children to help them with their reading. We all really enjoy it.

We enjoy investigating in Science. Today we have been investigating how sounds are made.

We wanted to find a fun way to show sound waves and vibrations.

What we did:
We made Ooblek using cornflour and water (3 parts cornflour to 1 part water).

What happened:
It was a liquid and a solid. When we made loud vibrations near it, it made a solid.

We watched how it danced!
Ooblek was put over the speaker and the loud sound and vibrations made the Ooblek bounce, bubble and dance.

We chew our food with our teeth. The tongue mixes the food with saliva.

When we swallow the chewed food it goes down our oesophagus and enters our stomach using peristalsis (muscle contractions to break food down).

The thick liquid now enters the small intestine where the nutrients pass into the blood and then in the large intestine the solid waste is formed.

We measured the length of both intestines which is 9 metres!

The rectum holds the waste in place until we are ready to pass it as a stool.

In Class 4, we have been increasing our familiarity with a wide range of books, including traditional tales. We have been learning the tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, retold it orally to our peers and then performed it. We were practising these important Reading Aloud Skills:

• Using a clear voice
• Using movement or gesture
• Considering the speed of our delivery
• Suiting the tone and intonation of our voices to the meaning of the words
• Using different voices for different characters
• Speaking confidently
• Making eye contact with the audience

We all did a great job – well done Class 4!

As part of our story writing lessons in school we decided to write a spooky story based on the film Alma.

We watched the film during Halloween and then drafted and edited our ideas until we had produced our own spooky stories.

Enjoy reading them and don't have nightmares!

This year some of our year 5 and 6 pupils have been taking part in the Lego League.

Lego League is an international STEM event that gives children the opportunity to experience coding, problem solving and working as a team, with a little bit of fun thrown in too!

This year's theme is 'Into Orbit' and the children have had to construct a variety of space themed models and are now programming their robot to solve different missions.

If you are interested in the Lego League you can find out more on their official website: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/

Over the last three weeks in our literacy lessons we have been studying the animated film The Piano by Aiden Gibbons.

The film is all about an elderly gentlemen playing his piano and reminiscing about his life.

One of the most poignant memories is from his time as a medic in the army.

We also researched Armistice Day as part of our work with The Piano.

Recently we had a parliament themed week in school.

In Class 5 we researched the Suffragette movement and the children we rather surprised to learn that is was only in our recent past that women actually earned the right to vote. There were one or two quite offended young ladies in Class 5!

Also as part of the weeks learning all of the children had to think of a positive message to do with change in the community.

Once the children had thought of a message we painted the messages onto stones.

The stones looked brilliant and have now been placed around the local community.

If you find one please read the message on the back and get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.

In art this term we have been studying the work of Paul Klee.

Klee was famous for his use of colour and we have spent time studying the colour wheel.

After studying the colour wheel we started to look at some of Klee's more abstract paintings like 'Architecture' and 'Blossoming'.

After studying them we painted our own versions using watercolours.

Year 5 and 6 have been lucky enough to take part in some coaching sessions that are helping them learn how to teach the other children sports and games.

They've been working in groups to plan and lead activities without an adults input.

It's been a real challenge but they've learned lots!

As part of our Geography curriculum this half term we have been learning all about rivers.

We were very lucky to have Cathy from West Cumbria Rivers Trust visit us in school to teach us all about the features of rivers and the wildlife that live in them.

We also went on a field trip to Branthwaite Scout Camp where we did river dipping, a walkover survey and some river art.

We had a fantastic time.

Virtual Reality Planet Exploring

During Science week we were very lucky to do some deep space exploration – although we didn’t actually leave the school building!

Using Virtual Reality headsets we blasted off from earth and discovered all sorts of interesting and amazing facts about our solar system.

It was out of this world.

Day 1

Class 5’s residential visit this year was to the city of Manchester. After a long bus journey, our first activity was a tour of the air raid shelter in Stockport. We learned all about what life was like for the four thousand or so people who had to hide in the shelter during WW2. Our guides told us all about the ‘Moaning Minnie’ siren and how people passed the time by singing songs. It was really interesting.

Our next stop were the Play Factore, we let off a lot of steam here! There was slides, quad bikes to ride, tunnels to climb and slush drinks to enjoy. We loved the Play Factore, our faces were bright red by the time we had to leave.

Next was checking into the Youth Hostel. The Hostel was right in the middle of Manchester on the old canal network. Once checked in we unpacked, explored the youth hostel and made our way down for tea. After tea we headed out to the Trafford Centre to play mini golf. It was awesome and some of us discovered some hidden talents. Once we had finished we made the short journey home to grab some much needed sleep. We had another busy and exciting day tomorrow.

Day 2

After a good night’s sleep, we were ready for our delicious breakfast. Next stop Old Trafford. We had a brilliant time at Old Trafford learning all about the club and touring the stadium. We even got to try on some of the shirts and boots that the players had actually worn!

As soon as we had spent our money in the gift shop, it was time for us to get back on the bus and travel over to the Science Museum. We had our lunch there and then went to a science show. It was all about creating explosions. We learnt that you need: rapid expansion, heat, light and sound to create an explosion. As you can see from the photographs it was explosive. Once the show had finished we had time to explore the different parts of the museum. It was fascinating.

A short walk back to the youth hostel gave us time to have our tea and get ready for tonight’s activity – swimming. The pool was amazing! It had a lazy river, huge slide and a wave machine. By the time we had finished playing we were exhausted and the bus journey back whizzed by.

Day 3

Our last day, but we were very excited to visit Knowsley Safari Park. After a short bus journey we arrived and immediately went to see the Giraffes. They were feeding when we arrived so we were very lucky to see them up close. Next we had a classroom session where we actually got to handle a Hissing Cockroach and a Python! Some of us were a little scared but we all had a go. The fun didn’t stop there. Next we were off to see the Sea Lion and Birds of Prey shows. We had a quick lunch and then we boarded the coach for a guided bus safari. We saw all sorts of animals including: Lions, Wolves, Zebras, Rhinos and many more. Some of the naughty animals, like the Baboons were jumping on cars and stealing windscreen wipers!

Year 1 and 2 learned all about Diwali and made these Rangoli window decorations to brighten up the classroom window.

As part of our geography topic on trade and economics years 5 and 6 went to visit Amcor.

This is a local factory that makes packaging which is sold all over the world.

We couldn't take any photos on the factory floor but I'm sure you'll agree we all looked the part in our safety wear!

Some of the engineers from Amcor also popped into school to help us with our Lego league work.

Year 3 had a look at some examples of Anglo-Saxon pottery.

We then had a go at designing and making our own!

The children did a fantastic job.

In RE the children have been learning about the Christmas story.

They made salt dough and used it to make a star decoration to put on their tree at home to remind them of the star in the story.

To begin our unit on volcanoes and earthquakes Year 3 used playdough to create models showing the structure of the earth.

It was fascinating finding out about what is under our feet.

Did you know that the earth's core is actually hotter than the surface of the sun!?

This Monday Year 5 and 6 took part in an aspirations morning.

Volunteers came in to speak to us about their career and all the interesting things they got to do as part of their job.

It was really inspiring and gave us lots of ideas about how to get into different jobs and what we might like to be when we grow up.

As part of the Year 5's river topic we had a go at creating some rivers artwork.

We looked at the work of Claude Monet as he loved painting rivers.

The children experimented by mixing different colours and using different brush strokes to try and achieve the effect they were looking for.