The Chronicle

This week in History, Junior 6 have been looking at the passengers who were on board the Titanic. We looked at the differences between the first, second and third-class passengers and where they were allowed on the ship. It really was a floating palace in first class! We studied the passenger list as a piece of primary evidence and were able to see whether each person survived or not and which lifeboat they got into. It is no surprise that there were more first-class survivors than any other. In RE we have continued to think about the denial of Peter, when Jesus was taken from the Garden of Gethsemane to the courtyard of Caiphas’ house and Peter pretended he did not know him three times. We discussed the courage shown by Jesus and how Peter might have felt when he realised his betrayal.

Junior 5 have been immersed in storytelling using their exciting core text, Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo, as inspiration. The children have been imagining, drawing and describing their own desert islands which they have imagined themselves stranded upon. Then they created an ‘islander’ character, like Kensuke, who befriends them. Next, they discussed and wrote about the problems they might encounter on their islands from having no fresh water, to being attacked by an orang-utan! Luckily the children soon finished their stories with appropriate resolutions which resulted in happy endings. Phew! What exciting adventures Junior 5 have had!

Junior 4 have worked hard, skilfully planning and writing their assessed writing pieces this week. Their exciting theme was Beowulf as this is a story they have read and studied for the last few weeks. Junior 4 impressively included a range of ambitious words, embedded clauses and examples of figurative language. Well done Junior 4 - there’s some budding and future authors amongst us!

This week we have enjoyed completing and writing up our wonderful Storm Cat poems, inspired by our core text The Mousehole Cat. Through our use of our senses, alliteration, and personification, along with some powerful descriptive vocabulary, we really captured the essence of a stormy sea. In Geography, we have learned more about the coast and had a great time explaining the process of beach formation using digestive biscuits. We have also been super scientists, investigating different types of soils and how easily water filters through them. In French lessons, Junior 3 have enjoyed learning about how April Fool’s Day is celebrated in France. They learnt that on 1st April, as a practical joke, children in France sometimes put a paper fish on someone’s back and call out ‘Poisson d’avril’! The children decided their favourite French joke ‘What do you call a French man wearing sandals?’, (Answer: Philippe Phillop).

Alongside our Cornish cornucopia, the children have been creating little 3D lighthouses which we think are fab. We have used shells, sand and grit to create a textured, rocky surface and within the next few days they will be turned into beautiful little night-lites. Your children are shining brightly!

Junior 2 have finished this term with a flourish. This week has been all about reflecting on what we have all learnt during the Lent term. In our Maths lessons, we have been assessing what we know about fractions as this topic now comes to an end. Our theme of 'The Great Fire of London' is now complete and we showed all we have learnt by writing descriptions using adjectives, verbs and adverbs. Our teachers tasked us with writing an opening paragraph of quality writing and we all rose to the challenge with enthusiasm. Our last History lesson saw us looking at the buildings which arose after the fire, which fitted in wonderfully with the Easter message of new life. We would like to wish everyone a fabulous Easter and we look forward to seeing you all next term.

Junior 1 have learnt more about Holy week this week in their RE and English lessons. After hearing the story of what happened to Jesus during Holy Week, Junior 1 have taken time to sequence the events to help them remember the occasion in the right order and then discussed why these things happened to Jesus. We have used this week to gain a better understanding of how Jesus felt during Holy Week and why He was ready to die on the cross for us. In Maths we have looked at time. Not only telling the time to o’clock and half past on an analogue clock, but also how long a minute lasts. They were challenged to see what they could do in one minute, like how many times they could write their name, or do star jumps, or write numbers etc… with some funny results!

This week in Reception we decided to make some carrot and coriander soup after reading the story of The Enormous Turnip in Literacy. This proved to be very tasty with lots of children asking for second helpings! This helped the children to then produce some fantastic independent writing. The children all managed to produce some very clear instructions on how to make soup. We have also started watering our beans, so we can see how roots develop and plants grow.