Class News

Spring Term 2026

13/03/26

What a busy few weeks we have had. World Book Day, Science Day, Roman Day, Helicopter Day and some learning days!  We have shared so many experiences that have caused us to think and learn. 

Roman Day was a huge hit. We were joined by Marcus, who taught us about Roman legions, baths, weapons and fighting. We even had a go at a gladiator games! The children also got to hold some Roman relics, a 2,000 year old hair pin, some pottery, an oil jug and a sponge on a stick - to help Romans wipe their bottoms - obviously we weren't aware it was THAT, when we rubbed the sponge on our faces to test its softness! 

 

Our helicopter visit was another highlight, we all got to sit in it, and even though it was very wet, we had an amazing time. 

 

Science Day also had a Roman theme, we built our very own aqueducts, using cereal boxes and tin foil - these were a great success, we tested them all individually and then tested them in groups. The water flowed freely - and we decided we were excellent engineers! 

 

We have also completed a hot write. Writing a diary about Mount Vesuvius and the city of Pompeii. After watching some museum clips and reenactments of the city during its fateful day in August 79ad, we have written some powerful diaries. We can't wait to show you these at exhibition next week! 

 

We hope all of our Mums have a lovely Mother's Day on Sunday. If your child does not present you with something made in #TeamHawks, please remind them to check their school bags! 

27/02/26

The signs of spring have made for Happy Hawk Owls this week! We have enjoyed some time outside, basking in the warmth of almost spring after the such a lot of grey! We have all noticed a spring in our step too, which has been lovely. 

In class we have completed some mid-year assessments, checking in with spelling ages and CEW knowledge. The progress has been huge, with all that practise starting to pay off and, rightly so, #TeamHawks are very proud of themselves!

In maths we have begun fractions which, as it always does, has caused a bit of a fearful stir! The fear of fractions far outweighs how hard they really are - so we have spent the week, re-understanding what we have already been taught and placing ourselves into the fractions zone, so that fractions can be scared of us, rather than the other way around! We will continue learning all about fractions for the next few weeks. 

In science we have begun our new topic; Forces and Magnets, spending time this week investigating push and pull factors on different objects. We have been using a straw to create a push force on objects to give them motion and we have been using push and pull forces through the act of a Tug Of War competition! Congratulations to Elsie, our natural Tug Of War champion! 

In our project learning, Boudicca has entered the fray! Bringing with her all the power of the Iceni. We will be focussing on revolution, resistance and power over the next few weeks, culminating in our Roman and Celts workshop day in March, which we are very excited for. 

We have also had exciting art news this week. At the end of half-term, I emailed our focus artist, Caroline Larsen, to show her our landscape prints which are based on her pieces - and she emailed us back! She sent us photographs from her studio and sneak- peaks of her current works in progress. She also sent us a biography about herself and showed our art work to her parents! She ended the email by saying how honoured she felt to have us study her pieces. We have discussed at great length how the email made us feel and also, how getting the email must have made Caroline feel, given the email she sent us in return. 

We have so much to squeeze into this very short half-term, and we cannot wait to share all of this with you at Exhibitions. I am already feeling the emotion of stepping away from the class building, but we will absolutely make the most of every minute we have!

Have a peaceful (and hopefully sunny) weekend!

06/02/26

I have no idea how we are just 1 week from half term, the time is absolutely flying by in #TeamHawks! This week we have been extremely busy learning about earthquakes, continental drift, tectonic plates and volcanoes. 

Our geography has been amazing, we have all learned an enormous amount of information from how to find countries in an atlas using clues, to how, at the beginning of the earth's formation, all of the land was in one piece. The children (and adults) have loved it. Today, to finish off our discoveries, we have created volcanoes and experimented with eruption, watching how the force of eruption can change a landscape. All of this learning will help us when we begin our next English and project unit next week, which will focus on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the consequences of this in Pompeii.

In maths we have continued to focus on multiplication and division. Year 4 have successfully learned 'bus stop' division (short division), including remainders and year three have begun to think about applying their multiplication knowledge beyond 12x12. We have multiplying 2-digit by 1-digit numbers! This has been very tricky for year 3, which goes back to many of them having insecure tables knowledge - helping your child learn their times tables up to 12x12 is really important and TTRS can be a great help for this. 

In PSHE this week we have begun working in small teams to create gardens which can be accessible to all people. We have looked at many styles of gardens and thought about the types of people who may not feel included due to design choices like surfacing and fencing. We are spending the next few weeks creating our own versions and  we have quickly noticed how hard it can be to make sure everyone feels included. The problem solving and critical thinking that has been taking place has been excellent. 

Lastly, on Wednesday evening on BBC2, I watched the latest episode of 'Digging For Britain' this included the excavation of a Roman Bath House in Gloucester - it is available on iPlayer, if the children get a chance to watch it. The second half of the show does include the excavation of a mass Anglo-Saxon grave, so I would suggest either watching it with your child or only watching the Roman section!

Have a wonderful half-term holiday!

23/01/26

We have had a great start to our Roman adventure in #TeamHawks! We have been busy exploring Roman inventions, clothing, mosaics and children's lives. Obviously, our most discussed invention is the 'sponge on a stick' used to communally wipe bottoms in Roman toilets! Absolutely disgusting! We have also thought about straight roads, and begun to notice these on journeys around our local area and report back on ones we have spotted. We will be plotting these onto a local map over the next few weeks. We have also discussed the fact that Barton Stacey has a strong Roman history, which includes a Roman camp situated in the village. Roman finds have been dug here, and if we are very lucky, a few may make their way into school for us to observe. 

In maths we are digging deeply into multiplication and division. We are finding that this is proving challenging for many of our year three children - could I ask that parents really support tables knowledge at home please? At this point I would expect year three to be secure in their knowledge of: 0, 1, 2, 5,10, 3, 4 and 8 tables. (2, 5, 10 and 3 all take place in year 2). TTRS battles are live across weekends and the website is continually available for tables practise. This learning is key to pretty much all maths going forward, and will help your child throughout their lives. Thank you for supporting us with this. 
In English we are gearing up to another hot write, which we think we will be ready to produce next week. Our Roman knowledge is almost ready and our apostrophe skills have been honed. We have explored using and moving adverbs. Turning them into phrases, and making them front a sentence - this has made our sentence knowledge far more technical and should allow us to write with greater effect. Following this we will be writing a diary entry which will accompany our learning about Pompeii, volcanoes, earthquakes and tectonic plates. 

Next Thursday we are headed out to watch an orchestra play. This very exciting visit has been much discussed by everyone in the class. We have a song to learn later this week, and are really looking forward to watching the elements of an orchestra at work. Year 4 are particularly excited for this, after last Summer’s music module in which we followed an orchestra and developed a piece of music using their rhythm and pattern. We will be joined by Birch Class at Micheldever for this trip, which is something we always enjoy and makes the day even more special.

I hope you all have a lovely fortnight until we speak again!

09/01/26

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a lovely Christmastime.

Well, #TeamHawks have had a  great start back to the term! We have been to Italy, eaten Italian food and started to research the Romans. 

Our new project is under way, with our question - How many times a week do you think about the Romans? set in all our minds. We have learnt a few new facts and are understanding the chronology following the Iron Age. 

Over the next weeks we will think about how Britain was invaded and Romanised and how rebellion and the strength and empowerment of Boudica changed history.  We will also be having a Roman day in early March, which I will write to you about towards the end of January. 

To launch our project we boarded a flight to Rome after learning some Italian, making an Italian flag out of Italian food (which we thoroughly enjoyed eating afterwards) and learned about famous Italians such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michealangelo. We also thought about Roman Numerals, made clocks and created fact files with our new knowledge. What a day!

This week we have also completed a computing module, learning about what technology actually is, what hardware is (in an electronic digital device) and what software is. We have been excellent at naming computing peripherals and components, and have discovered what a PCU does and what a graphics card is used for. It has been really interesting and the children have really enjoyed this module on Purple Mash. 

Sadly this week, we have said goodbye to Mr Prideaux who has been reading with #TeamHawks for the last few years. His dedication to listening to and helping the children to love reading has been amazing. We have been so grateful for his support and kindness. 

All of the class adults and I would like to thank all of you who sent in cards, gifts and messages before Christmas - we are so grateful, thank you. 

 

Autumn Term 2025

 

12/12/25

What a great last two weeks we have had. The children have enjoyed celebrating the end of our project learning through exhibitions and they have also got stuck into the first week of a #TeamHawks Christmas. 

 

You may have been fortunate enough to hear a little of our class tale all about how sheep are actually different colours. This, of course, can only be seen by angels because the sheep were present at the very moment the angels came to tell the shepherds the news of Jesus' birth. What amazing, special, animals they are!

Our Christmas crafts have very much been led by these amazing animals, and we have learned a great deal of facts about them across the week. Ask your children to share a few amazing facts with you - I promise they wont disappoint! 

 

On Monday, after an epic shoe clean on Friday, Saint Nikolaus visited us, leaving gifts in our shoes - this was SO exciting!

 

As our project learning drew to a close we discussed our question - Has Life Always Been Like This? The children were very thoughtful in their responses, deciding that no, life hasn't always been like it is now. We have also decided that we are grateful to all those who came before us, for laying the foundations of the lives we have today. We also learned about the Cheddar Man, and how he was related to a man who, after thousands of years of ancestry, still only lived a short way from his 4,000 year old ancestor. We have marvelled at how long, yet short human time on earth appears to be.

 

We have loved our project learning this term and are now looking forward to the Romans!

28/11/25

I can not fathom how it has been two weeks since I last wrote a news bulletin! We have been non-stop as we approach the end of our project learning for the term. 

 

Over the last two weeks we have moved our focus to D&T and art, within our Iron Age learning. We have created scale plans for new Iron Age villages, and submitted these to the council for planning. Some of us had to show some resilience when our planning applications were denied, setting about replanning the position of our forges and houses. In time, all of our plans were accepted, and so 9 new Iron Age villages have been taking shape! First with birds eye view models, built from our plans, and then with clay structures, creating an architect's 3D view of our new villages. Next week, once our villages are complete, we will sketch them and print them, using our new printing knowledge that we have learned from our exploration of Gail Brodholt and our learning about the colour wheel and colour theory. We can't wait!

 

In science we have been exploring sound and understanding that sound travels differently to light and that it can travel through different states of matter. The children have been experimenting with vocal vibrations and decibels too. 

 

At the end of next week, we will prepare to celebrate Saint Nikolaus in, what has become, a #TeamHawks tradition. I will write to you all about this in detail on Monday, as we will need to keep school shoes in school over the weekend - look out for my letter next Monday with  all the details. 

 

We are looking forward to showing you EVERYTHING we have learned at exhibition next week! 

Have a lovely weekend!

14/11/25

What a beautiful and thoughtful service #TeamHawks shared with you all on Tuesday. All of the class adults, and I am sure all of you, felt so deeply proud of the children's achievements. The children worked so hard on the different parts of the service, and learned about some very grown up parts of war. They were curious, focused and most importantly, respectful ,as they took their learning about Operation Dynamo and created a commemorative service from their ideas. The results were fantastic. Thank you to everyone who came and supported us. 

This week we have begun to focus on our design and technology module, which will lead into our art model. We have become village planners and architects as we have thought about, and planned, what we might need to build our own Iron Age settlement. We have tried to plan for the future growth of our settlements, as well as including what we would need to make a good settlement now. The children have mapped onto grids, roundhouses, barns, blacksmith's forges and community spaces, alongside sheep grazing, crop fields and warrior training areas. Once they are happy with their designs and have successfully received planning permission, they will build a 3d model of their roundhouse and a 3d model in clay of their village. To immortalise their vision, they will create a poly print of their settlement in the style of the print artist Gail Brodholt - so we have much to do before exhibitions!

More new learning has taken place for year three, as they have begun to use the column method for addition and subtraction. Currently, we are sticking with no exchanging ( this used to be called borrowing - but we all know you never gave it back!). Once we are secure with layout and order, we will begin to use bigger numbers with exchanges between columns. I know the children are excited to begin this. 

On Monday we were fortunate to welcome Iron Age Matt into school. We had the most awesome day. We learned an enormous amount, and even got to train as young warriors. He talked us through the changes that bronze and iron brought the human race and helped us to understand the role of children in village life. We were amazed at just how skilled we would be with slingshots and bows and arrows if we were Iron Age children!

24/10/25

After what feels the longest half term ever, we find ourselves on the precipice of a break. The children are showing signs of tiredness, as are the adults - but goodness me what a great time we have had. Autumn 1 has been full of autumn sunshine, laughter and learning. The children have gelled impeccably and the year fours have taken their mentoring and coaching roles seriously. They have been the most amazing role models, showing our year threes just how we work as a small community when we are part of #TeamHawks. Seeing this personal growth in them has been such a joy.

For year three, there have been a lot of changes in coming into Key Stage 2. Lockers, monitor jobs, responsibility and new learning. They have worked hard to manage all of these transitions, alongside learning new routines and structures. They have all settled and our Diwali celebrations on Wednesday gave them the opportunity to reflect on this. We had such a fabulous day which ended in a huge feast lit by candle light and huge smiling faces. 

This week we began to think about our Remembrance service which will take place in the school hall on Tuesday 11th November, during the afternoon. We have unpicked a beautiful poem by Grace Nichols, called Cosmic Disco and intend to use this as a framework to write our own poems about the sea, as we think about the small boats who answered the call to save those stranded on Dunkirk beach during World War Two. We will think about unexpected courage, how it feels to face something unknown and how humans can show the ultimate kindness in times of desperation.

After half term we move into the Bronze Age and Iron Age parts of our project journey. We are deeply excited about this and all the discoveries we will inevitably find. We will be designing our own Iron Age village and then modelling this in 3d using clay, channelling our inner planner and architect abilities to make sure everyone who choses to live in our village is catered for. We will also have our Iron Age day workshop with Iron Age Matt - and we absolutely can't wait for that!

Enjoy the half term holiday, whatever you are up to. See you in November!

10/10/25

The last two weeks have flown by in a haze of spellings, instruction writing and place value! All in the complete joy of autumn sunshine. 

We have just completed our place value unit of maths and now move on to addition and subtraction. The children are thrilled to be either learning or getting back to column method, as we love this in #TeamHawks. Place value has been a success and the children have a secure understanding within their year group of either hundreds or tens of thousands, this will help us throughout the year. 

We have also completed our first hot task and written up our instructions for painting a cave. These were great, with many of the children really showing me what they had learned. Handwriting has also improved so much in such a short space of time. I am so proud of their progress. 

Over the last few weeks, we have been making woolly mammoths too, these look great and have been completed this afternoon. We also have an array of home made fossils, which we now know are formed from minerals in water over millions of years. Our learning about fossils completed our Science for this half term. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about rocks and soils and the make-up of our planet.  We understand the Rock Cycle and just how fossils are actually formed. We have also discovered why there are no human fossils yet. 

In project we have thought about human migration by exploring the movements of Otzi the iceman and the Beaker People. We have really understood the value of human migration; the skills which can be passed on, the stories which can be shared and the human connection we get from meeting newcomers to our lands. We have compared this to human migration today and thought about what today's migrating humans could teach us. We are full of curiosity!

26/09/25

Over the past few weeks, we have been getting on with understanding life in the Stone Age, and whilst there were some pretty cool animals about during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods, we've decided it's not for us. All of that cave hunting, gathering and cave dwelling seems like an awful lot of hard to work to survive so we are looking forward to learning about the Neolithic period, to see whether we would prefer it there. We have been amazed at the ability of a species to learn and adapt to the resources around them and have a new found respect for the human race.

In science we have been looking at rock and soils. This has included discovering what we stand on and how the Earth is made and layered. We have explored the rock cycle and can understand how rocks change over millions of years as they move deeper into the Earth, to eventually be ejected by a volcano. The children and I have loved this learning and over the next few weeks will discover more about the Earth's layers and how fossils are formed, we will also be experimenting with different soil types.

We have begun our music unit for the term also, and have discovered Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Of course many of us had heard it before in adverts and on the radio or in film, but watching an orchestra play it on You Tube was very exciting. We talked about how it made us feel and what it made us think about as we listened. With many differing opinions around the room, what we could all agree on was the piece's drama! Overall, we love this piece of music and over the next month or so, we will learn to play parts of it; in particular the opening bars!

Next week we will conclude our first piece of writing - some instructions detailing how to paint a cave. The children have worked hard to develop their pieces across this unit and have successfully learned how to use imperative verbs, coordinating conjunctions and expanded noun phrases. The y have also been deepening their understanding of inference in their reading lessons and are beginning to justify how they know or think they know something.

Thank you to everyone who gave us some milk cartons - we now have enough! A tribe of woolly mammoths will be upon us shortly!

And, thank you to everyone supporting spelling learning via Spelling Shed. The children love looking at their daily check-ins on Spelling Shed and getting a house point for each day they have practised. This is also, most importantly, helping us learn to be the best spellers we can possible be!

12/09/25

What a start to the new school year! We have had a very busy first few weeks discovering the earliest cave art, learning a lot of new vocabulary and even trying out some French. The children have settled in beautifully and it already feels like they have always been here. New friendships have begun and old friendships have been rekindled. We have laughed a lot and experimented with routines and so many new things.

We had an exciting time launching our new project all about the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. The children were able to explore a real-life (!) Stone Age cave and look at the first art ever created. They next had the opportunity to recreate this art, drawing mammoths, hunters and hand markings. We have also learned about what prehistory means and begun to think about changes in living conditions between the Neolithic and Mesolithic periods of the Stone Age. 

 

Mathematically we have begun place value. Year three have relished the opportunity to delve into hundreds and year four are well on their way to understanding tens of thousands. In science the children have begun exploring rocks and soils and have thought

about what properties make certain rocks suitable for certain tasks - we have also learned about things which are

permeable and impermeable!

 

It has been a busy but wonderful start and we can't wait to explore and discover even more!

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Summer Term

18/07/25

We have thoroughly enjoyed our last week, which has become more emotional as the week has gone on. It is amazing how close you become when you share your days learning. I honestly feel so grateful to spend my days with your children - thank you for passing them into my care every morning. 

Congratulations to all the #TeamHawks nominees this morning, and of course to those who won their category. Obviously, if it was up to me, every Hawk Owl would have an award to go home with today! 

 

Thank you, to you all, for your support this year in your child's education. They have thrived in #TeamHawks, and that is down to the shared effort between you and us and it's something I am hugely grateful for. 

 

I hope you all have a peaceful and restful, fun-filled summer holiday. I am already excited to get started again next year!

 

11/07/25

 

The penultimate week of the school year has flown past! #TeamHawks have been really busy recording ourselves, creating bar charts and understanding how shuttles land! The children have worked really hard, even though they are now very tired, to grasp the process of collecting data in a tally form and placing that into a bar chart. Whilst they could all ready a bar chart with ease, working out the specifics of creating one has been a challenge. We have had to dig deeply into our resilience reserves but we have done it! We can now declare ourselves bar chart experts! We have also recorded ourselves doing voiceovers, which has been great fun! A QR code of our recordings was on show this morning at Exhibitions and will be brought home this evening for you to keep. Obviously we have also declared ourselves voiceover experts too! We have had the most amazing workshop, delivered by Boeing this week too. Together we learnt about how shuttles land and what they might need to slow them down so that the astronauts survive. We were set off on a challenge to design and build a shuttle, with minimum resources which we loved doing. After this, we tested our shuttles, counting our survivors - we did really well! Thank you to everyone who attended exhibitions; we love having the chance to show off to you! For those that couldn't make it, a YouTube link will be sent to you, so you can have a tour from the comfort of your sofa.

 

04/07/25

What a roasting hot week we've had in the classroom - and I don't just mean the learning 😁! We have spent time learning how we can keep ourselves cool and this has taken the form of cold damp towels on our shoulders, soaked paper towels, fresh out of the fridge to lay on our foreheads, soaked socks and a fan to chill us from our toes and a lot of quiet time. The children have been absolute troopers and carried on despite the relentlessness of the heat. 

We have also, as you only could in #TeamHawks, become professional embalmers, mummifying our teddies and laying them to rest, safe in the knowledge they will enter the afterlife with all the wealth they carried in this life. The children loved their 'mummifying day' on       Monday and got stuck in to every element. Their completed sarcophagus' look fabulous.

This week we have also completed transition. The children went into their new year groups with maturity and grace. I know Miss Hardy was very impressed with the year four's maths knowledge as they took part in their first Ninja Maths session with confidence. Year three, staying with me, took up the mantle of being the oldest in class and welcomed in our next year threes with so much kindness and compassion. We all had a great morning. 

 

Unbelievably, this news bulletin finds us just two weeks from the end of term. #TeamHawks are living their best lives, enjoying our summer days together as we head into the much needed break. We fully intend to thrive over the next two weeks,              celebrating us, empowering us further and totally enveloping us in our spirit of belonging and joy. Have a fabulous weekend; we hope to see as many of you as possible at Exhibitions next week. 

 

27/06/25

We come to the end of another fabulous week in #TeamHawks!

 

I have noticed this week that we have seriously begun to think about the changes which will happen in just a  few weeks. The year threes, when asked if they wanted to talk about anything as they head into year four shrugged and said 'No thank you, we know what to do,' - this is such a far cry from the year threes that entered the room in September.  But they have had the best role models possible. The year fours have been careful and considered in their teaching of the expectations of year four. The year four's had lots of questions about leaving #TeamHawks and venturing into Awesome Eagles, all of which I have answered or passed on to Miss Hardy to discuss at transition next week.

 

We have been very busy thinking about the best way to write a setting description; we have been adapting, editing and changing our own - watching the development of these has been enlightening for the children, as they see in real time how fast they can learn a new skill.

 

Earlier in the week we celebrated sport as a school and I was so proud of #TeamHawks. Their cheering of each other, belonging and teamwork shows itself so strongly at events such as these. Congratulations to all of us, for doing our best to be successful. 

 

Our main focus this week has been completing the Sex and Relationships part of our PSHE curriculum. The children were so   mature, matter of fact and clear about their understanding. If any questions pop up about the specifics of our lessons, please do let them know I am always available to help answer them.  

 

20/06/25

Well, this has been a very hot week for the children! We have tried our best to remain calm, cool and still but it hasn't been easy. 

Firstly, I must congratulate our amazing athletes who took part in last Friday's rural schools competition. They raced well and represented our school beautifully. Mrs West even came to sing the praises of the #TeamHawks behaviour, as the children cheered each other on and showed so much belonging and care. I am so proud of them 

 

This week we have been listening to a piece of music composed by Hans Zimmer especially for the BBC. 'Earth' is a 5 minute piece which is unfinished, allowing us, over the next few weeks, to complete it! We will be practising and recording choral arrangements, short repetitive motifs played on various instruments and soundscapes made using tech! We have big plans!

 

On Monday we had a whole, glorious, day of art. We created  our own pieces of art using electrical tape, in the style of Michael Craig-Martin. Over the day we built up to a whole class piece, where we have used Michael's 'then and now' series to recreate the Hieroglyphic alphabet. We have the original symbol at the back and a modern representation of the symbol masked at the front. We can't wait to show you at Exhibitions in a few weeks!

 

We have also started a new piece of English this week, thinking about setting descriptions. Our first attempt wasn't a great success, so we are honing our skill before we think about vocabulary. 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - find a shady tree to read under, I know I will!

 

13/06/25

A week of great weather and brilliant learning has taken place in #TeamHawks. After our success with making poo last Friday, we were spurred on to get a little more gruesome with our learning! On Monday we learnt about the process of mummification, from dead Pharaoh, to slanted slatted drain bed, dehydration, removal of organs, brain curdling and brains coming out of your nose to bandage wrapping, linen dipping and multi-coffin wealth! We had a great time uncovering the many layers of the mummification process. 

 

Then we carried out part one of the process on either a tomato or an orange. Making an incision, removing the 'organs', dehydrating with cloths and filling with natron to ensure full dehydration. This week we have observed the process that an object goes through when natron dehydrates it. We have compared this to our own skin, noting the plump freshness of our skin in life. It has been really interesting and the children have LOVED it. 

We have also paid attention to a different style of artist and looked into the doodles, sketches and creations of Mr Doodle- this all came about, rather unexpectedly, because of a box of tissues I bought for the classroom! The children were fascinated with his designs and have recreated them throughout the week - even using his style of design on wrapping paper for some very important gifts we made this week. 

 

Mathematically year three have learnt about Roman Numerals up to 12 and year four have thought about the decimal placement of hundredths. 

This week we have also spent a lot of time thinking about how awesome leading adults in our life are. We have thought about our parents, particularly our Dads and Grandads and we have decided we are very grateful for their support and guidance. 

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful weekend and I wish all of our #TeamHawks dads and grandads and very Happy Father's Day. 

 

06/06/25

#TeamHawks have had a great week this week. We have completed our hot tasks, created some fabulous art sketches and created poo!

 

In English, we finished our hot writes and have each written a letter to the director of the British Museum, Dr. Nichola Cullinan. Within our letters, we have expressed whether we feel the British museum should or should not keep some of their artefacts. As a class we have investigated some artefacts within the museum and the story of how they found their way there, summing up whether we feel this is right or wrong. We have also looked into other global museums which have begun to return the artefacts and exhibits whose arrival at their museums may be a little underhanded. The children have used evidence and justification when forming their opinion and persuading the reader of their viewpoint. They have used tourism, the internet, double standards and climate change to support or challenge their opinion.  They have done a brilliant job. 

 

Also this week, we have looked at a series of work completed by our class artist, Michael Craig-Martin, in 2017. The 'then and now' series depicts a traditional and modern version of an item, particularly situated between the foreground and background. We have unpicked these prints and created some of our own, using a candle and a torch, a quill and a biro, and an envelope and a WhatsApp symbol. We loved doing this, and will now move on to recreating the hieroglyph alphabet with more modern interpretations for each letter/ sound of the Ancient Egyptian language. 

 

Scientifically we have thought about nutrition,  naming types and groups of food, the seven life processes of living things (MRS GREN) and digestion, where, of course, we made our own poo!

 

Have a lovely weekend.

 

23/05/25

The week has been varied to say the least! As we have approached a much needed holiday, we have been diving into decimals, finding fractions of an amount, persuading each other with evidence, and creating a comic book!

 

The children have worked incredibly hard in their maths this week. Year four have worked hard to  understand what decimals are and how they can be represented, moving on to being able to divide a one-digit number by ten.  Year three have developed their fractions knowledge and used this to find amounts of things, such as 2/5 of 40. This was a challenge for many, but  those with secure tables knowledge found it much easier than those without. 

 

Across the week, the children have watched and listened to different accounts of various things,; they have then been tasked with       persuading others, based on evidence from what they have heard or seen. This has been really interesting and has given them a real    opportunity to develop their skill. Each time they try to persuade again, they are a little more skilled than the previous time. Do please watch out if your children are asking for something or to go somewhere - their powers of persuasion are pretty much unmatchable right now!

 

On Thursday afternoon we were so fortunate when we shared our afternoon with Kev F Sutherland, the comic book artist. His knowledge and skill were amazing, and we had a great time producing our own class comic, which we democratically decided to call 'Why Gully got stuck in a giant's nose...' We had a marvellous time creating sketches of our characters after our drawing lesson with Kev - everyone loved it. This evening each child is bringing home their comic book copy and a beautiful, hand-drawn likeness. We have tried to protect these as best we can so that they get home in one, unwrinkled, piece!

 

16/05/25

#TeamHawks Have been busy bees in the school grounds. We have practised spellings, created modern day Gods based on Ancient Egyptian Gods, built temples from natural sculpture, rehearsed time telling on huge chalk clocks and tried to persuade Mrs Cobb not to be a thief! Being outdoors really suits us all. Alongside our outdoor learning we have also completed some maths. Year four have begun to think about what decimals are, and year three have been adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator. We have completed the next part of our science journey, understanding what muscles are for and we have turned our amazing hot task diary entries into journal pages. The week has been full-on but so enjoyable for us all.

 

I have been hearing great ideas from the children about their pyramid building for our class competition. They seem to be extremely enthusiastic. I have heard talk of Lego, stones, blocks, biscuits and sugar. I can't wait to see the submissions later in the term.

#TeamHawks would like to congratulate Year Six on completing their SATs this week; we think they are amazing and worked so hard to show what they know - watching them celebrate yesterday was so lovely.

Have a great weekend all.

09/05/25

We have continued our diary writing journey, completing the task at the end of the week. Next week  we will spend time turning these pieces into diary entries which are more journal-like, following our time looking at our beautiful class text, Egyptology, which is the   journal of Emily Sands. We will use her incredible style to bring our diary entries to life with tiny artefacts and illustrations. 

It is not over the top to say we are absolutely LOVING the Ancient Egyptians. The children are keen to know more all of the time and I hear, every morning, of new facts learnt at home and discovered through research. It is so lovely to see such engaged learners. In our project lesson this week, we have uncovered the mystery of hieroglyphics, understanding the meaning of some letters and how it came about that we were able to actually read them with fact rather than opinion. 

In maths we have completed our money module and now separate for a brief while. Year 4 will be looking into fractions and year 3 will be understanding how fractions can be used to find quantities. Our work in understanding and recapping time continues alongside this. 

Next week year six will sit their SAT assessments; they have been working so hard. Firstly, #TeamHawks send them good luck wishes (although we know they are so capable and totally ready). To support them, #TeamHawks will be outdoor learning again, just like we did when they completed their mocks. Therefore, #TeamHawks members can come to school between Monday and Thursday of next week in clothing suitable for outdoor learning and exploring. They will need to have their school uniform in a bag so that we can change into our regular clothes in the afternoon. No matter the weather, we will be outside, so please make sure your child is prepared accordingly for wet weather or dry weather as it currently looks a bit changeable. 

 

Included this week, is a picture of three incredible Hawks who gave up their own time to rearrange and colour code the bookshelf - honestly, could I have a better class?

We are still in need of shoe boxes, probably another 10; please bring them in if you have any. 

Enjoy the weekend.

 

02/02/25

 

This week we have been busy and hot! We started the week by exploring the tomb of Tutankhamun,  after learning about Howard Carter. We entered the tomb with our lantern and explored the hieroglyphs, sarcophagus, canopic jars, photographs and papyrus pictures. We were amazed at what the Ancient   Egyptians left behind for us to find! After this, we made some sketches in our art books of what we had just seen. We will use this experience to write our diary entries next week. 

 

Next, we learned about what types of things Pharaohs were buried with and decided what would be important for us to be   buried with in our tombs if we were Pharaohs, deciding that in fact we were Pharaohs. As we were now Pharaohs, we spent the afternoon creating a rather stately portrait of ourselves, complete with Nefertiti style hats and some of us even had beards! 

 

Throughout the week, whilst we have been trying to remain cool, we have discovered modal verbs - which obviously had to come with a new song—and the past perfect continuous verb form, including what a past participle is.  I wonder whether our class Mums and Dads know what we are talking about or give examples?!

 

We have completed our topic on money and now each year group will separate for a few weeks whilst year three discover      fractions - but with a focus on quantities - and year four think about decimals. We will be drip feeding some time facts along the way top help us when we get to that module in a few weeks. 

 

If anyone is about to buy new shoes, #TeamHawks is in need of about 12 shoe boxes so that we can mummify teddy bears after half-term. Please drop any you have into the admin office, or send your child in with them.  Thank you. 

 

Spring Term

04/04/25

What an end to the week we have had; completing our presentations and holding our #TeamHawks COP conference, having a DT day, and spending time in the sunshine. 

 

As we are absolutely awesome, we have managed to negotiate our global priorities during our #TeamHawks COP conference. The children did an amazing job at representing their country - seriously knowing their own priority for climate change and needs as a nation. Once we had our own priority list, we joined with another  nation and attempted to negotiate a shared list. After this, four nations joined - here it      became trickier to negotiate as some nations priorities were totally at odds with our own needs, then four became eight and eight became sixteen. The children were eloquent, assertive and diplomatic in hearing each others priorities and opinions and declaring their own. 

 

Finally, we negotiated in two teams of nations to find our final global priority list.  As you might expect with a well-mannered, kind group of children who absolutely understand the planet’s needs above their own political drive, we had the planet sorted in just under 90 minutes, absolutely reinforcing my belief that we are in safe and capable hands with our future generations. 

 

We have had a magnificent term, understanding ourselves, our planet and our place in the world. 

 

We wish you all a very happy Easter, and hope you have a relaxing and memory filled holiday. 

 

28/03/25

This week, as is usual before the end of term, we have completed our project learning. We have answered our question; Do You Have To Be An Adult To Change The World? We have unanimously decided that no, you don't. We are all capable of making change, it's how the change happens that is important. 

 

I have to say, I feel total trust in your children's ability to change the world. Their ideas, thoughts, opinions and discussions have shown the class adults time and time again how well they understand their world, how passionate they are about its welfare and how comfortable they are with others' differences and choices. They truly have the capability to be trailblazers and change makers and I cannot wait to see what they achieve. 

 

We have loved this project, understanding our globe and some of its needs, in particular the effects of climate change on the European Alps and the South Downs, discovering who we are as humans and how differences can shape us and exploring the stories of Harriet Tubman, Gretta Thunberg, Iris Apfel, Marcus Rashford, Emmeline Pankhurst, Charles Darwin, and our absolute favourite, Ru Paul, to help us know that we can be anything, so long as we are resilient and kind. We have been thoughtful and respectful of others' opinions, assertive in our views and empowered by our own ability. 

 

After Easter, we move into the summer term; here we will explore all things Ancient Egyptian from pyramids and the River Nile to Pharaohs, tombs and hieroglyphs - I can't wait to get started. Thank you to everyone who came along to exhibition; for those of you unable to join us, below is a link to a short trip around our exhibition which your child will be able to tell you about as you watch. 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y_9G2Bot-g8

 

The class adults in #TeamHawks wish all of our class Mums a very happy and relaxed Mother's Day. We are very grateful for all you do. 

 

21/03/25

This week the children have had to face some hard facts. We have understood the difference between weather and climate and, further still, researched the effect of climate change on the European Alps and the South Downs. We have, of course, connected the burning of fossil fuels to  the Industrial Revolution, which we looked into at the start of term. We were so amazed at the power of human growth in inventions,    design, transport and capability - much of it being possible through the burning of fossil fuel. Now we understand that, whilst we didn't fully understand the impact of our progress during this time, we now have a very big problem to fix.  

We have talked about the Ozone Layer, its job and what has happened to it - completing our own experiments to prove the importance it. We have understood the power of direct sunlight and how the smallest differences can make the biggest changes. 

In maths we have continued with fractions, which we love! Year Three have spent the week understanding how changing a denominator changes the size of a fraction and Year Four have successfully learned how to convert between improper and mixed number fractions. Next, we will look at fractions of an amount, using our times table knowledge to work out quantity. 

To make our week even better we have heard from quite a number of #TeamHawks who have showed their presentations. The children are loving presenting and have been confident and clear - they are amazing. 

We begun a new part of RE this week, thinking about creation. To help us understand what it might be like to create something of our own, we made Lego models which we named and shared with others. 

I have my fingers and toes crossed that by the end of today our sculptures, based on the work of Yayoi Kusama, will be ready. Many of you have commented on the colourful orbs which are currently adorning the classroom; they look fabulous and we can't wait to show you the completed pieces at Exhibitions next week. As is usual in #TeamHawks, a video of our exhibition will be recorded before the children arrive, which I will add to the Federation’s YouTube channel. I will send a link to this next week so all of those of you who are unable to join us can have a personal guided tour at home with your children. 

Just a reminder that on Monday afternoon we will be celebrating Holi with our colour run - please ensure your child has a change of clothes to wear for this event, thank you. 

 

14/03/25

This week was very different from last week - we have been inside much more but still having a huge amount of fun. 

 

We have begun to go through the presentations the children have handed in from home. Each day we have heard from a few children and each day we have been blown away by the amount of work that has gone into each presentation. I received a few emails and messages as the homework was handed in, explaining children may be nervous about presenting - and adults had made allowances for this, ready to step in if it was needed. However, adults have been moved out of the way for hugely confident children wanting to share their amazing work. We have had quizzes, videos, huge pieces of art and amazing facts delivered to us.  We have loved this and are very much looking forward to repeating it next week. 

 

Mathematically, we have been looking into fractions. After a worried start for year three, #TeamHawks are now confirmed fractions experts and are feeling confident and happy about fractions. We can name all the parts of a fraction and we know what each part's job is. We took this knowledge to super highs on Thursday when we spent time working out the amount of mangoes a bat could eat. 

 

In English we have been understanding fronted adverbial phrases. This technique really adds an extra layer of complexity to writing and we have felt VERY important at being able to successfully use these to describe the cheeky behaviour of a young gorilla and its parent. We will continue to practise these in the Summer term. 

 

07/03/25

WHAT A WEEK! WHAT AMAZING WEATHER!

 

We have been outside learning, moving, playing, laughing, skill-developing and thinking every day, and we have LOVED it! 

We started the week with a spelling lesson; the children were painting their spellings, chalking their spellings and texting their spellings in pairs throughout the session. Following this we had a maths treasure hunt, where the children had to find exact measurements of sticks, rocks, stones, flowers, leaves and twigs - the children loved this and were extremely fastidious about correct measuring. On Tuesday we received a letter from the Three Bears, who detailed some of the 'crimes' of Goldilocks. We moved into groups and role played each character, with one of us becoming Detective Inspector Moffatt. Each of us had our own opinion on what happened and why, meaning our explanations altered a little - we related this to our current English writing understanding how opinion can change someone's view of events. After this, we used natural objects to create Goldilocks' various crime scenes. A dented car and garage wall, a kitchen of open cupboards and eaten porridge, a ruined cabbage patch with a golden hair left in it, and a bedroom of messy beds and a sleeping girl. The final pieces were amazing! We had such a great time we went back out for PE, playing a huge game of hide and seek and sardines -which was great fun. 

On Wednesday we had a different type of challenge, getting into groups of three or four, each group was given a bag, with all bags containing the same set of objects. The children were challenged to design a water wall which would capture at the bottom the same amount of water poured in at the top. The children worked for hours, designing, building and testing their designs, moving hose pipe that wouldn't drain water as it had been placed too high, and altering angles to allow faster water flow. The problem solving and skill building was incredible. We tested these at the end of the session and the children did brilliantly! Very little water was spilled/ wasted. On Thursday we ended our week with a den building session. Having found some enormous branches and sticks during our crime scene making, there was no other way to end the week! We had a huge amount of fun and created some excellent dens. 

 

28/2/25

What a great week back after half-term! We have been very busy developing our understanding of what an explanation text is and using our new knowledge to explain how wishes are granted, how potions are made and what they can be used for, and why Goldilocks got up to mischief in the three bears' house. On Wednesday, we made our own potions using sky tears, unicorn milk, dragon flakes, newt's eyes and bunny tails and went on to explain how these potions might help each other. I have been offered death potions, life potions, love potions, jumping potions and potions which would make me have super speed! We are really get the hand of explanation, rather than instruction, and will develop this further next week when we link this understanding to our next project question which will see #TeamHawks begin to unpick climate change effects on the South Downs and in the European Alps. 

 

Mathematically this week we have continued to explore measure through mm, cm and m and through perimeter around regular and irregular shapes. The   children have loved playing our 'Talk it Solve it' games where they have practised and developed their mathematical questioning to gauge which chosen number or measurement their partner has chosen and of course, we have been singing our tables with MC Grammar!

 

Earlier this week the children had a go at practising their presenting when they had the opportunity to share their group PSHE work from last half term. The children delivered their 'Accessible Garden' presentations really well and gave each other top tips on where to stand to be seen, how to speak and questioning. This was a really useful practise before we begin to present our homework presentations in a few weeks' time. I have already received a few presentations and. to help the children further, we have completed a few IT sessions based on effective online researching and using a search engine. The hand-in date for homework in March 10^th - please email in to the admin office or the Hawk Owls mail box, or bring in hard copies on USB if your child has chosen to make a PowerPoint. 

 

This week we also spent a bit of time completing a diary check for the rest of the term - we have so many AMAZING #TeamHawks and whole school experiences to enjoy of the next 5 weeks - and we can't wait! From World Book Day next week to Holi at the end of term, it is going to be an very busy and action-packed few weeks!

 

13/2/25

This has been a very busy but short week! #TeamHawks are all in need of some rest and are very much looking forward to half-term.

We have written out Little Hawks Big Dreams stories this week, and these have been very successful. The children's versions of their own life stories are fascinating - I can't wait to see whether any of them become what they think they want to become now. What is clear in their stories, is how much they love their families. In every child's story, their family have encouraged them to follow their dream and become something they love. Family members have offered words of wisdom and support - something which I know comes from their real family lives. 

 

In maths we have moved onto length and perimeter and begun thinking about the most efficient way to measure particular objects. We have also had long  discussions about the differences between metric and imperial measurements and why we still use both. 

 

This week I was allowed to go into the children's Wednesday PE lesson and observe what they have been up to. I must say, I have never been quite so scared in all my life! The children didn't look like the small, fresh Hawk Owls I remembered, but huge, mean rugby players. They began by hitting their thighs, sticking out their tongues and   making huffing sounds at me! Then they were hitting their elbows and screeching, their faces taut and grimacing. I was petrified! But what a sight, they were truly fierce and absolutely owning their Haka. 

 

I really hope you all have a restful half term holiday. See you in Spring 2!

 

07/2/25

At the end of last week we were treated to an online author workshop from Steven Pass, who is the author of 'Madge the Mermaid' a book about a mermaid built from rubbish reclaimed from the sea. The children enjoyed their time with him, singing songs and rapping! They asked him some great questions about how he became a writer and what advice he might have for us as young writers. The afternoon was great and inspired many of us to improve our writing so that we can become published too. Luckily, we are almost at the point of hot writing our Little Hawks Big Dreams stories, so I am expecting great things!

 

This week we have come to the end of our multiplication and division units in maths. These are very long units for years three and four as the skills learned here carry them through so many other mathematical concepts as we move forwards. The children have great tables knowledge - and will continue to practise calling out their tables.  Year four have learned the bus stop method of division, as well as chunking and have been able to multiply using long multiplication. Next we move onto length and perimeter for a few weeks before looking into fractions. 

 

We have continued to delve into the world of Yayoi Kusama this week. We have tried to make sense of her colour-way choices and have gone on to choose our own, tracing pumpkins and oil blending pastels to create vivid colour matches. The development in the children's artistic ability and freedom of expression over the year so far is brilliant - and, most importantly, they have begun to see it themselves, critiquing former choices compared to what choices they would make now, and understanding the huge differences tiny changes can make to art. 

 

#TeamHawks was a scene of great excitement on Thursday afternoon when the much anticipated 'Little Hawks Big Dreams' wall was put up. Mrs de Cani has created for each child , almost completely in her own time, a front cover using a photo taken on our future-selves day. The children were enthralled by their book covers which are such bright and vibrant, fabulous reflections of the amazing #TeamHawks. Thank you, Mrs de Cani, from us all. 

 

31/1/25

What a week to be a part of #TeamHawks! The children have delved into human stories of goal setting and goal scoring, personal growth, ambition, resilience, the power of the mind and how we can achieve ground-breaking change if we try . We have explored the story of Ru Paul who, with exceptional kindness and hope, managed to navigate life's trials and tribulations when the views of others prevented him from fitting in. We have also learned about Yayoi Kusama and her resilience and tenacity in becoming an artist despite her families decision that she should not pursue art as she was a woman and should really focus on marriage. We have discovered the story of Billy Elliott, and, whilst fictional, we could understand how he felt and the drive he had to fulfil his dream. 

 

In PE, we used the story of Billy Elliott, and the song from the musical, Electricity, to learn some key ballet steps. We moved around the hall using a chasee, completing some arabesque and understand first, second and third position. Many attempted to pirouette and everyone had a great time experience the discipline of ballet and the strength it takes to perform in such a way. 

On Thursday, after hearing about so many human stories, we celebrated our own story by coming to school dressed as our future selves. This was a day of utter celebration  of who we are. We thought about what we might need to do and overcome to be the people we wanted to be, how much resilience we might need and what we might learn to help ourselves reach our goal. The children loved their day and it was fabulous to watch them get stuck in to play their characters. We had small vet surgeries set up and skateboard coaching stations, football schools and rugby lessons. There were  cooking demonstrations and YouTube tutorials. What a fantastic day!

 

After all that, I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I will especially be enjoying the slightly lighter evenings - Spring is on her way!

 

24/01/25

Our week kicked off with the most wonderful trip. We headed to Southampton City Art Gallery on Monday morning with much excitement. Having collected our friends in Birch class, our journey continued into the city. When we arrived at the gallery, we were greeted by our host, Vera, who gave us a quick brief. Vera provided printing workshops across the day for all of the children which were incredible, giving the children so much knowledge and understanding about the concept of printing and the huge range of possibilities. 

 

Whilst we were not in the classroom with Vera, we were free to look around the vast range of art on display. We looked at everything but paid special attention to five pieces. We loved seeing a real life Monet - our artist from last term - and an Andy Goldsworthy leaf sculpture, an artist the children studied n Barn Owls. We paid close attention to a huge portrait of Napoleon and the Arcimboldo portrait called 'Summer'. Eventually we stopped at the Lowry painting, which blew the children away. For them, being able to see the fine detail in the brush strokes and sgraffito effect of the canvas were incredible. They couldn't believe the difference in a real life version compared to the digital versions we see in class. The children are so confident in their understanding about art, they were able to talk about tone, texture, movement, eye travel, perspective, light, palette, composition and the back, mid and foreground. Other visitors to the gallery stopped to hear what the children had to say and the gallery staff were very complimentary about them too. It was an awesome day. 

 

In class, we have completed our hot writes and transferred these into published versions on A3 card. They look fantastic. This week brings to a close our first part of the spring learning. We move away from the Industrial Revolution and on to amazing stories of individual humans, where we imagine what life could be like for us if we fulfil our dreams, just like Harriet Tubman, Emmeline Pankhurst, David Attenborough, Ru Paul and Greta Thunberg. 

 

17/01/25

This week we have really stepped into the Industrial Revolution. We have delved further into inventors and inventions, and we have explored how these inventions were able to run without electricity. We have marvelled at the power of coal and looked at the alternative powers used in mills which were close to water. We have looked into canals and how they allow humans to travel in heavy, laden boats up stream, despite water not really being able to do that. We have been astonished by the world of Constable versus the world of Lowry, who were kind enough to leave us painted representations of their local landscapes 200 years apart. We have thought briefly about working conditions and considered our own fate, had we have had to work in such times. We have recreated our own versions of Lowry's matchstick people and industrial landscapes using blended pastels. For this we posed on the playground as if we were Lowry's own subjects and photographed ourselves to enable us to have something to sketch from - just as Lowry did in the 1950s and of course, we can't wait to look at an original Lowry when we visit the art gallery in Southampton on Monday.

The children are now ready to complete their first hot write of the term, telling us about the four key inventors we have explored, with the inclusion of paragraphs, expanded noun phrases and very technical language, they have really enjoyed this unit of writing and are keen to get going on presenting their knowledge - these will be available at the Easter exhibitions. Next we move on to writing our own biographies about what we'd like our futures to look like in the much anticipated 'Little Hawks Big Dreams' unit of writing. 

We have been building our own PowerPoint presentations in ICT, all about ourselves. The children's typing skills, rehearsed last term, have really come in handy - their confidence in typing is really fantastic. We will continue to build these presentations and even, hopefully, add in some audio and video to make them super and our audience feel really involved in the presentation. 

Just a few reminders about the trip, children need a healthy packed lunch (we have been given a space to leave our things and to eat) and their water bottle. They must wear their usual school uniform but can wear any comfortable footwear for the day as we will be on our feet for a very long time. The coach is departing and arriving back within school hours, so there is no need for different drop off/pick up plans. We will be in a public gallery, could I ask that you chat with your children (we will at school too) about personal safety and remaining in their nominated group, noise levels and not touching the art of sculptures, thank you. 

 

10/1/25

What a first week back - whilst it has been chilly outside, we have been cosy and warm in the nest that is Hawk Owls. We've chatted about the memories we made during the holidays and thought about what this term might bring. 

 

We have launched our new project, which comes in two parts; for the first two weeks of the spring term, we are thinking about the force of human development during the Industrial Revolution and later Victorian times. We have discovered the engineering feats of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and marvelled at the inventions of James Watt. We have been amazed at Michael Faraday and his Faraday Cage and we have been delighted with the invention of the steam train, and George Stevenson's Rocket. We have also investigated numerous inventors of the time and been blown away by the genius of the human brain. We have thought about what life might be like today if these things hadn't been invented to improve our daily lives and what kinds of things may have been invented instead. 

Whilst learning about Isambard Kingdom Brunel earlier in the week, we discovered that he used to spend his spare time trying to draw the perfect circle. This has sent us on a bit of a tangent as we too have attempted to draw the perfect circle. We are improving all the time and figuring out which methods work best. 

In French we have been learning the alphabet and beginning to spell our names using French letter names - we will continue to rehearse this for a few weeks as it's quite tricky!

We are continuing with multiplication and division for a while longer in maths. All of the children need to practice their tables, beyond knowledge and into speed. New tournaments have been added to TTRS to help this. Whilst I am thinking of home learning, could I ask that you support your child in practising for their Friday spelling tests. Many children are becoming nervous before a Friday dictation because they haven't looked at their spellings at home. We learn the new rule on a Monday, in class, and  practise a little every day in school, but more practise is needed at home each week - this is part of the home-school agreement, alongside reading. 

 

We are very excited about our trip, and are really hopeful that we have enough helpers to come and join us. We will be taking part in a printing workshop whilst we are at the museum; this workshop will be led by an artist and give the children an experience we can't replicate in school. 

 

This term is a little shorter than the last, and the current project has a number of different aspects and experiences to it. I will keep you up to date with things we need along the way but this is just a little prior warning that there will be a number of texts and letters this term for these experiences!

Have a lovely weekend. 

 

Autumn Term

20/12/24

What a last week! We have been crafting and singing and enjoying the festive season. The team are very hopeful that you all enjoy your Christmas gifts which have been beautifully crafted by your children. The time and care they took over these little objects was amazing and clearly showed us how much making and presenting them to you meant. 

 

Just a little prior warning; there will be a #TeamHawks trip within the first three weeks after we return. I have only just managed to arrange it - a letter will come out, with all the details, within the first few days back. 

 

 

#TeamHawks wish you all the happiest, most peaceful and joyful of Christmas holidays with plenty of rest, good cheer and cosiness. I cannot wait to see you and your children in January for what will be the most amazing term. 

 

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

 

 

13/12/24

A great penultimate week has been shared in #TeamHawks. We have been using our time to celebrate being together through Christmas craft and joy. It wont be a surprise to you that #TeamHawks becomes a festive haven during the Christmas season! Our practical, nurturing ethos, really comes to the front as we enjoy each others’ company through practical creative activities, and lots and lots of Christmas    music. The room is filled with twinkling fairy lights, and we are cosy and comfortable. 

 

Our festive celebrations begun after exhibitions last week; we spent some time thanking Saint Nikolaus for having delivered us treats in our shoes. This week we have been focusing on our Christmas bird theme; thinking all about robins. We begun by watching the John Lewis Christmas advert from a few years ago, watching the robin fly home to his loved ones, then listened to Michael Morpurgo reading his     poem, which tells the robin's story. Creatively, we have made pompom robins and begun to write a robin story. Today we will pop out on a bird walk and see whether or not we can spot any robins bobbing about the school grounds. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures to sketch from too!

 

In RE this week, we have been looking at what it is to be holy. Having looked at many artists works, representing Mary, from   Botticelli and Caravaggio to Sassoferrato. We have discussed the techniques and styles of these paintings. Thinking about the   portrayal of 'holy' when we can't describe it with words. The children have created their own oil pastel portraits of Mary using the ideas we generated from discussion and have now begun to think about how Mary is represented through Lady Chapels and  prayer. 

 

06/12/24

What a fab week we've had bringing our project to a close. The children have been very reflective about their learning this term, recalling lots of known facts and stories. 

 

This week we have, of course, recorded our podcasts. This has been really amusing! Alongside the facts, we have had great fun experimenting with sounds and watching real life Foley artists creating sound for film and cartoon. We have created sound effects using traditional musical/ instrumental methods and by weird and wonderful inventions too! We have really let ourselves go and tried so many different and new things. It's been a really wonderful way to wrap our term. 

In maths we have been rapping throughout the week, listening to MC Grammar and his amazing collection of times tables raps. We've danced, rapped and sung along, recalling our 2s, 4s, 6s, 8s and 11s! 

 

Thank you to all of the parents, grandparents, carers, siblings and friends that came to join us for exhibitions this morning. It was so lovely to see so many    people supporting #TeamHawks. If you couldn't make it, a video will be uploaded to You Tube, with the link sent out this afternoon. 

 

To complete our day, the children are, as I type this, invested in a maths challenge! They are working as a team to create a multiplication paper chain, so that we can decorate and prepare #TeamHawks for Christmas! There are Christmas songs on the speaker and singing echoing around the room! What a fab day!

 

29/11/24

This week has seen us come to the end of our Anglo-Saxon and Viking learning. We have discovered the events the led up to the Battle of Hastings, learning about Edward the Confessor's building of Westminster Abbey, where he was laid to rest just days after it was completed. We've also listened to a podcast, all about The Battle of Hastings and begun to think about how we could write our own. We will record these next week, and hopefully be able to share them with you at exhibitions morning next Friday. Due to the fact we are absolutely amazing, we have also studied a book about the battle, editing this author's writing to improve the text's wording so that it is more exciting to read. The children loved this and made some really important changes, making the book accessible to them. 

For any parents unable to make exhibitions next Friday morning, we will record it as a class and put it on the school's You Tube   channel so that you get to watch with your child at home - we don't like anyone to miss out! I'll send a link to the video next Friday. 

This week, to cement our knowledge, we have also written newspaper reports about the Battle of Hastings; we did these on our   Purple Mash accounts, which we all found a lot of fun. Within Purple Mash, I am able to set the children some 'to dos' - these are generally for use in the classroom, but occasionally these might be done at home.  I will let you know if this is the case. 

We have moved on to multiplication and division in maths and have been rapping our timetables with MC Grammar through his You Tube channel. We have really enjoyed this and  will be expanding our repertoire next week!

Thank you to every member of #TeamHawks for making my birthday, earlier this week, so special. What an amazing bunch they are!

 

22/11/24

This week has been all about the Vikings. We have learned about stereotypes, the importance of trade, how Alfred the Great diplomatically arranged a peaceful living arrangement and just how HUGE a Viking longboat is!

 

Earlier in the week we thought a great deal about the importance of trade and commerce. We discovered that the     Vikings were keen traders who travelled great distances to trade goods from their lands, and other goods collected on their travels. We explored the perils of travelling by sea when a compass has yet to be invented, understanding that as experienced seafarers, the Vikings could navigate by star maps, coastal outlines, sea colour and bird behaviour. What amazing people! Whilst playing our trade game, it became quickly evident that some children are very strategy focused! Sebby managed to complete his trades in gold, silver, wheat, honey and food successfully and had won the game in just six trades. Others found it tricky to establish the value of their items and quickly found themselves without food, ending their play in the game. We have linked this Viking led activity to the way we trade today - establishing that, it really isn't that different, especially if we are trading in Pokémon cards!

 

This week we have also completed our next hot task, writing a letter to Odin requesting that Arthur, from our story,   become a God. We have had to be very persuasive as we know Odin can be a bit grumpy when he is asked for things. The children VERY QUICKLY linked the value of this learning to real life circumstances and, I feel, you may have some very persuasive requests for Christmas gifts! Next we will be completing our Anglo-Saxon/Viking learning as we shuttle towards the Battle of Hastings, for this we will be becoming podcasters, writing and recording our very own!

 

15/11/24

Wow - didn't #TeamHawks do well at our Remembrance Service on Monday! The children were absolutely brilliant. Whether they were speaking aloud, getting Poppy and Felix ready for their journey, covering the music or reading a very personal letter, they were professional and level headed. The Remembrance Service is a hard one to get right due to its importance and reverence; however, I feel #TeamHawks did it justice on Monday. Thank you to everyone who joined us.
After such a great start we have continued to do well in our learning. The children have been thinking deeply about respect this week, as we have celebrated Anti-Bullying week. #TeamHawks have created posters to help people who feel they have been bullied find support and to help people chose respect and kindness over wrong choices. We've had some great conversations with the children showing some very mature attitudes towards anti-bullying.
This week we have also been introduced to 'Arthur' in English. This small, shy, quiet boy managed to defeat a giant wolf (with the help of Thor) and save his village - even though they thought he couldn't. We have compared ourselves to Arthur's qualities and will develop some ideas next week to write persuasively to Odin, explaining whether we think Arthur should or shouldn't be considered as a Viking God. The class is fairly split currently!
Thank you to all the parents who I have had the pleasure to spend a few minutes with this week. Getting to meet and chat about your awesome children is such a joy. Have a fabulous weekend!

 

08/11/24

 

I hope you all had a really enjoyable half-term; the children have come back refreshed and excited and full of stories about what they got up to - which has been lovely to see. 

 

Our week has been busy, as usual! #TeamHawks have been preparing for Remembrance, which is a service we will lead for the school on Monday afternoon. This years' theme, as suggested by The Royal British Legion, is 'Service, Not Self'. 

This theme has given us the opportunity to discuss the service given by military family members - not due to military commitment but due to their love for a serving member of the Armed Forces in their family. The service children in #TeamHawks, Mrs Cousins and I, have shared our experiences as partners and family members of serving personnel, allowing the children a small insight to the ups and downs of military life. The children have been inquisitive and supportive and have built our Remembrance Service around this sharing of experience. We will be very proud to represent school, and our service community, on Monday afternoon. 

 

This week we have also discovered Viking Myths. We have explored Odin and his creation of the world, Freya and her adoration of all things beautiful, and Thor and his fights with the giants. The children have loved these and have ended the week writing their own small Norse Myths which are full of betrayal, lessons and moral duty! 

 

Earlier in the week, we completed our sponsored orienteering trail, with the children challenged to find numbers on our markers and correlate them to town names. The children then had to use atlases to locate these places and decide whether (using evidence of the place name and its area within England) it was likely to be a Viking town within the DaneLaw or not. This was really enjoyable and we can't wait to go out and do it again!

 

25/10/24

We have brought our Science learning to an end by experimenting with different liquids to prove or disprove our hypotheses surrounding liquids, viscosity and evaporation. The children (and I ) had great fun heating water, honey, shower gel, washing up liquid, milk and vinegar to test their rate of evaporation as their temperatures rose. Much excitement was had and our hypotheses and knowledge were tested to the limit. We have, as a class, fallen in love with science and can't wait for Science Week later in the year. 

 

This week we have also been trialling a new quick grammar exercise, whereby each day we add to a simple, year one, level sentence. Each day we build on the previous day until we get to a year four level, allowing the children to see their writing journey. Once they have dictated each         sentence they label each word's word class in the sentence, becoming able to name nouns, adjectives, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, subjects, articles, determiners and conjunctions (both subordinating and coordinating), adverbial phrases, noun phrases and embedded clauses; all in five very enjoyable minutes! Your children are amazing.

 

Sadly, after half-term, #TeamHawks will have far less time for 'show and tell'. I do try and leave as much time as possible for this at the start of the year, as it builds confidence and allows the children to learn a huge amount about each others’ hobbies, interests and loves. However, as we move forward other things will take precedence as we begin to build more pace into our learning day. I will find the odd spot for it, as the benefits of 'show and tell' are huge, and will try to let you know when these will be. 

 

This week we have been preparing for Diwali. We have made diya lamps and written brilliant non-chronological reports all about the significance of candlelight during Diwali. All of this learning ended in today's #TeamHawks Diwali Festival which has been a fantastic end to the half-term. We've been creative, dramatic and we've feasted by candlelight!

 

I hope you all have an extremely peaceful and restful half-term and I’m excited to greet the children back to school on Monday 4^th November. 

 

18/10/24

This week has kept us on our toes. Every day I have had a new report of possible Viking sightings and sounds. This was confirmed when coins were found whilst digging our #TeamHawks garden this week! Following this, a letter was pasted to our classroom door on Wednesday whilst we were in singing worship! It told us that the Vikings were planning  to visit us as they are a friendly bunch and whilst they have a bad reputation, we should trust them and send them instructions for their longships so they can come and see us! 

We discussed the letter at length, thinking about how we learn to trust people, whether we should accept the opinion of others or form our own ,and drawing on our own experience of not feeling welcome, finally deciding that, as we are a team made up of different      people, we should give every one the opportunity to be themselves so we can form our own opinions and not assume the opinions of others. Today we write our instructions and hope that, once they have sailed the North Sea, the Vikings visit us and tell us their stories. 

 

After much building and making the #TeamHawks room is now full Viking longboats and Anglo-Saxon helmets - the children have adored being creative and the adults have enjoyed watching creativity take precedence.

 

Next week, to encourage our creative flow further we will be celebrating Diwali with puppets, dancing, food, Rangoli making and clay pot forming, which we are all most excited about. This celebration will also conclude this half term's RE, which has focused on the candle as a symbol. We have really enjoyed thinking about the numerous celebrations for which candlelight is used. The children have created some lovely non-chronological reports informing us about Advent and Diwali. They have really understood that, even though religions have differences, they also have many similarities and the symbol of the candle is often used to show how lightness in the darkness can provide hope and show love. 

Next week we also complete our science learning 'States of Matter' where we will investigate how liquids evaporate. We have had great fun noticing The Water Cycle in action this week, as we have watched the morning dew evaporate from the fields, and the rain bring down water previously evaporated. The children have been intrigued by the way the earth has the ability, through cycles, to keep itself running in the background. It has led to many philosophical conversations about how it knows to do this and how it started. 

 

11/10/24

A great week just came to an end in #TeamHawks. Everyone has been putting their all into the work! From making jam sandwiches, following another's instructions to melting chocolate to help Mr Wonka invent a chocolate river, to completing our Anglo-Saxon helmets!

 

In English we have been thinking about the word class of each word in a sentence and drilling down into prepositions for time, place and manner. This has led to some great games watching the children act out different prepositions - keeping us all amused as their poses get more and more extreme! 

In maths we have moved on to addition and subtraction and have spent the week quickly re-covering last year's learning to prepare us for the new learning which follows. Our next unit will be multiplication and division and with this will come lots of Times Tables Rock Stars tournaments and work. Please do check that you are able to log in to your child's account at home (they all work in school) to ensure, when we get there, your child is ready to start. 

 

Whilst I am thinking about home learning, many children are telling me that they haven't practised their spellings at home.  As a reminder, your child's spellings are available on Spelling Shed and their log-in is on the small white card which was brought home in week two of the new term. New lists are released on a  Friday and can be found in the 'assignments' square or, if you're on a mobile, in the tab which will be entitled either 'Squirrel' 'Badger' or 'Mouse' depending on your child's group. We work on spellings every day in class but this becomes tricky when, after teaching the rule, the children are unaware of the words they should be handwriting with or finding the definition of. Spelling  learning is part of your home school agreement along with reading and times tables and should be practised at home to ensure your child can progress and attain in English. I understand that many families pop onto Spelling Shed and take the words and rule to    follow-up with their children offline - this is absolutely fine; it is your judgment call to make and helps your child to learn. Next week I will complete a Spelling Shed audit to check student's log-in history. Thank you for your help with this. 

 

04/10/24

Last Friday we travelled to Stubbington for our first class trip. We collected Micheldever on the way and headed to Stubbington. The time there was jam packed with den building, forest listening, habitat discussions, wattle and daub fence building, coin rubbing, artefact handling, rune discovering and archaeological digging! We learned so many extra facts about the Anglo-Saxons and loved the hands-on nature of the trip. 

 

This week, using our trip experience, we have completed our first hot writing task—creating a historical narrative, based on our class read. I have yet to read them all, but I have been so impressed by the children's commitment to writing.     Having allowed a lesson for them to write, they asked for more time, so that they could write more! They have also been editing their pieces in preparation for submission. I am so excited to read them all!

We have also completed our first maths module, place value, and will begin addition and             subtraction next week. I think we are all keen to get started on something new!

 

I was quite worried last weekend, when as going about my general Mum duties, I heard what could only be described as wood sawing, hammering and drums! #TeamHawks chatted about it in class and feel it could be that the Vikings were preparing to travel. My fears were deepened when Ottie came to school the following day to tell us she had also heard something similar. In preparation for invasion, we have been making helmets so that should the Vikings arrive, we can be safe!

 

27/09/24

This week has been exciting, as we build up to our trip on Friday! Lot's of discussion has taken place about what we might get up to, what we might see and what we might experience. I know we are going to love it!

 

Last Friday the children completed their first science experiment of the year! They planned a fair test and thought about which liquids might travel the fastest. The classroom smelt like a very odd restaurant as we poured gravy, oil, water, chocolate sauce, mayo and BBQ sauce down our ramps. There was, as you can imagine, so much excitement. This week we have continued experimenting by   discovering how to use a thermometer and testing the temperature of many places around the school. We were mostly surprised to find out that even though the water from the cold tap feels cold, it isn't quite as cold as we thought - weighing up whether this is     because our bodies are warm or whether things feel colder than they really are. 

 

We have also completed our Anglo-Saxon toys, which we will be showing you at our Exhibition morning in December. They look brilliant and showed the children's understanding of Anglo-Saxon fabric availability, colour choice and realistic adornments, like cloaks and boots. We are all          impressed by the outcome. 

 

Next week we will be completing our English work based on our class read - Better than Gold by Teresa Tomlinson. We have LOVED this book as it has taken us on its very dramatic journey of King rivalry and the growth in bravery one small boy can have. Next we will be writing instructions, beginning with 'how to make a jam sandwich' finishing with 'how to build a     Viking longboat'.

 

Have a wonderful (and hopefully dry) weekend!

 

20/09/24

Our week has focussed on school council elections, green ambassador choices and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. #TeamHawks even has its own seven monarchs, each representing one of the seven Kingdoms. 

 

Congratulations to our new councillors, and high fives to all who applied. Watching members of #TeamHawks, some who have only been in the class for a few weeks, presenting and answering questions like professionals was wonderful. Mr Stangroom and Mrs Ball both   commented on the amount of confidence the children showed. All should be super proud of their efforts. 

 

We have begun the terms RE and science this week too. In science we are trying to understand different states of matter and exploring the difference between solids, liquids and gasses. This has thrown up some interesting questions, such as whether humans are solids,   liquids or gasses as all three can be found within us - we will explore this questions and many others over the next few weeks. 

 

In RE we are thinking about candles as symbols. We will look at this from our own lived experience, then think about them in a Christian setting and then through Hindu Dharma, linking this Diwali and our annual Diwali celebration. Our class Diwali will happen during the week before half term. 

 

Next week we head to Stubbington on our school trip, there's much excitement! Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who offered support; we are all set now. Just to remind you that all children should be in school, next Friday, by 08:15 so that we are on the bus promptly, and that a packed lunch will be needed; either home brought or through the school kitchen. Please also rerefer to the letter for clothing recommendations. 

 

 

13/09/24

Week two comes to a close and feels like we've completely gelled and been together as a class for such a long time. Towards the end of this week the children (and teachers!) have become increasingly tired as we  have continued to learn so many new routines and structures and so many new things about Anglo-Saxons, place value, English grammar and Science - the children have taken everything in their stride and asking for clarification where it's needed and making me so proud every day. 

To help us prepare for the weekend, we moved our Anglo-Saxon day to Friday. The children have spent the day learning about Anglo-Saxon living, creating their own small weave to prepare us for our whole class weave which is currently on the classroom wall and making children's toys.  We have had a fabulous day. 

Across the week we have been reading our class novel, Better Than Gold by Theresa Tomlinson. The children and I are finding it very dramatic and exciting. This story will lead us to our hot write in a few weeks. We will write ourselves into the story, becoming a hero in Anglo-Saxon times. We will be able to use our experiences from our Anglo-Saxon day and our trip to bring an extra layer of knowledge and reality to our stories too. 

In maths we have been focused on Place Value and are beginning to expand our knowledge of hundreds (year 3) and thousands (year 4), we are finding this quite easy, so have been really looking at our reasoning skills alongside this unit, to make sure we are clearly explaining the way we found the answer to the word problem. 

Thank you to everyone that supported our 'Exploding Number' homework - I can't tell you how much these sheets help the children's mathematical thinking. 

At the moment the weekend looks fairly nice, I hope you manage to get outside and enjoy a little late summer sun!

 

06/09/24

What a first week back! The children have, I would say, settled in beautifully and have already begun their maths learning, an English cold write and thought about what kind of Anglo-Saxon they would be! 

 

This week we have discovered so much about each other, time which is invaluable and one of my favourite parts of sharing my day with children. We have shared stories of summer holidays, wet camping trips, competitions, hours of reading wonderful books, days in the sun, gaming sensations and riding horses. 

Together this week, we have begun to delve into the Anglo-Saxons, understanding the reasons they decided to move to Britain after the retreat of the Romans. We have explored reasons such as over crowding, flooding, lack of food due to crop failure and war, understanding that, often we feel pushed away from our country of birth due to reasons beyond our control and pulled towards another nation that could offer us what we need to survive. We have looked at perilous journeys across the North Sea by boat to reach a new home and the feelings we may have when we land in a new, unknown place. The children have been very thoughtful and offered some brilliant responses, showing their empathy for others. 

 

In maths we have begun the first unit, which lays the foundation for the years' learning - place value. The children are discovering how we might represent tens, hundreds, thousands and are about to think about how we might partition these into place value columns. A great start!

Year three have taken on so many new rules and routines this week - I have been blown away by their ability to adapt to new things being thrown at them daily. They have been SO resilient and resourceful as they have accepted new things and practised trying these out - coming and asking questions when they are unsure. Year four meanwhile, have taken to helping their new classmates with ease, truly showing the #Team Hawks spirit and making sure year three feel comfortable and secure. I am so proud of them all. 

Have a lovely weekend!

 

19/07/24

As we come to the end of the school year, the class staff have spent much time reflecting with the children about their journeys this year, and for the last two years if they are in year four. The children have changed and grown so much, many of them are almost as tall as me! 

I have been so immensely proud to teach #TeamHawks this year. Every child has made learning progress, overcome challenges, and developed a personal sense of self and purpose. 

 

Of course I will be so sad to see year four leave on Tuesday, as they head up to Awesome Eagles for year five. I have taught them in some way since they started the school in Reception Year, or as they have joined us a long the way, and this means we have a very close bond. I cannot tell you just how much I have enjoyed being part of their educational and personal journey. 

 

For year three, I am afraid they are stuck with me for another year! But one which will be full of laughter, joy, new challenges, lots of growth and great learning experiences. 

I hope you all have a most tremendous summer break.

See you in September!

 

12/07/24

As we move towards the end of the school year, #TeamHawks have become very reflective about their lower key stage two journey.  We have been reminiscing about long forgotten moments and conversations, and laughing our way through a years' memories. We find ourselves almost at the end of our learning, with just a few things left to cover. This has given us time to be together and enjoy one or two extra curricular activities like French skipping and croquet!

In English this week we have typed up our Beatrix Potter style narratives and thought about spellings. The year four children have worked so hard to know their year 3/4  statutory words - thank you for supporting them with this at home. In recent weeks #TeamHawks have begun to write their own Friday dictations, this has been a lot of fun and allowed the children some 'creative freedom' over word choices. Some of the dictations have been utterly bizarre! 

We have now completed our river presentations - thank you SO much for all of your help in preparing these at home. Each child that presented did it with so much confidence - it was a total joy to watch 31 presentations take place. Seeing the change in the children from September to now, as they totally nailed presenting to 30+ people in the classroom, was brilliant and really showed the #TeamHawks adults just how much personal growth these children have had. They are empowered by who they are and where they fit into the world - and we LOVE that about #TeamHawks. 

Last week #TeamHawks took part in their own General Election. This was taken seriously, with the children reading bullet pointed manifestos from each party, to ensure they could make an informed decision about their futures.  They may have told you that in class The Green party was victorious, winning half the class vote. After emailing The Green party to let them know our class outcome, we heard back from them this week and they thanked us for our support. They also offered the children the chance to become 'A Young Green,' which involves becoming a member of The Green Party. This is clearly a very personal decision for each child and not something to be decided by me, or in school. Therefore, I have attached the link they sent for you to be able to discuss this with your children further at home.

Have a beautiful weekend.

 

05/07/24

Well, we have been up to so many varied things this week! From creating protection bracelets given during the Hindu Dharma festival of Raksha Bandhan, to writing Beatrix Potter tales, to completing our PSHE to voting in the General Election - we have had it all going on! And we obviously are all still talking about our Apache fly past last Friday!

On top of all of those exciting things, we have also been listening and learning to each child present their homework. The creativity and time spent on these river projects is amazing - and I am so grateful for all of the support you have given your children in building these wonderful, informative presentations. The children are absolutely loving both presenting and hearing all about different world rivers. Thank you. 

 

As we come to the end of our project question this term, we are turning our attention to next week's exhibition. We are so excited to share with you all of the things we have created, made, completed and written. The work this term has shown just how much progress each child has made on their learning journey in #TeamHawks and we can't wait to show off!

 

Last week, Mrs de Cani and I took some advice from quite a number of #TeamHawks about what they would like to have a go at (beyond our usual learning) during our last weeks of term. Cooking and crafting came out on top, as did a party! So, post exhibition, we will try to fit in a #TeamHawks shared meal, which the children will make for themselves - I will release more details as they are finalised. One important detail I do already know is that the end of year party for #TeamHawks, run by DJ Electric and his team, will take place on Monday 22^nd July. 

 

28/06/24

What a week! Heat, medals, stickers, sporting competitions, armed forces day, Jeremy Fisher, PSHE and shapes! It's been an eclectic week for sure. . .  

I want to begin by congratulating #TeamHawks on a great Sport's Day. The children, despite the heat, all tried to beat their personal best, racing solely for themselves. We had one or two unexpected personal bests too - which we are all super proud of. Mia and Melia are over the moon with their placements in their races - and we have loved hearing their tales of racing and their feelings of elation at  beating their own goals. 

English has been dramatic! We have been creating our story arc, and deliberating what dangers our characters might have to go through. From being dragged under water by fish, plucked away by a bird, swiped by a fox to being narrowly missing a car, our woodland characters have much in store, next we think about how this danger might change a part of their character, as they learn a lesson!

 

In maths we have just started to look at shape - in particular angles. The children are excited about the prospect of protractors, right angles and shadows! It's a great unit, particularly in the sunshine. 

 

Some of the children have presented their homework, please bring in any completed pieces either in person, on a memory stick or via email/link. 

Have a wonderful weekend all. 

 

21/06/24

#TeamHawks have had a lovely week in the sunshine, including an epic 14,000 step walk around the village!

Mathematically this week, we have looked into data and statistics. The children have explored pictograms, bar charts, tables and line graphs both in reading of data and displaying of their own data. It  has been a short but worthwhile unit,  much enjoyed by as all. Next we move onto shape, with year four measuring angles. 

 

In English our Beatrix Potter journey has continued. The children, amazing as they are, have discovered they are actually better writers than she and have been editing her character and setting description for The Tale of Jeremy Fisher. Next we will begin to plan our story arc so that our characters go on a relevant journey to learn a lesson!

 

Our trip this week was brilliant, and the children have been congratulated on their amazing behaviour. We had three small trips, first walking to the River Dever to view it, then walking around the village to look at how our land is used, then a visit to the church to learn all about its history and to have an amazing tour.  We had a fantastic time! The children, when using the highway code to walk along the road side, were utterly impeccable. We would like to thank the Revd. Smart for our trip to the church, we learned so much and we absolutely loved the quiz!

We have all the shoeboxes we need now, thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

14/06/24

This has been a topsy turvy week for #TeamHawks, with sporting events and lots of different activities to squeeze in! 

Firstly, I must congratulate our amazing #TeamHawks representatives who took part in the Athletics on Wednesday. I am so proud of them both as individual athletes and as a group. Having #TeamHawks represented by such powerful and bold children makes me feel like the luckiest teacher in all the world! 

This week we have delved into the world of Beatrix Potter, trying to unpick who on earth Jeremy Fisher is. We have had to use all of our inference skills that we have built up over the year, as Beatrix Potter doesn't really give us much written evidence to use. This breakdown has helped the children develop their own woodland character, who will star in their 'The Tale Of...' story in the next few weeks. We have been completing so many spelling sessions in class,  I am so appreciative of all the work that has been going on at home to help the children with their spelling words - thank you - all that effort is seriously paying off.

This week we have brought our penultimate science topic to a close - Living Things and Their Habitats was a great unit, giving the children a deeper understanding of our environment and classification of animals. They are also experts at explaining the seven characteristics of living things - in particular the excretion part!

Next week the children will have the opportunity to make a home for their woodland character in Design and Technology. Currently, I have 29 shoe boxes; if anyone had a spare one lying around please do send it in - we need 4 more!

 

07/06/24

Goodness, we've had a wonderful week in #TeamHawks! The children have been full of tales about their half term news, which has been wonderful to hear. We have begun thinking about politics in Hawks Owls this week. I received a few questions about the election and so we have had a few chats about parliament, governing, how we vote, the importance of democracy and where we might see this in our school. Over the next few weeks we will continue our discussions - particularly as I can see one or two budding politicians in #TeamHawks!

We have begun unpicking The Tale of Jeremy Fisher! The children have loved hearing this tale, and will further explore the stories, the characters and settings within Beatrix Potter's writing over the next few weeks. This piece of English will now link to art and D&T as we create impressionist pieces of our characters and homes for them to live in; please do bring in a show box if you have a spare one!

We were so pleased to return from our week off to see our #TeamHawks patio flourishing. Thanks to Mr de Cani, we have tomatoes, peppers and courgettes growing alongside our very own marigolds and petunias. We also have two sunflowers growing rapidly. 

Thank you to all those who have helped their children learn to tell the time. This part of maths can often be tricky for the children however, because we are absolutely phenomenal, #TeamHawks have sailed through everything so far and can alternate between digital (12 and 24 hr) and analogue, they can also apply this to how long a journey might take.

In geography this week we learned about OS maps, their symbols and grid referencing. We have explored single and double digit grid references and will move on to 6 digit referencing  soon! Go us!!

Have a wonderful weekend all. 

 

17/05/24

This week has been one of respect and peace as #TeamHawks have watched and supported year six go through their SATs. We have checked in on them, to make sure they are okay and we have given them the space and quiet they need to do their best. #TeamHawks are SO proud of year six and send them huge congratulations on completing their tests this week.

 

For #TeamHawks the week has been filled with spelling assessments. There will be some changes to spellings during the next half-term (I will update when we have come back to school after the half-term holiday), particularly for year four.  The children's ability to dictate has improved so much over the course of the year, when I think back to how arduous and tricky it felt in September and see how quickly and effectively they manage now, it is remarkable progress! And the love it!

 

In maths we have moved on from money and begun time. It is clear from our cold task that many year threes and a few year fours can not yet tell the time, please, please help your child with this at home. Our focus in class is on timetabling journeys, periods of time across months and converting time between seconds/minutes/hours/days and weeks. So their foundational knowledge, of being able to tell the time to five minutes, is really key.

 

In French we have moved on from being 'On the Move' to 'Where in the World?'. The children have become very adept at giving directions in French and naming common things you might findin a town or city. Their passion for learning a second language is wonderful. 

 

In RE this week we have been moved by the act of worship in the Hindu faith. We have explored the act of Puja by making offerings to the Gods, starting with Ganesha. We have offered fruit and flowers and used all of our senses to help us feel closer to the Hindu Gods. We removed our shoes before entering our classroom shrine, just as Hindu's do when they enter the Mandir. The children chose whether or not to include the sense touch, which meant having the 'bindi' placed on to their forehead. They rang a bell for hearing, so that the Gods knew they were  coming to pray, had incense for smell and could see their Gods and murtis on our class shrine. Lastly, they could taste the offerings we had given to the Gods, once the act of Puja had come to a close. It was a special moment  for #TeamHawks, who were so respectful and enjoyed the experience. 

 

10/05/24

Well, after a beautiful bank holiday weekend, #TeamHawks got stuck into the next unit of English. We began with a tour of our      beautiful school, reminding ourselves of all the things that happen in each space and all of the amazing resources and staff that help us. We ventured out into the sunshine to think about what we have outside, and listed everything down. Then we headed back to Hawks’ base to make posters about Barton Stacey Church of England Primary School. This week we have thought about these and   other persuasive leaflets which entice to discover new places. We have ended the week thinking about modal verbs and how we can use these persuasively in questions. 

 

In maths we have worked hard with money, adding it, estimating it and understanding the language of it. Whilst we are far from being 'money savvy', we are excellent at recognising coins and adding them together quickly by grouping duplicate coins and colours. Our column addition has also resurfaced as we add increasing amounts of cash! Our journey with money is a relatively short one, but one which we are really enjoying. Time comes next; please, please keep  practising time-telling at home! 

 

Our river journey has continued with water cycle experiments! The children were delighted to discover the circular motion in which water is delivered and   taken away from the Earth. We are currently watching this action. as you can see from our photos, with active water cycles attached to the windows! The children run to the windows each morning to look at whether it is evaporating or raining at the moment!

 

Today we start our new RE topic - looking at Hindu worship and comparing it to Christian worship. Before half-term, the children will take part in Puja (the act of Hindu worship). They will make offerings to the Gods and receive the bindi (a red dot on their foreheads) to aid with protection. Bindi powder (Kumkum powder/ Roli) is made from purely natural materials; turmeric and saffron mixed with either lemon or slaked lime. Here is a link to Hawk Owls' Roli, should you want to check the details yourself. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pooja-Kumkum-Powder-Roli-10Gm/dp/B004W2U6ZG 

 

03/05/24

Well, what a week! 

We began with understanding what a metaphor is and thinking about rivers.  The  middle part of the week was full of visitors, measuring water and river walks and the last part has been filled with music, art and poetry writing. The week has been changeable to say the least!

#TeamHawks have been writing the most beautiful poetry based on their river knowledge;  beautiful sentences, such as: bark as bumpy as beach nuts (Fin); It lets the wind carry it along, whilst it quivers (Mia); ..it makes a stream, it meanders, it curls...(Melia) and, I am the sea breeze whistling in your ear..(Aleksander). There were so many beautiful phrases to choose from - we can't wait to display these at the end of term. This sees us say goodbye to poetry for the year.  Next we will write a local guide to fishermen, all about the River Dever. 

We have also completed our maths, concluding mass and capacity (year three) and decimals (year four). The children have excelled in these modules and next move on to decimals which involve money. Any practise with coin recognition will be very helpful.

We have been really creative towards the end of the week. writing up our poetry, discovering some of the art work of Claude Monet and     creating music with African drums. This has made an enjoyable and relaxed end to our week. 

#TeamHawks send you best wishes for a calm and relaxed weekend.

 

26/04/24

#TeamHawks have been busy exploring personification and similes in English this week. We have been singing some cool tunes to help us remember what we need to include in similes. Next week we will move onto metaphors, and all three of these types of figurative language will be included in our river poetry that we will write next week. 

 

In maths, year three have been using scales and comparing mass in grams and kilograms.  The reading of scales (number lines with different increments - not measuring scales) continues to be tricky for many of them - in particular working out different increments and estimating what numbers aren't labelled; any help with this at home would be very useful.

 

Year four have been investigating decimals and have been successfully dividing one and two-digit numbers by ten and twenty. They have also resumed their multiplication check practise and are such an impressive group of children - not only taking it in their stride but enjoying themselves! 

 

I just wanted to take a moment to explain our spellings. Our spelling teaching pays attention to the rule and not specific words (unless we are completing our statutory words). The children are taught a specific spelling rule; the words on Spelling Shed will use the taught rule. The children should be able to take that rule and apply it to other words when it comes to Friday's test. At the moment, many of the children are not spelling their given words correctly, nor applying the rule beyond those words. Next week I will send home a spelling crib sheet for your child's spelling group so that you are able to support your child's spelling learning as you practise at home. I am hopeful this will cement the rule which is taught in class on a Monday afternoon. Thank you in advance for your support in this. 

 

#TeamHawks would like to welcome our second new family of the term. Freddie has joined our class and has already settled in and charmed us with his love of music and PE!

 

19/04/24

Welcome all to the summer term! As a class we have spent the week settling back in and getting used to the summer term vibe. We have been learning and reciting poetry, making and learning about compass points and exploring counties, cities, monuments and river locations throughout the UK. We have also moved seats - and as you can see from this weeks' picture, one member of #TeamHawks was particularly pleased with his new seat!

Our maths this week has focused on decimals. The children have discovered the difference between decimals which are based in money and those which are not- changing their language and reading of the number to ensure the correct figure is given. We have also explored how we count in tenths, hundredths and evaluated the similarities of fractions and decimals - in particular how they are both just parts towards the whole. 

 As usual, #TeamHawks have taken this all in their stride and declared it to be the 'easiest maths ever'! Year 4 continue with decimals for another few weeks, whilst year 3 look more deeply into capacity and measure. Our next maths focus will be time; it would be useful for the children to be able to tell the time to 5 minutes if they can't already do this. Our focus will be on using our time knowledge to use timetabling effectively and calculate time periods - meaning time telling is key before they start. 

In English we are using our text, It Starts With a Seed by Laura Knowles, to write our own version about rivers rather than trees. We have started this by taking time to read poetry and work out what we like and enjoy. The children have learnt a poem of their choice to recite after being inspired by Mrs Hughes' recitation of her favourite piece of poetry she learned at school! 

This week we have welcomed a fab new member to #TeamHawks, the children have shown their best friendship skills and ensured Oscar feels comfortable and looked after. We are very pleased he has joined us.

 

28/03/24

 

How on earth do we find ourselves at the end of our second term of the year? It seems absolutely impossible that we are here! 

Our week (well, 3 days!) has been filled with end of term assessments and reflections based on our fabulous term studying the Romans. We are (we've decided) now experts in Roman history and have answered our project question - How Many Times a Week do You Think About the Romans? The general consensus is LOADS - although until this term, many of us didn't realise it!! Straight roads, toilets (thankfully not sponges on sticks!), baths, hairdressers, footwear, sofas, design, architecture, battles, sewers, water movement, legal systems, government, cement, calendars and the postal service (to name a few!).  We have uncovered bias, opinion and the need for evidence when you make a judgement. We've changed our minds a bit about Boudicca's battle strategy (she got a bit too handsy with fire and knives we feel). And we've thoroughly enjoyed our time delving into Roman history and reflecting on how it changed Britain.

 

Next, we move onto a project with a geographical focus - all about Rivers. We will think about chalk streams and how incredible they are. Will we pay particular attention to the river Dever and think beyond its make up to how it connects us to our dear friends at Micheldever. 

 

But for now, I wish you all the happiest and most joyful Easter holiday. I hope you rest, relax and treat yourself to at least one large Easter egg!

See you in April!

 

22/03/24

This week we have celebrated science. We have done this through our current module - Forces and Magnets - and also through a STEM focused task, where we spent the afternoon building Roman aqueducts. All of our tasks were excellent and led the children to think about gravitational forces, magnet poles, how birds know where they are going and how on earth a magnet can hold 13 paperclips at once!  During the afternoon we thought about gravitational force when building and engineering our aqueducts. Luckily, many of you got to  witness our testing this morning during exhibition!

 

This week we have also discovered how digital devices perform an input, process and output and how they can help us in different ways. We even had a go at recreating some of our art pieces through digital devices, by inputting our art on laptops and printing the output. Our inputs went through a lot of trial and error, and we soon realised we would need a lot of resilience to be able to build a piece of art that reflected our own pieces. Eventually, we printed our digital art and, actually, after some restarts, we were happy with the output and the amount of progress we made in giving the laptop the right amount of input to create what we wanted. 

 

Thank you to everyone who attended exhibitions and our brass concert today. The children adore showing off their learning and progress to you and they have beamed all day with delight! We are very fortunate to have such supportive parents. For anyone who could not make it, a video link to  our 'out of hours' exhibition will be uploaded and a link sent home soon. 

 

15/03/24

We've had a lovely week this week, investigating forces and magnets, beginning to produce graphic novels, practising our slang and completing our Roman knowledge; as is the mixed life of #TeamHawks!

 Last Friday we began our new science module all about forces, we started with an experiment investigating how much force we needed to add to everyday class items to move them on a table, the carpet and the grass. The children were amused by this experiment and spent many minutes pushing and blowing pompoms, glue sticks, pencils and rubbers along the grass - often to little or no avail. This week we will further this experimentation with a protractor!

 This half-term one of our PE units has been dance. The children have worked in pairs or small groups to develop dances based on the ocean. These dances are wonderful. The experience has been so enjoyed by us all that on Monday I am going to film them to share with you at Exhibition.

 We have begun to form our graphic novels this week and will continue with these next week too. They are already looking great and the children are totally focused on making them exciting and bright. We can't wait to show them off. To help us add in the correct punctuation, the children have been practising Kung Fu Punctuation. Performing a series of moves, each of which relates to an individual piece of punctuation. We love performing this before we begin writing and then  I get great enjoyment watching the children absent mindedly punching the air when they put a full stop in their writing!

 

08/03/24

Our creative flow has continued this week, with collage, pastels, watercolour, acrylic painting, clay moulding and pencil work - to name a few. #TeamHawks have been in their absolute element and have created masterpieces of Frida Kahlo style portraits with flair, pizzazz and attention to detail. They have really understood the concept of surrealism and encapsulated Frida's style and energy in their pieces We can't wait to show you at our exhibition in a few weeks time.

Fractions continue in maths.  We have understood equivalent fractions and had great fun discovering just how many equivalent half fractions there are! Next we move onto using a fraction as a quantity, and year 4 will begin to convert these into decimals. Mr Stangroom came to see us in the week, to check on our multiplication progress. He was VERY impressed at our ever growing knowledge and at our ability to apply this knowledge away from a direct timetables equation! #Teamhawks are, rightly, quite proud of themselves!

In English we have donned our actors’ mindsets and written short scripts from parts of our book, Queen of Darkness, by Tony Bradman. The children performed these to each other mid-week with gusto,  before drawing out the action as a graphic novel. This has given the children a great start to their graphic novel experience and the pieces look great so far.

On Thursday #TeamHawks celebrated World Book Day. We visited the pond area to look for evidence of small fairy-like creatures. To be honest we didn't think we would find anything like the amazing life-drawing of Charles Van Sandwyk, but we were entirely wrong! There was evidence of fairies everywhere - we even found a wing, a baby fairy's bed AND we believe we saw a camouflaged fairy hiding at the edge of the pond! What a day we had and what beautiful poetry came from our experience. 

 

01/03/24

#TeamHawks have well and truly entered the 'creative zone' within Spring Term. It began last week with product design for our Frida  Kahlo style headbands, it continued with creating the most beautiful headwear and continues still with evaluating our pieces, and time next week dedicated to using our photographed self-portraits into Frida Style surreal portraits using multi-media collage. The team have loved the exploration, discovery and experimentation of colour, materials and creative flow - whilst, of course, immersing ourselves in the sounds of Mexican music. 

In English we have completed our diary entries - these have been full of rich vocabulary about that fateful day in Pompeii. I have been impressed by the children's improvement in writing stamina. They enjoy having the opportunity to show off what they can do - and of course, the opportunity to don the 'spec-S-tacular specs' and proudly read aloud their pieces. 

In maths we have begun to progress in fractions. Year 3 now have a deeper understanding of what a fraction is and how it relates to a whole amount. Next we move onto equivalents (year 3) and converting improper fractions to mixed number fractions (year 4). Our timetables knowledge is also still growing. Year 4 will take their Multiplication Check at the beginning of June. I have been so impressed at their diligence and determination to succeed. We continue to practise tables as a whole class - as this is fundamental to all future maths that comes their way. 

It appears that when I produced the homework sheet, way back in December, I forgot to add a date for handing in (except for the competition) - so any homework can come in from next Friday (March 9th). 

 

23/02/24

This  week we have jumped back into our routine and half-term holidays already feel as if they happened a long time ago! We have been writing our diary entries in English - and I am very much looking forward to marking these over the weekend!

 

We spent some English time this week using dictionaries and thesaurus' to enhance our vocabulary - so that we could build on our #TeamHawks wondrous word-bank. The children really enjoyed this activity, finding words such as: noxious, teeter and perilous. We have added these to our hot writes to add clarity and detail to the feelings and senses possibly experienced by those at Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted. We leave this unit behind now, and focus on our fantasy narrative, based on Boudicca's ill fated attempt to hold back the Romans from Britannia. 

 

In maths we have begun quite a long module on fractions. This did, as it often does; struck fear in the children (mainly year three), but with a little encouragement - and a lot of jazz hands (always useful for teaching fractions)- the children have progressed from fear to interest and dare I say, a little excitement! We are now able to move on from unit fractions to finding them on a number line - moving from the obvious to the abstract - it is important that the children notice that fractions are part of the every day. 

 

We have also launched a DT project this week, designing our headbands - Frida Kahlo style! Today, we make them- whilst listening to Mexican music and thinking about the cultural significance of headwear in Mexico and  the meaning of flowers. 

 

Thank you to those who have begun to bring in homework - the mosaics are incredible!

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

08/02/24

Somehow we find ourselves at half term and half way through the school year! This week has been full of exciting things like a gardening morning, Safer Internet day and geography! 

Last Friday we discovered Frida Kahlo and created the most beautiful double sized artists page all about her. These will be on show at the next exhibition morning . Alongside the art we will now begin, using her style and  ideas. 

Most of the week has had a geographical focus with the children exploring tectonic plates, earthquakes and volcanoes. The children have also delved into the physical features of Campania in Italy - focusing on Mount Vesuvius. We have experimented with tectonic plate action - testing Wenegar's theory that tectonic plates have caused continental drift. We worked together to prove or disprove his theory, by jigsawing the continents together to find out  whether they roughly fit as one land mass. Next, we used plasticine to establish whether, if it was real rock, the sedimentary rock on both sides of the tectonic plate would be a match in structure. The children loved this and have learned so much about the earth, its layers and how it all works together. 

After half term, we will write about Vesuvius erupting using our geographical knowledge. 

Please click on the QR code/ Link to watch our who class volcano experiment (Please excuse my facial expressions)

I hope you all have a lovely and relaxing half term. 

 

02/02/24

As we approach the middle of the school year(!), the #TeamHawks adults have been reflecting on how far the children have progressed since September. They are, by now, a well-oiled machine who understand how #TeamHawks works. They are a 32 person community who learn and progress together. It is often commented on by other school staff how well #TeamHawks work together, how polite they are and how thoughtful they are of staff members. This is learning beyond    academics and makes us all extremely proud. 

Of course the children have also made great strides in their traditional learning too, which was clear yesterday as the children confidently broke down sentences into their component parts. They understood the subordinating and main     clauses, sentence type, embedded clauses and adverbial and prepositional phrases. They could label prepositions, articles, quantifiers, determiners, subjects, verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, proper nouns and adjectives and discussed how some words change their class depending on how they are used in a sentence. Blown away!

Our class focus between now and half term is all things volcanoes! We have surveyed the landscapes of South Eastern England and Campania, Italy, to compare the physical features in both regions. Next week we think about tectonic plates, earthquakes and volcanoes. This aligns with our English focus for the next few weeks which is based on the book, Escape From Pompeii, by Christina Ballit. 

 

26/01/24

This week #TeamHawks have been busy thinking about courage—courage both in their personal experience and courage in Christianity. We shared our own experiences of courage and found that we have often had to overcome some kind of barrier or fear using our courage. We have unpicked the Bible story of Daniel in the Lion's Den and established that faith can help you have more courage when you face adversity. The children have reflected on this, drawing a  portrait of themselves and noting how their own experience and faith helped them in that situation.

This week English has been a little different. The children have been experimenting with the reading comprehension skills - specifically summarising and have learned how to skim and scan text to find answers. We have also learned that we must justify when we make an answer, to ensure that our response is supported by evidence. The children get better at this every time they practise.

Our music lesson continue with gusto, the children are now able to blow and make a sound through their brass instruments - I am eternally grateful to Mrs MacDonald, who patiently assists the children in their music lessons. They are really making great progress! 

We have completed our sound module in Science! The children experimented with pitch and volume last week, measuring decibels and linking this to the pitch of the sound. We have LOVED learning all about sound. After half term, we will look at Forces and Magnets!

 

19/01/24

 

Despite the cold, #TeamHawks have been on fire this week (not literally!) with their learning! 

Last Friday we experimented with sound making ourselves giant pinner or ear flaps, to discover whether bigger ears equal louder sounds - and it turns out they do! They also look rather funny - as you can see from this week's photographs! 

On Thursday we brought together all of our English learning and wrote non-chronological reports about the Romans. We included present perfect tense, possessive apostrophes and fronted adverbials in our writing too. Our reports are great and our Roman knowledge is really rather impressive! Next we move onto writing a diary, with a focus on writing a collective diary showing the changes in Britain that the Roman invasion brought.

We also completed our multiplication and division unit this week - which has been very long! Next we take a quick look at perimeter and area before going into fractions. It is important to state that, the children need as much practise at home as possible with their multiplication tables as this is ongoing learning for them and doesn't come to an end at the end of our multiplication unit. 

As a collective KS2 have been gearing up, though our shared worship, to write to our local MP, Caroline Noakes. The children are supporting the 'Send My Friend to School' campaign and are almost ready to present their points to someone who can help us reach the goal of getting all children safely into education across the world. The children have discussed safety, resources and educational equality over the past few months and are beginning to understand how far reaching the issue is.

I hope you all have a relaxing, warm and cosy weekend!  

 

 

12/01/24

What a busy first full week we have had in #TeamHawks! There has been a lot going on, from full blown column multiplication to Roman Emperors and armies, to sound and hearing! Our learning has been varied and exciting. 

The children are really getting their teeth stuck into the Romans, and are very excited about their new facts and information. We have discovered senates, Emperors, consuls, treachery, Kings, Queens and the odd bit of murder - oh, to be a powerful Roman! All of the information has been delivered with care, and the children have thrived and grown in understanding. Next week the children will use this new information to write a non-chronological report about the Romans, before we turn our attention to how the Romans changed Britain. 

 

The children have also thoroughly enjoyed the start of our new      science topic - sound. They have experienced vibration and sound waves and are keen for today’s experiment!

 

05/01/24

As with all good starts to the new year, Hawk Owls began 2024 with a day trip to Italy. After worship, we moved through the all new 'Barton Stacey Airport', collecting our passports and boarding passes. We strapped ourselves in and took off on a Boeing 747 bound for Rome. Once we arrived, we had a quick tour around with our guide, Italia. She showed us Rome from the air and talked to us about the Coliseum. After that, we made Italian flags from Italian ingredients and then ate our flags - as you do! We spent time unravelling the code which is Roman Numerals, making clocks and working out the date. During the pommerigio, we boarded a second flight to Florence and explored the cathedral and rivers. Next we explored human and physical features around the whole of Italy and stopped for a gelato. Lastly, we learned some of the Italian language and experimented with rolling our r's....what a day it was!

All of this has helped to prepare the children for their new topic all about the Romans. Discovering Italy has helped them to realise the geography, distance, placement and features of the country as it is today - allowing them, eventually, to realise the differences the Romans made as they grew their Empire. 

The children have already written about their Italian experience to kick start their new piece of English learning - a non-chronological report, in a few weeks, the children will create a non-chronological report based on their knowledge of the Romans!

The term has so much in store for us, we are very excited about our project and all the opportunities it is going to offer us.

 

All of the #TeamHawk adults and I would like to thank our families for all of the well wishes, cards and gifts we received at Christmas, all of which were very much appreciated. We wish you all a happy new year and a restful weekend!

 

15/12/23

Goodness me what a busy week we have had in #TeamHawks! Biscuit making and decorating, window decoration painting, quizzing, story reading, card making, Christmas song singing, Christmas dinner eating, DT building and book publishing have all been on our packed agenda! This is considered "down time" as we move towards the end of term and may explain why #TeamHawks are so tired!

This term has been truly wonderful. Those in year three quickly became fully fledged Hawk Owls, and now no longer bat an eye lid at my wacky schemes and crazy ideas - they simply take it all in their stride. The year 4s have taken to their older team member roles beautifully, assisting year 3 in their transition and rolling their eyes at my wacky schemes and crazy ideas! 

The #TeamHawks adults are very excited for Spring Term, where we will discover the Romans, through our project question; How many times a week do you think about the Romans? During our project launch, in early January, we will begin by looking at the country of origin and spending the day tourist-ing around Italy (no passports or suitcases required!)

 

In the meantime, I hope you all have the most wonderful, peaceful and cosy Christmas holiday. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

#TeamHawks

 

01/12/23

Christmas has arrived in Hawk Owls! There has been singing, dancing, creating, drawing, multiplication paperchain making and of course a visit from Saint Nikolaus. 

Learning about German Christmas traditions and the story of Saint Nikolaus, inspired the children to clean their shoes until they shone! There was copious amounts of cotton wool and water, blue paper towels and excitement. The children committed themselves to cleaning and spent a good 20 minutes, rubbing and polishing. Some even retied their laces to ensure their shoes looked as clean and  prepared as possible for a possible Saint Nikolaus visit! This was followed, on Wednesday morning by squeals of delight, wiggly eyebrows of excitement and jumps of joy as the children found Saint Nikolaus had visited them, bringing gifts of oranges and sweets (isn't it a good job they are well behaved!). It was a huge delight to share in this experience with your children - and I understand a few may have started a new tradition at home!

In English this week we have been rewriting the story of 'Cat in the Manger', by Michael Foreman - we have used this text to learn about personification leading us to many a discussion about whether snow can actually dance or whether the world can hold its breath!

We were also fortunate enough to watch the KS1 nativity this week and we would like to thank them all for a wonderful performance - it was magnificent!

 

1/12/23

This week we have brought our project - Has Life Always Been Like This? - to an end. We have looked back on our learning about rocks, light, the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, Augusta Savage, Beethoven, The Commonwealth - and so much more and really discovered the reason why we are feeling so tired - we've have been so busy having fun and learning!  

We have also taken time to answer our project question and decided that no, life has mostly changed a great deal (especially technologically), but lots about life hasn't changed at all. Family, survival, community and sharing our world with nature are all ways on which life hasn't changed, despite the thousands of years between then and now. The children's understanding of what was and what is, is really quite remarkable. We are also very keen to get learning about the Roman's - in our new project,  How Many Times a Week do you Think About the Romans?

Next week we move on to Christmas. In RE we will be thinking about the significance of angels, and we will be using this stimulus to help us with our learning in other areas too and we are really looking forward to watching the nativity too!

 

24/11/23

This week Hawk Owls kicked off with a day full of Iron Age awesomeness! We learned about Iron Age tribes and societies, weaponry, homes, clothing and we learned how to become Iron Age warriors. We used swords, shields and spears. We discovered how chainmail was made and the value of it. We explored the use of furs and bones after an animal has been hunted and we investigated the way hillforts are made. It really was a remarkable day which we will remember and talk about for such a long time to come. We are so grateful to Matt from 'Experience the Iron Age' and really look forward to seeing him again two years from now!

The rest of the week has been a little less involved! We have continued to explore division and multiplication and number generally. Thank you to all those of you who have helped with the 'exploding number' sheet that came home on Tuesday. This has already helped then children. We are doing at least one in school every day between now and Christmas too! We have begun letter writing in English and will continue with this next week. We are writing a letter to ourselves, to give advice on differences between the Iron Age and today! 

#TeamHawks are getting very excited about next weeks exhibitions! We simply can't wait to show to you all with our learning and growth. The classroom is already developing as we unearth the terms learning and add it to our walls and displays! 

 

17/11/23

This week has seen us return to a regular schedule, post Remembrance. We have reflected on last week and are very proud of how well we did at our service. Thank you to everyone who was able to come to school an watch us.

We have begun our new maths learning - Multiplication and Division. I cannot express to you enough, how important it is that your children can secure their multiplication knowledge. Using TTRS, or your own way at home, will now help your child with every aspect of maths they learn for the rest of their primary education and beyond. This unit, and future units, rely heavily on children being able to multiply at speed and draw knowledge of timetables and related division to answer much bigger number questions. Please, practise as much as you can. In English we have taken time out of a writing focus to look at reading comprehension. After year-group sessions, we have had an independent attempt, and so far we are looking good. This will now become a weekly part of our learning as we explore the hidden meaning of text through our reading gems. 

Today we have celebrated Diwali (thank you for keeping my secret). The children have discovered the origin of the Hindu festival, with the story of Rama and Sita, and taken part in traditional celebrations such as making Rangoli from rice and lentils and feasting under twinkling lights. It has been a really special day which we will remember for quite some time. 

 

10/11/23

This week #TeamHawks have been focusing on our Remembrance Service. We began by understanding the origins of the Commonwealth from The British Empire to now. We discovered its nations, big and small, and used Google maps and atlases to map the 56 Commonwealth friends across the globe. We investigated flags, populations and the Commonwealth Charter, comparing this to our British Values. Lastly, we learned about the contribution of Commonwealth nations in times of war and were blown away by the help given to Britain by these nations after World War Two. We looked at the Windrush Generation and uncovered the huge amount of skill and compassion these people brought to us in our time of need. Ultimately, #TeamHawks are enormously grateful for what they have as a direct result of people working together. 

In maths we have come to the end of addition and subtraction and move on, next week, to multiplication and division. This is a long unit taking us up to Christmas and then continues for a few weeks into January. Addition and subtraction have thrown up a few issues with the children's security at adding and subtracting small numbers at speed. They can column add and subtract - understanding the processes- but are often incorrect because they are insecure at taking away or adding single digit numbers at speed - helping with this at home would be really helpful. 

 

3/11/23

Just like that we're back to it and learning new things in Autumn two! #TeamHawks have had a fab week, which has included, modelling ourselves from clay, a hot write, column subtraction, French instructions, tri-golf, football, handwriting, the Beaker people and Bronze Age Britain! 

I can't wait to read the hot writes, which are historical stories based on Stone Age characters living at Skara Brae or Stonehenge - early indicators show great progress from all writers!

Maths this week has been a challenge. After modelling column subtraction with exchanging, Charlie said to me "Wow Mrs Cobb, you just did the unthinkable!" The children felt quite overwhelmed with subtracting using exchanging, and some have found the concept of taking ten and moving it into another column quite difficult. We are pushing on though. We know some learning takes longer than other learning and we know that the struggle makes it all worthwhile in the end! Any help or practise with column subtraction over the weekend would be appreciated (year three with two or three, three-digit numbers, year four with two or three, four or five-digit numbers).

Next week we are going off topic so that we are ready to lead the act of Remembrance for the whole school! We are going to learn about the Commonwealth, this will lead us to think about how as a group of nations we have helped each other over the years. Leading us to think about The Windrush Generation and rebuilding a nation, as we build our Remembrance Service which will take place in the church next Friday. The Remembrance Service is a big part of #TeamHawks and we are proud to be supporting our school and our community with our service. 

 

20/10/23

This week we have been dominated by IT! Over the half term we have worked hard with year three to build their independence in logging on and searching, safely, online for Spelling Shed or TTRS. This week all of the children logged on - without support, finding a brand new website and taking part in an assessment of their knowledge. This was amazing progress. We also learned about internet safety and age restrictions on frequently used apps. We discussed digital footprints and played the Google safety game, Interland, which is an excellent free resource. 

In science we learned about and made amazing fossils. In English we have written beautiful character and setting descriptions for our historical narratives, Mr Stangroom has been so impressed with these, he has asked to read them when they are complete! In math, year three are competent at exchanging when using the formal method of column addition and year four have been nailing missing numbers! Today they will put themselves to the test and try and apply this knowledge to real life context such as when using money, adding weights and calculating quantity. 

 

13/10/23

#TeamHawks have had a wonderful week. Starting with writing the most amazing cold writes in English, based on our trip to Stonehenge. The children used amazing language, showing me their high level of understanding in how Stonehenge may have been built. Words such as Aubrey hole, lintel, Blue Stone, Sarsen Stone, Neolithic and circular ring were included across the board in their introductory writing pieces. What expert-level superstars! 

In maths we have experimented with crossing 10s and 100s in addition and subtraction in year three and will move onto column versions of this shortly. Year four have been manipulating number families to reassert their understanding of how numbers work together through inverse, to allow us to double check our answers systematically. 

On Wednesday afternoon we virtually visited the small Neolithic village of Skara Brae, with the children making links - without prompt - between the housing and landscape we viewed and that which is described in our class text - The Stollen Spear by Saviour Pirotta. This will help our cross curricular learning with setting descriptions in English.

Also on Wednesday we were so fortunate in receiving the most amazing morning of sport thanks to Luke Delahunty and his partner Nerys. The children were amazed by Luke's tales of overcoming adversity and claiming multiple sporting awards and personal bests and were inspired by Nerys' power and passion for sport. #TeamHawks have talked about the experience so much following the experience. 

06/10/23

 

Another week comes to a close as Hawk Owls celebrate what fantastic neighbours they are. Across the week we have completed our RE, performing some excellent short plays about being good neighbours. Who knew there would be so much acting ability in one class! 

This week we have also had the most amazing English lessons, signing into a shared online platform with 125 other schools to write poetry for Remembrance! We did this as individuals and as a huge group. We got to meet and understand the poetry writing process of Laura Mucca and our own poetry is phenomenal - bring tissues to the Remembrance service! 

In math we have moved on from place value and are now learning about addition and subtraction. Year three will soon begin to use columns for addition and subtraction, pre-teaching a little of this at home would be very useful. 

 

In Hawks, spellings are tested on a Friday and times tables on Mondays. Please ensure your child is accessing these via spelling shed/TTRS to ensure that when the test comes around they feel prepared to try their best. At the moment many children are not practising, meaning when the test comes around, they are struggling unnecessarily. Practising these things are part of the home-school agreement. 

 

29/09/23

 

We started the week with an AMAZING trip to Stonehenge. Setting off on the coach with Micheldever, we arrived to a beautiful sunny landscape. We entered the museum and sat, enthralled by the immersive experience. We watched the Winter Solstice sunset, the Summer Solstice sun rise and time pass as Stonehenge was built, from the first ring ditch, to a wooden circle, to the stones you see today. We watched the seasons pass and time move on. After this, we looked around the exhibits and discovered Stone Age people looked much like us. We tried to push one of the stones, and I was convinced they had managed to move it the smallest amount. We visited the roundhouses and shared a picnic in the early autumn sun. After lunch we headed out on he bus to the site itself and were taken on a journey of the stones by Nina and Anne, who were amazingly knowledgeable. Then we sat beside the stones and explored Stone Age burials, looking at artefacts which had been found and what their significance might be. We had an incredible day. 

 

During the rest of the week we have thought about what it is to be a neighbour, using the Good Samaritan to guide us on our RE journey. The children, after being asked to mind map the word neighbour asked me "But Mrs Cobb, do you mean our next door neighbour or how we can be good, kind people?" I was, as you can imagine, blown away by their perception and understanding of our Christian Values. 

 

22/09/23

As we come to the end of week three (!), we look forward with excitement to our first #TeamHawk school trip of the year. Look out Stonehenge! We have introduced ourselves to the stones and a little of their history in preparation and have talked about brand new Stone Age discoveries in a country, close to the hearts of Hawks, Zambia. 

In maths we have continued on our place value journey. The children have been resilient learners, as we have really deepened our understanding of number and experimented with how we can use our knowledge to estimate number placement on scales and number lines with limited information. It has been tricky, but we have come a long way and celebrated the learning journey this has taken us on. 

In English #TeamHawks completed their first 'hot' writing task with gusto and confidence. They have amazed all of the class adults with their commitment to writing the best instructions for making a cave painting. The results are brilliant. 

This week your child came home with two important items. One, a small green card which details their log-ins for Spelling Shed and Times Tables Rock Stars. Their first spellings will be on Spelling Shed today and will be updated every Friday and their tables have been updated for them to practise too. It is expected that these websites are visited for practise 3-4 times a week, however, if you would rather, the information can be taken from the website and practised another way. The second important item, was your child's in class tables test. These happen every Monday, and after marking, the children will bring it home for you to go through with them. This means you can help support them on their tables journey, which is a key learning point in year 3/4. 

 

15/09/23

Week two has been amazing. The children have learned the classroom routines and are we are now deeply immersed in our learning. The children are using historic language to describe the three periods of the Stone Age and they can use their historical skills to check for primary sources, evidence and continuity. 

In maths we have continued to understand the place value of three- and four-digit numbers - we are now experts in this and can apply this knowledge through manipulating a number to change its value by moving its position. 

In English we have dissected How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth and are able to identify the voice of the author, Michelle Robinson. The children can spot the features she uses to add her own style to her writing and have been trying this out for themselves. We have also been using expanded noun phrases to build up our vocabulary and we have thought deeply about imperative verbs at a key stage two level - thinking about them as abstract rather than physical actions. 

This week we also shared our first worship as a key stage. The children joined Eagle Owls in their classroom and listened to a great story, read by Miss Hardy. We are planning a key stage 2 project which will take us up to Christmas. 

08/09/23

Wow what a first week back we've shared! Despite the heat, we have been so busy getting to know each other, discovering what #TeamHawks is all about and exploring life in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic parts of the Stone Age. 

The children have immersed themselves in Stone Age cave art, and on Monday we made our own by first creating paints from natural ingredients and then using them to create hand prints and mammoths. It was very messy but great fun! The children explored the caves and their drawings at Lascaux, understanding that this primary source of history shows us a snippet of what life may have been like. They have also learned about the historical skill of interpretation and understand that without context, we don't know whether these are depictions of daily life or impressions of stories. 

In maths we have begun looking into place value, understanding the value of individual digits in three and four- digit numbers with some of us managing the value of five and six-digit numbers. We will continue with place value, which really is the foundation stone of maths for the next few weeks. 

In English we are instructional writing. Beginning this week with washing woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers, we have quickly established it's all a rather tricky business if you value your arms and legs and actually we'd rather wash a puppy or kitten!

 

21/07/23

Goodness, we have had the most fabulous week. To begin, we received and read our email from our Hawk Owl overseas, Demian. It was so nice to hear about his summer camp, theatre trip, woodland walks and upcoming holiday in the Carpathian Mountains. This children have formed a response which we will send today, wishing him the best summer of fun. 

In class we have learnt about the River Nile and how the Ancient Egyptians used it to their advantage, irrigating channels so that a flooding river could grow wheat and other crops for food. We also looked at wildlife along the river and made maps. 

As we come to the end of the school year, I want to thank all of you for supporting our many activities, for coming in and teaching the children about your passions, for supporting your children in their learning, for helping with the most amazing homework pieces, for supporting me in my teaching journey and for just being an amazing part of our #TeamHawks family.

Today will be a day of mixed emotions. Joy at spending a whole day just enjoying #TeamHawks and a little sadness at the end of a significant chapter. Personal growth is an important part of the children's learning journeys and the class adults have worked hard to prepare the children for the next phase of their journey. They are ready and they are excited but we also know we have something special in #TeamHawks, something truly remarkable, and so for today at least, we will hold it tight and celebrate it. 

Have a wonderful summer holiday however you are spending it. 

Much Love, #TeamHawks. 

 

14/07/23

We have had a wonderful week in #TeamHawks! After a little story writing and a bit of maths we have tuned into our bodies and thought about how unique we are, how amazing our bodies can be and how babies grow. The children have talked openly, with insight and with kindness. We have all agreed that we are pretty awesome!

We have had an influx of pyramids arriving in school. Hawk Owls currently resembles the Valley of the Kings. There have been incredible interpretations and I am so impressed at the work that has gone into creating them. Thank you for your time, effort and support. 

Unbelievably, we only have a week left together. We will spend that week enjoying all that #TeamHawks is about - belonging, community, togetherness and pure joy. 

07/07/23

This week has been super busy as we prepare to welcome you all on Friday morning. We have spent our English time thinking about the British Museum and the ethics behind having artefacts from other places. This culminated in writing speeches on Thursday to persuade others to our viewpoints. Next week we will record our speeches on iPads.

In maths we have been updating our skills from the beginning of the school year. We've recapped estimating, rounding and missing number equations and some of us have been making spirals out of coordinates. Next week we will revisit column addition and subtraction, some multiplication and division.

On Tuesday we wrote an Email to Demian, in the Ukraine and talked for a while, sharing memories and fun things we enjoyed with him. 

We have worked to answer our project question - what drives us to uncover mysteries? We had some amazing responses to do with feelings of curiosity and suspense, temptation and fear. The children understand exactly why we want to uncover such things. 

Thank you to all of those who came to exhibitions, the children loved sharing their work with you. They have worked so hard to on their pieces and getting to show off about their progress and achievements is like the icing on the cake. 

So here we go, two weeks before the school year ends- and we have a lot of fun to have!

 

30/06/23

This week Hawks have been super busy. We have been legitimate fractions geniuses and can not only add and subtract fractions, but we can find quantities of amounts and turn some fractions into decimals AND some of us can turn those into percentages! Honestly - amazing!!

In English we have completed our newspaper articles and spent time typing them up to show you all at exhibition next week. They are wonderful. We have also planted on our class garden and have lots of pepper plants and other vegetable plants to sell at exhibition next week. We have noted that our year long weaving task has become a bit dusty - so next week we will be on 24-hour weaving duty to make sure we can finish it by Friday! 

We have taken part in a few yoga sessions - and the children love it. They are also very, very bendy!  They have enjoyed the meditation process at the start and end of each session and the children ask daily if we will have time to do another session!

Next week we move on to debating in English, thinking about whether or not artefacts found in other nations should be displayed permanently in our museums. After our school trip to the British Museum today (thank you Google maps), we took some time to look at the British Museum map - it didn't mention many rooms about British history and we have found that very intriguing indeed! Thank you to Mr O, who gave us a fantastic presentation about mummifying bodies - rather gory but very exciting!

23/06/23

This week #TeamHawks have completed writing their newspaper articles all about how Finn sailed his boat to find the place where his Grandfather's stories came from - ultimately where the ocean meets the sky. The children have absolutely loved this book, which is called Ocean Meets Sky and was a gift from Pine Class, at Micheldever, given to us at the end of my placement with them. If you are looking for a birthday gift or purchasing early Christmas presents - it is highly recommended! The attached photo is of Miss Spence, who took the role of teacher this week, to read to the class. We have spent our maths sessions focusing on fractions this week. The children have excelled themselves in their determination to crack converting tenths and hundredths into decimals and can also add and subtract fractions that have the same denominator! Despite an initial concern that fractions are "really hard" they have all proved to themselves they are capable and can do it! Professor Thomas, of year four, imparted his extensive fractions knowledge in his group this week. Our tomatoes continue to mummify, and the children are observing their changes over two weeks. They have enjoyed noting the changes in skin, water loss and shape. It has been a really interesting process. In French this week, we looked at the seasons, some of the questions included which months belonged to which season and calling out the months of the year in English and French. It was evident that the children are unaware of which season belong where, with many confusing where winter and summer begin. If you have the chance, practising at home would be very useful!

16/06/23

Wow, what a hot week it's been! To combat this, we have switched to relaxed mode in order to get work done whilst staying cool. The children have handled the heat really well - far better than Mrs de Cani and I! We began the week by mummifying a tomato, as you do! and have observed it across the week releasing all its water. Yesterday we drained them, and now they are beginning to toughen up as the salt does its preserving. The children have really enjoyed this. During the morning we have continued to think about newspaper reports, and we have undertaken some end of year assessments in maths. Yesterday afternoon, to combat the heat we went onto the banks, at school, and sketched local village scenes or the tree canopy above us - the fruits of this labour will be for sale at the village fete on July 1st! Just a reminder about small/hand towels to be in school from next week please!

 09/06/23

Well after a half-term holiday of glorious sunshine, relaxing bird song and long evening meals, we headed into the last half-term of the school year reunited as #TeamHawks. What a week we have had! Completing shape with some symmetry, angles, and 3d property work, learning about the features of a newspaper, understanding the social hierarchy of Ancient Egyptian society and mummifying teddy bears. You will know by now that no weeks pass by in Hawk Owls without some crazy shenanigans and this week has been no different. We spent Thursday, doing a little mummification CPD! We then used our learning, practically and skilfully, to mummify our teddies. We began by purifying the fur, next we made an opening on the left side of the body, before removing the lungs, intestines, liver and stomach - placing these into salted canopic jars for our Pharaoh teddies' journey into the afterlife. After this, we salted the Pharaoh teddies bodies and wrapped them, with great care, in bandages. We added amulets between the layers to protect our Pharaoh teddies. Lastly, we laid them, respectfully, in the sarcophagus' as is heir birth-rite as Pharaohs. Being back with #TeamHawks has been exhilarating. Have a great weekend all!

25/05/23

This week the children have written, published and illustrated their incredible Ancient Egyptian mystery books. They are full of suspense, superb description and engaging plots. The children have worked so hard on creating these masterpieces and it has been a joy seeing their pride in the final results. In maths, we have continued to focus on shape. We have practiced using some very highlevel mathematical terms such as perpendicular, parallel and have learnt the names for lots of 2D shapes. On Tuesday afternoon we spent our time understanding the gods of Ancient Egypt. We successfully linked this new learning to our previous learning about the Viking gods, Anglo-Saxon gods and even Hindu gods. The children made links between groups of humans worshipping multiple gods, each of which have a different focus or ability. The Egyptian gods were very interesting because they mostly had animal heads, which had a direct link to some part of their character, ask your children to tell you about the head of Ra, Sekhmet and Bastet. After half term, I will be back in class as I was before Easter. The children and I are very excited to get back to it! I would like to thank Ms White for all of her hard work, teaching and inspiring #TeamHawks in my absence. The children have been very lucky to be so superbly cared for in my absence.

19/05/23

Another exciting and jam-packed week for #TeamHawks! In English, the children have been honing their writing skills in preparation for writing their Egyptian mystery story next week. We’ve storyboarded and planned our exciting adventures and even designed our front covers ready for starting our potential bestsellers. So, get ready to read ‘Tomb of Terror’, ‘Tomb Runners’ and ‘The Journey of Terror’ amongst many of the titles which you’ll be invited to delve into very soon. In maths, we’ve turned our attention to learning about shape and have spent the week exploring different types of angles and identifying them in 2D shapes. We ended our week making our own model arm as part of our science learning about the human body. We identified the triceps and bicep muscles and by using elastic bands, explored how they contract and relax to help us move. On Tuesday afternoon #TeamHawks finished up our IT module. We have learned all about creating movement, lines and sprites in Scratch and can now programme a short computer game complete with algorithms based on events and actions. To be honest, it’s blown my mind a bit, but we got there. On Thursday afternoon we completed our RE module about devotion, with your children writing persuasive pieces about what they are devoted to. From family to football and cats to baby brothers, we had a huge range of devotions. I have been so impressed with the children’s knowledge about the Hindu Gog of worship – Krishna, and how much information about this cheeky God they can remember.

12/05/23

#TeamHawks have been as busy as ever despite another short week. In English, we’ve turned our attention to story writing as we’ll begin to plan and then write our own Ancient Egyptian narratives next week. In preparation, we’ve been practising writing dialogue and remembering the rules of punctuating speech. We’ve also been looking at the techniques author’s use to build up tension and have practised varying the length of sentences to add drama and suspense. The children’s writing has been incredible and I am so excited to read their finished stories – I think they’ll have me on the edge my seat! In maths, we’ve been applying all our learning about telling the time and the 24-hour clock to calculate time durations and solve some very tricky problems. It’s been fantastic seeing the children drawing on their knowledge and employing their skills so confidently. Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed a brief moment of sunshine and got out of doors. Thanks to many wonderful donations, we have a great deal of plant pots, seeds and a beautiful array of vegetables to grow. #TeamHawks, got to work potting on peppers, watering pak choi and weeding the spring bulbs. Others made bug hotels for our much loved insect population and lots of tidying of our outside area took place. The children worked really hard. To finish the afternoon, we got the opportunity to pull up our carrots, which we planted in September. After giving them a thorough wash, we ate the fruits of a labour and lamented about what great green fingered growers we are!

05/05/23

Despite only being in school for four days this week, we’ve managed to pack a lot in! In English we’ve travelled back in time to November 1922 and imagined that we were Howard Carter, the famous Egyptologist and Archaeologist. We discovered more about his quest to discover the hidden tomb of King Tutankhamun and wrote a dairy entry about his adventure and ultimate discovery of the boy king’s treasure. The diary entries were superb and really showed the rollercoaster of emotions Howard Carter would have felt. As well as learning about Ancient Egyptian Kings, we’ve also been preparing ourselves for our own King’s coronation. The children have worked so hard to learn the Coronation Day song and it has been a joy to hear them perform during the week with such energy and enthusiasm. As part of the celebrations, we have also enjoyed making our own crowns, flags and King Charles portraits. The children have also explored the lives of past British Kings and Queens and ordered them chronologically by making a British monarch timeline and discovered lots of fascinating facts about our rulers of the past.

28/04/23

Team Hawks have had another jam-packed week! In English, the children have been writing diary entries about discovering an ancient Egyptian tomb and finding a hoard of long-lost treasure. Their writing has been superb and we are so proud of their efforts and their writing outcomes. In maths, we’ve continued to focus on time this week but have moved onto learning about the 24 hour clock and converting between this and the 12 hour version. As part of our learning about the Ancient Egyptian civilisation, Hawks have also been studying hieroglyphs and how they are a form of code. We have discovered the Rosetta stone held the key to deciphering the code and because of this discovery, we can now read hieroglyphs. After an awesome hieroglyph treasure hunt, we have used our knowledge of coding and decoding to begin to understand coding within the computer program Scratch. This week we have debugged and learnt how to add an event and action to code our sprite to move. Needless to say, the children grasped this far quicker than any of the adults!

 

21/04/23

What an exciting start we’ve had to our summer term! On Monday, the children were puzzled to find that our classroom had been transported thousands of miles to the land of Egypt where they had the chance to explore an ancient Egyptian tomb. Bravely, all ventured past the cobwebs and spiders and with their trusty torches explored the many ancient treasures within the long-forgotten tomb. This then led us to ask our enquiry question for this term: what drives us to uncover mysteries? We already had so many ideas and it left all the children excited to explore this question further and find out more about the Ancient Egyptians. As we continued through the week we learnt about when the Ancient Egyptians ruled and were amazed to find out just how long their civilisation was around for – nearly 3000 years! We then thought about what questions we have about how the Ancient Egyptians lived and how different their lives were to ours. In maths, the children have been learning how to tell the time using an analogue clock. All have done a fantastic job so please encourage time telling at any opportunity at home so they can show off their skills!