There was very exciting news in Wrens this week as our caterpillars are now all safely in their cocoons.  We are taking very good care of them and will let you know what happens next!  In art with Mrs Postlethwaite on Tuesday the children started creating some lovely butterfly artwork in the style of the artist Eric Carle using tissue paper.  We are looking forward to completing these next week.  

In maths this week, we have been looking at addition and subtraction and creating number stories using "first, then and now". We have been acting out the number stories using our cuddly teddies and small world toys and practising recording these as a number sentence.

In phonics, we have been working on chunking our longer words and blending the constituent parts before putting them together to blend the whole word.   This skill not only helps us to blend unfamiliar words but also helps us when spelling longer words. We have also been practising reading our phase 3 and phase 4 tricky words.

In RE, we learnt that Christians believe God is very special and important through studying the parable of "The Precious Pearl".  We learnt how Christians use the word Holy to describe how special God is.

In PSHE, we have been talking about feelings using the book "The Colour Monster" by Anna Llenas.  As we read the story we talked about how each feeling affects us and what we can do to make things better if we are feeling sad, afraid and angry.  We practised breathing out and relaxing our muscles to help us to calm down when we feel angry.  Perhaps the children can show you what they learnt at home.

We were lucky to have a special visitor this week.  May's daddy came into school in a special "Show and Tell" session to tell us all about his job in the Royal Navy on an aircraft carrier.  We really enjoyed hearing all about what it is like to live and work on an aircraft carrier and seeing some amazing photographs and videos of the aircraft.  Thank you very much Petty Officer Watson for a very interesting afternoon!

In English this week, we have revisited using full stops and capital letters with accuracy and the effect that they can have in writing. We then continued with our diamante poems and began writing another one on a different character in the book.

In maths, Year 1 have been learning what quarters are and finding a quarter of shapes and objects. They used playdough and different cutters to determine if the shape could be cut equally into quarters. They have also been recognising and identifying quarters of a given quantity. Year 2 have been recognising and finding thirds of pictures, shapes and quantities. Also, they have been using the fractions that they know to find the whole and they've learnt what unit and non-unit fractions are. We ended this week with looking at the equivalence between half and two quarters.

In geography, we looked in more detail at Shanghai and where it is located in the world. In pairs, the children had a selection of photos of Shanghai. They used big pieces of paper to annotate around the photos with all of the human and physical features they could find.

We had a very exciting DT lesson this week! The children had to collect their chosen ingredients for their smoothie before using their previously learnt cutting skills to chop the fruit into smaller pieces. They then selected their fruit to add before blending their smoothie. After, they tried their smoothies and decided whether they liked it or not and why.

Outside our classroom, in the little courtyard, we have robins and bluetits nesting. The children have been fascinated by watching the robins busy at work all week flying back and forth with food in their beaks for the chicks. As the children were so enthralled with the robins, I put up a window bird feeder and we are hoping that the robins (affectionally named Rose and Roger by the children) come and feed from it soon!

In English, the children have begun working on the present perfect tense in and are working towards a formal letter. This letter will be based on the story of Rooftopper which continues to be our class text until the end of the half term.

In maths, we have completed our work on fractions and the children have been learning about money this week. Specifically, the children have had a reminder about the difference between pounds and pence and converting the two. We will be moving on to adding and subtracting money as we move through the topic.

In science, the children conducted a fantastic experiment on the differing rates that various liquids evaporate at. The children tested the rate at which different liquids evaporated over a Bunsen burner.

In art, the children are continuing their work based on the collage work of Matisse. So far, the pieces of work the children have completed are brilliant and we are working towards a final piece next week.

In RE, we are continuing to investigate the Gospels and beginning to look at some of the parables that tell us about the life of Jesus. The children investigated the parable of Jesus healing the Ten Lepers and the messages contained within it.

We were also lucky enough, this week, to have Petty Officer Lance Watson come in to speak with the children about his work and life on the Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. This was a really engaging talk and was part of our "support service" month in school. We would like to thank PO Watson for taking the time to come in and speak with us.

In music this week, we listened to a composition by Terry Riley which contained 53 motifs. As we listened, we discussed the structure of the composition and how the texture becomes richer during the performance. In groups, we learnt different motifs which we combined and arranged as a group performance.

In English this week, we have finished reading 'The Wind in the Willows. We spent time discussing the ending and then the children had to decide on their own alternative ending. They then storyboarded this and revisited using DASH? paragraphs to write using tension and suspense.

In maths, Y4 have been adding and subtracting with money. Our previous work on decimals has definitely helped them understand the value of different amounts and work writing in pounds. Y5 have also been adding and subtracting but with decimal numbers with a different amount of decimal places.

In PE, the children's yoga lesson focussed on gratitude and the children had to create sequences whilst thinking about someone they are grateful for. This was to help them think more carefully about their breathing, balance and flow.

I cannot express how proud and impressed I have been with our Year 6s this week. In the face of numerous assessments they have worked incredibly hard and have shown determination, perseverance and, at times, excitement! What better week to end with doughnuts and football.

Next week, Y6 will be taking part in a week of ‘environment mornings’ where they will be working alongside Miss Harvey, Mrs Shelley and Mrs Day to make the school grounds an attractive and welcoming place to be.  We ask that the children wear their own ‘messy’ clothing and wellies/trainers for the week.

In geography this week, the children have finalised their topic of ‘Would you like to live in the desert?’ We identified the simulators and differences between the Mojave desert and Abberley and finally answered the other key question as to whether we would like to visit the desert or not. The children then completed an end of unit assessment to identify how well they have retained their new knowledge.

In art, the children painted their clay fruit tiles that they created last week. The children were able to use a mixture of vibrant colours to emulate the skin, flesh and seeds of various fruits. They look fantastic!

Auditions were held this week for the KS2 summer production. We are extremely lucky to have so many children who want to take part and are confident to get on the stage and perform! Parts will be given out next week, along with scripts so that the children can start learning their lines before rehearsals start after half term. This is also when our prop, scenery and costumes teams will come together to start their important work.

In music, we listened to the Imperial March from Star Wars, composed by John Williams and discussed the structure used to create the composition. We explored adding chords or a drone to accompany our motif using the major or minor scale. We rehearsed our planet compositions, ready for performance, using a variety of tuned and untuned percussion.

Please see below information within the community but independent of the school