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• Year 1/2 and Year 1/2A - Trip to the Butterfly House

  Sun 15 May 2016

  Year 1/2 and Year 1/2A - Trip to the Butterfly House

  On Friday year 1 and 2 went on a trip to the butterfly house. We started our day in the tropical house where we saw lots of different mini beasts and reptiles. We really enjoyed looking at the caymen and the lizards. The  butterflies were so friendly, they came to land on some of us if we stood really still. After we had looked around one of the zoo keepers, Kerry, came to show us some mini beasts up close. First we saw a cockroach, some of us were brave enough to hold it while others felt its hard, smooth shell. Kerry told us that male cockroaches have small bumps on their head whereas female cockroaches do not. Next we saw a giant snail. We were not allowed to hold it but we felt its hard, smooth shell. Finally we saw a stick insect. It was much bigger than we expected! Some of us held it whilst the rest of us looked at it up close whilst Kerry held on to it. A  fantastic day was had by all and we can't wait to tell you more about it in our next class assembly. If you can't wait until then have a look at our class blog.

   

   

  

• F2 - What a Fantastic Week for Writing!

  Sun 15 May 2016

  We are sooooo proud of F2 and the writing that they have produced this week. Miss Hopkinson, Mrs Parker and Ms Clarke have been assessing the children’s writing and they have been so impressed with the progress that the children have made. When Elliot showed Mr Pullin his work Mr Pullin thought it was fantastic! Mrs Parker wants to know what Elliott has been eating that has made him so good at writing. Elliott puts it down to eating Weetabix! I think we will have to buy some for snack time! Miss Hopkinson loved showing F2 parents the super progress made in writing. We have fantastic children in F2!  They were asked to retell the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in their own words - there were some super sentences - here are a few: The caterpillar transformed into a beautiful butterfly. He nibbled his way out. He had belly ache. He ate a juicy leaf and turned into a butterfly.

  Lente wowed us all when she read the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Dutch! Fantastic, Lente!

  Our entomologist, Nic, arrived at school on Monday to discover that the  cocoon he had found the previous week had hatched over the weekend. Unfortunately, the bug that had emerged had died. The children were fascinated to see what had emerged from the cocoon and we all tried to think of a reasons why the bug had died: perhaps we should have left some food for it, or maybe we should have put the container in the shade? Can you think of a reason why it may have died? Please let us know what you think. The bug that emerged from the cocoon looked like a small wasp - we haven’t identified it yet, but we will let you know if wedo.

  We were very excited when we transferred our cocoons to the big net. We can’t wait for our butterflies to hatch.

  In numeracy we have been using the stop watch to find out how many things we can do in  one minute - a minute can seem a very long time! We have also been completing lots of different number activities linked to The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

  In gymnastics we now know two new moves, happy cat and angry cat, which help with our front support. For our back support we start in a pike position. We love gymnastics and we are making very good progress!! Will we be ready for the Olympics 2028!                                                                                                                                                                                                 

   

  

• F1 — Facing The Elements With A Smile!

  Sun 15 May 2016

  F1 — Facing The Elements With A Smile!

  As Kayden walked outside the Unit in his wellies he was singing, 'Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day!' But he didn't really mean it and neither did any of the other children. We LOVED the rain and all the new experiences it provided because we have never experienced heavy rain the whole time we have been doing Tree-mendous Tuesday. You just need to see the smiling faces in the photos to understand the joy of being in the rain! Maybe you think we have been unlucky, but we think we were very lucky today to see the rain fall and allow us to splash in huge muddy puddles - Alaina, Gracie-Mai and Miss Frisby loved running through them! George and Esmae put their heads back and caught the rain drops in their mouth and Gracie-Mae put her hand under the guttering to feel the water whoosh through her fingers! We wondered why we weren't getting as wet in the woods and Sophie told us it was because of the trees! You are right, Sophie! The trees protected us from the rain. The day before was glorious sunshine and Miss Frisby had planned to lay on the ground in the woods and look up at the clouds and see what shapes and patterns we could see. But the only clouds in the sky on Tuesday were big black ones! A quick rethink then! Umm can we still lie on the floor? Yes, with our special mat. Can we still look up to the sky? Yes, but we might get a bit wet! So we took a parachute and made a canopy (our new word) Ask Eadah! And we lay and listened to the rain pitter pattering on to the parachute. And we had a biscuit supplied by Sofia!

  I wonder if Mr Sunshine will come and visit us on one of our Tree-mendous Tuesday adventures because Mrs Bacon has ice pops that she bought for today which are now waiting patiently in the freezer for a warmer day. Oh, and we have a new big tee-pee tent that we bought, because Mrs P saw it and knew her F1 friends would love it!

  But do you know what? Rain, shine, wind or hail, F1 are ready to face the elements head on with a smile on their face, a hot chocolate in one hand and a marshmallow in the other. It's what memories are made of!

   

  

• Year 5 - Domino Competition

  Sun 15 May 2016
  

• Year 4 - Very Persuasive

  Sun 15 May 2016
  

• Year 4 - Super Spelling Stars

  Sun 15 May 2016
  

• Year 2/3 and Year 3 - Paralympic Sports

  Sun 15 May 2016

  Year 2/3 and Year 3 - Paralympic Sports

  This week both Year 2/3 and Year 3 have had interesting PE lessons where we have learnt about what it is like not to have full access to our bodies by playing some Paralympic sports. One game we played was sit down volley ball, we found it very tricky not to use our legs. The other sport was goalball, which is like football but without the use of our eyes. We all found this very challenging but we really enjoyed it. It made us appreciate how lucky we are to have full use of our bodies.

   

  

• Year 1/2 and Year 1/2A - Healthy Salad

  Sun 15 May 2016
  

• Good Luck with your SATS, Year 6/6A!

  Sun 08 May 2016
  

• F2 - Metamorphosis and More!

  Sun 08 May 2016

  F2 - Metamorphosis and More!

  F2 have had a very busy 2 weeks discovering, amongst other things, some scientific wonders of our world around us! Last week we put our literacy and gardening skills to the test. We followed instructions on how to plant a sunflower seed; we have started a Sunflower Blog where we hope to post information on our sunflower’s progress. We will have to use lots of mathematical skills  when we measure and compare. Please visit our blog and see how we get on. Not only have we planted a seed to take home, but yesterday all of F2 planted a sunflower seed in the Sunflower Bed in our Quad. We can’t wait to  see  how our flowers will compare to others planted by the rest of the children in the school. Whilst we were planting the seeds, Nic Parkin, (our eagle-eyed entomologist) spotted and recognised a  black cocoon! Nic and Mrs Parker used the internet to try and find which species it belongs to. Nic thinks that it might be a Sphinx Drupiferamrum, a Large Yellow Underwing or a Darapsa Pholus.  Nic made a viewing receptacle  to keep it in, making sure it had holes in the lid to enable it breathe (thank you Mr Tyson for drilling the holes!). We will let you know what hatches out.  Watch this space...

  This last week has been very exciting as we have been monitoring our caterpillars - they have been eating lots and growing lots, just like The Very Hungry Caterpillar we have been reading about. Not only have they grown into big fat caterpillars but they have all built a cocoon ready to metamorphosise. If you don’t know the meaning of metamorphosis, just ask our F2 scientists to explain it to you. Jack drew a cocoon in the soil, in the  tough spot, with a caterpillar in it - he certainly understands the meaning of meatamorphosis.

  In number  we have been trying to solve word problems: If my flower had 5 petals and 2 were blown away, how many petals are left?

  In gymnastics we have been working hard towards the level 8 Proficiency Award and Badge -  some of us are getting very good at balancing, forward rolls and jumping and landing like a gymnast - will we see any of F2 in future Olympics? Anything is possible!

  We travelled back in time, in Caterpillar Music this week, to The Land of the Dinosaurs and the Wild West—Yee Hah! What fun we had!!!

  What fun learning is  on the menu for next week?