Author: Mrs Hogarth

This week, we were lucky enough to enter some children in a local cross country competition. This took place at St Theresa’s Primary School. We entered some year 5’s and 6’s. The children performed absolutely fantastically and definitely showed determination and resilience. Some of the children have made it through to the next round at Temple Newsam in Februrary – well done! Thank you too to the parents for transporting the children to and from the event. If we didn’t have your support, the children wouldn’t get to take part in such events.

Well done to all our runners!

This week, we’ve been continuing on with our Science learning about light. Following on from our planning lesson, we carried out our investigation. We were answering the question ” How does the distance of the light source affect the size of the shadow?”

Each group used a torch, an opaque object and ruler to cast a shadow onto a wall. They decided they would move the light source away from the object 10cm each time and measure the size of the shadow. The children collated their results and concluded that as the light source is moved away, the shadow gets smaller. During our discussions, we also talked about the inaccuracies of come measurements as some appeared to be anomalous.

Our living and learning statement this week allowed us to explore our understanding of what a drug is. A drug is something that can alter the way you feel and think. The children were able to identify harmful drugs including alcohol and tobacco but also recognise that some drugs can help us, such as medicines. They also knew that medicines needed to be  prescribed by a doctor and taken appropriately. We then discussed how we might experience peer pressure into taking drugs. The children discussed strategies to cope in such situations. They were able to confidently talk about how they would resist peer pressure, remove themselves from difficult situations and be assertive in their choices and actions. The children always know they can talk to trusted adults in school about any of these issues and are able to also contact other means of help such as Childline.

We have started our new science learning this week. We are learning all about light. As physics will be our focus this term, we are being physicists. The children were given their new vocabulary to learn and as a class we rag rated how confident we felt about these words.

In the lesson the children identified different light sources and were able to tell which ones were luminous (emit light) and which were non-luminous (reflect light). They understood that light travels in straight lines and they understood how we see objects.

Help at home: Can you help your child learn their vocabulary? Play some games such as Pictionary.

This week we had a great morning during ‘Drop Down Morning.’ The children worked through a range of lessons that helped them to recall their previous learning. Geography allowed the children to test their knowledge of capital cities, main cities in the UK and four of the longest rivers. They were able to accurately place these on to their maps. The history sessions helped the children to remember their learning about Ancient Greece and the Romans. Year 6 had to consider arguments for and against the Elgin Marbles being returned to Greece. D&T helped the children to recall their learning they did on sewing and we talked about the design process when designing a new product. It was a very but productive morning.

We have been thoroughly enjoying gymnastics this term. We have worked on different routines as part of a group that incorporate a range of gymnastic skills. The children began by moving in different ways and then they challenged themselves to add in a balance and a piece of equipment such as a hoop. This week, we’ve been thinking about different jumps. We discussed the importance of landing safely to avoid injury. We practiced different jumps in groups and then attempted to perform jumps in time with each other or in a ‘Mexican wave’ style.

Cooking has been on the menu for 5,6 again! The class enjoyed spending time in the hub creating a whole new recipe. This time, they were turning their hand to chickpea curry. All the recipes that the children make are designed to develop food preparation skills, be healthy, reflect seasonality and be easy and practical to try at home. The recipe included ingredients such as chickpeas, onions, mushrooms and curry paste. The children applied skills such as weighing, peeling and using different knife grips such as the claw grip and bridge hold. The children really enjoyed the cooking and enjoyed eating it even more.

Help at home: Follow the recipe with your child at home. Can you make any variations to the recipe to make it even more delicious?

Today is Anti-bullying day and to show our support of this, we’ve been wearing odd socks. This is to celebrate that we are all different and that we should stand up for discrimination and bullying. We discussed the different types of bullying including cyberbullying.

“Bullying is when you hurt someone physically or emotionally (including online) several times on purpose.” Junior Leadership Team

We talked about how bullying might make a person feel and how it is important that you Start Telling Other People.