What a wonderful wintery term Willow Class have had!
In writing, the children have produced fantastic adventure narratives based on the thrilling book The Explorer by Katherine Rundell. More recently, they wrote very persuasive letters to Father Christmas, with a particular focus on using modal verbs. In Guided Reading, the children have explored a range of texts; alongside continuing with The Explorer, they have enjoyed reading and analysing The Vanishing Rainforest by Richard Platt and the poem The Listeners by Walter de la Mare.
Fractions have been the main focus in Mathematics this term, with the children flourishing as they used our concrete, pictorial and abstract approach. They particularly enjoyed mastering equivalent fractions, using bar models to support and deepen their understanding.
Science has been very exploratory this term, with plenty of opportunities for working Scientifically. The children have learned about forces, including gravity, air resistance and water resistance. They especially enjoyed carrying out comparative and fair tests, investigating the friction of different surfaces and the effects of air and water resistance on objects.
In Geography, the children have learned about rainforests, including where they are located, why it rains so frequently and the impact humans have on these environments. In RE, our focus has been Christianity and what Christians believe about the Christmas story. In Computing, the children have been learning about video production. Our building topic in DT gave the children the opportunity to plan and create a truss bridge, which they thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck into. In Music, the children performed Shosholoza, immersing themselves in the culture of South and West Africa. PSHE has been a special time to reflect on how we can celebrate differences in our society. In PE, the children have learned the rules of netball and when to use different passes. Forest School has provided opportunities for woodland crafts, drama, poetry and much more.
An absolute highlight of the term was our ice-skating trip to Planet Volt. The children were resilient, brave and brilliant ambassadors for the school and they should all be incredibly proud of themselves.
I hope you all have a lovely, well-earned break and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year, ready for another jam-packed term of learning!
Best wishes,Miss Cheshire
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 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).
Willow Class has had a fantastic start to the new school year! The children have settled beautifully into Upper Key Stage 2 and have embraced their new responsibilities both inside and outside the classroom with maturity and enthusiasm.
In Writing, we have been exploring a range of exciting texts. The children have enjoyed creating their own humorous narratives inspired by Cosmic by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, as well as writing heartfelt poems influenced by Alfred Noyes’ The Highwayman. They have worked hard to include a variety of literary techniques such as personification, similes and metaphors, producing some imaginative and thoughtful pieces. In Guided Reading, alongside the mentioned texts, we have also been learning about the Maya civilization through an information text, while developing key comprehension skills such as summarising and responding to a text.
In Maths, Willow Class has been strengthening their understanding of place value up to 1,000,000. They have also been building confidence in using the four operations-addition, subtraction, multiplication and division-and applying these skills to solve more complex multi-step problems.
In Science, the children have completely immersed themselves in learning about Earth and Space and have participated in numerous practical lessons where they explored and modelled key concepts such as the cycle of night and day.
History is a firm favourite in Willow Class, in which 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. In RE the religious focus was Sanatana Dharma/Hinduism and the children have considered how Hindu people show their commitment to God in many ways. In Art the children have practised their drawing skills and have developed their knowledge and understanding of depicting emotions through line making. 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 brilliant term with Willow Class after their very well deserved break!
Best wishes,
Miss Cheshire
Dear Parents/Carers,
We’ve had a wonderful start to the term in Willow Class and the children have returned with great enthusiasm for their learning. In Mathematics, we’ve been exploring Roman numerals, and in Guided Reading, the children have enjoyed DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read), where they’ve been sharing their chosen books with the adults in Willow Class. In English, we’ve started reading our new class text, Cosmic by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, which we’ll be focusing on over the coming weeks. In PSHE, we’ve begun thinking about our academic and personal goals for the year ahead. Meanwhile, in PE, the children have been working hard to develop their football skills. It’s been a fantastic beginning and we’re looking forward to a term full of learning and growth!
Here are some helpful logistical points for the coming year:
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, reading logs 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 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 – I am more than happy to help!
I look forward to what will be a brilliant year with Willow Class!
Kind regards,
Scarlett Cheshire