Term 5 has whizzed by, in an exciting blur of fantastic learning and brilliant activities. In Writing, after studying Gorilla by Anthony Brown, the children have created fantastic narratives centred on a theme. Here, they were able to showcase their expanding SPAG knowledge including personification, pathetic fallacy, metaphor and similes. During Book Week, they penned an inspiring book review using the subjunctive verb form to give recommendations.
As a firm favourite in Willow class, the children have been very focused in Mathematics and they have covered equivalent fractions and decimals, using our CPA (concrete, pictorial, abstract) approach. In Guided Reading, the children first studied the archaic poem The Listeners by Walter de La Mare, and more recently they have considered The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson.
In Science this term, they have considered the life cycles of humans, studying each phase of our life in turn. In History, the children have learnt about what life was like for Anglo-Saxons as well as the hierarchical power structure, before moving onto consequences of Viking invaders and settlers, before learning about mountains and their formation in Geography. This term in RE, the focus has switched to Christianity and their beliefs around Jesus and Easter. In DT, the children made 3D book-up books, based on nursery rhymes, with working mechanisms.
This term has brought many amazing opportunities from Book Week, the Mid Somerset Festival to Dance Umbrella. As always, the children from Willow Class have been true ambassadors for the school and I couldn’t be prouder!
Have a super Easter break!
Best wishes,
Miss James
Logistical reminders:
Forest is on a Monday. Please could the children come dressed in their Forest kit, ensuring that they have wellies, long sleeved t-shirts and trousers, waterproofs and sun cream and a hat with them.
PE Swimming is on a Friday. Children should come dressed in their PE kits and bring their swimming kit on this day.
Homework - Children are to learn their personal spellings, read a minimum of 3 times a week (recorded in their reading log), complete a scrapbook style journal entry and complete 10 minutes of Doodle Maths.
What an exciting term of learning for Willow Class!
In Writing, the children first created a fantastic adventure narrative based on our class novel Cosmic by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Next, they tackled a transmission from Mars, showcasing their ability to write informally while using their knowledge of space and our solar system.
Mathematics has provided many opportunities to use our CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) approach. The children have completed a second unit on multiplication and division, learning to use written methods. In the last week of the term, they revisited fractions, this time learning how to multiply them by an integer.
In Guided Reading, in addition to studying Cosmic, they have also explored the archaic poem The Listeners by Walter de la Mare. They are now very much looking forward to our new class novel, House with the Chicken Legs, which will transport them to the fairytale world of Sophie Anderson.
In Science this term, our focus has switched to Chemistry, where we have learned about the properties of matter. Working scientifically, the children have discovered which metals are magnetic, as well as which materials are thermal and electric conductors and insulators. Oracy STEM week was a roaring success with the children in Willow Class developing flying crafts and showcasing their knowledge of forces to the rest of the school in our Science Fare. They were also lucky enough to participate in a livestream STEM day where they planned, made and tested a rocket as well as designed an aircraft for the future!
In History, the children have learned about the Anglo-Saxons and the impact of Viking invasions and settlements.This term in RE, the children have studied Hindus' beliefs about Brahman and Atman, as well as why people may pray to different deities for different reasons. In Art, the children have focused on Retrofuturism, creating a final piece inspired by the work of Ties Albers. PE is a firm favorite this term, the children are choreographing their own dance ready to perform at Dance Umbrella.
I hope you all have a well-earned rest and a super break.
Best wishes,Ms. James
Logistics and reminders:
PE is on a Monday. Children should come dressed in their PE kits on this day.
Forest is also on a Monday. As it is the same day as PE, please ensure the children bring any additional Forest kit they may require, including wellies, warm clothes, and waterproofs.
Homework: Children are to learn their personal spellings, read a minimum of three times a week (recorded in their reading log), complete a scrapbook-style journal entry, and complete 20 minutes of Doodle Maths.
What a wonderful wintery term Willow Class have had!
In writing, the children have written fantastic narrative poems based on their studies of the archaic works of Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman. More recently, they have written an adventure story based on our class novel Cosmic, steeped with literary devices. As well as considering The Highwayman in Guided Reading, the children have also read The Vanishing Rainforest by Richard Platt.
Fractions have been the theme of this term’s Mathematics, with the children flourishing using our concrete, pictorial and abstract approach. They have particularly enjoyed converting between improper and mixed numbers - using bar models to support their understanding.
Science has been a firm favourite, with plenty of opportunity for working scientifically, the children have considered forces, including gravity, air resistance and water resistance. They particularly enjoyed carrying out comparative and fair tests, looking at the friction of different surfaces, with ice cubes. More recently the children have learnt about our solar system, focusing on the movement of the planets, the Sun and the Moon.
In Geography, the children have learnt about rainforests including where they are located, why it always rains and the impact humans have on them. The focus this term in RE has been Christianity and what Christains believe about the Christmas story and in computing the children have learnt about video production. Our sewing unit, in DT, has given the children the opportunity to plan and create a cuddly toy, learning new stitches along the way. In Music, the children performed Dreaming of Mars on various instruments and learnt about notation, rhythm and pulse. PSHE has been a special time to consider how we can celebrate differences in our society. In PE this term, the children have learnt the rules of netball and which pass to use when. Forest has brought opportunities for woodland crafts, drama poetry and much more.
An absolute highlight of the term was our trip ice skating at Planet Volt. The children were resilient, brave and brilliant ambassadors for the school.
I hope you all have a lovely, well-earned break and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
Ms James.
Homework will be set on Doodle Maths. Children should complete 20 minutes per week. I will check their progress on Friday mornings.
The children will bring home between 3-6 personal spellings on Fridays. These will be words that they collect themselves that they have spelt incorrectly in their work. They will then be tested on them the following Friday.
The children must read at least 3 times per week. Throughout the week they will participate in Book-Talk, where they will share their reading with the rest of the class - often enthusing others with what they read. As well as this, your child should complete one Reading Journal entry at home every week. This will be a high -quality, scrapbook style, creative entry. They should bring their books and journals to school daily. The journals will be collected in on Friday morning, ready for celebration assembly. I am passionate about getting children reading as the amount children read at home is the greatest signifier of future success. It has even been proven to enhance mental wellbeing!
P.E. is on Monday Morning. Children will wear the correct kit (Longvernal PE t-Shirt; school sweater; black shorts or sports trousers; and daps or trainers) to and from school on these days. Please note Forest is on the same day, so they should bring in suitable warm layers to put over their PE kits.
Forest School is on a Monday afternoon. They will come to school in their PE kit but must have a long sleeved top and long trousers—to protect their arms and legs from insect bites and branches of trees. Sessions will take place in any weather (other than high wind or thunder and lightning storms) so please can you ensure their kit has the appropriate items of clothing (waterproofs, spare socks, wellies, gloves and a hat for colder months).
What a wonderful first term in Willow Class! The children have loved our hilarious class novel, The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, and eagerly await the title of our new book after the half term break. The Explorer lent itself perfectly to the children’s Writing lessons where they created their own action-packed narrative, using short snappy sentences and strong Tier Two verbs to build tension. More recently they completed a brilliant transmission from a narrative poem based on The Highwayman.
In Maths this term, the children continued to use their concrete, pictorial and abstract approach to tackle place value, addition and subtraction and multiplication and division. An absolute favourite has been using factor bugs to work out factors.
In Science, the children have focused on physics, immersing themselves in knowledge about our forces including why gravity and water resistance. They have also deepened their understanding of fair testing and variables.
In History, the children have learned about Mayan civilization, particularly enjoying our lessons about how bloodthirsty their beliefs were! In Computing, the focus has been systems and search engines, which has given the children the skills necessary to complete efficient internet searches. RE is a firm favourite in Willow Class. Our focus religion is Hinduism and the children have considered how Hindu people show their commitment to God. In PE we have been lucky enough to have Mr Philips the brilliant football coach and Forest as well as cooking the children have also created forest crafts.
I look forward to another amazing year in Willow Class. I hope you all have a well earned rest over the half term break.
Ms James
We have had a lovely start to the term, in Willow Class. They have started their learning with enthusiasm, covering Roman numerals in Mathematics. In English, they have been sentence stacking a narrative based on our class novel The Explorer by Katherine Rundell. In Science, they have started learning about forces and enjoyed investigating the effects of friction. In PE, the children were very excited to see the return of Mr Phillips, our professional football coach who used to play for Manchester City.
P.E. is on Friday afternoons. Children will wear the correct kit (Longvernal PE t-Shirt; school sweater; black shorts or sports trousers; and daps or trainers) to and from school on these days.
Forest School is on a Monday afternoon. They will come to school in their Forest kit and must wear a long sleeved top and long trousers—to protect their arms and legs from insect bites and branches of trees. Sessions will take place in any weather (other than high wind or thunder and lightning storms) so please can you ensure their kit has the appropriate items of clothing (waterproofs, spare socks, wellies, gloves and a hat for colder months).
Please don’t forget to check out the school website and Facebook as we will be updating both regularly!
Finally, if there are any parents/carers/grown-ups with talents or passions, it would be great for you to come in to visit the class to share them. Or, maybe you would like to come and read a story or listen to readers across the school. I will be available on the playground every morning and outside when I dismiss at the end of the day so please don’t hesitate to speak to me if you have any worries, concerns or queries.