What's been happening in school this week
I hope this curriculum newsletter finds you all well. Our whole school attendance last week was 94.9%, which is below our whole school target of 97%. Well done to Mrs Johnson’s class who had a fantastic 99.5% attendance. We are still having a high number of holiday requests coming in. Just a reminder that term time holidays are not authorised unless in unavoidable and exceptional cases.
This week, we have been very busy with our learning.
Mini Meteorites have been busy planting begonias this week which will make our courtyard look amazing. We have enjoyed our time out on the field exploring all of the circus skills equipment and activities; the streamers and pom poms were great. In the room we have loved messy play this week – mud and foam have been a particular favourite!
Early Years have been learning about ladybirds and writing ladybird facts. We've been working on our quick recall of number bonds to 5 and also learning subtraction facts to 5 in maths. We've also released the tadpoles back into Forest School and we saw two newts and ground bees. We've also had a brilliant visit from a local beekeeper today and we are all experts on bees now!
Key Stage 1 have been working hard on their end of unit pieces of writing this week. They have used a computer programme to design a new animal which combines body parts of lots of other animals. We have had lots of weird and wacky creations! The children have written information texts based on their new animals and we have seen some fabulous writing. In Topic, we have been comparing animal features and learning about the words ‘omnivore’, ‘herbivore’ and ‘carnivore’ – can they remember what they mean at home?
Lower Juniors have extended their river learning further this week by looking at the features of rivers. Can they remember any at home? This video and poster pack gives a really good explanation if they have forgotten any - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIK3bgjiEEk, http://www.longsutton.lincs.sch.uk/documents/homelearning/wb%2029%20june/y5/Features%20of%20a%20river%20lesson.pdf .
In English, the children have been working hard to use their model Warning Tale to start to write their own using class ideas. Next, they will write one completely independently – we look forward to being spooked!
Upper Juniors have started their new unit, Stargazers. During this Topic, we will develop our knowledge of the Solar System, the Moon, planets and significant individuals including Newton and Galileo. This week we have taken our inflatable planets onto the field to learn more about their size and distance from the sun. Can they remember the order and distance?
Our Year 6 pupils have completed their SATs tests this week. Although we will not get their test results until the last week of term, we do know that they have all worked extremely hard. They showed real determination, focus, concentration and resilience to all of the test questions. We cannot underestimate how important these skills will be for them throughout their life and you should all be incredibly proud of your children – we certainly are in school.