Design Technology
In this half term, we are starting our next topic which is all about Design technology.
During this topic, we will be exploring and evaluating a range of existing products, designing functional and appealing products based on given design criteria and then make the product by selecting from a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks (eg cutting, shaping, joining and finishing).
Throughout the topic, we will look at key questions. What is a structure? Which design in the best? How can we make it stronger? Is it fit for purpose?
Here is a lost of some of the vocabulary that will be taught in the coming weeks.
Baby Photos and Sun Protection…
Good Afternoon!
This week in class, we are talking about caring for babies and how we have changed since we were babies ourselves. To support our learning and classroom discussions, please email or send in a photograph of your child as a baby.
Sun Protection
Please ensure your child comes to school wearing sun lotion, ready for the day. They may also bring additional lotion to school, but must re-apply it independently. Please also send your child with a sun hat and make sure they have their water bottle in school.
Thank You.
Science
Our Science learning this half term is all about scientific enquiry. The children will use their science and link it to an historical event in context;the sinking of the Titanic. This topic is based around applying working scientifically skills that they have learned so far in their Science lessons, to explore some of the scientific concepts behind the Titanic, e.g. floating and sinking. They will apply skills, such as asking questions, making observations and predicting. Below is a list of vocabulary the children will be learning over the next few weeks. Can you help your child learn these words? Could you play some games to help your child memorise the definitions? Maybe a game of Pictionary!
Welcome back – the final half term!
We hope that you all had a lovely half term holiday in the sunshine. We’re looking forward to seeing some of your holiday photos and hearing all about your adventures when we return to Nursery.
Please remember to bring raincoats and sun hats (with your child’s NAME clearly marked) to Nursery everyday; we never know what the weather is going to do at the moment! Also, please refer to our previous post regarding sun cream.
Before the holidays, children remained interested in minibeasts and loved listening to ‘What the Ladybird Heard’. We drew lots of maps to try and trick the thieves (listen to the story) and we also learnt about the life cycle of a ladybird. If you remember from our earlier post, we found some tiny larvae that had just hatched in our Nursery garden. We’re hoping to find them and see if they’ve grown when we return this week.
In the creative area, children enjoyed learning the names of the parts of a ladybird’s body using a non-fiction text and we used this information to create our own ladybirds using salt dough.
Other fascinations that we explored in the final week before the holidays included building ramps for cars and towers using Duplo. There was lots of mathematical language involved in both activities with children using words such as tall/short, taller/shorter, tallest/shortest to describe their towers and further/furthest to describe the distance their cars travelled.
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Finally, before the holidays, there was a lot of excitement about holidays to the seaside and trips to the caravan. We’ll soon find out if children enjoyed their adventures and we’ll incorporate their current interests into our learning over the next few weeks. Please remember to email us if your child has a new fascination at home! scholesf1@spherefederation.org
Living and Learning: I know what a drug is
Our Living and Learning statement for the last two week has been about Drug and Alcohol education. Schools must now cover drug and alcohol education as part of statutory Health Education.
In these session, pupils build age-appropriate foundational skills and underpinning knowledge including:
- Safety rules at home for medicines and household products, including what medicines and vaccinations are and how they help to keep people healthy
- The risks and effects of using tobacco, alcohol and other drugs
- Managing pressure and influences including that from peers and the media
- How to seek help and support for themselves or others in relation to health and/or substances
Our discussions in class were mature and sensible.
Here is what the children said:
Drugs are there to prevent illnesses and some drugs can be harmful. Doctors advise patients to take prescribed drugs to make them feel better. Paracetamol is a drug which helps to relieve pain.
Children use Calpol and it is not a drug.
You shouldn’t take anyone else’s medicine.
Pupils reflected on their learning in the lesson.
• What has this lesson made them think about?
• What has it made them think about their health now?
• What has it made them think about their health for the future?
Mad About Minibeasts
This week we have continued our focus on our favourite garden creatures through reading ‘Mad About Minibeasts’. The children have enjoyed writing their own poems about a minibeast of their choice.
A spider is black and hairy. A spider has eight legs. A spider shoots and spins a web.- Oscar
Our last butterflies have appeared too!
A butterfly has wings. A butterfly can fly. A butterfly has loads of colours.-Alice
In Maths we have focused on 15 and 3d shapes. Maybe you could hunt for 3d shapes at home too? The children began making 3d shapes with playdough and matchsticks. They then went on to make birthday cakes and monsters.
We have taken our sunflower seeds from the window ledge and planted them in the garden. Can you see what else we did outside?
We are committed to learning to skip and are having fun in the process.
Some pirates left treasure all around our classroom. We had a few volunteers to gather the golden coins.
Have a wonderful holiday and we’ll see you soon!
5/6 Certificate Celebration
This weeks certificate winners are…
For great learning…
Gaia – you put so much effort into writing your recipe this week. You even remembered to include some expanded noun phrases. Well done.
For sport and physical activity…
Paige – for demonstrating skill and enthusiasm with the new skipping ropes. You also worked well with others in PE this week. Well done.
For living and learning…
Jenson – You had a really mature attitude when discussing how harmful drugs can be. Well done!
Well done everyone!
Living and Learning : What is a drug?
We discussed drugs and medicines in our Living and Learning lessons this week. The children could tell us all sorts of important things.
Your mum or dad can give you medicine.
A nurse or doctor can give you medicine.
A pharmacist can give you medicine.
There are good drugs and bad drugs.
Never take cat or dog drugs.
If I’m poorly, I take it easy and take medicine until I feel better.
Living and learning: I understand some drugs can be harmful
Year 5/6 began the week by exploring how the correct use of medicines can support health and well-being. They discussed the safe way to use medicines and how vaccinations and immunisations can protect us from diseases. We then moved onto legal and illegal drugs. As a class, they identified the risks and effects of drug use and also the laws that relate to different drugs. Throughout this learning, the children have been guided towards places of support and places they can report any concerns.
Pixel Art – Year 3/4
Computer Games have great graphics that are created using pixel art. This has been a fabulous addition to our Computing topic and the children have such brilliant ideas.
Pixel art is a form of art, created through the use of software where images are edited on the a pixel level. In most pixel art, the colours used are extremely limited in size, with some pixel art using only two colours.
We’ve been trying to recreate some in class using a few colours on squared paper. Lots of counting, repetition, sequencing and decomposition – lots of crossovers with out programming vocabulary.
Here are some of our efforts – they’re awesome! The children are very proud of their results.
