Martial Arts Day

On Tuesday, we were lucky enough to receive some sessions all about martial arts from Karate Leadership UK. The pictures definitely speak for themselves but great fun was had by all!

Central Idea: Families can support the local community.

What a busy week Team RM have had! With much excitement, the children wrote letters to the Queen to tell her that they had found her lost hat. Team RM used their phonic knowledge brilliantly to write sentences and address an envelope in the hope of reuniting the Queen with her hat.

In Maths we have continued to look at repeating patterns and have begun looking at doubling numbers to 10. Using numicon, we have practically doubled and explored what doubling means.

Preparations are in full swing for the Jubilee! The children have been busy making crowns, bunting and paper chains, using their fine motor skills and vast amounts of red, white and blue! They are all getting very excited about the picnic and celebrating the Queen's reign.

As the weather improves, Team RMC have been utilising the garden and enjoying the sun. Please ensure that the children are coming into school everyday with a hat and a water bottle filled with water.

Central Idea: Families can support the local community.

In RMC this week, we have continued to learn about how the Royal Family help our community here in Marden and across the rest of the United Kingdom. Having also read our class text 'The Queen's Hat', it was a surprise to us all when we found her majesty's hat in our classroom on Tuesday morning! This was very exciting...

The children felt as if they needed to let the queen know that her hat was indeed missing, so they have been writing letters to her this week ready to post on Monday. Hopefully we can reunite her majesty with her lost hat in time for her Platinum Jubilee!

We have also been putting our fine motor skills to the test, producing decorations in anticipation for our jubilee celebrations next week! We have used plenty of blue, red and white materials to create paper chains, bunting and crowns.

In maths we have been focusing on doubling this week and the children have worked incredibly hard to deepen their understanding of number. Well done RMC, super effort!

Please remember to send your child in with a hat and a drink every morning when they come to school, particularly as the weather is now getting warmer. The drink must be water and not juice - thank you.

Mr Roper

Central Idea: Communities have different jobs in order for society to fun

It has been an extremely busy and exciting week for 1M. This week we have had a fantastic experience in martial arts, we really had a blast and showed off some fantastic moves that were taught to us. Following this, we were incredibly lucky as the Fire and Rescue team from Marden very kindly came into school with their fire truck and shared some wonderful knowledge with us about what they do and how they help the community. We were all able to have a go at wearing the helmets and the jackets of the firemen, we were able to sit inside the truck as well as have a go at spraying water using the very powerful hose. It was a fantastic learning experience.

In maths we have continued learning about arrays and we will be moving on to doubling very shortly. In science we are covering plants and what they need to survive.

Please remember to send your child to school with a hat and a bottle of water as the weather is now getting warmer - Thank you.

Central Idea: Communities function more effectively when there are rules and responsibilities

We have finished our second line of inquiry with some drama; putting into action all that we have discovered about King John. We definitely have some extraordinary drama talent in 1/2 S. We have now begun our final line of inquiry looking into our responsibilities as global citizens. The children are really keen to find out more by answering the question 'What would happen if there were no trees?' With this in mind, we have read 'The Last Wolf' by Mini Grey which has raised some interesting discussions about deforestation and the impact this has on us all.

After much searching around the school grounds and discussions about the right conditions, we finally found a great spot to plant out our sunflowers. With the help of Trevor, we dug the soil over and made sure they had enough water. We are really excited to watch their progress over the coming weeks.

In Year 1 maths, we have completed doubling and halving and we have moved onto our fractions unit, finding halves and quarters of shapes and quantities!

In Year 2 maths, we have completed our unit on time, and are now confident in telling the time, so do test us! We have now begun looking at height and length and will be carrying this on to next week!

Central Idea: Communities provide services designed to meet people's needs.

Wow! A very exciting week in our inquiry learning with a special visitor! On Wednesday, we spoke to Paul from WaterAid, a charity which helps communities who do not have clean running water or sanitation. Paul discussed a wide range of issues which WaterAid support with, and was able to talk from his own personal experiences of visiting these communities, both life before and after WaterAid's help - we even wrote emotive recounts as Paul considering what he had seen!

We were moved, once again, in seeing the circumstances some people have to live with, but were blown away by the hard work and support this charity offers, so we will be doing our bit to help out and be global citizens. So, excitingly, we will be having our own 2D biscuit and cake sale next week, selling goodies we have made, and raising money for WaterAid.

In our maths, we have completed our unit on time, and are now confident in telling the time, so do test us! We have now begun looking at height and length and will be carrying this on to next week! We have also finished reading 'The Bear and the Piano' and have thoroughly enjoyed it, especially with the bear returning to where it all started!

Central Idea: Places can change as a result of human impact and organisations.

What an incredible week for our inquiry! We have created our very own Bayeux Tapestry based on the story of the Battle of Hastings. The children were so interested in the story they wanted to create their own Tapestry.

We have been on a trip looking at how our locality has changed. We focused on the different types of houses in Marden, the differences between new estates and old and lastly we considered which existing facilities would we need to change if Marden was extended.

We were also very lucky to have two visitors in from the parish council. The children confidently interviewed Matt and Andy about the effects of building new housing estates. This gave the children an insight into the planning behind building new estates. They also spoke to them about the 2,000 new houses debate in Marden and the children thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

Finally to end the week, the children held another interview and had the pleasure of interviewing Mr Dosad, to look at the effects new housing would have on the school, to begin to paint a picture on how change affects a place (specifically Marden in this case). I was so proud of the children for their maturity and confidence to ask questions and discuss their viewpoint in a debate style environment!

In maths we continued looking at fractions. We focused on finding and recognising a half, a quarter and a third.

In science we have continued looking at plants and keeping an eye on our very own sunflowers. We also set up and experiment on how water gets to the leaves? Why do we water the soil? We are looking forward to seeing what happens to our flowers over the weekend!

Central Idea: Economic activities rely on systems of production, exchange and consumption of goods.

In our PYP inquiry we have completed our research around economic activities looking at scales of trade, equality in trade and supply and demand. We have now taking everything that we have learnt and applying it in our final project; Young enterprise five pound challenge. Through this project they will learn first hand experience into how businesses are structured, working as a team - recognising and using skills of the other team members. The groups have been busy looking at price comparisons to ensure the maximum amount for their budget and negotiating between companies for supplies. All four business groups will be selling their products next term, further information to follow.

It has been a busy week in the garden, the plants have thrived with the current conditions. We have had our first taste of the broad beans that we have grown. Other vegetables are fast growing and will be ready for us to cook soon.

In maths we have completed our unit of work with money. We finished by looking at addition and subtraction with money to buy and give change. We are now learning about time. We have been converting between days, weeks, months and years to solve problems.

Central Idea: Transportation systems can be developed to meet the needs of the community.

We have been looking at time this week in maths (we would really recommend practising telling the time at home using an analogue clock.) We were furious when we received a letter in inquiry about a prospective planning application to build across our school field and as a consequence, wrote passionate opposing letters that ensured that we were open-minded in our thoughts, but still demonstrated our point of view and beliefs in a respectful manner. Even though we found out that the letter had been a hoax, we were able to realise that these kinds of proposals happen often and are being dealt with regularly as our community expands (and other communities.) We see the importance of having a voice.

We had a great martial arts trial session on Tuesday and found out about using discipline to demonstrate respect. As part of our inquiry we had a visit from local parish councillors and had the opportunity to ask them about developments in Marden and how areas are interconnected.

Marden village now has dementia friendly status and to support Marden Medical Centre with a project they are undertaking, we made mini posters about what makes us happy and smile that will be given to some patients.

It has been a very busy week in 4WB and we are looking forward to lots of activities next week including jubilee creations and the celebration picnic and our PE morning at the Cricket Club.

Central Idea: Roles and responsibilities lead to successful leadership.

We have had another fantastic week in 5DK, as the end of term is fast-approaching! We very much enjoyed a Martial Arts taster session on Tuesday, in which we all were very involved. Talk of Jubilee celebrations are also spreading amongst the class, and the children are looking forward to the forthcoming school Jubilee picnic.

Inquiry - The children put their DT skills to use this week and have made some fantastic, sturdy bases for bird feeders. They were able to saw their own wood, attach panels together using a butt joint and then sand their design down to create a good finish. Some are keen to customise their designs further at home and then send me some pictures to share with the class. We have also written letters to the RSPB, asking them to evaluate our designs and provide us with some feedback. We are now awaiting a response!

Maths - We continued our learning on decimals, specifically comparing and ordering. We have also had some lessons on percentages. If possible, it would be really useful for the children to talk about money at home and apply their knowledge of decimals. Maybe they could even help with adding up the shopping bill or working out change?

Reading - We are enjoying our class text 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,' and the children have made some remarkable comparisons between William's (the author) life in Malawi and their lives in the U.K. We are very much excited to see how the story develops and how this also links with our inquiry concepts of responsibility and sustainability. I think they are going to be very impressed with the ending!

Central Idea:

We have had another fantastic week in 5R, as the end of term is fast-approaching! We very much enjoyed a Martial Arts taster session on Tuesday, in which we all were very involved. Talk of Jubilee celebrations are also spreading amongst the class, and the children are looking forward to the forthcoming school Jubilee picnic.

Inquiry - The children put their DT skills to use this week and have made some fantastic, sturdy bases for bird feeders. They were able to saw their own wood, attach panels together using a butt joint and then sand their design down to create a good finish. Some are keen to customise their designs further at home and then send me some pictures to share with the class. We have also written letters to the RSPB, asking them to evaluate our designs and provide us with some feedback. We are now awaiting a response!

Maths - We continued our learning on decimals, specifically comparing and ordering. We have also had some lessons on percentages. If possible, it would be really useful for the children to talk about money at home and apply their knowledge of decimals. Maybe they could even help with adding up the shopping bill or working out change?

Reading - We are enjoying our class text 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,' and the children have made some remarkable comparisons between William's (the author) life in Malawi and their lives in the U.K. We are very much excited to see how the story develops and how this also links with our inquiry concepts of responsibility and sustainability. I think they are going to be very impressed with the ending!

Central Idea: Conflict shapes society

Inquiry - This week, we have been researching, planning and writing a non-chronological report about the rise of Adolf Hitler. The children have been highly engaged in this emotive topic - it has been fascinating to inquire in-depth into post-World War I Germany and the key turning points which culminated in Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939. We have been focusing on writing facts in a lively, succinct but cohesive style; using grammatical techniques such as relative clauses, parenthesis and conjunctions to support varied sentence structure.

Maths - The children have worked collaboratively to solve a wide range of challenges which involve all areas of mathematical skills. It has been particularly encouraging to see the level of independence in applying their mathematical knowledge and higher level thinking to solving the problems.

Design technology/Science - As you can see, children have completed their motorised vehicle projects. We are looking forward to testing the cars; we have certainly had our problem solving ability (and patience) tested during the process of making them!

Reading - Our class reader and reading comprehension text is 'Letters from the Lighthouse'. Set in 1941, Olive and Cliff have been evacuated to 'Budmouth Point' in Devon where the mystery surrounding the disappearance of their older sister is beginning to unfold. We are all thoroughly enjoying the story - particularly the vivid descriptions of the air raids and the lively dialogue between the characters (with, of course, entertaining Devonshire accents provided by Mr Clark & Mrs Williams!).