Learning In Action

Junior 6

It has been wonderful to welcome Junior 6 back to school this week and to start a new term of learning.  We began by starting a new core text – The Lion and the Unicorn by Shirley Hughes.  This links to our History theme this half-term and we soon realised that the backdrop to the story is set against the bombings of London during the Second World War. We met the main character, Lenny, and empathised with his thoughts and feelings as he endured the difficulties of air raids and missing his father. We listened to what an air raid siren sounded like and looked at photographs of some of the devastation that these caused. We thought about some of the imagery involved in the story and why it might have been called, The Lion and the Unicorn.  We are looking forward to seeing how this story develops over the next few weeks.

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Junior 5

In Junior 5 this week we have started the term as we mean to go on – heads down in a good book! Immersing themselves in the wonderous and magical land of Narnia! The children have been taking inspiration from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and other books to improve their skills as storytellers. In particular, using their fantastic vocabulary to grab the reader’s attention from the very first sentence. We were overjoyed with the responses to the Junior 5 Extreme Reading Challenge – it is a source of constant pleasure to see the children being passionate about reading.

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Junior 4

This week, Junior 4 have been expertly presenting a topic of their choice to the rest of their classmates. We have had a range of topics and it has been wonderful to see everyone’s enthusiasm, creativity and presenting skills. It was also lovely to see so many different interpretations of the task, with some relying on a PowerPoint presentation, some handing out interesting resources and we even had food, QR codes and seeds used to hook the audience! All of the children have settled back into school life beautifully and we are looking forward to a busy term that will include lots of outdoor learning, plenty of sport, practising for the school production and many more exciting events.  

 

 

 

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Junior 3

It has been a delight to welcome Junior 3 back to school after the Easter break and especially to welcome two new members to our classes. We have been thrilled to find out that we are learning all about the Ancient Greeks this half-term and have already read several versions of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. We have also put our acting skills to the test and performed our own retellings of this magnificent myth. We are busy continuing our understanding of fractions by finding fractions of amounts, using our knowledge of our times tables and division. We are also excited to find out about the ancient ways of making pottery and we have been exploring Grecian urns and vases. Our plan is to create a coil pot in the next few weeks and see just how easy or difficult it was.

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Junior 2

Junior 2 have had a brilliant start to the Trinity Term. The children are very excited about our Rainforest topic and we enjoyed sharing some projects that had been completed over the Easter break. We have had a very practical week in and out of the classroom for Maths as we have started a measuring unit. In English, we are using The Tin Forest book and the children have found this book quite magical. The Tin Forest by Helen Ward is a beautiful and poetic fable written about an old man who lives in a Tin Forest, otherwise known as a rubbish dump of unloved things nobody wanted anymore. The old man wishes for a better place to live. With his own initiative, will he make this junkyard into a wonderland? The summer months lend themselves to outdoor learning and we chose our Science topics to reflect this. Junior 2 were introduced to microhabitats this week and even created their own. It is also so wonderful to see so many children taking part in our extra-curricular clubs. We are very excited for all of the learning we will be doing this term. 

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Junior 1

After having a lovely Easter break Junior 1 have come back full of energy and a renewed eagerness to learn. There are new topics in all subjects, the most exciting is ‘Minibeasts’ in English and Science. We have looked in detail at the life cycle of a butterfly and how to tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth. In Maths we have begun the topic of multiplication and have been busy using counters and other equipment to create groups and represent our questions using these concrete materials. In History we have begun to look at our own families and over the holiday Junior 1 were challenged to make a family tree, showing who is in their immediate family – some wonderfully colourful creations have already come into school ready to be put on display.

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Reception

This week in Reception we have started our brand new ‘Let’s Take a Trip’ topic. We planned a journey through Kenilworth Common, deciding what we would need for our adventure, and a picnic too! We had a wonderful time exploring the woods with our friends, spotting lots of local wildlife and thinking about how we could protect our wonderful local area. In Maths, we have started to count to 20 and identify lots of different ‘teen’ numbers; it’s tricky, but we are super!

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