13 December 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time relates to our Science learning. Each class has been finding out about one or two scientists as part of their Science lessons.
I can show off my knowledge of different scientists.
Year 1: John Dunlop
Year 2: Florence Nightingale / Charles McIntosh
Year 3: Marie Curie
Year 4: Jane Goodall
Year 5,6: Carl Linnaeus, Sarah Fowler / Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla
Have a chat with someone at home about the scientist that you have been learning about in your Science sessions. There’s a short text about one of the scientists that you could read with your child.
Here are some things that you could discuss:
- what they did
- how they worked like a scientist
- why their work was important
- whether their work has an impact on life today
Challenge: Do you know of any other scientists? Can you talk about their work and say how it has impacted life today?
05 December 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time poses a moral question:
Is physical health more important than mental health?
What is physical health?
Physical health is about a healthy body. This includes proper nutrition and plenty of physical activity.
What is mental health?
Mental health is about a healthy mind. Mental health is a sense of identity and self-worth; positive family and peer relationships; an ability to be productive and to learn.
Have a discussion with friends and family at home. Consider what physical and mental health looks and feels like for you. Does this match up to your friends’ and family’s ideas?
After the discussion with friends and family, what conclusion do you reach? Do others around you agree?
29 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time relates to this half term’s Art topic.
I can compare and contrast different artworks/architecture/designs.
I can give my opinions, and back them up with reasons.
In our Art lessons, we’re thinking about the work of these artists (Y1,2) / architects (Y3,4) or designers (Y5,6) and we’re using the following vocabulary:
Y1,2 Artists:
Vocabulary: pointillism, op art
Y3,4 Architects:
St Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren
London Aquatic Centre, Zara Hadid
Vocabulary: architect, architecture
Y5,6 Designers:
Vocabulary: pattern, repetition, symmetry, foreground, background
The key to this task is being able to explain thoughts and opinions. It’s worth remembering that the opinions of one person may not match those of another and that it’s okay to disagree.
We’d like your child to speak confidently and passionately about art. Using ‘because’ will encourage your child to think carefully about their own interpretation of the art. Offering your own opinions may also help your child to consider alternative viewpoints and perspectives.
Discussions about the art could take place in a number of ways. Here’s a couple of suggestions:
- Discuss each piece separately before then looking at them side by side.
- Have both pieces side by side from the start.
Whichever approach you opt for, referring to these questions and the vocabulary above will help to focus your discussions at home:
- Explain what you like about each piece.
- Explain what you dislike about each piece.
- How are the two pieces similar?
- How are the two pieces different?
Considering what is most important to you, which piece do you prefer?
22 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time has a social theme:
What job would you like to do when you’re an adult and what skills and knowledge will help you to do it?
- Think about a job or career you might like to do when you’re an adult. Why do you think this job would be fun or interesting?
- What skills (things you need to be good at) would help you in this job?
- What knowledge (things you need to learn) would be important for this job?
- What interpersonal skills will you need?
- Which subject(s) in schools will help you to develop knowledge or skills which would help you to do this job?
Encourage your child to think creatively and discuss their ideas with you. Their answers don’t need to be perfect, just thoughtful and imaginative. Why not draw a picture of yourself doing the job you chose and label the picture with tools, skills or places related to your job!
15 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.
I know how to STOP bullying.
Our school vision is to be a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe. School will not be a happy and healthy place if we don’t know how to stop bullying.
As it’s Anti-Bullying Week, this week’s Talk Time homework is about what bullying is and how to stop it. In fact, ‘STOP’ is an acronym that provides a clear definition of bullying:
Several Times On Purpose
Getting upset/angry in the heat of the moment or accidentally bumping into someone isn’t considered bullying – as long as it’s a one-off. An example of bullying would be someone saying on multiple occasions that you can’t join in with their game. As part of your discussions at home, ask your child to identify examples of what bullying does and doesn’t look like.
‘STOP’ not only tells us what bullying is, but also how to make it stop:
Start Telling Other People.
The sooner we all tell others, the sooner bullying can stop. As well as give examples of bullying, make sure your child knows people at home and at school who they would alert if they were aware of bullying.
Encourage your child to remember both: Several Times On Purpose and Start Telling Other People.
This week’s Remember 2s (R2s) are actions to take if you see, or are the victim of, an unpleasant behaviour:
- Challenge the behaviour with that person. It may well have been accidental or something not intended to be hurtful.
- Tell that person that you don’t like that behaviour and that you want it to stop.
- If the behaviour occurs again, let a trusted adult know so they can explore the situation.
08 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
There’s a social theme to this week’s Talk Time as we think about our speaking and listening skills.
Agree or disagree: speaking is more important than listening!
Spend a few minutes having a conversation about your day with a someone at home. After the chat, reflect on how much time you spent speaking and how much time you spent listening. Would the conversation be the same if you didn’t speak/listen as effectively?
Below are some statements about effective listening and speaking which may help you when deciding whether you agree or disagree on the above statement.
Effective listening entails simultaneously observing, understanding, and generating ideas.
Effective speaking means being able to say what you want to say in such a way that it is heard and understood.
In school this half-term, we’re focussing on some of the physical skills of speaking. In particular, we’re ensuring children project their voice.
When discussing this at home, help by making sure your child speaks confidently, clearly and coherently (no mumbling!).
18 October 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
There’s a democracy theme to this week’s Talk Time as we think about electing our new Junior Leadership Team (JLT). It’s important for everyone to feel their opinions are important and their thoughts and feelings are listened to and valued. Democracy is about knowing that sometimes we are given the power to choose and make decisions as individuals and as a group. This leads us to this week’s Talk Time:
I can talk about what characteristics a good leader should have.
Thinking about the term democracy, take some time to think about what characteristics make a good leader and the reasons why.
Also, think about situations at home when voting can help solve problems.
Additionally, if you would like to become a member of the JLT…
Use this time to think about your own characteristics and why you feel you would be a good representative for your peers. Use these ideas to prepare a speech to share in school on Wednesday 23rd or Thursday 24th October for the upcoming elections on Thursday 24th October.
11 October 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Vocabulary is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.
Thinking about the new topic vocabulary, I can begin to use these words at home.
This half term, we’ve all been historians, learning specifically about The Great Fire of London/Ancient Greece/ Stone Age to Iron Age and Ancient Egypt. Here’s a list of key words that are being learnt and applied as part of our learning:
Years 1 and 2 History vocabulary:
| timeline | a drawing showing events in the order that they happened |
| similarity | like something else |
| difference | not like something else |
| artefact | an object made by a person that gives us information about life in the past |
| cause | the reason for something happening |
| diary | a book used by a person to write about daily events in their lives |
| firebreak | an obstacle used to stop the spread of a fire |
| consequence | the result or effect of something happening |
| innovation | an improvement or replacement for something |
Years 3 and 4 History vocabulary:
| period | a phase in time |
| civilisation | a period of human development that is considered most advanced |
| golden-age | a period of time during which a very high level of achievement is reached |
| government | the group of people responsible for ruling a country |
| monarchy | a king or a queen |
| democracy | a type of government where the people living there make decisions |
| oligarchy | a type of government where a small group of people make the decisions |
| Parthenon | an important temple in Athens built during the golden-age |
Years 5 and 6 History vocabulary:
| archaeology | the study of human history through analysis of artefacts and other remains |
| henge | a monument consisting of a circle of stone or wooden uprights |
| innovation | an improvement or replacement for something |
| civilisation | a period of human development that is considered most advanced |
| hieroglyphs | a writing system which uses picture of an object to represent a word, syllable or sound |
| Rosetta Stone | an inscribed slab of stone which was the key to translating Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| pharaoh | a ruler in ancient Egypt |
| pyramid | a large stone monument built as a burial tomb for pharaohs and other important Egyptians |
| afterlife | life after death |
Some of these words have already been discussed in lessons but there may be others that are going to be covered in the coming weeks.
Encourage your child to think back to their History learning so far. The following questions might prompt your child to remember even more about the vocabulary:
- What does this word mean?
- Can you use the word in a sentence?
- Can you (where possible) give an example of this?
- Have you seen a picture or video that links to that word?
- Can you link this word to one or more of the other words?
Which of these words would you group together?
Lotherton Hall trip!
Years 3 and 4 had a fantastic time on our first trip of the year to Lotherton Hall! The aim of this trip was to support our ongoing science learning about animals, their habitats and their bone structures.
Mr Freeman and Mrs Poole were very impressed with the responses from the children during the workshops – children could confidently talk about the following:
- 5 animal groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians)
- characteristics of animals within each group (classifying)
- vertebrates and invertebrates
- animals with skeletons and exoskeletons
Outside of the workshop, the children had chance to explore the wide range of animals at Lotherton. We found some very interesting bird types with unique characteristics and also noticed lots of animal names had originated from Latin roots!
Here are some great pictures from our trip – enjoy!
04 October 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time is a social one:
I can talk about the protected characteristics.
Protected characteristics are aspects of a person’s identity that are protected under the Equality Act 2010. This law makes it illegal to discriminate against someone based on these characteristics, helping to promote a fairer and more equal society. Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on protected characteristics.
There are 9 protected characteristics
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex (gender)
- Sexual orientation
This week, we’d like you to have a conversation with your child and discuss the following questions about the protected characteristics:
- Why is it important to treat people equally?
- Do I have a protected characteristic?
- Can you describe a situation when fairness and equality are especially important?
- Can you name all of the protected characteristics?
Is one more important to you?