The Chronicle

This week in science Junior 6 have been budding taxonomists (someone who classifies living things); thinking about how we can classify all living things based on various criteria. Is it a fungus? Can it fly? Does it make Mrs Vaughan jump up in the air when we hide it on her chair? We even spent one lesson exploring the outdoor classroom and playgrounds hunting for our own specimens to classify. It was amazing to discover all the plants and critters that make their homes within our school. Well done Junior 6; with your curiosity and enthusiasm, we know you’d all make super scientists one day.

Junior 5L have been learning about the creation of life in Religious Education over the last two weeks. They have been exploring both the Hindu and Christian creation story, creating comic strips to show the story’s journey from beginning to end. The children watched a video clip about each story and read the bible verses relating to the creation story. Through discussion, they recognised the similarities and differences between the two stories. The children have further explored the two different creation stories found in Gensis, comparing them and identifying both the similarities and differences.

In Music this week, Junior 4 revised their recorder notes, crotchets, minims and high notes.  We discussed the amazing opportunity of taking part in the Young Voices Choir next year on Friday, 12 January in Birmingham. Young Voices is an organisation that runs children's choir concerts hosted in arenas and stadiums throughout the world. Prior to the concert they provide schools with music, lyrics and dance moves. Junior 4 practised with actions the Walking Medley, including the Lambeth Walk and These Boots are Made for Walkin'. Accompanying the children from many different schools will be a full live band and backing singers. Historically, they have collaborated with celebrities such as Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Gary Barlow (Take That), and Clean Bandit. Let's get ready to rock, Junior 4!

This week Junior 3 have been really getting to grips with their mathematics topic of place value. We have used base 10 and place value counters to represent numbers to 1,000 and have begun to use these skills to add 1, 10 and 100 to any number. We are all working hard to practise our Maths Passport targets and have enjoyed our fluency sessions where we get to practise using games and the ipads. In our Art lessons we have already turned our minds to the festive season as we prepared our Christmas cards ready for printing.

This week in Junior 2, it has been all about dragon's eggs! The children received a letter from Professor Hanan al-Hroub from Warwick University. She is conducting a very important experiment. She believes that the character of dragons is changed by the environment in which the egg lays, and she is hoping that by having the egg in our classroom for three weeks, the baby dragons will be born with a kind and hard-working nature. The egg will have to be returned to the university before it hatches, but we will receive news, and possibly some pictures following the birth. The only problem was that the egg disappeared! Thankfully, we found it and we are keeping it very safe, showing it how to love and care for each other so that when they hatch, they will grow to be as wonderful as Junior 2 are. We have also created dragon world landscapes to help ignite our imaginations for our English lessons next week. 

This week Junior 1 have been tantalising their tastebuds by exploring the sense of taste in their Science lessons. Everyone had lots of fun trying different foods which were sour, sweet or bitter before recording their preferences. Our lessons also included learning how the parts of the tongue could detect the different tastes. On Monday we started our focus book The Little Red Hen by retelling the story with Mighty Writer before re-enacting and sequencing the story. Our Geography lesson was also a wonderful practical experience when we all went to look at different styles of houses in the local area. We are so lucky to have a variety of flats, semi-detached and detached houses, as well as new and old properties nearby.

What a week we have had in Reception! We have embraced the autumnal weather and have sploshed and splashed around outside in our puddlesuits at playtime, as well as adventuring at Forest School. We have also been naming different parts of the body using correct terminology and enjoyed finding the different pictures of parts of the body on a scavenger hunt around the playground. The children have continued to adapt to our school routines and we couldn’t be prouder of everything they are achieving!

This week the children have been making potions outside, using mud, sticks, petals and leaves. We had a go at making up some spells that rhyme together.

The children also embraced a massive rain downpour and the magic of being 3-years-old…the squeals of delight as they pretended to have outdoor showers and wash their hair!