The children had a great day learning about the Romans and their army. They handled artefacts and looked at armour and weapons. They also made their own version of a Roman coin.

Year 4 used decibel meter readings to compare the sound level in different areas of the school. They collected their data and created a bar chart to show their results. The children also explored using different materials to test which was the best insulator of sound.

This week in Nursery, we have been busy learning all about dinosaurs! 🦖 Our focus stories were Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs  📚 and The Dinosaur That Pooped  collection, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. We developed our fine motor skills through dinosaur stomp paint printing 🎨, and in maths we played a dinosaur egg dice counting game 🥚🎲 to support number recognition and counting. The children also enjoyed dinosaur yoga 🧘‍♂️🦖, helping them to exercise their bodies and develop balance and coordination. In our dinosaur small-world area, we explored and discussed different dinosaur species 🌍🦕 In RE, we talked about celebrations 🎉 and shared the special events we celebrate with our families ❤️. Our older children also began learning the ‘s’  sound during phonics sessions 🔤. What a fantastic and fun-filled week it has been! 🌟🦖

Year 2 enjoyed visiting Seven Stories to watch a pantomime of Puss in Books!   ‘Once upon a time, in a land far away, resides Puss in Books – the most famous and fearful scaredy cat in all of Storyland. Puss in Books is strictly a library cat, risking all his nine lives through the safety of a good novel. But when he discovers his friends have disappeared is Puss brave enough to venture outdoors and into the deep dark forest to find them? The Cheshire Cat thinks Puss has what it takes…sort of…’   The children enjoyed the pantomime and helped Puss in Books find his cat friends like Mog and Cat in the Hat!

Fairground Wheel The children enjoyed designing and making their fairground wheels. Children needed to know various key skills: ·         Everyday objects have mechanisms. ·         Many things that move have parts inside to help them work. ·         Mechanisms usually limit unwanted movement. ·         Everyday objects utilise wheels and axles. ·         Wheels must be able to turn to work effectively. ·         Axles allow wheels to turn without falling off. ·         The features of a fairground wheel include the wheel, frame, pods, axle and axle holder. Once the children learnt these skills, they were able to make their own and, as a whole class, were able to evaluate what they had made. They then discussed how they could change part of their design if they were to make it again.

This week in English, Year 5 explored the world of persuasive advertising! They analysed real adverts to uncover the clever techniques used to influence an audience, focusing on features such as rhetorical questions and adverbial phrases. Working in groups, the children identified persuasive language and shared their findings with the class, building a toolkit of strategies. Next, they’ll put their learning into action by planning and writing their own persuasive adverts. We can’t wait to see their creativity shine!

This week, Year 1 explored the meaning and message of the Christingle. The children learned about each part of the Christingle and what it represents: The orange reminds us of the world. The four sticks represent the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). The sweets and fruit  represent the gifts from God. The candle is a sign that Jesus is the Light of the World. The children enjoyed making and labelling their own Christingles and talked about why these symbols are important. We reflected on how the Christingle reminds us to share God’s light and love with others. Here are some of the children’s thoughts: “The candle means to let Jesus in… when you light it.”“The orange shows the world.”“The sweets remind me of God’s love”.

Year 5 have had a wonderful time during Advent, preparing for Christmas. Our Mini-Vinnies prepared and sent Christmas cards to the vulnerable and lonely in our community, we prepared our classroom to countdown and wait for Christmas day, unveiled our class knitted nativity scene, visited St. Mary’s Cathedral for our Cluster Carol Service and enjoyed a daily challenge to carry out acts of kindness for one another, in preparation for Jesus to come again.

Christmas Lunch The children enjoyed their Christmas lunch on Wednesday 10 th  December. A traditional Christmas dinner was served, catering to all children’s dietary and religious needs. This was enjoyed by all!

This week, Year 1 gathered for a special Collective Worship. We talked about how we prepare for Jesus’ birthday, like decorating our homes and opening our Advent calendars. In groups we planned how we would gather, respond and go forth. Some children decorated the prayer focus and placed objects and pictures to support our reflection from the RE topic ‘Waiting’. We reflected on how Advent is a time to choose how we respond to God’s love and how we can go forth to share kindness with others. Here are some of the children’s thoughts: “I want to help people feel happy because that’s what Jesus would want.”“I will try to be kind to everyone, even if it’s hard.”“I want to share my toys so people don’t feel sad.” As we continue through Advent, Year 1 are thinking about ways to bring joy and peace to everyone around us. At home you could discuss ways you can share kindness or help someone this week as we prepare for Christmas.

This week, Year 1 have been learning all about 2D shapes! We practised naming and recognising shapes such as circle, square, rectangle, triangle and even trickier ones like hexagon and pentagon. After exploring their properties, the children used these shapes to create beautiful Christmas pictures. We saw Christmas trees made from triangles, Snow people made from circles and presents from squares and rectangles. It was a fantastic way to combine maths with festive creativity!

Part of the choir club visited St Joseph’s Care Home to sing Christmas carols. The residents loved our singing and they have invited us back. The children gave handmade cards to the residents and it was a great afternoon.