This week Year 1 became history detectives ! Our big question was: “Who is George Stephenson and what does he do?” To find out, the children examined old photographs and paintings as clues. They looked carefully at details like clothing, objects and settings to make predictions about the person in the pictures. We asked questions such as: What can you see? What might this tell us about his job? Why is he important? Through our investigation, the children discovered that George Stephenson was an engineer who built one of the first steam locomotives and helped design railways. His work changed how people travelled and connected towns across Britain.

We explored an exciting science enquiry question this week:“Do the oldest children have the longest feet?” To investigate, the children worked in pairs and drew around their feet on large sheets of paper. Each child recorded their age and month of birth and we compared the results across the class.   The children were fantastic scientists! They noticed that while some older children had longer feet, it wasn’t always true – there were exceptions. This led to a great discussion about how scientists look for patterns but also think about other factors that might affect results.

This week in Nursery, we have been busy learning all about birds! 🐦 Our focus story was Hooray for Birds , which helped us to recognise and talk about different colours 🌈. In Maths, we sang Five Little Ducks 🦆 to practise our counting and number recognition 🔢. In the creative area, we made bird crafts using primary colours 🎨 and explored a range of materials to create bird nests 🪹. We also used our fine motor skills ✂️👐 to make bird models. Our older children learned the ‘a’ sound during phonics sessions 🔤. In RE, we discussed celebrations 🎉 and enjoyed sharing our own celebration photographs from home with our friends 📸. What a fantastic week of learning! ⭐😊

In Year 6 science, pupils explored how the circulatory and respiratory systems function together to keep the body healthy. Measuring blood pressure and lung capacity are practical ways to investigate these systems. Pulse rates were also measured before and after exercise.

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.