Eagles Class
Class News Autumn Term 2021
17.9.2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
A very warm welcome to Eagles Class! I would like to welcome back the small group of children who were in Eagles Class last year, as well as those many children who have joined our class from across the Key Stage. It has been lovely to see a new group of children beginning to build positive relationships with each other and working cooperatively together - a fantastic year is in store for Eagles, I’m quite sure!
Last week, we were able to spend time together as a class and it was a great opportunity to really get to know each other in many different ways. We created a set of meaningful Class Rules based on our rights and responsibilities in school, some fantastic locker labels which have certainly brightened up the classroom and ‘applied’ for a variety of class jobs (just to name a few of the activities).
We are delighted with the response we have had to the Summer Reading Challenge based on the book, ‘The Boy At The Back Of The Class’. The children enthusiastically continued their learning on the book during our first week back and were thrilled to receive many house points for the work they completed at home. It was wonderful to see the children engaging in reading in a variety of ways, with a special mention to the mouth-watering photos of fruity treats sent in. Many thanks to all of the parents and carers for purchasing copies of the book and supporting this important challenge over the Summer; it is much appreciated by the Upper Key Stage Two team. This has been excellent preparation for the children’s English learning when they moved into their class groups this week.
In a thought-provoking assembly led by Mrs Hartley last Friday, our half term’s value of Caring was introduced. This will be a special focus in our PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) learning over the next few weeks. The children’s teamwork skills were put to the test this week as they were challenged to build a bridge spanning 30cm using only art straws and tape. They got stuck in straight away, proposing innovative ideas to create stable and strong bridges. I was particularly impressed by the collaboration shown by many of the children, ensuring everyone in their team had a role to play in their journey to success.
This week, we launched our theme of 'Light' in Science for this half term. The children were extremely excited to see that a crime scene had been left in the Common Room to launch the theme! After reading about the theft of a laptop and password, the children then planned and carried out a series of investigations to see if they could figure out why lots of the evidence at the crime scene was unreliable. They used a range of equipment, including torches, shadow puppets, prisms and mirrors to explore how light travels and help crack the case!
Eagle of the Week for the last two weeks goes to Isaac and Isabella T. Well done to Imogen and Reggie who have been our Handwriting Heroes and Heroines this week.
Wishing you a fantastic weekend ahead.
Kind regards
Mrs Francis, Miss Cameron & Miss McGoldrick
1.10.2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
A great couple of weeks of learning have taken place since the last email and the children have all settled beautifully into life in Upper Key Stage Two.
Over the last two weeks, we have continued our investigations into light. Last week, the children were amazed by periscopes! After learning about their use in war trenches and submarines, the children made their very own periscopes which they enjoyed using around the key stage to see round corners and above high shelves. We discussed how the light enters the periscope and reflects off two mirrors until it eventually reaches our eyes. This week, we extended that learning further by exploring angles of incidence and reflection. The children investigated the relationship between the angles as a light bounces off a surface; to their amazement, they found that the angles are always equal! Applying this back to our periscopes learning, the children were able to work out that the mirrors in the periscope must have been at an angle of 45 degrees to make a total of 90 degrees in the two angles! Wow - what a great two weeks of physics.
In History we have headed back to Anglo-Saxon times and discovered, amongst other things, that the Angles came from Denmark and the Saxons from Germany. In a lesson that seemed to particularly enthuse the children, we had the ‘gruesome’ task of learning about different types of Anglo-Saxon punishments. The children were astonished to discover that the punishment for killing a slave was only 2 shillings; but if you were caught stealing in those days, a criminal would unfortunately have their hands cut off! We had some excellent discussions about whether we felt Anglo-Saxon ‘trials by ordeal’ were fair and justifiable, and how their laws for punishment compared to Modern Britain.
Wednesday of this week saw our annual celebration of ‘Pobble Day’: a dedicated day to reigniting the children’s love for writing. From this day onwards, teachers are constantly on the look-out for pieces of writing worthy of being published on the Pobble website. The day got off to a flying start, with a memorable assembly from Mrs Smith. Upon hearing that this year’s theme was superheroes, the children were raring to go and write! In their English lessons, they crafted well-thought out pieces of writing, from describing their favourite superheroes to creating their very own. A big well done to all of the children; you should all be incredibly proud of your hard work and creativity.
We are keen to share with you the books your child is reading in school and would also like to be kept up to date with your child's reading habits at home. If you haven't already, we encourage you to download the Go read app, called GoAppsParent on the app store, enter your child's details sent out to you on the letter previously, watch the webinar https://go-read.co.uk/parents/ to learn how to use the app easily including for more than one child. Children will then be able to collect gems which they can trade in for virtual cards every time they read and log books which motivates them to continue reading and logging books.
Eagle of the Week for the last two weeks goes to Heath, Sophia and Brody. Well done to Henry, Rebecca, Mia and Ben who have been our Handwriting Heroes and Heroines this week.
Wishing you a lovely weekend ahead,
Kind regards
Mrs Francis, Miss Cameron & Miss McGoldrick
15.10.2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
Thank you so much for all your engagement in your children’s learning over the past couple of weeks. It was lovely to see so many of you at Eagles Class Assembly last week – I was so proud of the children and how they performed in front of a ‘live’ audience, as I’m sure you were. In addition to this, it was a great opportunity to talk to many of you yesterday evening at the Learning Review Meeting and I hope you found this helpful.
In Geography we have been looking at ‘Natural Resources’ – who would have thought that this would be such a topical news subject when it was planned? Children began by considering what some of Britain’s natural resources are including geological resources such as coal, petroleum, natural gas and limestone to name just a few. Atlases were then used to label maps of Europe to show where the coal and gas used in Britain comes from. Children thoroughly enjoyed using our new chrome books to identify clean and renewable natural resources used to produce electricity (such as wind turbines), and to discuss the pros and cons of their use.
French lessons have seen us spending some time reviewing our previous knowledge – such as saying hello, how are you, what’s your name, colours, describing food etc – as well as learning French phonemes which will help us with our reading and writing. Maybe you could ask your children how to pronounce the following phonemes (and the animals associated with them!): oi, eu, ou, ch. I have been so impressed with the children’s engagement in the lessons; their language learning has been truly ‘formidable’!
Last week, we celebrated biology week in school with a 'plant' theme. The children all took part in a planting activity with winter bedding plants; we are excited to see how they grow over the winter and into the spring. We also used our reading skills to learn about adaptations of succulents and cacti; the children were great at applying their echo-reading skills to a non-fiction text in base classes and then playing a 'true or false' game to test their retrieval skills. This week in science, the children continued to learn about light; focusing on the functions of different parts of the eye and how light is perceived.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those children who have completed all homework set since the beginning of term. Their hard work at home certainly has not gone unnoticed! Two pieces of Mathematics (on My Maths) and two pieces of English (on Literacy Planet) are set every Friday for the children, with the expectation that all four pieces are submitted by the following Wednesday. Completing this learning away from the classroom is crucial to helping your child consolidate and extend their knowledge. If you are experiencing technical difficulties and your child has been unable to complete all of their homework on time, we ask that you communicate this with us via your child’s planner. Thank you for your support in continuing your child’s learning at home.
Eagle of the Week for the last two weeks goes to Sophie B and Ben. Well done to Zach, Elsa, Jessica and Louis who have been our Handwriting Heroes and Heroines these past two weeks.
Wishing you a great weekend ahead together,
Kind regards
Mrs Francis, Miss Cameron & Miss McGoldrick
5.11.2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
It was lovely to see the children return after their half-term break refreshed and ready for another half-term of great learning opportunities! This week, we have completed some assessments in English and Mathematics and I have been so impressed with the hard work, perseverance and concentration shown by the children. Well done everyone!
In Geography we have started a new topic of learning about the world’s biomes, a term some children were already familiar with due to a keen interest in Minecraft! The children were blown away by breath-taking footage of tropical forests, vast deserts and the snow-clad tundra. Given a specific biome to research in groups, the children became experts about its climate, animal population and vegetation before ‘speed dating’ other children in the class to pass on their learning. They were then able to apply their knowledge by sorting the different biomes into several categories: near the equator, found in Africa and those that store oxygen, to name a few. I’m sure the children would agree when I say what a truly magnificent world we live in.
This half term in Computing, we are learning all about cryptography: the study of sending communication secretly and securely so that it cannot be intercepted. This week, the children looked at communicating using semaphore, where two coloured flags are held up in different positions to symbolise each letter of the alphabet. This method of communication was often used on ships to communicate across long distances but, unfortunately, once the code was cracked and an interpreter knew which flag position related to which letter, secret messages could be read! In the upcoming weeks, we will be looking at more communication methods and how they can be made even more secure!
In Music, we have started to look at some classroom jazz music. The children have been really good at appraising the music this week; talking about things they liked and what the music reminded them of. The children then applied their glockenspiel and percussion skills to play some of the notes in part of the song. We are very excited to see how their musical talents develop in the coming weeks.
Finally, as part of our reading strategy, the Bedrock App (https://app.bedrocklearning.org/) is used every week in school with the children to encourage the important acquisition of new vocabulary. We then try to use the new vocabulary in our writing and encourage children, as always, with lots of house points and rewards. For maximum benefit, it is really important that children complete a minimum of two sessions per week, one of which forms part of their weekly homework. We would therefore like to encourage children to make this a key part of their homework learning each week – we will, of course, reward those children who are going above and beyond with their vocabulary learning both in the classroom and in celebration assemblies. The login details for children can be found in their planners.
Eagle of the Week for last week goes to Elsa. Well done to Isaac B, Sylvie, Jacqueline and Evan who have been our Handwriting Heroes and Heroines these past two weeks.
Wishing you a safe, happy and relaxing weekend ahead together,
Kind regards
Mrs Francis, Miss Cameron & Miss McGoldrick