YR  have had another busy half term. For Talk for Writing they learnt The Little Ren Hen and made their own bread. They have explored rangoli patterns and dressed up as part of celebrating Diwali.

Y2  have been learning about still life through paintings and drawings. They had a go at creating thumbnail sketches then used water colours and mixed the colours to match those in the picture. In Geography, they have been learning to use an Atlas. During National tree week the children had the opportunity to plant a seed talk about the life cycles of plants and learning which trees grow in our woods.

Y3  have been learning their new Talk for Writing story - The Papaya That Spoke focusing on adding actions and expression to the story.  In History, lots of fun was had making 'Biscuit Henges'. During music lessons the children used instruments to replace a count between 5-8. They found that some numbers were trickier to replace than others but with lots of practice  were able to create a repeating beat! In PE, Year 3 have been learning how to balance. They have been trying to keep balloons up in the air whilst staying on one leg.  They found the best way to do this was to use their arms and hold their tummies in tight to help make strong balancing positions.

Y5  have explored different moulds to set plaster into. This linked to the history topic 'Dynamic Dynasties' as they discovered ancient Chinese methods for casting bronze. The children made their own molds by making an imprint into clay.  During OWL, the children had their first attempt at trying to collect a mushroom spore print. They got to look at the gills and feel the shaggy parasol mushroom.  In PE,  the children played floor handball where they could only move in ‘scorpion position’ (hands and feet) and weren’t allowed to put their knees on the floor! They could sit down between passes but it was an action packed game! Y5's RE learning was about traditions in Hinduism. They learnt about Kathak dancing and how the movements can represent different things before creating their own thinking about the movements.

Y6 have been exploring their Geography topic of 'Our Changing World'. This included learning about  geographical features on Earth such as the Equator and Tropics, time zones and GMT, using longitude and latitude to identify locations on a map and using scale on a map to help understand distance. In music, the children about fanfares and appreciated a performance of ‘Fanfare of the Common Man, by Aaron Copland. They used musical vocabulary, such as dynamics, tempo and major, to describe the performance and share their own opinion. Using a clear brief, they then composed a fanfare to accompany a celebration of war ending. Conversations about pitch, tempo and instruments supported the children to compose some excellent pieces.  During OWL sessions, they have used a  fixed blade knife to make kindling then developed skills further with some whittling. They have also progressed from mini 5 minute fires to larger and longer burning ones in preparation for some campfire cooking over the next few months.           

Leading up to Remembrance Day, children found out about the significance of the poppy and made their own poppy artwork. Children in KS2 thought about what it would be like to be either a soldier in the war or a child evacuee and wrote a diary entry while children in KS1 worked together to write a poem. Every class was also visited by Lieutenant Marshall who spoke about the importance of Remembrance Day and his time in service.

On Friday, 10 November our KS2 class ambassadors along with our school ambassadors paid their respects at Totton memorial. Poppy and Hassan read 'In Flanders Field' followed by the laying of a wreath and a two minute silence. The children were very respectful, particularly when listening to a veteran telling them what remembrance means to him. 

The rest of the school had an assembly to remind them of why we have Remembrance Day. The hall was decorated with their poppy art work and a wreath was laid after a two minute silence.

We held our Bedtimes Stories event again. Children came back to school in their pyjamas for a story, hot chocolate and biscuit. There was an opportunity to shop at the Scholastic Book Fair and we also had a book swap for adults. Well done to our book token winners!

We came to school in our PJs or Children in Need (as voted for by the children). There were Pudsey-based activities during the day and the children had a Pudsey cake at lunchtime.

We've had lots of Christmas events happening in school. These included: our School Ambassadors choosing the Christmas Tree, making tree decorations, Year R-2 performing their Nativity, Year R's walk to the post box, the whole school watching Beauty and the Beast, making Christingles for our Christingle Service, Years 3 and 4 going to the Christmas Experience at Testwood Baptist Church, a Whole School Film and Christmas Dinner Day.

Nationwide Building Society visited Years 1-6 to talk to them about money.