Week 1

PSHE - What makes a good friend?

This half term our focus is all about friendship. We started this week by having a doing circle time where we shared and discussed the best things we like to do with our friends. We then thought about what makes a good friend and tried to think of all the things that a good friend does. We then did the opposite and thought about all the things a good friend doesn't do. We then went into the hall and explored how helping each other / looking out for each other felt in comparison to being left out and not having friends to help.

Maths - inverse operations

This week in maths we have been learning how to use inverse operations to help us solve missing number problems and to help us check our calculations. We reviewed all of the other methods and techniques we can use to help us in maths. We then used these to help us solve one step addition and subtraction problems.

English - Samson's Titanic Journey

This week we started our new writing journal using the story Samson's Titanic journey. The children explored how expanded noun phrases were used by the author for effect before creating their own expanded noun phrases writing as Samson. They then reviewed the use of time adverbials to correctly sequence events of the story.

History - RMS Titanic

This week we introduced our history topic on RMS Titanic. We started of by having a class discussion about how people might travel to go on holiday before thinking about what you would pack to take on holiday. The children role played packing a suitcase and were told that they were going to be travelling by boat. When they arrived at the dock (our hall) the children were told that for a lot of them, they weren't going on holiday, they were in fact "emigrating". This led to a good discussion and a reflection of the items they had packed. The final revelation, was that they weren't going to be travelling on any boat. They were going to be travelling on the largest, most luxurious boat of our time - RMS Titanic. We went outside and compared our small school with the size of the Titanic. 

PE - Gymnastics 

This week we reviewed what we had learnt last half term by traveling different pathways using different parts of our bodies and using the pivot skill / jump skills to change directions. We then moved on to looking at side rolls - curled and log - and how we use different parts of our body to help us. We explored the importance of balance and momentum to help us rock and roll with control in the direction we wanted.

Week 2

World Book Day

The children looked incredible on Thursday celebrating World Book Day. We virtually met author Swapna Haddow (who has written a series of books around Dave Pigeon) who read us the first chapter of her new World Book Day book "Bookshop Mayhem". We also met the illustrator Sheena Dempsey who taught us how to draw Dave Pigeon.

English - Facts and opinions

This week we focussed on the difference between a fact and an opinion. The children learnt that before RMS Titanic set off on her maiden voyage she was known as "The ship of dreams". After she sank, she was known as "The ship of nightmares." The children read through different facts and grouped them depending on whether the fact supported the dream or nightmare name. We then created a conscience alley which the children took turns to walk down to help them form their own opinions and explaining why.

Maths - Problem solving

This week the children were showing their depth of knowledge in problem solving by choosing different methods to solve addition and subtraction problems. The children were able to work out the operation they needed to use and work out the numbers needed from word problems. The children also learnt how to use the inverse operation to help them solve missing number problems and to help them check their calculations.

History - The chronology of the Titanic

This week the children learnt about the events that led up to RMS Titanic sinking. The children were able to order the events into the correct sequence and create their own timeline of events.

Music - pitch

This week the children learnt about pitch and how it can change. We listened to "People with long ears from carnival of the animals by camille saint-seans". The children used their hands to show how the pitch rises and falls throughout the piece. Miss Goodall then played different notes on a glockenspiel and the children had to identify whether or not it was a high, middle, or low pitch.

Science - Field Study

In Autumn the children went on to the field to look for evidence of habitats, food and life whilst thinking about how the field provided for these areas. This week we looked back at our photos and thought about what might have changed and reasons why. Most of the children thought that all the seeds would be gone as they would have either been eaten or gone into the ground to try and germinate. They also expected to see signs of new life as we had officially started spring.

Week 3

English - Features of a diary

Before writing their own diaries, the children explored other diaries to identify features that are used when writing a diary. These included the use of past tense, time connectives, exclamation sentences, and the use of adverbs. The children then planned and wrote their own diaries as if they were Samson on board RMS Titanic.

Maths - Money, money, money

This week in maths we reviewed money. The children were able to apply and use what they had learnt from last term - combining and taking away different amounts of money. This week we also focussed on the difference between certain values and working out how much change you might have left over. This was challenging at first but by the end of the week the children were growing in confidence.

PE - Continual movement

After looking at continual movement last week where the children had to move from a starting position, into a roll, and then into a finishing position on the floor. The children were set the challenge of using what they had learnt from the floor and applying it on the apparatus. This wasn't as easy as it sounded but through perseverance and using different levels and body leads the children created some really thoughtful movement pieces on a variety of equipment. 

Music - playing a pitched scale.

After learning the song "Granny came to our house" last week, the children were then set the challenge of playing the correct notes of a rising scale in the song using glockenspiels and xylophones. The children picked this up very quickly and then explored playing different arpeggio scales. 

Computing - creating pictograms

Using our maths knowledge of pictograms, we explored the benefits of using a computer to create them instead of creating them manually. The children first created pictograms by hand by choosing their favourite colour and display their groups results on their tables. We looked at what they had created and agreed that every groups pictogram looked different. We then looked at how pictograms can be created on a computer using the J2e data program. The children soon realised how the scale could be easily altered, how the pictures for the key were easy to switch between and most importantly how the data was presented exactly the same way which made it easier to understand.

Snow!!!

It didn't seem fair to keep the children in class at playtime after snow had fallen the night before, so at breaktime we went out on to the field and enjoyed playing in what was left of the snow. Surprisingly we weren't out there for very long as apparently it was cold!!! 

Week 4

Rocksteady

This week was very exciting as Rocksteady came and ran an assembly for us to tell us the exciting opportunity starting in our school. The children were shown a variety of different instruments including an electric and base guitar, electric drums, and keyboard. Some of children had the opportunity to come up on stage as a band and play the instruments and we all joined in with a rendition of Queen's "We will rock you." 

Science - materials for clothing

This week we started our new science topic on materials and their properties with a focus on clothing. The children were able to share their previous scientific learning and knowledge of materials before exploring traditional clothing from around the world. The children were given a range of photos of people wearing tradition clothing and had to identify the main materials used and think about the purpose and matching properties for using that particular material. For example, did the material help insulation or conduction? The children also learnt about Charles Macintosh and how he invented waterproofing.

History - Who was to blame for the sinking of the Titanic?

This week the children were set the challenge of answering this question. The children learnt about the inquiry that happened after the sinking of RMS Titanic and were then set the challenge of listening to different evidence and making their own minds up as to who was actually to blame. The suspects pictures were placed around the classroom - Captain Edward Smith, Bruce Ismay, the ship builders, Thomas Andrews, and Captain Lord. The children listened to the evidence in turn and then moved around the classroom to show who they they thought really was to blame.

Art - Milliners

This week the children became milliners by starting to use their sketched designs and begin creating their own pieces of art in the form of their hats. The children focused on shape and sizing this week before we move on to look at texture when we choose materials to decorating them next week. 

Week 5

English - Expanded noun and adverbial phrases

This week in English we did something different and used a short film called "once in a lifetime" as a stimulus for our writing journey. We are using this to create a descriptive narrative for the wordless film. To help us do this we focussed on creating word banks of powerful adjectives and adverbs that could enhance our sentences and excite our readers. 

Maths - Directional and positional language

This week in maths we reviewed our knowledge of fractions by looking at giving and following directions. The children learnt and practised rotating in clockwise and anticlockwise directions with 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full turns. The children learnt that a quarter turn was 90 degrees and then used this knowledge to work out how many degrees were in a half, three quarter and full turn. The children worked in different groups to follow and give directions using the newly learnt directional language.

Music - Jumping and sliding scales

This week in music the children learnt a new song called "Wispy Willow" which focussed on pitch moving up and down in either a jump or a slide in scales. The children had the opportunity to read a musical score to physically see the pitch rising and falling and then used glockenspiels to follow the score and play their percussion instrument along with the new song.

Oral health with Mrs Glennie

On Wednesday we were very lucky to be visited by Mrs Glennie who came and gave the children a first hand account of what it is like to be a dentist, the importance of cleaning your teeth, and how best to look after our teeth and gums.

Sharing of our history topic homework

We were blown away on Thursday when the children brought in their amazing models of RMS Titanic. Thank you for helping your children make these models. It was lovely to see so many different styles. The children loved sharing their models with each other and Year R and 1 were really impressed when they came in to look at them.

Art - Milliners

After sketching and designing their own ideas of hats based around the Titanic and creating the basic structure for their hats,  the children turned their attention to the different materials and textures they wanted to use to decorate and finish their hats. 

Week 6

SeaCity Museum - The Titanic Story school trip

This week we went on our first proper school trip to Southampton. The children loved travelling on the coach and when we arrived they were fantastic ambassadors to our school by not only showing our school values but their knowledge about the Titanic. We started off in the education room, where we got the opportunity to hold original and replica objects from the Titanic period to work out what they were and how they were used. We had to use our senses of sight and smell to locate areas on board the Titanic. We then had to face the moral dilemma of sorting out which passengers got to board a lifeboat before investigating how RMS Titanic actually sank by filling up different water compartments. Several of the children got to dress as real life passengers and crew of RMS Titanic and we then got the opportunity to walk around the museum and learn even more about the ship and what it was like onboard for the different passengers and crew.