Falcons Class

Class News Autumn Term 2025

12.9.25

Dear parents and carers, 

Welcome everyone to Falcons Class! It has been an absolute pleasure to be with the children over the last few weeks and to hear all about their wonderful summer adventures. Already there has been kindness aplenty – they really are a lovely class! As well as spending time in their base class, the children have settled in brilliantly into their English and Mathematics classes and I know there has been great excitement in starting our new text in English – Journey to Jo’burg. 

Our History topic for the term is ‘The Atlantic Slave Trade’ and we began the topic by listening to some evocative slave songs and then considering the definition of a slave. We thought about the fact that slavery has existed throughout history in many different cultures, looking at primary sources from Ancient Greece and Rome. Children were then presented with a series of pictures taken from the time of the Atlantic Slave Trade and, thinking like historians, we considered what we could see in the pictures, what might be happening and what questions we had arising from the pictures. Children were really engaged in their learning and are very keen to learn more about this important topic. 

In Geography we have started our new topic for the half term – investigating rivers. We started by recapping our knowledge on the water cycle, something children would have been familiar with during their science learning in LKS2. The children enjoyed creating their own diagrams to explain the process of the water cycle and included key vocabulary such as precipitation, infiltration and condensation. Ask your child if they can explain the process to you! Next week, we’ll be investigating rivers further as we look at how rivers erode, transport and deposit materials.  

Our topic for this half term in Science is light and we will be exploring the Big Idea that 'Objects can affect other objects at a distance'.  We had a very exciting start to our learning as we carried out an experiment to prove how light travels.  Using a torch as a light source and several pieces of card with a small hole in the centre, we were able to prove that light rays can only travel in a straight line.  We recorded our findings by drawing and labelling a diagram of our experiment and then wrote up our findings making sure to include lots of key vocabulary.  Amazing scientific learning from all the children, well done everyone!

It has been great to see the children coming into the classrooms well prepared for their learning. In addition to the basic equipment, we would also appreciate all children having a whiteboard pen, green biro and glue stick to hand for each lesson; if children have run out of any of these pieces of equipment, they can be bought from Mrs Francis’ ‘shop’ at very competitive prices!

Falcons of the Week are Demi and Arlo. 

Handwriting Hero and Heroine are Kornel and Lilly. 

Wishing you a really wonderful weekend with your lovely children, 

Mrs White 

 26.9.25

 10.10.25

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a wonderful few weeks we’ve had in UKS2! The children have done fantastically well this week during our assessment week. The children tackled papers with determination and enthusiasm and are eagerly awaiting their results. These will be shared with the children next week. Throughout the assessments, we have reminded the Year 5 children that they are just at the start of their journey towards SATs and so these assessments are purely to give a baseline for the teachers.

 The children have been enjoying nurturing and caring for our array of plants in UKS2. These were planted during the first week of term and the children have delighted in seeing their first spinach and kale leaves form which will be happily devoured by our guinea pigs.

We have also been embracing nature in our art lessons, as children have been researching about the life and work of Antoni Gaudi. The children were fascinated to learn how he was inspired by nature, studying things like trees, bones and shells to design his structures. This research helped them understand how natural forms can influence creative work, sparking some excellent discussions about organic shapes and design.

Our Geography lessons have taken a creative turn. To consolidate their learning about the water cycle, the uses of rivers and the problem of pollution the children began the planning process in order to write imaginative diary entries from the viewpoint of a water droplet. This approach made complex concepts like condensation and evaporation relatable and will allow them to express their understanding in a fun, narrative way.

We dove into human biology this week, focusing on the fascinating structure of the eye in science. The children did a truly fantastic job of identifying and labelling the different parts, from the pupil and iris to the retina and optic nerve. They showed impressive concentration and accuracy, demonstrating a solid grasp of how this vital sense organ works.

Finally, we celebrated finishing our first full English text, "Journey to Jo’burg," which was a powerful and moving experience. The story provided an important introduction to the historical injustice of Apartheid in South Africa. The children showed wonderful empathy when writing a deeply reflective diary entry from the main character Naledi's point of view, helping them to connect personally with the themes of courage and equality.

Falcon of the Weeks have been awarded to Poppy and Alex. Handwriting Hero and Heroine has been awarded to Ethan and Esther.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend with your lovely children,

Mrs White 

 24.10.25

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know the children this half term. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing new friendships formed, existing ones strengthened and seeing children celebrating various successes in their learning. I’m a very proud teacher of the wonderful Falcons Class.

In computing, the children have been learning all about online systems including investigating how Amazon creates efficient processes to help in the day-to-day running of their business. We put our skills to good use by developing our own system at Lark Rise – our digital library. The children have thought about how to improve our current system so it is user-friendly and books can be quickly logged back into the library. To help with this, the children have learnt how to create and share Google Forms, how to use formulas in excel to interpret the data and they also created wonderful posters and videos explaining how the book return system works. We’re excited to launch this and the Reading Ambassadors are already excited to use the data to suggest future book purchases to Mrs Lang. 

In history, the children have been thoroughly captivated in our learning on the transatlantic slave trade. We will continue to learn about this important topic next term but we ended this half term with researching and then creating a factfile on the life and experiences of Harriet Tubman. Ask your child to explain why she is so important and about her incredible bravery and determination. We have been so impressed with the children and their maturity and sensitivity when learning about this important topic. 

In science, we ended our learning on light with a carousel of science experiments, where the children were about to see refraction in action. This was part of our celebration of Biology Week, where we were inspired by Mrs True’s wonderful assembly to kick-start the week. We have all really enjoyed this topic and the children have created wonderful pieces of work to share their learning, really showing their ability to work scientifically. We look forward to more science next term!

In art, the children enjoyed working in groups to complete Trencadis designs, which were made famous by Antonio Gaudi. The children used mosaic tiles to create a nature-inspired piece of work.  We then used these creative skills to think about how we could redesign our key stage block. We were blown away with the children’s creativity and we definitely have some budding architects. 

This week we started rehearsing for our class assembly which takes place on Friday 21st November at 9am. The children have a script but there is no need for them to know their lines off by heart. Our first rehearsal was fantastic - I can’t wait for them to share it with you. 

Homework for the half term has been set on Google Classroom in Falcons Base Class. The children have been tasked with creating a poster promoting someone who has made a significant impact in the black community. This ties in really lovely with both our English and History work and is part of our celebrations around Black History Month. 

Falcon of the week is Harleigh and handwriting hero and heroine are Oliver and Ella.

Wishing you a wonderful half term break with your children.

Mrs White 

 14.11.25

Dear Parents and Carers, 

We are all firmly back in the swing of life in UKS2 following the half term break. It has been lovely to hear all about the children’s exciting adventures with you all. 

In computing, the children have been very excited to start our new topic – video production. We have started to look at the various features of videos and have then delved deeper into the different camera angles and the effect of these on the viewer. We then analysed the differences between genres of videos and discussed how features such as font and audio can be used to appeal to different audiences. The children have already started to work on our end point – creating a seasonal video! I have been really impressed with their creativity and can’t wait to see their finished videos. 

In English, we have all been captivated with our new book – Skellig, by David Almond. The children have been working on developing their impressions of various characters as well as using their prediction skills to decipher what is the strange thing that is living in Michael’s garage. Ask your child to explain what has happened in the story so far. I’m sure you’ll be just as gripped as we are! We were also excited to take part in Michael Rosen day, with the children joining in on a live lesson with one of our favourite authors. This was a really special lesson as the children have looked at various Michael Rosen texts throughout their time at Lark Rise, with Chocolate Cake being a very firm favourite! 

In science, we have started our new topic on electricity. In our first lesson, the children researched and reviewed key topics including what electricity is, different types of circuits and how and why static electricity is created. 

We have also enjoyed celebrating Anti-Bullying week, with the children joining in on a live lesson which got them to think about different scenarios as well as thinking about what they can do to avoid being bystander. 

We just wanted to give a reminder about charging Chromebooks. We’ve noticed that we have a growing number of children that are regularly coming into school with their Chromebook uncharged. We understand that sometimes they might forget to do this, but please do try to remind your child to do this. While we have a few spare Chromebooks for children to use if their Chromebook is faulty, we do not have enough for children to be using if their device is flat. Thank you for your help with this. 

Handwriting Hero is Gabriel and Heroine is Emily. Falcon of the week is Oliver. 

Finally, just a reminder that our class assembly is on Friday 21st November at 9am.  Some children have asked about getting various costumes. Please do not buy anything! There is no need to wear anything different from their school uniform and if they do want to wear a costume to get into character, they can wear something they already own. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, 

Mrs White

 28.11.25

Dear parents and carers, 

Apologies for the delay in sending this to you. I was having a wonderful time getting the classroom festively decorated for the children for Monday morning. 

There’s a definite festive feel to the key stage! Over the last few weeks, we’ve started to work on our Christmas performance that will take place at the DCC in Dunstable - more details to follow. The children are doing a wonderful job learning the lines to our class poem and the songs are sounding fantastic already - I’m sure you’ve heard all about their favourite donkey song!

It was fantastic to see so many supporters at Falcons class assembly. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them take to the stage and deliver their lines with confidence. Performing in front of an audience is not for everyone. I wish you could have seen the backstage magic where they all supported each other and encouraged the children that were feeling a bit nervous. They really are such a wonderful group of kind and caring children.  

The children have enjoyed starting our new topic in geography, where they have been learning all about biomes and climate. This week, the children created posters to show how all three biomes are affected by greenhouse gases. They also included suggestions on how we can save these biomes from the threats they are facing.

In history, after a fantastic live lesson on the history of Harewood House in Yorkshire, the children have been learning about how the slave trade was abolished. We have learnt about influential figures such as Wiliam WIlberforce and the children enjoyed thinking and debating about which were the most striking reasons people gave to parliament to keep and to abolish the slave trade. 

Last week, we all enjoyed taking part in Maths Week, organised by Mrs Shilvock. The day started with an exciting TTR assembly and throughout the week, the children took part in fun maths learning activities outside, battled in a TTR competition and they also worked in teams to create board games for children in KS1. They all thoroughly enjoyed having the children over to our key stage to play the games. 

Falcon of the Week is Archie and Handwriting Hero and Heroine are Stefan and Monika. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend with your wonderful children, 

Mrs White