Candle Poems - 6th January

In English, we spent some time looking at candles to collect material for writing candle poems. We observed what we could see, hear and smell but also we thought about how looking at the flame made us feel. Many people found the candle brought back memories, both happy and sad. We made notes of all our thoughts then used them to create the poems you can read below.

Puzzles and Games - 11th January

Our marble jar treat was inspired by some of the activities that we did with Will when he came to help us to be brilliant in the autumn term. We tried cup stacking and domino runs and as amny different puzzles and games as we could find.

How big is our solar system? - 18th January

In science, we used toilet rolls and cut-outs of the planets to make models of our solar system. It was made to scale and involved a lot of maths and team work but we made some very interesting models. We were shocked at the distances involved and just how far away the outer plaents really are.

Why do we have day and night? - 21st January

We tried to find the answer to this question using torches and footballs. We found out that we have day and night because of the rotation of the Earth and because light only travels in straight lines.

The next week, we used the same method to explore the phases of the moon.

Music inspired by Peer Gynt

We listened to In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt by Grieg. We studied the different parts, the instruments and how Grieg paints a picture with the sounds he uses. We used tuned and untuned percussion to create our own versions of the piece.

Gymnastics - paired work

We worked on body shapes at different heights and copying our partner either symetrically or asymetrically.

Space Websites - 11th February

We used all the things that Mr Lenge taught us in the autumn term about how to make a website, to create a space themed website. We designed our own galaxy backgrounds using Paint then we produced pages on different topics. There was an explanation about why we have day and night, fun facts, a biography of Katherine Johnson and a fact file about a planet from our solar system. We talked about how many school subjects and were surprised to find that we had used skills from English, IT, science, history and PSHE.

Exploring with magnets - 25th February

As part of our science, we spent some time finding out about magnets. We had worked with magnets in Year 3 but we wanted to look again at how magnets attract and repel and how they attract some materials but not others. We also needed to revise all the scientific vocabulary. One of the most interesting things we discovered was that magnets can attract and repel at a distance and don't have to be touching.

Playground Leaders - 7th March

Anthony came into school and trained the whole class to be playground leaders. That means that we can now work in teams at lunch time play to lead younger children in fun and active playground activites. We learned about leadership skills and how to make games gradually more challenging. Later in the morning, we had a chance to practise our new skills on YR and back in class we completed a work book where we could record our work during the morning. Since then, we have also been able to try out our skills on Y3. After the holidays, we will begin to work regularly with the younger classes.

The Victory of Jesus' Resurrection

Our Easter topic asks why do Christians see Easter as a victory. We looked at the Bible, Christian songs and hymns, quotes from different Christians and a brilliant video about why Jesus had to die. We found out that because of Jesus' death on the cross, we can have the victory over death and all the things that we sometimes do wrong. He set us free and gives us new life. We put our findings into a piece of art.