Good vibrations
We’ve now moved onto our next mini-topic, Hearing. In this topic, we’ll learn lots about sound: how it is made; how it travels; and how it can be changed.
We’ve already been using musical instruments to discover how sound travels throug
h the vibration of air molecules.
We then measured the volume of sounds around different locations in school using a decibel-o-meter on our iPads. Unsurprisingly, the hall at lunchtime was the loudest at over 100 decibels.
Finally this week, we carried a rather fun, but odd-looking investigation involving coat hangers. From this we learn that sound can also be transmitted through solid materials the same it way it is transmitted through the air – vibration of molecules.
Spot of gardening!
We have been busy planting some flowers around the playground to brighten up our outside area. We just need to remember to water them!
Power – in all its forms
For the last couple of weeks, our topic has been ‘Power’. During the topic, we have mainly been focused on studying electricity as this is what powers most of the objects we use in everyday life.
We have dismantled plugs and electronic toys; made circuits using wires, batteries, bulbs and motors; investigated which materials make the best conductors; and most recently made our very own switches so that we could control the flow of electricity through a circuit.
Our topic didn’t just cover electricity, though. We used some of our living and learning time to discuss what other forms of power there are. We talked about the government and the police and how they have the power to make laws or to enforce them.
As well as this, we thought about we ourselves are powerful and what we can do when we are resilient, take risks and persevere.
Serious Skipping
On Wednesday, we went to Boston Spa High School for the annual skipping competition. This contest is the culmination of weeks of hard work and perseverance on all of the children’s part.
The competition began with the children demonstrating their individual skipping skills: double bounce, speed bounce, crossover and pretzel to name just a few. They also worked as a team to compete in the run and jump in the rope contest.
In this part of the competition, we had some children win bronze and silver certificates for their incredible efforts.
However, the real showpiece was our skip dance routine. The children have worked so hard on perfecting the routine and getting all the moves correct – some of them were very tricky! Doing this meant the children had to not only skip, but listen to the beat and count a lot to make sure they didn’t go wrong.
Thankfully, all their hard work paid off and they were rewarded with third place! Great work!!
Library Legends
This afternoon, Year 1 and 2 visited Wetherby Library.
Whilst there, we enjoyed a talk and a story from Madeline, who works at Wetherby Library. We learned about how to look for books, where the books are in the library and how to use the machine to withdraw books. 
Have you seen…
…the new areas and displays in our classroom?
We have a new ‘Garden Centre’ role play area and discovery areas linked to our growing theme.
We also have a new ‘Star Writers’ board, featuring extra special pieces of writing that demonstrate great effort and achievement. The children receive a special reward if their writing is chosen. Be sure to check whether your little star has made it onto the rocket!
We love it when parents are able to stay a little while in the mornings to take a look at our learning on the walls and in the classroom, so please remember that you are always welcome to do so. The children’s learning journey folders are also available to access at any time and are now located right next to the signing in / self-registration area.
- What work can your child show you in the classroom that they have recently created?
- Can they take you to an area they enjoy using this week?
Christian value: Peace and reflection
This half-term, our Christian Value is peace. In our classroom we have a dedicated reflection area where the children can choose to go to when they need to. They may choose to go here when they feel angry or upset or simply just to have a moment of peace.
It’s been really great to see how the children have contributed to developing this area with a prayer tree, fiddly objects, peace doves and their own hand-written prayers.
To add to our work on peace, we also learnt about the story of Jelly Babies and how they were originally called ‘Peace Babies’ when they were first produced to celebrate the end of World War One. We considered how they chose babies to represent a new start and new beginnings after the end of the war.
Year 6 Revision
Year 6, please use this PowerPoint to revise colons (:) and semi-colons (;) this week.
Library Visit
Today, we visited Wetherby Library. Madeleine, the librarian, showed us how to find books in the library and how books are organised. We have all chosen two books each to borrow for a few weeks.
Power
Our new mini-topic is ‘Power’ and – you guessed it – our main focus will be the subject of electricity and all its uses and dangers. We began our topic by getting very hands-on. Not only did we look at objects that used electricity, we also got to take them apart – safely, of course- to look at their inner workings.
We especially enjoyed looking at the inside of a plug and using screwdrivers – again safely, of course – to get inside them.
As the topic continues, we’ll build circuits containing various components, investigate electrical conductors and insulators and always bear in mind how to stay safe around electricity at home, outdoors and at school.