Forgiving God
In worship this week, we looked ahead to the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) and the parable of the Unforgiving Servant. We learnt that our God is merciful and forgiving, and that we are called to treat others with the same generosity of spirit.
We explored how forgiving involves the same conditions as giving: you have a free choice to do it (or not), you can be generous with it (or not) and you have to let go in order to complete the action. Using some tasty allotment apples, we showed how you can be generous in giving and forgiving, and that's exactly what we are called to do this week!
We heard from Nathan, Carys and James in Year 6, who told us all about the times they have been forgiving and the times they've needed forgiveness. Thank you for your powerful witness children!
Willow Tree Garden
On a lovely, sunny afternoon, 4V took the opportunity to move away from the hubbub of the astro-turf renovations, and enjoy an outdoor lesson under the new Willow Tree Garden.
It was a tranquil location for their PSHE learning about relationships, and they enjoyed the flexibility of using this fantastic new area, spending the afternoon acting out different scenarios, and designing their 'perfect friend'.
Thank you so much to the PFSA for all of their hard work, and giving us this wonderful opportunity.
The Great Outdoors
It has been so lovely to welcome the Year 1 children back to school. We have been blessed with lovely weather which has meant there has been ample time to explore the Year 1 Outside Area. Throughout the week, children have been building dens for The Colour Monster to spend time in to regulate his emotions, making gratitude flowers and things that make them feel in the 'green zone' (happy, calm, proud).
Reading, Reading, Reading
This week we started our unit 'Little Red Reading Hood' in English. This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to retrieve the writing skills they learned in Year One, whilst introducing them to new vocabulary and experiences. On Wednesday we went for a woodland walk, which allowed the children the opportunity to think about the sights and sounds that Red would have seen and heard. The children then used their experience in the woods to help them with their sentence writing for the rest of the week.
Place Value Creations
Year 3 have been getting hands on with their maths learning, using their place value knowledge to construct images depicting 3 digit numbers from base 10 components.
In the second part of the lesson, they took to the playground and in teams, used sports equipment to create 3 digit numbers as instructed. This fast paced activity required quick-thinking and good place value knowledge to ensure the number representations were accurate.
The stinky stench of bog water in Year 4!
Year 4 children had fun in English this week trying to recreate Roald Dahl's "Green Things". If you can remember the story, there were the mysterious items which caused the peach tree to grow the giant peach. Thanks to all the green fruit and vegetables which were kindly donated by parents, the children had an immersive experience (complete with optional blindfolds to heighten the sense) in order to generate ambitious vocabulary for a recipe for our own Green Things. And what amazing vocabulary they came up with! We talked of the ancient eyeball of a forgotten alien, the fossilised finger of a mindless mummy and - a favourite with the children - the stinky stench of bog water! We were delighted to see the children using the link to alliteration which was a focus of the lesson. Even better, at the end of the lesson, they got to blend their revolting ingredients together. Next week, we will be using the vocabulary to create instructions for a Green Things recipe. We can't wait to see the final results!
Journeying
This week in Year 5, the children have begun their first unit of work in English. Together, they have explored the picture book 'Journey' by Aaron Becker and are mid-way through creating their own stories inspired by this. Their teachers have been very impressed with the excellent start and ambitious vocabulary choices made by the children. We are all excited to read the finished result!
The System of Nature
This week in Science Year 6 have been learning all about classifying living things. We started our lesson by recapping what all living things have in common and then found out about the work of Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus. Scientists believe that there could be as many as 10 million different species on Earth! It would be very hard to study the lives and behaviours of all these living things without grouping them together somehow. Following this, we found out that all living things can be classified into one of five kingdoms. One of these is the animal kingdom which can then be further classified into classes. Next week we'll be learning about the different features of each class and looking at some very unusual animals. Nathaniel and Oscar W showed an exceptional understanding and were even able to discuss the different microorganisms and why they are grouped as they are- well done!
Celebrating Faces
Building upon the drawing skills that the children learned throughout Reception, Year 1 have started their Art learning based around drawing by looking at different facial features, where they are, their colours and the details that can be seen. They were challenged to use just pencils to draw a portrait of someone else in the class. The children spent time observing their partner before getting to work. It looks like we have some artists in the making!
From this, we will continue to explore drawing different facial features, but with the added challenge of different mediums like pens, charcoal and oil pastels and look at how this changes a portrait.
What's on locally?
2023 Christmas Card Competition.pdf