Week Commencing - 24/11/2025

The children have been writing letters from the perspective of a character from our class book this week, making sure to be careful about what information to reveal or conceal. We have been learning the grid method and long multiplication to find answers to increasingly complex multiplication problems; we have also been using these methods in SATS-style problem-solving contexts. In science, the children have been using AI to help research and understand answers to some complicated questions relating to our science unit on light so far. We had a water workshop this week where the children learned all about the water cycle, how water is treated and transported, and about water conservation.

 

Week Commencing - 17/11/2025

The children enjoyed creating imaginative and highly detailed setting descriptions this week, which were fed into an AI to create an image based on their setting. In maths, we have been working with more and more complex calculations involving fractions, including subtraction, which crosses the whole of mixed numbers. We have been exploring how each part of our eyes works in science. In history, we have begun to add to our knowledge of England in the 1600s by looking in detail at the rise of Protestantism, and the story of how Henry VIII’s marriage annulment and his subsequent excommunication gave rise to The Church of England. The children have learnt more about the Christmas story, and they have uncovered the Christian, secular, and pagan origins of modern Christmas traditions.

 

Week Commencing - 10/11/2025

The children have begun to learn skills necessary for writing letters, including correct formatting and appropriate formality. We also enjoyed Michael Rosen day by putting together a restaurant specials board of funny food poems. We began to solve addition and subtraction problems involving mixed numbers his week. The children examined reflection and how mirrors work. They learnt about the difference between an image and an object by creating their own periscopes using mirrors, guiding light along a path. We began to prepare for our Christmas play this week, which will surely command more and more of our energies as the term continues. The children also learned about incarnation and the Christmas story. For children in need, our class challenged itself by completing the same drawing in 25 seconds, 2.5 minutes, and 25 minutes.

 

Week Commencing - 3/11/2025

This week, the children were working on character descriptions in English. They were also practising their recital of For the Fallen for next week’s remembrance service. The children were writing alternative stories, imagining if an event from our class book had transpired differently. They were ordering and comparing fractions of different denominators this week through their knowledge of finding equivalent fractions. In science, we have explored the nature of light, how it travels in a straight line, causing shadows in its absence; the children had fun proving this using varying light sources. We examined how various fairground rides operate in DT this week, in preparation for them designing their own. The children also began their computing unit on Excel this week.

 

Week Commencing - 20/10/2025

This week, the children gave their predictions and made impressions about new characters from our class book. They used the five senses to describe 1600s London. In maths, we were working with equivalent fractions; we were simplifying fractions and converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers. The children researched dwarf planets and what makes them distinct from proper planets. They created dioramas of real mountains from the Lake District using Ordnance Survey map data and Google Earth. The children also enjoyed beach school this week and our final decade of dancing, the 2010s.  

 

Week Commencing - 13/10/2025

As an appropriate example to help with our diary writing, we looked at an extract from Catherine Parr’s diary. Once we finished our diaries this week, we peer and self-assessed. We have been practising our arithmetic skills and focusing on multiplying and dividing by powers of 10. We have also been learning about prime numbers, square numbers, and cube numbers. The children have learnt about lunar and solar eclipses, and we have demonstrated the Earth, Moon, and Sun’s sizes and distances from one another at a 1 billionth scale on our grass area outside. This week we also had our harvest festival.

 

Week Commencing - 6/10/2025

We started our new class book, Black Powder, this week; we made our predictions about he plot and began to look at the historical and religious context of the book’s setting – James I and VI, Protestantism and Catholicism. We began work on preparing for writing diaries from the perspective of the main character. We have been working on multiplication this week, looking at multiples, factors and common factors. In art, we have been exploring how colour can be used to represent and express particular emotions and feelings. We have been looking at Christian pilgrimage, why it is carried out, and where people go. The children have researched many of the most famous sites.

 

Week Commencing - 29/9/2025

The children completed their biographies this week. They peer reviewed their work. We also started using more British myths and legends in our reading comprehension lessons. The children have been developing mental strategies for addition and subtraction, such as inverse operations/fact families. They have also been looking more closely at addition and subtraction problem-solving and reasoning. In science, we have explored how the Moon is lit through reflection and how lunar phases are named throughout the lunar month. The children have been using the National Library of Scotland’s map resources to sketch how their local area has changed over the last hundred years. The children have been continuing their work on online safety. They have been dancing in a 1980s hip-hop style. We have been looking at Christian persecution around the world and how a Christian’s journey is not always an easy one.

 

Week Commencing -22/9/2025

The children have been learning skills which will help them write their Beowulf biographies this week, such as chronology, building a list of facts, concise writing, powerful sentence openers, and the correct use of 3^rd person. The children have been rounding numbers in maths, as well as counting through zero and ordering and calculating with negative numbers. The children researched one of the 8 planets to create fact files in science. They created expressive calligraphy self-portraits using layers of writing. They also explored how different line and font styles can express varying emotions and ideas. We explored how our class virtues could help us achieve our goals. This week’s dance decade was the 1970s.

 

Week Commencing - 15/9/2025

This week, the children have been writing news articles in English, using sensational language, while practising writing direct speech in properly formatted interviews. In maths, they have been multiplying by powers of 10 and dealing with numbers up to 10 million. They have been learning about the Sun, Earth, and Moon and how their positions affect days, seasons, and the year. They have been exploring how artists depict certain facial expressions and emotions. We have been setting goals and working out the strengths which can help us and the steps we should take. They have been dancing in a 1960s style this week, with dance moves such as the twist.

 

Week Commencing - 8/9/2025

In English, we have started work relating to our new class book, Beowulf, retold by Michael Morpurgo. So far, we have written hero CVs, and our news articles about the slaying of Grendel are underway.

Our first maths unit of the year is place value. The children have been ordering and comparing numbers up to 10,000,000 and multiplying by powers of 10.

In science, we have been studying the Solar System. The children have learned how days are caused by the Earth's rotation, how years are caused by the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, and how the Earth’s slight tilt results in what we experience as seasons.

As well as an hour of PE with Andy, the children are also having 40 minutes on a Friday with me. We are doing dance through the decades. Each week, focusing on a different decade (starting with the 1940s), musical style, and set of 3 dances. The children have been taking what they have learned and developing their own short choreographed routine to perform at the end.

In PSHE, we have been looking at developing SMART goals – Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

In RE, we have started our unit on journeys and how everyone’s is different.

Geography this half-term is about maps. This week, the children explored Google Earth and its features and uses.

In Art, the children are focusing on self-expression. They have looked at how cartoonists exaggerate facial emotions, and they have designed their own outfits for self-expression.