Happy Birthday NHS!

This week we have been getting into lots of messy science, experimenting with reversible and irreversible changes.

We have mixed malt vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to create carbon dioxide and could see the gas inflating a rubber glove- we couldn't get the vinegar back but we certainly craved some fish and chips! We also attempted an experiment to create casein but found that our vinegar wasn't quite right, our milk began to curdle but not enough to make plastic- it was definitely an irreversible change! Feel free to try it at home, it's easy! (when you have the right ingredients).
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akhs3wcSDGA
Finally we cracked an egg open (irreversible) and decided to try and cook it using the amazing sun shine we have been having this week. We placed placed it on a metal tray on the slide which was the hottest place in the playground at a whopping 41 degrees Celsius! 

Miss Smith has joined us for literacy this week. We have been using a clip called 'Eye of the Storm' by Lovett to inspire and improve our creative writing. We have done lots of thesaurus work and have tried our hand at amplification.
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1mX8ptsmBM

We have also been learning about the origins of the NHS, what it stands for and how it operates, to celebrate its 70th anniversary. The children asked lots of interesting questions and discussed how important our health service is and how it embodies our Christian and British values of tolerance and acceptance. They made posters of medical advancements throughout the ages that have contributed towards our great NHS.

Talking of the NHS, all of Gascoigne class wish Mr Riley a speedy recovery after losing his voice!

Best wishes,
Miss Wadlow

Last Lap

A big welcome back to everyone following what was hopefully an enjoyable and restful half term holiday. 

We have lots planned for this last half term in Gascoigne class across all our curriculum subjects, some of which we will give you an insight into below.

During the next two weeks our year 5 children will be learning how to perform translations and reflections in maths, followed by another delve into the world of time!!!!!

In literacy the children will continue to learn specific writing skills each lesson but our Big Writes are to be themed on our current topic of the Vikings. This will include a battle report, viking myth and a persuasive piece - I'm sure a Viking axe was very persuasive. 

This brings me on to our 'visitors' in school yesterday - a small group of vikings who had travelled a great distance looking for some slaves. Unfortunately the chose not to take any of our children with them but they did educate us on many aspects of viking life such as clothing, food, hobbies and warfare. We have attached some pictures below from our presentation.

Finally, a reminder about the Trust sports day at John Charles Centre next week. The children have been working hard in PE, practicing playing dodgeball, handball and tag rugby, whilst also perfecting their baton passing skills. Please ensure permission slips are returned to school ASAP.

Many thanks,

Mr Riley

Last week our year 4's took part in the Leeds Skipping Festival Project 2017/18! We are incredibly proud of all they have achieved over the past few months. They have improved their skipping skills tremendously and even learnt some new tricks. As part of the festival the children were required to perform- in front of 5 other schools- a dance that was choreographed and memorised in only 1 week. Individual year 4's represented the school by showing off their double bounce, speed bounce, side swing, cross skip and a complicated, outrageous 'Pretzel'! Festival coordinator Chris kept everyone smiling and laughing throughout the afternoon and our children performed well enough to win a range of individual awards! The children can't wait to show them off at the end of the week.

Despite the sporadic changes in weather, LEH gardening club has managed to start its journey to green-fingered-ness. We have planted corn, onion and pumpkin in our ark greenhouse and our potatoes are ready to go into our planter once it has been moved. We would like to wish our care taker Mr Teasdale a speedy recovery with his bad shoulder- we miss his enthusiastic gardening skills. The children are raring to go, now we just need some good weather to help us photosynthesize! 

In literacy this week we are focusing on specific skills for editing our work, including; improving our proof reading, independently accessing spelling support and correcting punctuation. The children will be urged to use our 'working walls' and the B's- Be Brave, Buddy, Bits and Bobs, Be still, Backtrack. These encourage the children to be independent learners who can assess their own work and focus on elements of their work that need building on. 

In math we will be finishing the area and perimeter unit this week with a few Tour De Yorkshire related problems.

As part of our new topic 'Raiders and Traders' the children have designed viking names for themselves and have written them onto cartridge paper using Norse Runes. They have then used tea to stain the paper giving it an aged appearance. This afternoon the children have used charcoal to give definition to their runes. 

Here Comes The Sun??

This week we have been looking back on our knowledge of perimeter and area. As well as practicing our calculation and estimation skills we have been looking at practical uses for our new skills. The children have also been developing their understanding of mathematical problems in the 'real world': how much paint is needed for a wall, how many fence panels needed for a field, how many square meters to carpet a room? I wonder if you can think of some more 'real world' uses for perimeter and area skills at home?

To start our summer outside games off we have played cricket in the wonderful sunshine this week. The children have had to focus on their hand-eye co-ordination, balance and timing as well as working as a unit to field efficiently. Finally, they were challenged to catch both Miss Wadlow and Mr Riley 'out'.... they definitely need more practice with that ;)

To introduce our new topic 'Raiders and Traders' through music Miss Flynn has had the children creating their own viking chant. They have had to compose interesting lyrics taking care to include dynamics paying attention to beat.

Hindu Temple Trip and Dance in a Day

Last Wednesday, year 5's spent the day at Brigshaw High School learning a Dance choreographed in a single day by two year 8's. This was incredibly challenging and required top notch concentration and co-ordination. The children dove right in and set a brilliant example with their fantastic behavior and listening skills and really shone for LEH. Dancing to 'Get Ugly' by Jason Derulo, the children had to move both in unison and in canon creating powerful visual effects as well as speed up through the furious chorus.

Yesterday, Year 4's visited the Hindu Mandir in Bradford. Seema, our guide, made us feel very welcome and helped us to understand some key aspects of the Hindu religion and how they worship. First we had to take off our shoes and wash our hands as a sign of respect to their gods but also to keep the worship hall clean as prayers take place on the floor. Next we sat in a circle and used our senses to experience being in a Hindu Mandir. Seema lit incense and played Hindu Aum meditations then showed us how to sit respectfully and what traditional Hindu dress looks like.

We had a chance to look at a beautiful shrine and ask lots of questions about the different statues which represent aspects or personalities of Hindu gods. Finally we received gifts of sugar cubes and nuts from the priest as a blessing. Overall we had an interesting experience and enjoyed our time in the Mandir and can now say a respectful hello and goodbye as a Hindu- 'Namaste.'

 





 

Snow way of getting to school

We hope that you had a fantastic couple of days last week in the glorious snowy weather.

It isn't often in this country that we encounter so much snow and we hope that you made the most of it. It would be wonderful to hear or see pictures of your adventures sledging, building snowmen, snow ball fighting or making snow angels. The school's snowman is still standing despite the rising temperatures.

We are going to be having a busy week with activities such as Dance in a Day, Netball tournaments and our Mother's Day assembly on Friday. We hope to have lots of pictures to blog at the end of the week.   

Editing Big Write, improper fractions, Earth and Space.

Literacy

This week we have been editing big write persuasive texts focusing on clarity and formal language. We have also been looking at improving our language and vocab choices. Today we have worked on expanded noun phrases using Harry Potter as inspiration as we near world book day. The children have been identifying nouns and adding adjectives to make their sentences more interesting and creative. They have even been adding multiple adjectives and changing sentence order to up-level their work.   

Maths

Our focus in maths this week has been on fractions and decimals. Over the past few days the children have been converting decimals to fractions and fractions to decimals. They have then moved on to converting improper fractions to mixed numbers.

Science

We have started our new science topic of Earth and Space this week. To start, the children brain stormed facts that they already knew about our planet and the rest of the universe. We shared some of these facts as a class and discussed what we would like to learn. To finish we watched educational videos from national geographic and Free School on Youtube about the sun, phases of the moon and what planets make up our solar system in the Milky Way. There are a lot of interesting documentaries on the internet and books about space; please encourage your child/children to explore some different ideas through these mediums.   

Art

We are coming to a close with our Big Frieze work in RE; our art is following suit. To finalise our own version of the Big Frieze we have completed monoprinted words and moved on to creating our own Lowry inspired matchstick people. The children have had the chance to experiment with designing outfits and hairdos before we begin assembling the final piece.   

R.E.

Our last investigation of the Big Frieze this week has entailed ‘framing’. This involved the children using miniature picture frames to pinpoint sections of a panel that were interesting, holy, puzzling etc. They then enlarged what was inside their frame and transferred it to A4 paper.