Birch Star Writer

Star writer in Birch this week is Natalie Towner. Natalie had successfully created a balanced argument about why we should/shouldn't have animals as pets. She used a range of conjunctions to link her sentences and varied her sentences openers. Well done Natalie, keep up the hard work!

Year 4 spellings w/c 29th June

Ash Star Writer

The star writer in Ash class this week is Archie Patrick Stuart. Archie worked with impressive independence to write a biography of the Queen to mark her status as the longest-serving British monarch. To keep his reader engaged, Archie has used lots of varied openers. Super job Archie!

Thinking Like a Mathematician Across the Curriculum

In Year 3 this half term we have been trying to encourage the use of mathematical skills such as analysis, pattern recognition and classification in all subjects. Here are some examples of how our problem-solving pupils have used their mathematical thinking caps to help them in other areas of the curriculum!

RE
In RE we recently explored how Christians' beliefs influence their actions. We took the example of Florence Nightingale and explored what behaviours and attitudes she demonstrated and also considered those demonstrated by Jesus's teachings. Some of the children created Venn diagrams to show what ideas and actions were common to both Florence Nightingale's life and work and those of Jesus's. 

Literacy
In our literacy we have been exploring folk tales. We have enjoyed familiarising ourselves with a range of traditional stories such as family favourite Red Riding Hood and the Slavic story of the Baba Yaga. The children used their skills of pattern recognition to spot recurring themes, character types and motifs that often appear in these types of story. We then looked for these features in our latest tale, The Enchantress of the Sands. 

Year 4 Magna Carta Experience

Year 4 are currently watching an assembly created from the National Archive by Discovery Education about Magna Carta. The children have already learnt many different things about human rights, King John and what the Magna Carta is. We have also discussed the importance of laws and what human rights are important to us. Throughout the next week or so the children are looking forward to taking part in a range of activities based on the Magna Carta. We will keep you updated!

Year 3 - Poetry Recital

Ash and Rowan class practised and recited poetry to each other to end our week of poetry appreciation.  All pupils worked very hard and enjoyed this opportunity to explore all sorts of poetry, from subjects of football to animals! Well done, Year 3!

Year 4 spellings w/c 15th June

Enchantress of the Sands at Broadford

Enchantress of the Sands has three main settings. To really grasp how different these settings were, we decided to experience them for ourselves in our very own school grounds!

The herdsman had to travel across the white sands. Ash walked barefoot through the sand of our volleyball court for a good length of time to come up with vocabulary such as silky grains tickle my bare toes, golden yellow, sand swirls around as the wind whips through the desert. 

The family lived in a tree house. The children enjoyed looking down at the enchantress and felt protected. I think they enjoyed being chased by the enchantress down the slide quite a lot!

The final setting is based round the enchantress's cauldron. Unfortunately, Miss Barron couldn't bring hers in as it was still in the dishwasher. We used role play to experience the dark, dim and unnerving setting this must have been for the herdsman.  

Ash Science Lesson: GLOOP!

Silly putty, salt and vinegar flavouring and gloop all in one science lesson?!

Ash had a great afternoon exploring the properties of different states.

Practising performance poetry - Ash

This week, Ash class have worked hard at performing poetry. 

Reflectiveness: William and Ethan filmed themselves performing a football poem. They watched it back and talked about what they could do to make it better.

The first time we did it, you couldn't even hear us and we looked bored! We videoed it about ten times! We think we sound lots better now! Ethan Borrell

Birch gets scientific!

After classifying solids, liquids and gases, the pupils in Birch class investigated and researched thixotropic substances!

Peiyce ( demonstrating resilience) The first time we tried to make a thixotropic substance I messed it up because I added too much water. But after some thinking time, I tried again and made gloop! It was so weird because it really felt solid and then started flowing when I let go! So cool!

Birch celebrate Poetry Week

In Literacy today Birch continued to celebrate Poetry Week by creating poems using similes. The children enjoyed experimenting with vocabulary and creating their own poems. Keep up the hard work Birch!

How many ways can you make 24?

The children in Birch class took on the challenge of the 24 game in maths today. They used their mental skills to use the numbers on the cards to make 24. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the game!

How many right angles can you find?

The children in Miss Cook's maths group began their angle unit today by investigating how many right angles they could find inside the classroom, outside the classroom and on real life pictures. A very successful lesson with many right angles found! Now the children are ready to look at some complex angles, can anyone guess what they might be?

Right Angle Challenge

In Maths today, Rowan Maths class began to investigate right angles. They used sticks to create their own right angles, identifying the position of the right angle. 

Year 3 Spelling w/c 8th June

Where in the world...

To discover our new topic for the summer term, Rowan class created a human globe to locate the equator, Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. 

The children then commenced to carry out a treasure hunt to find clues and artefacts relating to our topic country. Once all the object were found a rally of discussion and deduction took place as the clues were unpicked. The children were challenged to justify their reasoning for why they thought it was a particular country. 

"I think it could be Spain because it is hot in Spain and you need sun cream." Grace Moody

"I don't think it could be a country within the tropics as the weather clues are not tropical, I think it could be somewhere in the subtropics" Sienna Nickson. 

Year 4 Spellings w/c 8th June

Year 4 Learning Challenge Summer 2

Year 4 Learning Challenge - Inpsirational Women 

Below is the significant person, painting, piece of music and poem which are related to our theme above. It would be great to see as many projects completed as possible. We look forward to reading the completed projects.

The Year 4 Team.

Should we eat junk food?

In relation to healthy eating week year 4 created a balanced argument today where the children thought about reasons for and against eating junk food. The children worked extremely hard to create a range of reasons and even managed to include some real life statistics. Well done year 4!