Year 4 started a new trial of reading plus this afternoon, this will continue for the next 8 weeks and is focused on increasing reading fluency along with vocabulary skills.
As historians we studied the Vikings, answering the question – ‘Were the Vikings always Victorious and Vicious?’ First of all, we looked at where the Vikings fit in a historical timeline, thinking about areas we have previously studied and significant periods in history. Then we used maps to locate where the Vikings were from and their pathways of invasion. We studied the longships and designed, created and evaluated our own during our DT sessions. Following this, we looked at the lives of the Vikings, studying closely their lifestyles, jobs and homes. We then wrote a diary entry imagining we were an 11-year-old Viking child. Finally we ended our topic looking at the food the Vikings ate and designed a menu. To celebrate this topic we asked the children to create their own Viking projects which we then presented to our loved ones, families and carers.
This term Year Five will be reading Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson. We will be writing a setting description, instructions, a balanced argument, a travel agents leaflet a narrative and some poetry.
For Literacy this term, Year 6 are enjoying ‘I was there…TITANIC’ by Margi McAllister.
This vivid first person novel is read through the eyes of Daisy, a steerage passenger on her way to a new life in America. On the fateful journey she befriends Jimmy, an adventurous American boy who is travelling First Class. We look forward to seeing how this unlikely friendship develops and how the fateful journey affects their lives. When disaster strikes, can Daisy, Jimmy and their families stay together and survive?
“This is the Titanic!” said Gus. “The unsinkable! Why would you want lifeboats on an unsinkable shop?”
We will be writing a range of genres around the text, including:
- Descriptive setting
- Character comparison
- Non-chronological report
- Narrative
We will also be keeping a reading journal throughout the story, furthering our questioning and inference skills.
For more information on the most famous disaster at sea, visit:
https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zng8jty
For an animation about Eva Hart, Titanic: A child survivor’s story, visit:
Year 2 visited the word last week to take part in Christmas computing activities. The children used 2Simple to create their own Christmas baubles. We created symmetrical patterns to make our snowflake shapes. They were then laser cut to create our decorations. In the afternoon we sang christmas songs and recorded a video of us singing.
Thursday 5th December KS2 visited St Nicholas Church in Boldon. The children were told about the history of the church; the architecture of the church, showing us how we knew it had been extended, the meaning of the stained glass windows and about the history of St Nicholas himself. The priest then used two of our pupils to explain the meaning of Christingle – Jesus the light of the world. He explained how the christingle is made up and what each part represents;
- An orange, representing the world
- A candle pushed into the centre of the orange, then lit, representing Jesus Christ as the light of the world
- A red ribbon wrapped around the orange representing the blood of christ
- Dried fruits and/or sweets skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into the orange, representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons.
To finish the children sang Christmas songs!
As part of our RE topic this term, the children have been learning about different religions (Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism) the beliefs and values.
We invited in visitors from the Dhammakaya Meditation Centre of Newcastle- Hebburn. Our visitors introduced themselves and checked how much the children already knew about Buddhism. They then discussed Buddhist Culture: How to bow (Short Video), Buddha’s story (Short Video), Buddha teaching: Meditation and a Monk’s life. The children had lots of valuable questions and learnt a lot from the workshop.
29th November- year 4 enjoyed making clay candle holders in preparation for the school fayre. We used clay, various tools, paint and glitter. The children had great fun using the clay and moulding it into their creations.
Year three have been learning about how fossils are made and then have moved onto looking at volcanoes. The children have been so enthusiastic on this topic that we thought it was only fair that we let them make their own, they are due to erupt on Thursday…….pictures to follow!!
