Class News

Nursery - Ducklings

We started off this term by looking for signs of Spring. We went on a nature walk around the school environment to find a selection of natural resources. We used  our art skills to make bark rubbings to create a blossom tree in the art area.  We have continued to learn about celebrations around the world  by celebrating Saint George's day. The children were able to retell the story using props and were able to sequence the story and perform the story to a large group.

Reception - Robins

We have got off to a great start this term and started exploring our new Central Idea, 'all living things go through a process of change'.  We thought about what all living things need and can now explain that they all need: food, water, air and sunlight. We can now talk about the importance of each characteristic and they role they play in order to keep living things alive. Thank you very much for the wonderful pieces of homework that have been brought in so far. These have been great discussion points and have allowed the children to develop their curiosity and ask some wonderful questions to the creators of the homework. It has also encouraged us to start creating our own life cycles and we have started by looking at each stage of a frog's life.

It has been a true joy watching the children share their enthusiasm to write since last term and thank you very much for all the reading, phonics revision and writing activities you are doing at home - it is having a very positive impact in your children's lives!

Year 1 - Sparrows 

Year 2 - Blackbirds

Blackbirds have fully enjoyed our inquiry this term so far. Our new central idea is all about how 'life on earth depends on harmony between all living things'. We have been using our class text 'Duffy's Lucky Escape'  to immerse  ourselves and understand  a current huge world crisis around plastic pollution.  We have been using our research skills to find out about sea life that is affected by  humans disposing plastic in the oceans. Blackbirds have written their own version of the story based on a chosen sea life animal to raise awareness of this issue. We have been exploring this problem across all subjects, including science, where we have been looking at things that are alive, have never been alive and that are dead. In geography, we have been researching  hot and cold countries in relation to the equator. Later on in the term, we will be looking at animals that are affected by plastic pollution in these countries and using our knowledge of data collection to interpret our results. Most recently, we have been using our class text to create art. We have been learning different printing skills including, rubbings, string printing, styrofoam printing and sponge printing. Blackbirds are looking forward to using these techniques to create their final art work in a couple of weeks time. We are really enjoying understanding how harmony is imperative to life on earth and look forward to diving into this learning as the weeks progress. 

Year 3 - Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers have dived right into learning after the Easter holidays! Our new central idea focuses on how 'celebrations reflect cultures and traditions'. We are currently learning about the religions Islam and Christianity. We have different pupils at Oaks who celebrate their own traditions and cultures, so it has been great to have first hand experience at our own school. Last week, we decided to take a trip to St Martin's Church where we took our learning to a deeper level and learnt about three types of celebration that Christians celebrate. One was called Pentecost. We had never heard of this one before. It is celebrated 50 days after Easter and this is when Christians remember the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are really excited to share our own traditions that our families celebrate for our homework! 

To understand the population of Muslims and Christians all around the world, we have begun to develop our compass skills and look at the points of a compass. We enjoyed going outside and discovering which way is North, East, South and West. We are going to use this skill to then look at countries around the world and investigate the populations of these two religions.  This term we have our school trip to Howletts Zoo and we are really looking forward to learning more about different species and their habitats - hopefully it is a sunny day! 

In our new class text, 'Planet Omar' we wanted to try a science experiment that Omar tries in the book! Linking back to one of our previous central ideas of natural disasters, we decided to create a tornado using two water bottles and some food colouring. Look at the pictures below to find out how we did this. 

Year 4 - Blue Jays

We have had an exciting few weeks in Blue Jay class! We were lucky enough to go on our school trip to The Science Observatory near Herstmonceux. 'If you have never been, you need to!' said Bella-Rose straight after our visit. We had a brilliant time investigating in the Discovery Park, the Water Park and the Indoor Exhibitions. It is an amazing museum where everyone can experience spectacular science through a huge range of interactive activities- every exhibit is designed to be played with to see what happens; investigate, learn and have fun! The Interactive Bridge Building Workshop was really popular! We had to work together using our communication skills at every turn to participate in this physical and fun activity. We were encouraged to work together collaboratively as a team to construct, test and then disassemble the bridges. In the time we had we were able to make an arch and truss bridge and discovered more about the keystone. 

We also took part in a telescope tour! Imagine the ‘wow' factor as we sat beneath an historic telescope and to discovered ‘How the telescopes have been used', ‘What we can learn from them today' and ‘How the astronomers would have worked here'  when it was The Royal Observatory.   

Year 5 - Kingfishers

Kingfishers have had a great start to Module 5. We had a fantastic time visiting the Science Observatory, where we had lots of hands on science experiences working with forces, electricity, mechanical robot arms and a great tour and guide of a telescope. 

We have started our new Central Idea, Design can reflect identity, culture and traditions, where we have been reading the book, Clockwork, all wound up by Phillip Pullman. It is full of suspense and mystery, adding to pupils' creativity within their writing. Pupils are eager to find out what happens next. 

We have also been researching into the Geocentric and Heliocentric Theories (the sun orbiting the Earth and the Earth orbiting the sun) and looking at how scientific knowledge can change over time. I am very excited to see what the rest of the term brings. 

Year 6 - Chaffinch

Chaffinch have been working exceptionally hard at the beginning of Module 5 as we build towards the KS2 statutory assessments. Without fail, they have all put in an incredible effort to hone their; GPaS, Reading and Mathematical knowledge and are ready to show it off next week. I'm sure you all join me in thanking them for their efforts so far and wish them luck.  

 Through our inquiry 'People can learn from the lessons of the past to improve the present and the future' and our class text 'The Rabbits', we have begun delving into the formation of the British Empire and the effect that it had on the indigenous populations of each country - particularly in Australia. We have begun by looking at the first fleet and the conditions in which convicts, navy personnel and civilians were kept and mapping the journey which they took. 

I hope you all have a wonderful bank holiday weekend and look forward to completing an excting term for both the school and year 6.