Week 1

English - The clockwork Dragon

This week the children started their latest writing journey by sitting in the classroom with the lights off listening to the noise of a dragon roaring. They weren't told what the noise was and they were asked how the noise made them feel. This generated amazing adjectives which the children then added to when they heard the story of The Clockwork Dragon and had the task of generating adjectives to describe the feelings of different characters and viewpoints in the story.

Maths - Rotational turns and measurement

The children started this week by developing their knowledge of fractions and time by exploring rotational turns. The children took it in turns to give and follow instructions and commands using rotational language including, quarter, half and whole turn and clockwise and anticlockwise. The children then moved on to develop their measurement knowledge by exploring estimating and measuring capacity to the nearest ml and temperature.

Art - Milliners

This week the children finished making their hats they had designed inspired by hats made by famous milliners such as Phillip Treacy and Eugenia Kim.

Computing - Algorithms

This week in computing we looked at what algorithms are and how they work. To fully understand how they work the children were set a challenge of drawing a picture by following simple instructions. All children were able to follow these instructions and produce similar drawings of a house.

PE - Dance and gymnastics

In dance this week the children developed the skill of cooperation and collaboration. The children listened to a piece of music entitled "friends" and had to identify when the music "walked" or "skipped" the children then worked with a partner to come up with different "friendship" movements to a 4 x 8 beat to create a friendship movement piece.

In gymnastics the children used their previous knowledge of balance and weight shifting to help them create controlled twists, turns, rolls and spins. The children combined their jumping knowledge along with what they had learnt about creating different pathways to move around the hall and change directions using spins, twists and turns.

Week 2

English - Features of instruction writing

After coming up with some really creative ideas on how they might possibly catch a dragon to help the town folk of Cranktown, the children learnt about the different writing features that are used in instruction writing and their different purposes. The children then looked at a set of instructions and highlighted all the features they recognised. The children then began to plan and write their own set of instructions, using these features, to help people catch Flamethrottle the dragon.

Maths - Addition, Subtraction and geometry

This week in maths the children developed their addition and subtracting skills by solving calculations that involved adding/subtracting two single digits, adding/subtracting two digit with a single digit and adding/subtracting two two digit numbers with a focus on breaking down numbers into tens and ones to help us. The children then applied these skills by solving problems. Finally this week we revisited and reviewed our geometry knowledge by comparing 2D and 3D shapes by their properties.

Computing - Beebots - Same but different

This week the children learnt how the order in which the same instructions/directions are given can cause different results. The children explored this first hand through using Beebots and maps. The children were given a set of directions and found out all of the different destinations they could arrive at by changing the order in which the directions were programmed in.

Science - Properties of materials - Waterproof

Following on from learning about Charles Macintosh and how he invented the first waterproof coat, the children tested out other materials to see if there were any other materials that had properties that would be suitable for a waterproof coat. The children ran fair tests by using the same amount of water each time and recorded their results. 

DT - Sewing - the running stitch

For our DT topic this term the children are learning to create a fabric face of themselves as part of a tapestry for Seahorse class 2024. This week the children learnt how to sew using the basic running stitch.

Week 3

Maths - The two, five and ten times tables

This week in maths the children developed their multiplication recall by focussing on how the 2,5 and 10 times tables grow and then using that knowledge to answer different multiplication questions.

English - Instructions and noun phrases

At the start of the week the children wrote, edited and published their own set of instructions to help people like the Mayor of Cranktown  catch, get rid or even kill problematic dragons. The children then learnt that the problem of dragons was a lot bigger than they thought when they watched videos of dragon sightings from around the world. This caused a lot of discussion on the different type of dragons there might be and led us into exploring how adjectives are used to not only describe appearance but personalities too. The children created word banks of powerful adjectives to describe different types of dragons before taking this further and looking at specific parts of the dragon and creating noun and expanded noun phrases.

Computing - predicting algorithms 

This week in computing the children put their knowledge of programming into practise by predicting the final location their Beebot would end up when starting from a given location and following a series of instructions they programmed in. When the results were different than expected the children were able to work out where mistakes had been made.

Music - Forte and piano

The children continued to develop their knowledge of pitch dynamics this week by playing a game called "Hunt the dragon egg". A golden dragon egg was hidden amongst the children and the children took it in turns to try and find out who had the egg. The way the did this was through the help of their friend - when the child was near the person with the egg the children clapped really loudly (forte) as opposed to when they were far away from the person and the classed clapped quietly and softly (piano). 

DT - Textiles - finishing techniques

In preparation for the children to create their fabric faces, this week the children explored different finishing techniques they could use to help them join other components to their work. The children explored using glue, sellotape, staples and running stitches to see what worked and what created the desired effect.

PE - Dance - Bubbles

This week the children focussed on collaboration and cooperation when creating paired and grouped movement pieces based on the stimulus of bubbles. The children has to explore and create different ways their balloons could combine by using different body parts and then show how their bubbles eventually shuddered and then popped by bursting. 

Final Straw Charity day

On Friday, we all dressed in blue to show our support for our new charity "The Final Straw". The children were also set the challenge of using plastic rubbish that they might find around our beaches and upcycle it by making a under the sea model. We were blown away with the amazing models brought in. 

Week 4

Maths - Solving problems using multiplication and division facts.

This week the children continued to develop their knowledge of the 2, 5, and 10 times tables by solving grouping and sharing problems. We also looked at at we break down a two step problem into its individual parts to solve a bigger problem.

English - Adjectives, connectives, apostrophes and dragons

This week the children were introduced to our new new book stimulus "Tell me a dragon" by Jackie Morris. Using this book the children were able to recognise and identify where expanded noun phrases were used for impact. At the end of the story it finishes by asking the reader to tell them about their own dragon and so the children created their own dragons and explored using connectives and possessive apostrophes to write about their dragons.

PSHE - Looking after our environment

In PSHE this week the children explored walked around the school looking at different areas and thinking about things they liked and disliked about each area. They then had the challenge of choosing one particular area they disliked and coming up with ideas of how to improve it. The children loved looking around the school and in particular loved our improved Butterfly garden.

Music - Pitch and tempo

The children learnt a call and response song called the dragon song this week. Using their knowledge from what they have learnt regarding pitch (forte and piano) and tempo, the children explored each verse and explored changing the pitch and tempo to suit what was being said in each verse.

DT - Creating fabric faces

This week the children began following their designs and the techniques they have learnt over the last couple of weeks to make a start at creating their own fabric faces. The children used the running stitch and other different joining techniques to create the desired effect in preparation for using the finishing techniques next week.

Science - Changes to materials

This week in science the children explored how some materials can be changes through such application of force such as stretching, bending, squashing and twisting. The children found out that some materials could return back to their original state and some couldn't. There was also discussion on how materials such as wood and ice can be changed with the application of heat to make new materials.

PE - Gymnastics - twisting

This week the children focussed on twisting and how they need to move different part of their body and turn from the hips to create different twisting movements. The children practised lying on their fronts and looking back at their feet to explore how the rest of their body needs to be facing to perform a jump twist in the air. The children then experimenting twisting their bodies around with just their hand or feet being planted on the floor and how the correct weight shift allows us to twist from a front bridge into a back bridge.

Computing - Creating maps and route changes

So far this term the children have been using premade maps to practise their algorithms on. This week however, the children created their own maps and then had to program the correct instruction to get their Beebots to travel from a chosen starting point to the chosen destination. This was then made trickier when obstacles in the form of barriers were then placed on to their maps and the children had to re-programme their Beebots to move around the obstacles and still reach the goal.  

Week 5

English - Features of a non chronological report

This week before the children created their own non chronological reports for their imaginary dragons they learnt what writing features are used to create non chronological reports and identified the features, purpose and impact on the reader. The children looked at different examples of non chronological reports and found all the different features they could find. The children then used these features in their own non chronological reports.

Maths - Partitioning numbers

This week in maths the children continued to develop their place value knowledge by exploring how two digit numbers can be partitioned and the different methods and techniques that the partitioning can be shown. The children explored working systematically to try and find all the possible ways of partitioning numbers in to their tens and ones components.

PSHE - Road Safety

This week we focused on the importance of crossing the road safely. The children thought about the different safe areas they can cross the road and reasons why other areas are not safe. The children were able to sort pictures of safe and unsafe places to cross, create road safety poster and put their knowledge into practise by crossing the road safely.

History - The life of Mary Seacole

Having learnt about the work of Florence Nightingale, the children became historians again by researching facts about the life of another significant woman in history, Mary Seacole. The children read fact files, looked at pictures and watched videos to find out key facts about Mary's life and work before summarising why they felt she was also important.

Computing - Predicting algorithms

This week the children were given the task of choosing a starting and finishing point on a map and then working out the correct sequence of instructions to programme into the Beebots to make it reach the goal. The children then used a trail and error process to tweak or modify the instructions until they were able to correctly programme the Beebots with the right algorithm.  

PE - Dance - My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson

This week the children were able to use the lovely weather to help them compose movement sequences based on the stimulus of shadows. The children practised moving and shaping their bodies in different ways to see the different effects it had on their shadows. The children then worked collaboratively by pairing up and taking it in turns to be "the shadow" by copying the movements of their partner. The children then listened to the poem "My Shadow" and worked together to create a series of movements together that matched what was being said in the poem. The children performed their movement pieces to each other and shared what they liked.

Week 6

Religious Education - Raksha Bandhan

This week in RE week we explored the Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan which celebrates the family tie / bond that brothers and sisters have and focuses on love and protection. The children first explored what the word protection means, looks like and feels like before thinking about who protects them and when and where they feel safe and protected. The children then learnt about the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan and the symbolism and meaning of the giving and receiving of a "Rakhi" - bracelet. The children really enjoyed making their own rakhis and giving them to their friends to show their love. 

English - Non Chronological Reports

This week the children did an amazing job of creating non chronological reports about their created dragons. The children created their own subheadings for their facts and were able to use expanded noun phrases, conjunctions and possessive apostrophes to excite and inform the reader. The children planned, wrote, edited and published their work this week and these will be collated into one fact book about dragons to be read in our book corner.

Maths - Addition and Subtraction

This week the children developed their addition and subtraction knowledge and skills by exploring how to add and subtract a single digit with a two digit number, two two-digit numbers and two-digit numbers and tens. 

Scooter Training

On Thursday, the children show great courage and perseverance when they took part in scooter training. The children had a great time learning the basics as well as how to perform progressively challenging tricks.

PE - Gymnastics - Twisting

This week the children got the opportunity to put everything they have learnt this term into practise by showcase different twists using different parts of their bodies and how this can help them travel over, under and through different apparatus.