English

In English, we have studied the narrative poem ‘The Highwayman’. Through this, we have used the context clues and images to pick apart and understand the vocabulary throughout the narrative. We learnt about the history of highwaymen in England which gave us some context. We then wrote setting and character descriptions for the highwayman. We really enjoyed getting into role as Tim the ostler and writing letters to King George, before rewriting the story from a character’s point of view.

After finishing the Highwayman, we moved onto ‘Seasons of Splendour’, discussing similarities and differences between different Hindu stories, and we turned one of the stories into a playscript.

Maths

In Maths, we have worked hard to consolidate our understanding of place value and used this when using a formal method to add and subtract with numbers up to 1,000,000 (one million). We have used our knowledge of the times tables to identify multiples and find factors of a number and recognised when 2 numbers have common factors. We have investigated to find and identify square and cube numbers and spotted patterns. We have also learnt about prime and composite numbers, and how to multiply any number by 10, 100 and 1000. We have used this to begin to multiply 3 and 4-digit numbers to 1-digit numbers by partitioning.

Science

In science, we continued our work on forces, planning and conducting a fair test into which surface would create the most friction against a toy car. We evaluated the results looking for any anomalies in our results. We looked at how cogs work and explored how levers work using a pencil and ruler. We used our understanding of levers when making them in our pop-up books in DT.

We then started our next topic – properties of materials – revising states of matter and experimenting to see which substances dissolve in water and the amount of teaspoons in water it takes for the solution to become saturated.

Geography

In geography, we have continued to learn about volcanoes. We wrote an explanation of what happens during an eruption. We then studied carefully the events and effects of the 1973 eruption of the volcano in Heimaey, Iceland. We ordered the events and read the diary of a girl who was there at the time. We were able to empathise with how she would have felt. We then looked at the advantages of why people continue to live on the island of Heimaey and weighHeHeimaey and considered whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantage.

History

In history, we have continued our learning about 1066 and the Normans. We have learnt about the wooden motte and bailey castles that the Normans built around England after conquering at the battle of Hastings and have been able to label and describe these. We have also been able to describe how these changed over the years. Our learning was reinforced by our trip to Clitheroe castle where we reenacted the battles of 1066 and built motte and bailey castles in the sand with sticks.

Design Technology

In design technology, we have been learning about pop-up mechanisms as these tie in with learning about levers in science. We have learnt how to make a sliding pop-up, a pivoting lever and a v-fold pop up. We have then used these in our designs when planning and making a pop-up book based on a nursery rhyme aimed at year 1 children.

PSHE

In PSHE, we have been lucky to continue having Jude Lemon come in to talk to us about staying safe on the internet. We have also been learning about valuing differences, learning to appreciate our own unique qualities and respect one another’s differences.

RE

In RE, we have been learning about the Christmas story and discussing whether the story that we know is true. We looked at how people have different accounts of a news story based on whether they witnessed the event, where they saw it from or whether it was a story told to them. We then studied Matthew’s and Luke’s version of the Christmas story in the bible and discussed how there are differences in both. Finally, we discussed the meaning of Christmas and why the Christmas story is important to Christians.

Spanish

In Spanish, we have continued to learn the names of pets. We have learnt how to say the conjunction ‘but’ and have successfully added this into our conversations when introducing ourselves, stating what pets we have and their names, but what pets we do not have.

Music

This half term the children have been hard at work learning the lyrics to the chosen Christmas Carols for our KS2 Carol Service and sang beautifully to their audience of parents and carers at St. Stephen’s Church. The children have listened to the introduction to know when to begin singing on pitch and in time. The children then sang at our whole school Christingle Service St. Catherine’s Church.

Computing

This half term in our computing sessions we have look at App Design. We have designed an app about our school. Using PowerPoint we have changed the size and colour of the slides. We added text and images – including transparent images, added icons with interacting hyperlinks.

Swimming

The children have completed their swimming lessons at Springfield, learning the new stroke breaststroke. They can now swim breaststroke, backstroke and front crawl, and have extended the distances that they are able to swim. All children have grown in confidence in the water.