Time Traveller

Welcome to the new half term! Not long now until the 6 weeks holidays but in the meanwhile, we have lots of learning going on. This half term, our topic is called 'Time Traveller'. In this topic, we will be looking at the journey from the moment we are born to the when time stops. We will be looking at how our bodies and brains change as we grow older and how we cope with these changes.

We will also be reading Tom's Midnight Garden and imagining what would happen if the clock struck 13. Tom travels has a fantastic adventure travelling into the past.

We will be thinking about how we would feel if we could time travel. Where would we like to go and what would we like to see?

Tick, tock, tick, tock...the hands on the clock never stop!

Visualising within reading and Happy Easter!

The Gascoigne children have been working extremely hard this week in their reading sessions. We have been learning how to visualise images whilst we are reading. The children enjoyed creating their own pictures to visualise what was happening in a text from the book "Gorilla"by Anthony Browne.

We also enjoyed reading a poem called 'At the Seaside' which described the wonderful things that you can see on a day at the coast.We identified different features within the poem such as rhyming words and alliteration and then used the poem to continue practising our visualisation skills. The children worked both individually to draw their own ideas and we worked as a class to create a class picture of the poem.

The children loved working together to create this artwork from their own visualising ideas.

I hope that you all have a lovely relaxing Easter Holiday.

The Easter story and beyond

Last week, we asked the question 'What did Jesus do to save human beings?'. We started by learning about the Easter story through the 'Stations of the Cross'. The children created their own pictures depicting Jesus on his journey to the cross and his crucifixion. We also discussed who we thought was responsible for Jesus' death. The children asked some very sensible questions and had a great discussion sharing their own ideas.

Remembrance Day

This week in class the children have learnt about the origins and history of Remembrance Day as well as producing some of their own crafts to pay their respects.
When we discussed the history of Remembrance Day in class the children asked some very thoughtful and relevant questions and were keen to learn more about the past.
Attached are some pictures taken as we were making Remembrance crosses with poppies and a personal inscription.

Cycling, safety and well-being

What a busy 5 days it has been in KS2 this week.

On Tuesday we were visited by The New Kings Order, a band who recently featured on X-factor. They performed an array of songs before discussing issues such as bullying and online safety with the children.

On Wednesday, in Gascoigne class, we recognised World Mental Health Day and talked at great length about difficulties people have regarding mental health. In literacy we used descriptive language to give each other compliments and consider our own positive qualities.

Today, we ended the week with a visit from Phil, who runs Pro-Ride cycling. He took the majority of Year 4, 5 and 6 children, in small groups, onto the playground to challenge & develop their cycling skills. Although we have done this in previous years, Phil adds something new every time and the children really enjoyed getting to try out ramps, obstacles and races on their bikes. Well done everyone who took part for their great behaviour and positivity.

Skipping

On Monday morning, the year 4 children worked with Leanne from skipping school, to develop their skills in preparation for the Brigshaw schools skipping competition after Christmas.

The whole group were really focused, attentive and hard-working. Leanne commented to me midway through the session how skilled the group was as a whole - very positive feedback.
Well done to all who took part.

Mrs Burnell even managed to capture a few action shots.

Thankfulness & Investigating Sound

This week in Gascoigne class our curriculum has been incredibly varied and very busy. The children have produced some excellent fronted adverbial work in literacy as well as acrostic poems about Thankfulness and Harvest. Each child was also asked to create a ‘plate’ that represented which foods they were thankful for.

We have continued to work on Ancient Greek DT projects this week and some children have shown a real flair for design and creativity. In addition, the children continue to impress our visiting teachers during their vocal coaching and woodwind sessions.

Today our curriculum became more investigative as the children were tasked with being scientists – testing materials and their ability to provide effective sound insulation. They were absolutely fantastic in their approach to working scientifically, taking time and care to produce accurate and clear results.

Finally, when you rummage through school bags this weekend you will notice the children have been given homework for the first time. This includes a variety of tasks and information about the learning taking place in class. There is no obligation to complete every task, many are just suggestions that children can complete if they want to further develop their learning in a particular curriculum area. Please just have a look and discuss with your child.

Have a great weekend.