Class News

Nursery - Ducklings

Duckling class have really enjoyed our inquiry this term  " The Earth's natural cycle affects how people live".  We have learnt all about the different seasons throughout the year and how they differ. The class have  really enjoyed reading the story all about  The Very Hungry Caterpillar and investagting the life cycle of a caterpillar. To end our inquiry on the 23rd May, we celebrated International Turtle Day. We discovered some interesting facts about turtles and explored some new vocabulary, such as, carnivores (meat eaters) and herbivores (plant eaters). We enjoyed making art work to represent turtles and created our own giant turtle using natural resources found in our Forest school area. The most important fact we discoverd was that turtles are becoming an endangered species due to environmental waste in the oceans. We can help save the turtles by putting our rubbish in the bin, making a cleaner safer environment for all our ocean friends.

Reception - Robins

What a wonderful end to Term 5. We have successfully grown some beanstalks, we have been exploring the different processes of change we can see in the world as the seasons change and we had a very exciting trip to Howletts Zoo.  

We continued exploring our Central Idea, 'All living things go through a process of change' and when we were at Howletts Zoo, we were able to see the important changes that animals go through as they grow, from the care their families provide, the changes in their diet and the types of home they live in. We had an amazing time in the sunshine and here are some photos and videos from the day. 

Thank you very much for all of the lovely things you had to say about your children's fabulous work from the King's Coronation. It was a real treat to hear the pride the children are taking in their learning and showing off their classroom and all of the work they have produced.  It was also wonderful to have so many of you come and read at the end of the day and the children really enjoyed having you at school again.

Have a wonderful half term holiday and we look forward to welcoming you back for the final term in Reception!

Year 1 - Sparrows 

Sparrow class began this term further exploring our inquiry into our central idea 'Making balanced choices can contribute to a healthy lifestyle'.  Sparrow class have looked at healthy foods in our science lesson with an investigation into which foods had the highest sugar content, we were surprised at the results! We used our class story 'I Don't Eat the Colour Green' to inspire our poetry writing and created amazing poems written into the shapes of fruit and vegetables. We finished our inquiry through making delicious smoothies, choosing healthy and tasty ingredients to add into them. 

Following their cooking finale to the inquiry, Sparrow class moved onto their new inquiry into the arts, exploring our central idea 'The Arts help people develop their creativity and imagination'. Sparrows have used their research skills to find out and write amazing fact files on the artist Henri Matisse. Inspired by the art of Matisse, we have explored the medium of printing, learning new skills to create designs with string and Styrofoam. 

In our Maths, Sparrow class have begun looking at multiplication and division, counting in 2s, 5s and 10s and then dividing numbers into equal groups. We have also started our maths journey into fractions, dividing shapes and numbers into halves and quarters. This has been particularly useful in our discussion on how we would divide up cakes and pizzas! In our modern language learning, we have been working on our  numbers to 10 in Spanish, using this to say 'how old we are' as well as playing games where we guess how many counters another player has, all in Spanish! 

We have finished this term learning about our growth mindset and linking it to our new class story, The Dot, by Peter Reynolds. We created our dot-inspired pieces of art, using printing, painting and drawing. Sparrow class are looking forward to continuing our inquiry into the arts, learning new skills and creating new art work with a focus on textiles.

Year 2 - Blackbirds

Blackbirds have fully enjoyed their inquiry this term. Not only have they been fantastic inquirers, they have also showcased what thinkers and knowledgeable young people they are through their SATS last week. Mrs Cooper and I are so proud of how they performed and would like to thank them for all their hard work, resilience and determination they have shown. 

We have been looking at our new class text this term 'The Life of a Little Plastic Bottle' to understand the importance of recycling. Blackbirds have used the text to rewrite the ending of the story using the pronoun I and a variety of other Year 2 skills. It has been wonderful to see the progress of all the pupils in Year 2 especially their creativity and imagination when writing. Blackbirds worked extremely hard creating artwork around the theme of the Coronation of King Charles. They used a variety of different mediums to create many forms of art to represent this special moment in British History.  This afternoon, Blackbirds have been using their knowledge of interesting ways to recycle plastic to make bird feeders, watering cans and plant pots! They have absolutely loved researching , designing and making their product in their DT lessons this term! 

We hope you enjoyed looking at our wonderful display at the art exhibition! Finally, Blackbirds have worked really hard to create their final art piece using printing. The results have been absolutely fantastic and showcase how well the children have learnt how to use these skills. Mrs Cooper and I would like to wish all of Blackbirds a wonderful half term. 

Year 4 - Blue Jays

Blue Jays have had a really successful term with so much going on including Forest School, the King's Coronation, our trip to the Science Observatory to name but a few.  In maths, we have been investigating time and have focused on not only telling the time (analogue and digital) we have also been looking into the 24-hour clock. We have been considering when it would be useful to use the 24-hour clock and how to convert between the 12 and 24-hour time. It has been hard work but we have shown great determination and a growth mindset to help us. 

Year 5 - Kingfishers

What an exciting term this has been! Kingfisher class have had an extremely busy one with the Science Observatory trip, the King's Coronation, a talk on Road Safety, Bike Ability and two exciting visits from the initiative, 'Primary Futures' who specialise in facilitating visitors to schools to speak with children about their careers.  

Heather, who works for ITV and who was one of our Primary Futures visitors came to speak to us all about how to get into a Communications career. Pupils were inspired by how many different careers there are in a company such as ITV all over the world. 

Genny, who has three different jobs - an accountant, an author and an entertainer - was our second Primary Futures visitor and the pupils thoroughly enjoyed her talk. Also known as 'The Confidence Queen', she made it to the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent in 2012 and spent her time at Oaks boosting the pupils' confidence with songs and laughter. The pupils had a plethora of questions for her and all of her jobs, which was delightful to witness.   

Our Central Idea, Design can reflect identity, culture and traditions, has come to an end and we have now finished reading the book, Clockwork, all wound up by Phillip Pullman. Kingfisher class thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was full of suspense and mystery. They spent the term writing letters as if they were one of the characters, diary entries, creative writing and finished off with a balanced argument. The quality of writing throughout was a pleasure to read as pupils displayed a range of skills learned throughout Year 5. 

Kingfisher class have also been collaborating with Chaffinch class to create motorised vehicles. Early next term, 8 pupils will be selected to showcase their projects at Canterbury University! Watch this space for pictures and screenshots of their completed Google Site and car!

Year 6 - Chaffinch

Term 5 has been eventful for Year 6: they have showcased their considerable knowledge in their statutory assessments and handled them impeccably well. Each child did their absolute best and we are exceptionally proud of the effort which they have put in. Focus has shifted to writing: using our text 'The Rabbits', we have begun exploring the British Empire and the colonization of countries, such as Australia. 

We have also had two exciting visits from the initiative Primary Futures where people with different careers come and speak to pupils: Heather, who works for ITV and Genny, who has three different jobs - an accountant, an author and an entertainer. Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed both visits and it challenged them to consider their own skills and the careers they may wish to pursue in the future. 

In collaboration with year 5, we have also been adding the finishing touches to our vehicle projects: early next term we look forward to testing them to see who will represent the school at Canterbury Christchurch University. 

I hope you all have a wonderful half term break and look forward to Year 6's final term at Oaks Primary Academy.