English

This half term the children learnt a story called ‘George and the dragon’ which was about a dragon afraid of mice. The children learnt how to use noun phrases and write in the past tense. Next, the children learnt a poem called ‘A few frightening things.’ The children enjoyed innovating this and writing their own poems about frightening things. They also wrote some amazing Christmas poems and are doing well at using rhyme.

Maths

In the second term, we focused on place value, addition and subtraction using pictorial methods such as drawing tens and ones grids and using concrete resources of dienes. We learnt to regroup and exchange when numbers are too large. Next, we explored 3D shapes, familiarising ourselves with the key terms: vertices, edges and faces. In the picture, students are sorting shapes based on their qualities.

To strengthen children’s number sense we launched the Number Bonds competition that has been really popular. Children worked hard on their number bonds both at school and home. As they completed the different levels, they took ownership of their own learning showing great resilience and independence.

Reading

This term in reading, we explored two captivating stories that children enjoyed. We began with the vibrant storybook ‘Leaf.’ Children loved the emotional ending where the polar bear returns home and we had discussions about Leaf’s feelings to infer emotions from the text. We then read the book ‘Ossiri and the Bala Mengro’ which had children in suspense at the end when they were predicting what might have happened to Ossiri’s instrument when the mysterious figure showed up. 

Science

This half term we learnt about animal and human survival as well as balanced diet, the importance of exercise, sleeping and hygiene. Children had a go with counting their heart beat after different activities. We used our working scientifically skills to compare results and came to the conclusion that the more rigorous activity we do, the higher our heart rate gets. At the end of our unit we conducted an experiment to find out how germs spread. Children used glitter to trace and observe how easily germs can spread from one person to the other. We also learnt how to wash our hands properly.

History

In history we used our enquiry skills when answering the question ‘Who was our most powerful monarch?’ We explored the reign of many kings and queens. We have learnt, researched, compared and even debated to find the answer to our question.

Design and Technology

In DT, we explored the elements that make an ideal car and the essential components needed to create a moving vehicle such as axles, chassis, and wheels. The children thoroughly enjoyed designing their own models and incorporating resources from home to create their very own car and they turned out amazing!