The Chronicle

This week in DT, Junior 6 have collaborated in groups to design and make their own rainmakers. They started their project by researching the history of rainmakers, thinking about where they originated from and what they were used for. Then in their groups, the children planned out their own design and went away to source the materials they would need. What the children made in such a short time really impressed us - we were particularly amazed by their ability to work well with others and then evaluate their work afterwards. You showed great enthusiasm and diligence throughout the task Junior 6 - keep up the great work!

This week, Junior 5 took themselves back to the early 17th Century and re-dramatised the tale of Prospero and his daughter, Miranda; two characters brought to life by William Shakespeare. All of the children were superb in acting out key scenes, with many enthusiastically getting into the role of their character. The children also recognised the similarity in the setting of the play (a remote island) with their core text in English, Kensuke’s Kingdom. It was lovely to see the children demonstrate such a wonderful attitude towards the performing arts, and to practise such important life skills, such as speaking with clarity and using facial expression to reflect inner feeling. They were all superstars!

As part of British Science Week in Junior 4R we looked at Pendulum (Physics): pupils were introduced to the relationship between length and time period of a pendulum, they then built their own pendulum and tested it to investigate how length affects time for one swing. They were then challenged to make a one second pendulum by using their data to predict the length needed to give an exact time of one second for one swing.

In Junior 4A, we studied infectious diseases (Biology): pupils were introduced to how disease can be transmitted between people and took part in two simulations, one to show how disease can be spread through contact (they shook hands or high-fived each other and the ‘disease’ was tracked using an invisible gel that fluoresces under UV light); the second to show how rapid transmission can be spread via fluids using beakers of water, where one carrier of the disease resulted in the majority of pupils infected after the water was shared with several others (one beaker contained invisible starch which spread quickly to multiple beakers, the beakers were tested at the end with iodine which is orange but turns dark blue/black in the presence of starch). 

Well done, Junior 4.  What an incredible time we all had.

Junior 3 have been really looking forward to performing the Easter show this week and have been ardously rehearsing. Mrs Olden has reported that they have sung beautifully and have eagerly leant new songs in readiness for the performance. Despite all the stopping and starting in rehearsals, Junior 3 have acted with maturity and watched the Junior 4s performances carefully so they know when they need to join in. The children will certainly be ready for taking on the mantle of more prominent roles when they are in Junior 4 next year. Well done, Junior 3!

Junior 2 embarked on an enriching educational visit to St John's Museum in Warwick, immersing themselves in the captivating narratives of the past. Excitement buzzed through the air, as they boarded the coach and made our way to the museum. The grand halls were filled with beautiful artifacts whispering tales of years gone by. Junior 2 were very engaged during the tour leader’s discussion, where the children asked pertinent questions relating to the fire that took place in Warwick. They even acted out parts of local people who made claims for compensation. Lunch was a perfect picnic where they were able to discuss their day and enjoy each others company in a stimulating environment. As they departed the museum, their minds were full of new found information. What a great day they all had!

Have you ever eaten potato and leek soup? If you have, you have had a taste of Wales, which is the country we were looking at in Geography this week. We also tried Welsh cakes which received a mixed reaction! Knowing the difference between evergreen and deciduous trees was the focus in Science, along with discovering how an apple tree changes throughout the four seasons of a year. In English we finished looking at Where The Wild Things Are by re-telling the story using pieces of our story map to help write it in the correct order. Capacity was the topic in Maths, and we used sand to help measure out the capacity of different containers and compare which ones held more or less than each other.

What a busy week we’ve had in Reception.  Our story, The Hungry Caterpillar gave us a lovely foundation to Science week as we discussed the changes from caterpillar to butterfly.  The children have been using their clever observing eyes – noticing symmetrical patterns, drawing butterflies and have used the story to support some excellent writing. We recalled what the caterpillar ate each day and used our phonic knowledge to write about the different foods he ate. We have also used our bodies to help our maths this week – our noses helped us as the numbers on our fingers got bigger, and our eyes did the work when it came to subitising. This week we worked hard at conceptual subitising: spotting small groups of numbers within a bigger collection of objects: for example, when looking at 10 coins, we noticed a set of 4, another set of 4, and then two more. This helped us to work out the bigger number quickly by combining them together.

This week the children have been focused upon ‘Marvellous Minibeasts’.

In Dormice, we have loved listening to the story of Superworm, and trying to catch his minibeast friends. We have been ‘bug’ hunting for real life Superworms and made a ‘delicious’ home for Superworm using a variety of resources and our senses to describe diffferent materials.

In Badgers and Hedgehogs, we held the 'Grand Snail Race', with eight, banded garden snails sporting different coloured spots on their shells. The children cheered for their favourite snails as they sped towards the geranium leaves at the edge of the tray. This provided an ideal, real-life opportunity to apply ordinal maths vocabulary as we discussed who came first, second and third.

As the week went on, the children became increasingly confident about holding a snail so that they could make a really close observation of our visiting gastropods.

Our Minibeast topic also lent itself to exploring repeated pattern in Shape and Space, as the children created sequences using photos of bugs.

On the craft table, children had an opportunity to copy a spiral snail collage using mosaic tiles, inspired by the Artist Matisse.

Outside, the wet Spring weather was perfect for a bug hunt and our eagle-eyed youngsters discovered lots of tiny white slug eggs and wriggly worms.