Year 3

Welcome to the Violet and Indigo Class page! 

2022-23

French - w/b 22.05.23

Our topic in French is Ca Pousse which means growing things . We have been learning about the names of fruit and vegetables. We played a game with our partner where we matched the name of the vegetable to the correct picture. We reviewed our learning from this term to complete this activity.

Oracy - w/b 15.05.23

During this week Year 3 have been working hard to improve their Oracy skills. We started off the week by researching the pros and cons of using plastic. We wrote down facts to help us when debating this topic. We came to a class consensus that it would be incredibly difficult to completely avoid plastic as it has many benefits, but we should work together to minimise our use of it in order to protect our environment. We also used our Oracy skills in Guided Reading when discussing our text of the week on fossils. We answered looking, clue and thinking questions in partners before sharing our responses to the class. We also enjoyed unscrambling key vocabulary which allowed us to discuss the meanings of new and exciting words.

Coronation Celebrations - w/b 08.05.23

Y3 enjoyed celebrating the King’s Coronation. We decorated our classrooms by creating buntings for our tea party. We spoke about the Coronation and why it is a significant time in History. We also did mindful colouring and wordsearches. We created a crown using a collage of photos related to this Historic period. We really enjoyed our tea party in the afternoon. We ate sandwiches, cake and fruits. It was such a memorable day!!

Climate Week - w/b 01.05.23

Year 3 topic for Climate Week was ‘Save our bees.’ In Science we carried out a Science investigation to show how bees collect nectar and pollen from wildflowers. We discussed why bees are so important for our environment. We also discussed the environmental factors of pollination. In English we also discussed why there is a decline in bees and what we can do to save the bees.

RE Day - w/b 24.04.23

We had a great day working in teams of 3 to create our own books all about the way in which marriage is valued and celebrated in different religions.  We looked at the clothing, ceremonies and traditions associated with different faiths and their wedding ceremonies and even came up with some of our own symbols to depict the stages of a HIndu wedding celebration and designed a wedding day based on our own beliefs.

English - w/b 17.04.23

During English this week Year 3 began reading their new Power of Reading text One Plastic Bag. This is about the importance of caring for the planet as a woman named Isatou from Gambia sets out to improve the environment through recycling. We started off making predictions about the story. We researched facts about Gambia and created posters explaining the importance of recycling.

Art - w/b 27.03.23

Our Art topic in Year 3 is Vincent van Gogh. We have been exploring the techniques he used in his art work and practised thick/ thin marks, cross hatching using complementary colours and using thick layers of paint to create texture. This week we produced a fact file about his life and created our final pieces inspired by his style of art.

Mathematics - w/b 20.03.23

We have been using manipulatives to do our statistics lessons. We have been learning how to read tables and present data using tables and bar charts. We have learnt how to read tables and bar charts.

English - w/b 13.03.23

In Year 3 we have been reading our Power of Reading book Krindlekrax. This is an exciting story about  a mysterious lizard who lurks in the sewers and only comes out at night. We read up to chapter 12 and made predictions about what will happen next to write our own version of chapter 13. Using our illustrated story map, we wrote our first draft of our own chapter. Then we began editing and redrafting our writing. We focussed on using exciting adjectives, fronted adverbials, different conjunctions and subordinate clauses in our writing.

French - w/b 06.03.23

In French we recapped our prior learning about celebrations and sports. We practised counting 1-10. We began to recall the different colours and translated them into English.

RE Day - W/B 27.02.23

During RE day, Year 3 learnt about the festival of Holi. We enjoyed learning about the story of Prahlad and finding out the key message that good always wins over evil. We wrote about what the story means to us. Also, we found out about the story of Krishna in coloured water. In groups, we acted out a freeze frame of each of the key parts of the story. We had Mr Kundu come to our class as a special Hindu visitor. We had the opportunity to ask him questions about Holi allowing us to gain a deeper insight about this celebration.

Oracy - w/b 20.02.23

During our oracy lesson in English this week we analysed the front cover and blurb of our new Power of Reading text Krindlekrax. We started off with reading our class discussion guidelines to remind ourselves of what makes a good discussion. We used the physical skill of giving eye contact and speaking with clarity to discuss our ideas. We used clues from the illustrations and blurb as evidence for our prediction. This allowed us to think carefully about what we will say using cognitive skills.

PHSCE - w/b 06.02.23

This week Year 3 learnt about bullying and the witnesses/bystanders. We discussed the different types of bullying and why it is important to stand up against bullies. As a class we also looked at why some people may not stand up against bullies and we discussed counterpoints, explaining why they are not strong points. We then participated in a group role play. Each group had two dif learnt about bullying and the witnesses/bystanders. We discussed the different types of bullying and why it is important to stand up against bullies. As a class we also looked at why some people may not stand up against bullies and we discussed counterpoints, explaining why they are not strong points. We then participated in a group role play. Each group had two different scenarios that they had to act out, then we came together as a whole class to see our performances come to life. This allowed us to visualise the consequences of standing up to bullies and the consequences of not doing anything.

Mathematics - w/b 30.01.23

In Year 3 we have been multiplying and dividing two digits by one digits. Year 3 have been using place value charts and manipulatives to show their working out. We also explored why sometimes we need to make exchanges. We recapped our place value knowledge and used our times tables to work out the question.

History - w/b 23.01.23

In History, Year 3 have been learning about Ancient Egypt. We created necklaces that used to be worn by the Egyptians. We also wrote a diary entry as a child in the Egyptian times. We thought about what life would be like. We used time connectives and also considered what Egyptians used to eat as well. We also discussed the timings of when school starts, finishes and what children learn at school.

Reading - w/b 16.01.23

During Guided Reading this week, Year 3 have been reading a text on Wangari Maathai from the book Little Leaders Visionary Women Around The World. We have made links with our Power of Reading book Mama Miti- named after Wangari’s nickname meaning ‘Mother of Trees’. We have enjoyed finding our fascinating facts about this woman’s inspirational life where she changed the lives of many in Africa through her guidance on planting trees to change the world. This week we have participated in different activities including creating a vocabulary tree, playing a game called unscrambled to review key words, wrote a main-point summary of the text, wrote a fact file about her and answered comprehension questions about the text. As well as this we have used our oracy skills to discuss the text in detail using the skills of inference and retrieval. 

English - w/b 09.01.23

This week in Year 3 we have been looking at our new topic book ‘Mama Miti.’ We identified the main key events in the story and did role play. We used the oracy framework focussing specifically on physical and linguistic skill. We went over the drama contract and did a performance carousel. We also did a summary of the story Mama Miti and discussed how Kenya became stronger because of Wise Wangari.

Science - w/b 05.12.22

This week in Science we created our magnetic game. We considered the materials and the  purpose of the game. We used cardboard, cards and glue to create our games. We tried each other's magnetic game as well. We then evaluated our magnetic games by considering what we found easy, tricky and the improvements that we could make to our game to make it better.

Computing - w/b 28.11.22

Our topic in Computing is ‘We are Network Engineers’. We learnt how to find an IP address on a device and were able to find this independently. We wrote algorithms on how to find an IP address. We made connections with our Guided Reading learning by researching facts about Marie Curie. We learnt that you must use key, specific words when searching on the internet.

Geography - w/b 21.11.22

This term we have been looking at European countries. We used the Atlases and Google Earth to identify the human and physical features of Italy and France. We carried out research about these European countries. This week Year3 have been focussing on writing and publishing their comparative report about two famous and popular European countries:Italy and France. We discussed what comparative conjunctions are and we also discussed the similarities and differences between the countries. We created a leaflet as our final piece which is written in a report format.

Oracy - w/b 14.11.22

During English this week, Year 3 participated in group debates on the topic ‘Is happiness and success the same thing?’ We focussed on the physical, cognitive and linguistic skills of the oracy framework. We used sentence stems to help us instigate the debate, link ideas, build on each other’s responses, summarise and clarify. We were able to give reasons for our ideas using our Reasoning Robot powers. At the end we came to a shared conclusion that happiness and success are not the same thing.

French - w/b 07.11.22

Year 3 has been learning about the months of the year in French. The children practised the pronunciation of the months of the year. The children created a poster to explain what happens in each month. The children were chanting and reciting the names of the months.

PHSCE - w/b 31.10.22

We started our PHSCE lesson by practising some mindfulness breathing techniques from our book DF Find Our Calm. We then looked at our key vocabulary for the new topic ‘Keeping Me Safe’. We discussed how we can keep ourselves healthy and safe by having a balanced diet, doing exercise and being hygienic. This allowed us to complete our KWL grid in our books and write about what we already know about keeping safe. We then found out some facts about Mary Seacole. We are looking forward to a class debate on healthy eating next week!

Art - w/b 17.10.22

During Art this week, we have been creating our final pieces, reflecting the topic ‘Journeys’. We have been inspired by Kandinsky’s abstract art. We used a variety of abstract symbols to paint our journey and considered the mood/feelings which can be portrayed by different colours. Finally, we used a thin brush and cotton buds to add intricate details such as waves and dots. Following on from this, we wrote an evaluation of our learning in Art this term. We discussed and wrote about the art skills we have learnt this term, the skills we found challenging, what we enjoyed the most, what we would change next time, and finally we reflected on how different artists have inspired our own pieces.

RE - w/b 10.10.22

During RE this week Year 3 explored the topic ‘How do Jesus and Buddha make you stop and think?’ We enjoyed a whole day RE experience where we listened to parables told by Jesus and thought carefully about the message behind it. We discovered that the parables gave a message of being kind and humble as opposed to arrogant and boastful. We created a comic strip of our own story showing a similar message. Another interesting activity was looking at different sayings by Jesus. We worked in groups to discuss what the meaning of these sayings are. Then we ranked them in order of importance on a dartboard. As this was opinion based it was interesting to see how our rankings differed to our peers. We also found out about the story of Buddha and the stories he told about showing kindness. We compared how the messages from Jesus and Buddha were similar and different.

Science - w/b 03.10.22

Our Science topic is Forces and Magnets. During Science this week, we conducted an investigation to see which magnet is the strongest and is able to attract the most paper clips. We made a prediction ensuring that we give reasons for our answers using our Reasoning Robot superpowers. We found out that the wand magnet was the strongest as it attracted the most paper clips. We then presented our findings on a bar graph. It was tricky to apply our mathematical skills to create an accurate graph but we tried our best!

Reading - w/b 26.09.22

This week in Year 3 the children have been writing book reviews to their peers. The children have enjoyed sharing their book recommendations. During DEAR time children enjoyed reading their book of choice. Children have begun to describe the setting and characters in the story. Year 3 have started to describe the characters feelings and appearance. 

Mathematics - w/b 19.09.22

During Mathematics this week Year 3 have been learning to order numbers on a number line. We explored numbers up to 1000 and used our knowledge of place value to sequence numbers. Also, we explored adding 10 more or 10 less to numbers and used our skills as a Reasoning Robot to explain how this changed the place value of numbers. We demonstrated our understanding of 10 more and 10 less using manipulatives.

English - w/b 12.09.22

This week Year 3 have been editing their first draft of their hurricane narrative. The children learnt how to use purple pens for the first time to add new ideas. We discussed and included poetic techniques into our narrative. The children enjoyed listening to their peers' stories. In Year 3 the children began to write their second draft of their narrative.

Welcome Back! - w/b 05.09.22

We have had a fantastic first week back at school in Year 3! We enjoyed designing newspaper outfits for a fashion show as part of a team building activity. Our current topic in English is poetry so we enjoyed acting out a poem about hurricanes.

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Year 2

2021 - 2022

20/07/2022- Keeping Cool in the Heatwave!

This week we have been trying to make the most of the sunshine. We have been keeping cool by taking part in water activities in the playground and we have been well hydrated by drinking lots of water. It has been so much fun!

14/07/2022-DT

For DT this term, we discussed what pizzas are and the different toppings that you might find on a pizza. We also spoke about our favourite toppings on a pizza too! We then looked at a healthy and balanced plate and where a pizza might be on that plate. We learned that having a pizza once in a while is a better option because our diets should be varied with lots of food groups. We then began to look at the different fruit and vegetables that we might add on our pizza, we smelled, tasted and discussed what they look like. We then designed and made our own healthy pizza. We used our pizza design to add healthy ingredients to our pizza. Our pizzas were tasty as well as healthy!

01/07/2022- PE

This week some of the children from year 2 scooting club took their scooting skills outside of school to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Starting and finishing at the Velodrome the children rode alongside the rivers and canals of the park, and visited many of  main venues from the 2012 Games;  the London Stadium; the London Aquatics Centre, the ArcelorMittal Orbit viewpoint. They also found some time to fit a little bit of play at the many playgrounds in the park! 

29/06/2022- Science

For Science week, we carried out an investigation on how far rockets can travel. We started off by creating our own investigation questions. Next, we predicted what we thought would happen, we tested our hypothesis by designing, making and testing our rockets using recyclable materials. We concluded that the rocket travels further if you use large fins which helps the rocket to travel longer in the air and it also travels further if you leave the lid off the bottle due to air resistance.

22/06/2022- Reading

In Year 2 we have really been practising our reading skills through not only RWI, but also reading to an adult and to ourselves during DEAR time. We really enjoy reading books, particularly books by Julia Donaldson or Roald Dahl! We are inspired by the beautiful illustrations of the wonderful books in our reading corner.

16/06/2022-Mathematics

This week we have been exploring 2D shapes. We discussed the link between vertices and sides. 2D shapes have sides and angles (sometimes referred to as vertices). Sides are the individual lines that make up a 2D shape, while the angles (vertices) are the corners where the edges meet.

2D shapes contain only 2 dimensions and are flat e.g. square, rectangle, triangle, circle, hexagon, quadrilateral, trapezium, heptagon, octagon, nonagon and decagon.

9/06/2022- The Magic Finger

This week in our English lessons, we began looking at a new book called ‘The Magic Finger’ written by Roald Dahl. We began by looking at the front cover of the book and using our inference skills to think about what the story might be about. Then, we discussed how the character's body language and facial expressions help us to understand what type of character she might be. Next, we then worked in groups and took turns to write down the clues we found on the front cover that might help us make a prediction about the story.

12/05/2022- English

This week in English we designed and created our own toy using recyclable materials. First, we decided what we were going to make. Next, we drew a sketch of it and labelled it using interesting adjectives. Then, we described what material we were going to use to make it. We used materials we got from home to make the toy. We had to be very creative and supported each other to secure some parts together.  As a class, we created some amazing toys. Making our own toys is one of the greatest ways to help the environment!

6/05/2022-Art

This term in Art we have been learning about Anselm Kiefer and his sculpture of ‘Teetering Towers’. We used his art work as inspiration to recreate burning buildings to represent the Great Fire of London which we have previously learned about. We used corrugated cardboard to represent the concrete towers and we plan to stack them on a smoky background to create our masterpiece.

28/04/2022- Religious Education

This week for Religious Education, we explored a range of holy books. We discussed why they are important and special. We then listened and read different versions of the creation story and talked about what this tells a Muslim, Christian and a Jewish person. We sequenced the creation stories to identify the similarities and differences between them. 

21/04/2022-Mathematics

In Year 2, we have been looking at data and representations. So far we have looked at Tally Charts, which we use to track our house points in school and we have looked at Pictograms. In the lesson, we focused on what value the key represents and used this value to make changes to the data. We discussed how a graph may have various representations but the value must always be the same. We compared some pictograms in which the key represented 1 object and another in which the key represented 2 objects.

01/04/2022-Science

This week for Science we have been testing the effects of exercise on the human body. We began by predicting what we thought would happen to our heart rate when we do different types of exercise.

We then carried out the investigation by timing ourselves, completing different activities and checking our pulse to feel our heart rate. We found that the more movement you make, the faster the heart beats. 

We also found out that exercise is the way in which we move our bodies to work out the muscles inside of us.  It is essential for us to exercise in order to keep our bodies strong and healthy. Our lungs are working harder as we take shorter breaths of air. Your lungs are very important for breathing and it is essential that we breathe as we need air to survive. Exercise helps our lungs work better. When we exercise, our hearts beat faster as oxygen from the lungs move into our blood and get pumped around the body. The blood needs to move the oxygen faster around the body to get to where it is needed. We need to remember that the heart is a muscle and it is good for it to exercise by pumping out blood so it can be healthy and strong. 

Physical activity not only keeps us fit and healthy but makes us strong. It also affects our bodies positively in other ways. We should aim to exercise once a day for at least 30 minutes per day as part of a healthy lifestyle.

24/03/2022-English

In Year 2, we have been reading a story called ‘The Lonely Beast’ written by Chris Judge. We learned about a Beast who wanted to befriend a creature who is just like him. Unfortunately, Beasts are so rare that you might only find one Beast in each country across the whole world! To help the Beast, we worked on writing our own newspaper article which would be shared across the world so that Beasts from every country can read it. This would surely help the Beast find some creatures like him. 

17/03/2022-Reading

This week in Year 2 we have been reading the story ‘Zog’ by Julia Donaldson during our DEAR time. Zog is the keenest dragon in school, he learns different skills with few blunders along the way. But with the help of Princess Pearl, he eventually wins a golden star and agrees to go out and help other people and creatures. From this story, we understood that we should always persevere by continuing to practice things we find difficult. The book is full of rhymes, repetition and amazing adjectives that inspire our writing in all areas of our learning. Whilst reading the book, we all pretended we were in a dragon school and acted out parts where Zog was trying to blow and fly.

10/03/2022-RE

In RE, we have been learning about the importance of Easter for Christian people. We looked at the story of Easter and we found out that Jesus sacrificed himself for the sins of others. This meant that although he did nothing wrong he was made to carry a heavy wooden cross on his back, which he was then placed on. There are many celebrations before Easter Sunday, these include Maundy Thursday when Jesus ate his last supper. Did you know there is a famous painting showing this by Leonard DaVinci?

03/03/2022- Mathematics

This week in Mathematics we have been using our times table to solve problems. We found out that multiplication is also commutative just like addition. We used a variety of strategies to up in 2s, 5s and 10s. You can use counters, base ten, number lines, bar model and coins to help you solve different problems. We also compared calculations using the terms greater than, less than and equals to. 

24/02/2022- Our Learning in Geography

In Geography this term, we are looking at farms. We began our topic by refreshing our memories through looking at continents and what they are. We learned all the 7 continents by heart, from largest to smallest and we can sing a song to remind you. We learned about the continent that we live in, which is Europe and we discussed which 4 countries make up the United Kingdom. We found it particularly tricky to locate the United Kingdom on a world map because it is a very small island!

10/02/2022- D&T

This week in Year 2, we have been designing and making a vehicle. We designed a fire engine for the Great Fire of London. We looked at important features of a vehicle. It is essential for a vehicle to have an axel, chassis and wheels, without these a vehicle cannot move on the ground. We used tissue boxes, dowels and cardboard wheels to make our own fire engine. We then looked at key features of a fire engine and added these to our vehicle model like a window, ladder, siren, symbols of fire so people can identify our vehicles as fire engines. 

03/02/2022-Computing

In computing this week, we have been learning about algorithms and why they are very important to help us access different programmes. We had fun creating our own algorithms, but we soon found out that we had to give precise instructions to our robots otherwise the algorithm would not work so well. One example was when a group had to hop 3 times but they were sat down on the carpet. We had to edit our algorithm and add ‘stand up’ to ensure that the robots could hop. 

28/01/2022-Mathematics

This week in Mathematics, we have been learning about money. We can now recognise different coins and notes. We understand that some coins have more value than others. We have been adding and subtracting money to find the total of different amounts. Today we were in the role of a shopkeeper and customer. We bought different items and made sure we gave the correct amount of money. Furthermore, we challenged ourselves by giving more money to the shopkeeper to get the correct change back.  The shopkeeper was required to complete two-steps, first they had to add the items together and then they had to subtract money from the money we gave them. This lesson made us more aware of how responsible you need to be when dealing with money in real life.

20/01/2022-Great Fire of London

In History, we have been learning about the Great fire of London. We began our topic by looking at the different materials which were used in ‘old London’ and we predicted why the fire spread so quickly across London. We learned about the fire from Samuel Pepys’ diary, where he documented the disastrous events. We learned that the Great fire of London started on 2^nd September 1666 in a bakery on Pudding Lane. Today there is even a monument on Pudding Lane in London which reflects this interesting piece of history. We were very surprised to learn that the Lord Mayor of London and King Charles II were reluctant to put out the fire because they would have to break down people’s homes to stop the raging fire from spreading any further.

13/01/2022-Man on The Moon

This week in English we have been exploring a new book called ‘The Man on the Moon’. We have been using our inference skills to discover who the main character is, what he does and what the story could be about. We all predicted what the story could be about and then wrote a letter to Bob with our queries. Bob then responded back along with the story book so all our questions could be answered. It seems Bob has an amazing job role as he is the ‘Man on the Moon’. 

We imagined we were Bob travelling to the Moon in our very own Space Rocket. We used our senses to describe what we could see, smell, touch and hear. It was an incredible experience! We thought it would be great to share this fantastic experience with our friends and family so we wrote postcards describing this eventful journey.

17/12/2021-Christmas!

Year 2 have been busy preparing for Christmas in a range of ways! To start off the festive period, we decorated our classroom Christmas tree and we created a ‘Christmas hoop’ for display in the main hall. We were also fortunate enough to have the pantomime in school (Aladdin).We also began preparing for the Nativity which included singing, dancing, costumes and lots of lines! We have been learning a range of songs for our performance, our favourite songs are ‘Funky Camel’ and ‘Disco star’. 

9/12/2021- Featherbed Tales

This week Year 2 went to Manor Park Library for an interactive storytelling session delivered by a company called ‘Featherbed tales’. We listened and joined in with the story called’ Snap Snap! The Tale of a Very Hungry Crocodile’. We used actions and expressions to represent the characters from the story. We then created an interactive postcard for Ms Broughton, where we sang and recorded a message for Ms Broughton to listen to when she receives the card electronically.  We were shown how we can create our own interactive storybooks using our own voices and how we could send these to our friends and families. We was such an eventful afternoon!

3/12/2021- Eco Friendly day

To begin celebrating Eco-Day, we created some bunting by recycling materials such as cardboard and newspaper. We then focused on our big question “What is climate change?”. We tried to understand what climate change was and how we, as humans living on planet Earth, were impacting the climate. We discussed the types of climates on our planet and how gases made by cars, trucks, aeroplanes and even factories are harmful. We even learned about global warming and how the ice in the Antarctic is melting! This would mean there would be widespread flooding in some parts of the world. We also cooked a meat-free dish which was Broccoli Pesto Pasta. It was absolutely scrumptious!

KS1 Mini Olympics  26.11.21

This week 10 children from Year 2 represented the school at the Sport Tapscott Mini Olympics competition. The children completed the standing long jump, speed bounce, chest push and target throw challenges. What an amazing performance from the children as they displayed all of our school values. Well done to everybody who took part.

25/11/2021- Anna Hibiscus

In Literacy we have been working on a book called ‘Anna Hibiscus’ who is a girl living in West Africa. We had a wonderful opportunity to find out more about Anna and her culture. We discovered amazing facts about the continent of Africa. We looked at famous landmarks, traditional clothing worn by people, languages spoken and famous people who are from Africa. We created fact files using all the information we learnt. We found out that the Pyramids, Victoria Falls and The Nile are all famous landmarks in Africa. We also found out what the big fives are: elephants, leopards, rhino, buffalo and lions. The two famous people who are from Africa are Nelson Mandela and Mo Farah. We talked about how Nelson Mandela stood up for apartheid and how Mo Farah became famous after winning the Olympics in 2012. After finding out lots about Africa we then talked about how some of their lifestyle is very similar to ours.

18/11/2021- Mathematics

In our mathematics lessons, we have been learning about addition and subtraction by crossing 10. We have been focusing on using our number bonds to 10 and 20 to support our mental maths strategies. This week we have used column addition to add numbers up to 100. First we had to label the place value of each number, then we had to add our ones carefully. Finally, we had to add together our tens.  

11/11/2021-Reading 

This week Year 2 visited the Reading Garden during DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time. It was a lovely environment to read our books and we realised that we don’t always have to read books indoors, we can enjoy reading outdoors as well.  

We also visited our school library during DEAR time. We were very excited to see all the new books that were in there! We were able to look at a range of books including fiction and non-fiction books. We borrowed some books, which we will read at home with our parents.

5/11/2021-Computing

This week in Computing we revisited our online safety rules that we created in Year 1. We reflected on the importance of e-safety and why we should follow the rules when we are using the internet. We also spoke about age-appropriate content and discussed how we should always tell an adult when we are using a computer, iPad, tablet or phone! We created an e-safety poster with some of our e-safety rules.

PE in Year 2 

This term, the children have been learning about ‘Locomotion (Running) and how to dodge a tagger or defender in a game. We have played lots of team games and even started to think about developing simple tactics for attacking and defending.

14/10/2021-Parables 

In Year 2 we have been learning about parables told by Jesus. We listened to and acted out the story ‘The Sower of the Seeds’. From this story, we learnt that the seed was compared to a lesson that people come across in their lives. We also listened and retold the story of the lost sheep. We discussed that this story was told to make people understand that everyone is precious to God, just like the sheep was precious to the Shepherd in the story. From listening to and discussing these stories, we thought about creating our own message to share with our friends by creating a comic strip to tell a short story.  ​

7/10/2021-Volcano Eruption!

This term in Science we have been focussing on using our scientific enquiry skills. We began our scientific journey by conducting the Mentos and Coke challenge in the playground! We made a prediction, thought of some questions and carefully observed the experiment. We then began a new investigation; can we create a volcano in a cup? We looked at what a volcano is and how it might erupt if there is a warm liquid inside of it. We then discussed some of the equipment we will need in order to recreate a volcano safely inside of a plastic cup. Our prediction is that we will be able to create a volcano in a cup because of the washing up liquid! We think that the bubbles from the washing up liquid will cause a reaction and allow the volcano to erupt. 

30/9/2021- Ordering Numbers and Counting

This week, Year 2 has been learning to order numbers and objects correctly, counting forward and backwards in twos and fives. Children achieved this by grouping objects, using repeated addition and counting out loud. Children have been learning different techniques to count in multiples including skip counting, jumping on a number line and using ten frames to group objects. Children also completed challenges to identify mistakes made by others and explain why they were incorrect. Children challenged themselves even further by counting forward and backwards to and from 100. 

23/09/2021- Poetry

In English, Year 2 have been reading poems from the Caribbean. Children have been studying many poems and exploring the features, including use of rhyme, repetition, alliteration, similes and adjectives that help create imagery. Children then had the opportunity to write their own poem based on ‘For Forest’ by Grace Nichols. We used our four senses; smell, touch, hear and see to describe what we might find in a forest which we then used to create our own poem. 

16/09/2021- Down On The Farm

This week, Year 2 has been working on an animal poem called ‘Down on the farm’. Children have been exploring the poem in greater depth to find out about unfamiliar vocabulary and identifying different features of the poem. Children also used proxemics to place themselves physically and meaningfully as characters from the farm to explain and justify why they are there. Children then presented their act using a performance carousel to retell the poem. It was a great opportunity for children to express what they think and feel is happening in the poem.

10/09/2021- Back to School for Year 2

Children in year 2 have settled so well into the routines and structure of the school day. They have been focused on their learning and are eager to develop their knowledge in various areas of the curriculum. 

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Year 1 

2020-21

1.07.2021

Manor Park Library

This week in Year 1, we had a chance to visit Manor Park Library! When we arrived we learnt all about the Summer Reading Challenge and were even given our own library cards. We got to explore all the different books the library had to offer and even take one home using our new library cards! We are so excited to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge over the holidays and be in with a chance to win a fantastic prize!

24.06.2021

Mathematical Game

This week, the children in year one were busy playing a game where they could only jump in 1s and 10s to try and get as close as they could to 50 in 5 turns or less.

15.06.2021

Nigerian Mask Making

This week is Diversity week and in Year 1 we have been learning all about Nigeria! In one lesson in particular this week, we learnt about Nigerian masks. We found out that these traditional masks are used for a variety of different ceremonies such as weddings and birthdays. Every mask is unique with different patterns on it, just like the masks we made. We were all Focussauruses and made sure to try our best as some parts of making the mask was a bit tricky.

10.6.2021

Olympic Workshop

Orange class had the chance to take part in an Olympic workshop and travel back to ancient Greece to experience the first Olympic games. The children role played a chariot race, a wrestling match, and a 100m sprint and the winner was given a crown of olive branches. At the end of the workshop the children took part in a closing ceremony where they made the five Olympic rings as well as a freeze frame of an Olympic sport. It was a great experience to kick off Year 1 learning about the Olympics!

27.05.2021

During computing this week, Year 1 recorded their own cooking show! We have been learning how to properly use an iPad, how to record a video and making sure we keep our partner’s face in the frame. We rehearsed what we would say to introduce our cooking show last week and went over the steps of how to make a sandwich. This week we finally got to record ourselves making the sandwich. We had a great time and our sandwiches tasted amazing!

We had a great time in Art this week! We practised how to properly hold and load our paintbrushes as well as techniques we can use to make different brush strokes. To make wide brush strokes, we applied more pressure onto our brushes so the bristles fan out. To make thin brush strokes we didn’t apply as much pressure so the bristles remained intact.

In Year 1 this week, we planted some seeds! Before planting, we discussed what we needed in order to grow healthy plants. We agreed that sunlight, water and warmth were three key parts of growing plants. This lead us to think about how other conditions might affect how plants grow. We thought this would be a great chance to carry out an investigation. We put some of our seeds in the dark, some of our seeds in the fridge and left some of our seeds in a sunny spot by the window. Every Monday we will be checking on our plants to see how they are growing and if where we put our seeds matters.

The children participated in a Now Press Play session where we listened to an activity based on plants. The children pretended to be on an adventure to save their village from starving while learning what plants need to grow.

Now Press Play! w/b 29.03.21

On Tuesday, Green Class travelled back in time to meet Florence Nightingale using a program called 'Now Press Play'. They started their journey in the school hall, where they received a set of earphones each. They then travelled back in time and stepped into role as Florence. During their visit, they learnt about Florence's early life as a young nurse, how she changed nursing and why she became known as 'The lady with the lamp'. It was very enjoyable and pupils were also able to use the knowledge they already had on this topic, as they studied this in History back in the Autumn term.

Have a look at some of the pictures taken during the session!