Hello everyone,
I hope you all had a lovely and restful half-term break. It’s been wonderful to see all the children return refreshed and ready for a new half-term of learning. It will be Christmas before we know it!
This week in English, the children have been working hard to write their own versions of The Mermaid of Zennor. They have included many of the features we have focused on this term, such as paragraphs, fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases. The children have produced some fantastic pieces of writing, and I’m sure you will enjoy reading them at our next open afternoon. Next week, we will be moving on to our new text – The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes – one of my personal favourites.
In maths, we have been learning about area within our measurement topic. The children began by counting squares to find the area of simple shapes before moving on to using multiplication as a quicker and more efficient method. For example, they discovered that the area of a rectangle can be found by multiplying its length by its width. We also explored how irregular shapes can be split into smaller rectangles to calculate their total area. Next week, we will be starting our new topic on multiplication and division.
In Spanish, we practised saying the names of animals and colours. The children enjoyed combining these into sentences, making sure the adjectives agreed with the nouns for masculine and feminine words – a tricky but important skill.
In RE, we discussed the importance of Hajj for Muslims. The children learned about the special actions and rituals that Muslims perform when they visit the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and reflected thoughtfully on the significance of this pilgrimage.
We began our new DT topic by exploring different types of seasonal stockings. The children analysed various examples, thinking carefully about their purpose, function and what makes them visually appealing in terms of colour, decoration and design.
In history, we started our exciting new topic on the Anglo-Saxons, Picts and Scots. This week, we focused on the discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial in Suffolk – a fascinating archaeological find that tells us so much about Anglo-Saxon life. Some of the children even shared their own experiences of visiting the site, which really brought the lesson to life.
Next week is Anti-Bullying Week. The children will be exploring this important theme throughout the week, and we will be kicking things off with Odd Socks Day on Monday – a fun way to celebrate individuality and kindness.
We would also like to invite all parents and carers to attend a Cyber Safety Presentation led by the Police team on Wednesday from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. The session will offer valuable, practical advice on how to protect yourself, your family and your data online, as well as how parents can help children make safe and responsible choices when using technology.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend – see you next week.
Kind regards,
Mr Chanter
