The Chronicle

This has been a really busy week for the children of Junior 6. In English, the children continued their work looking into The Highwayman and writing a creative setting description. In RE the children have been thinking about baptism; the first sacrament. We discussed the various promises that are made at birth. We also learned all about the signs and symbols that appear during baptism and their significance. This week we also started to get excited about our residential trip to France. In French, the children have been learning about French cuisine. We were all daydreaming about crepes for the rest of the day. We hope that both parents and children found Thursday evening’s information helpful and hope you are all getting excited. Well done Junior 6, we have been so proud of you this week!

Junior 5 have been rather gassy this week, whilst investigating the cause and effect of an irreversible change. The children mixed vinegar with baking powder and discovered that this created carbon dioxide, resulting in the inflation of a balloon. They continued this learning to then investigate whether increasing the amount of baking powder or vinegar, would increase the size of the balloon. Despite the now ever-present scent of vinegar surrounding our nostrils, the children enthusiastically engaged with the investigation and improved their skills in conducting scientific enquiries. Excellent learning everyone!

Junior 4 have had a lot of fun in Science this week, as they have been learning about solids, liquids and gases, and they were given the challenge of keeping an ice cube frozen for as long as possible. A range of materials and even a few mini inventions were used in their enthusiastic attempts to keep their ice cubes frozen. The winning pair kept theirs frozen for an impressive four hours! Well done to all!

In RE this week, Junior 3 have been learning about the importance of listening to God and recognising His voice. We read the story of Samuel and how he learned to hear God’s voice as a young boy and then went on to be an important messenger of God. The pupils used role play to act out the story and show their understanding of the story and its meaning. 

In today’s exciting world, we are surrounded by amazing technology that help us learn in new and fun ways. In Junior 2, this is what we have been doing, embarking on a journey to discover how becoming digital in learning can make education even more awesome! Becoming digital in learning is like stepping into a magical world full of possibilities. The children are able to explore, learn and have fun at the same time. What an amazing adventure! In Maths we have been looking at equal amounts in money; this topic is like learning a new secret language! All of Junior 2 have really enjoyed playing with money and gaining valuable insight on exchanging and gaining. Great work again, Junior 2 - we absolutely love your enthusiasm.

Design and Technology was a hit this week with wind-powered vehicles. Using only simple materials everyone made a version of a land sailing vehicle which, when wafted with air, rolled along the ground quite successfully. We went to the opposite end of the world this week in Science, finding out about the Arctic and all the animals that live there. Did you know polar bears have black skin and transparent fur? After learning about the four countries that make up the UK last week, in Geography we moved on to the names and locations of the capital cities of each country. In History we were able to finish our Viking ships, which were a great success. Finally, all the hard work of learning the story of Mrs Armitage on Wheels paid off as there was the chance to write out the story in order, using parts of our story map to help.

This week in Reception we have been finding out about safari animals! The children found information about lots of different animals that they may find on the African savannah and started to talk about how these animals survive in the intense heat. They then used their knowledge from maths, where we have been finding out about capacity and mass, to build a float to save the animals from a flood!

Our Dormice children have been busy this week, sorting out coloured bricks and using them to create their own models with their favouriate colours. This continued outside as well, making the most of the dry days.

This week’s theme has been ‘All about Doctors’. The children have giggled and jiggled their way through topical action songs to help them name all their body parts. They have solved clues to match the purpose of the body part to the corresponding picture. They then had a go at describing a body part for others to guess, using our whirly wheel game. There was lots of medical fun in the role play area too, as children took turns pretending to be hurt and to give prompt medical attention. So many broken bones and x-rays this week. The children have also crafted their own ointment pots out of cardboard tubes and tissue paper, to soothe bumps and ouches.

The focus continued in the Outside Area, as the children rushed around on bikes, pretending to be paramedics travelling in ambulances to help people who were injured.

In the Great Outdoors, they have been practising conversation skills by passing secret messages and instructions to each other down a long, flexible tube.