To start their new writing unit, based on the book The Midnight Fair, Year 2 went to the Queen’s Hill Fairground. They played hook a flamingo, hoopla, splat the fish and bean bag toss. They even got to play the tin can alley which had teachers’ faces on them! They had a great morning and are ready to get started with their writing!
Our pupils had an amazing time at Bookbugs and Dragontales Bookshop this week! They had the opportunity to choose new books for our school libraries and even meet the author and illustrator, Ben Rothery, who was working on a window display at the shop.
We can’t wait to see the books we selected in the Book Nook at school!
This week, Year 6 started their English unit based on the graphic novel, ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan. A graphic novel is a story without words and it can still be just as powerful and detailed. We discussed how every illustration is included for a reason and that if you look very closely you gather a huge amount of information from a single image.
Year 6 enjoyed participating in a range of activities to find out clues about their new English book, before it was revealed to them! Children took part in a scavenger hunt, collecting the answers to questions about the characters and themes of the book. Hidden away all around the playground were pictures from the graphic novel with key information attached. They also discovered how the beautiful pictures were drawn and had a go at an art task recreating a piece in the same style. Then, they explored the theme of migration and learnt about refugees. During this time they reflected on why people might have to flee their country and what belongings might be important to bring with them. It was great to see how curious everyone was about our new topic and we look forward to seeing how they get on with their writing over the coming weeks.
Year 3 had a great afternoon with their reception buddies on Thursday.
They were able to ask about their learning this half term and then share their own fantastic Egyptian non-chronological reports. They have worked so hard on them and it was great to celebrate success!
This week, year one and year four pupils buddied up for an afternoon session of African animal research on the iPads. It was wonderful to see such polite and caring partnerships between our older and younger students. Our year ones went away with lots of interesting and useful facts about meerkats, lions and giraffes which they will use to help them with their writing next week. We look forward to them sharing this work with their older buddies at the end of term.
This morning the Year 2 children came into their classrooms and found all of their chairs had been taken away! Luckily this week they have been learning how to use their writing skills to persuade someone so they quickly wrote letters and made posters for their teachers to convince them to give their chairs back. Because of their excellent work, the children were able to get their chairs back and have a comfy rest of the day.
To kick-start their new English unit: Romeo & Juliet, Year 6 enjoyed participating in a variety of Shakespeare-related activities! Children took part in a scavenger hunt, collecting the answers to questions about the famous playwright and his works. They had to match symbols on their sheet to answers hidden away all around the playground. They discovered Shakespearean language and had to decide if phrases given to them were Shakespeare or ‘Fakespeare’. They explored the ancient grudge between the two feuding families in Romeo & Juliet: The Montagues and The Capulets and learnt about their household crests. Children were then tasked with creating their own crest, focusing on the significance of its design, colour and symbols. It was great to see how enthusiastic everyone was about our new topic and we look forward to seeing how they get on with their writing over the coming weeks.
This morning Year 2 and Year 3 spent some time together sharing their writing. Year 2 read their buddy their fairy tale and Year 3 shared their persuasive posters. They all had a great time listening to their buddy’s work!
Children have been working hard and enjoying learning new sounds everyday. We also welcomed parents in this week for an ‘Introduction to Phonics’ meeting to help understand how we teach phonics using the Read, Write, Inc scheme.
This week, Year 6 have continued exploring emotive character descriptions based on the key text, ‘Rose Blanche’. They have learnt all about figurative language and its effect on the reader. Working as a class, they compiled everyone’s ideas to create a shared write based on a specific point in the text. We think they have demonstrated excellent creativity and teamwork to produce such a powerful image of Rose in the reader’s mind. See if you can identify excellent examples of similes, personification, alliteration and ambitious vocabulary in their paragraph below.
‘Her tear-filled, sorrowful, sapphire-blue eyes were like neverending waterfalls. Broken and fragile, her heart sank down into her malnourished, rumbling stomach which screamed in pain. Rose’s once golden hair was now as dark and gloomy as the forgotten forest. Slow shivers pulsed through her body as she looked over the empty clearing. Her cold, pale hand clutched a wilting blue flower; the only thing alive in this barren wasteland.’
