Science
Our Science learning this half term is all about scientific enquiry. The children will use their science and link it to an historical event in context; the sinking of the Titanic. This topic is based around applying working scientifically skills that they have learned so far in their Science lessons, to explore some of the scientific concepts behind the Titanic, e.g. floating and sinking. They will apply skills, such as asking questions, making observations and predicting. Below is a list of vocabulary the children will be learning over the next few weeks. Can you help your child learn these words? Could you play some games to help your child memorise the definitions? Maybe a game of Pictionary!
Butterflies and music
I can’t believe we are at the end of another half-term!
On Monday, the children were very excited when they saw five butterflies fluttering around in the butterfly net. Due to Foundation doing such a good job at caring for the caterpillars, all five were a success!
Click here to watch how we set them free.
On Wednesday, the F2 children wrote a sentence about releasing the butterflies. They used the writing process: think, say, count, segment, and check when writing.
On Tuesday, we listened to two contrasting pieces of piano music. When listening to the music, we thought about which colours would best represent each piece. The children took their paintbrushes for a walk and made different marks in time with the music.
Click here to watch the children painting.
You’ve all had a fantastic half-term and I hope you all have a lovely week off in the sunshine!
A visit to Wetherby High School
Year 5 visited Wetherby High School to experience a day in the life of a high school pupil.
“Art was really creative because we listened to music and used paints to make a picture to represent the sounds. It was my favourite lesson.” Jemima
“I really enjoyed DT because I like doing crafts. We lasered our name on a pen, we made badges and we were given a snake made with a 3D printer.” Scarlet
“In the morning, we played hockey and I liked it because it was fun and I used a lot of energy.” Joe
Class novel: Letters from the lighthouse
This term, our class novel has kept us all guessing! It is a story set during WW2 and the plot is full of mystery and suspense. We are now half way through the story and we did some freeze-framing to summarise and re-cap what has happened so far.
Olive and Cliff run out of the picture house to the air raid shelter. Sukie goes missing.
Olive and Cliff evacuate to Budmouth Point in Devon.
They find a note that belongs to Sukie; it has a secret code on it.
Esther Jenkins moves into the same house as Olive and Cliff. She finds the note and won’t give it back to Olive. They fall out.
A bomb is dropped near the school that Olive and Sukie go to. The community decide to get rid of the lighthouse.
What do we think will happen next?
Scarlet: “I think Olive and Cliff are going to try and stop the lighthouse from being knocked down. They will find somebody to help work out the code on the note.”
Callum: “I think the town will take down the lighthouse and a German plane will crash. I think Sukie will turn up and she will help the Germans escape.”
Erin “I think Olive and Cliff will follow Ephraim and find out that Queenie and Ephraim have something to do with Sukie’s disappearance.”
Living and Learning: I understand some drugs can be harmful
In Living and Learning, we’ve been exploring the topic of drugs. We know that there are different types of drugs including illegal and legal drugs. As a class, we discussed the risks of drugs and how they can affect the body in different ways.
We read different scenarios and discussed what was causing the risk and rated the situation a high, medium or low risk. We thought about the characters who may need support and how they could get help.
- Talk to a trusted adult
- www.childline.co.uk 0800 1111
- Contact the police using 101 or ring 999 if someone is seriously ill, unsafe or scared
Living and Learning: I know what a drug is.
This week in Y3/4 we have been learning about drugs and, in particular, medicines. We have studied how they can be a good drug if used properly, but also how they can be a bad drug if not used as directed.
They studies the packaging of a variety of medicines (Don’t panic! They were all empty!)
Then they had great fun acting out various scenarios to help them know how to be safe round medicines.
Living and Learning : Drug education
Our Living and Learning discussions have focused on drug and alcohol education. We have talked about what we put into and on our bodies and why. We discussed these scenarios in class. Ask your child what they would do in these situations.
Fantastic Foundation (as always!)
Science
This week, the children enjoyed rescuing the frozen minibeasts. We heard lots of fabulous conversations. We talked about ice being a solid and when it melts, it turns into a liquid.
“The salt is making the ice crack.”
“The sugar is making it sticky.”
“The hot water melts the ice the best.”
“We need more hot water! The legs are still frozen.”
Phonics
This week, the F2 children have been recapping all of the phase 3 sounds. We have also been learning to read words with more than one syllable (polysyllabic words)
Please continue to practice the phase 3 sounds at home. You could have a go at playing some of the games on Phonics Play. Below are links to some of the games.
Flashcards – supports sound recognition
Tricky Word Trucks – supports reading tricky words
Pick a Picture – supports blending
Login in using Sphere (username) Spher3 (password)
PE
The children continued to learn the fundamental skills of skipping.
We finished the session with some parachute games.
Literacy
The F2 children made ‘I Spy Minibeasts’ lift the flap books. We thought about different habitats and drew pictures of these on the front of the flaps for clues. Some of the children read their books to the class.
Maths
In maths, our focus numbers this week were 15 and 16. The children explored making teen numbers with Numicon.
We also have been focusing on adding more. The children know that when we add more the total number gets bigger. To support our learning with this, we played two games:
Magic Cloth – We counted an amount of cubes (1-10). I covered the cubes with the magic cloth and added a hidden amount of cubes under the cloth. I revealed the new amount and the children had to work out how many cubes I added. They were fantastic at explaining their answers using first, then, and now.
Grid Game- I taped a grid on the carpet. The children rolled a die and filled their column with the corresponding number of beanbags. The first to fill their column won!
F1
On Wednesday, the F1 children explored counting using Numicon. Some of the children put 2 or more pieces together and counted the holes to find a total.
Outdoor Learning Day
It’s looking like it’s going to be another wet day on Monday. Due to this, we are having to postpone our outdoor learning day. This will now take place on Monday 21st June.
Caterpillar News
The children were very excited this morning when they saw the butterfly!
“It’s beautiful!”
“It needs a friend… it is lonely.”
“The wings are symmetrical.”
Click here to see our first butterfly.
Home-Link Challenges
F2
Practise spelling the phase 2 and 3 tricky words. You could practise spelling these using coloured pens, paint or even playdough.
F1
Go on a letter hunt around your home.
Can you find things beginning with the same sound?
Choose different letters and see if you can find 3 objects beginning with the same sound.
Wonderful Writing
Over the past few weeks, we have thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Ollie’s Magic Bunny‘.
We came up with actions to remember the story in order. Children drew their own story map, listed the key vocabulary and then finally wrote the story.
I was so proud of all the children for their fabulous efforts. I saw some wonderful writing in Year 1 and 2. Here is a little sample of what the children achieved.
Ask your child to re-tell the story with the actions they learnt in class.
Times Tables Rockstars Championship
Well done, Year 3! Look at the percentages for this week. You have nearly all been on this week (up 30% to last week!) and the amount of time you’ve spent on each day has risen. Well done! 
The highly-anticipated championship results are in! Well done to the following children for winning a place on this week’s leadership board.
Your dojo points have been added – claim your prize from Mrs Welsby on Monday. Lookout, on Monday, for the updated leadership board.