The Chronicle

This week, Junior 6 have been starting their Science journey through the understanding of animal classification. We are developing our understanding of how animals are grouped and what characteristics they have. Then we have practised grouping different things using our own classification systems and using a variety of things, including classroom items, liquorice allsorts and whatever things the children could find outside in the Abbotsford classroom and prayer garden (the grubbier, the better!)

This week, our Junior 5s have been working hard on their Protective Behaviours booklets, refamiliarizing themselves with their ‘Early Warning Signs’ and deciding who the trusted adults are in their ‘Network’ (people they can talk to and share their worries). The girls have also been testing out the astroturf pitch during their hockey lesson and feel that it has made them better players already. Thank you again to our wonderful PTA for providing such a wonderful resource.

This week in Junior 4, the children have enthusiastically engaged with our place value topic in maths. After building numbers up to 10,000, they were then set problem solving challenges, trying to create as many 4-digit numbers, from four counters. In English, it has been lovely to read about everyone’s family and the children have excelled in thinking of ambitious adjectives to describe the people that mean the most to them – don’t worry parents, they were all lovely adjectives and none to be worried about! Everyone continues to settle into Junior 4 with great maturity and importantly, kindness, which has been lovely to see. Well done Junior 4, keep up the great work.

Junior 3 have had a busy week with the first of our swimming sessions down at Abbey Fields. All the children enjoyed their visit enormously and we hope to be improving skills in the water over the coming weeks.

We have also been delving into our ‘maths manipulative’ resources, like Base Ten and place value counters to help and support the children in their understanding of place value to 1,000! Mathletics once again proving hugely popular as the pupils try to attain their 1000 points per week. We have been delighted with how quickly the children have settled into focusing and working hard throughout the day.

Our quest through the Stone Age continues and we have enjoyed visiting (albeit virtually), the Caves of Lascaux in France where the oldest cave paintings in Europe were discovered in 1941. Pupils will be creating their own cave painting work over the next 2 weeks. We can’t wait to see what they will produce!

This week, Junior 2 have been authors of their own stories. They have been looking more closely at character attributes, particularly villains. This work has been a result of reading the incredible book Inside the Villains by Clotilde Perrin, which has proved exceptionally popular with both the children and adults in Junior 2! The pages of the pop-up book reveal the secrets of the most famous fairy tale villains: giants, wolves and witches. The illustrations and flaps have allowed the children to get right inside each villain and see what’s hidden - behind their ears, under their clothes, in their pockets, even the victim of their last meal waiting to be rescued! Each villain has their own personality card, which shows their strengths and weaknesses, favourite pastimes, physical characteristics, their best meal and, of course, their favourite books. The children then created their own villains with an accompanying personality card and planned their story whilst considering what their dilemma and resolution would be. Mrs Glen-Roots and Mrs Burley are so proud of how well everyone has engaged with our English lessons and there has been a real buzz around the classrooms.

This week has been very smelly!! In science we have begun to look at our senses and in particular using our noses to smell. There were lots of different things to smell and then decide which we liked and which we did not. The strawberry flavouring was a favourite, the vinegar was not! We have also begun to look at maps and recognising features of a map of our local area in geography. Google maps helped us to see what our school looks like from above and how all the houses and roads look tiny from far away. In history we found out that some early homes were made from wood, mud and straw. These homes had no windows and only a fire to keep people warm and cook food on – much different to our own warm and dry homes.

It has been another jam-packed week in Reception, as we have continued to enjoy our classrooms and outdoor areas. We have particularly enjoyed PE with Mrs Thomas, along with our first Forest School lesson with Mrs Clark. Much fun was had playing in our very own forest, swinging and sliding through the trees – a super start to our Woodland topic! During this week we have been thinking about things we can be grateful for, with school, mummies and daddies, sunshine, rain, and our pets being popular answers. Mrs Malcolm and Mrs Convey say they’re very grateful for such lovely classes – what another great week we have had!