Little Acorns- Rainbow Potions and Planting
The children at Little Acorns have been making their own rainbow potions made from coloured water, glitter and flower petals. They have also been planting cucumbers, sunflowers, primroses and pansies to make our garden look pretty. We hope the cucumbers will grow to be nice and juicy so we can enjoy them at snack time!
The children in Foundation had a fantastic afternoon learning all about capacity. We had a ‘capacity race’ and moved the liquid from one container to the other. We collaborated and supported our team mates. We used key vocabulary such as ‘full’, ‘half full’ and ’empty’.
Well done Foundation! 🙂
Fir Class have really embraced Forest School this half term. They have been learning new skills and also carrying out a range of science based activities as a follow up to Science Week.
This afternoon, Year 4 have been learning about and creating their own ocean food chains. The children were investigating the predator/prey relationship and learnt how green plants turn energy from the sun into food.
Foundation had a fantastic time during their PE lesson. They used tweezers to develop their fine motor skills and collaborated with their friends to collect the ‘dinosaur eggs’ and sort them into the ‘nests’. The children used their problem solving skills to move the eggs carefully and quickly. We then played a game of ‘hungry dinosaurs’. The children sat in a circle and took in turns to collect as many eggs as possible. We used our subitising skills to see who had collected the most eggs.
The dinosaur themed learning continued this afternoon in Foundation! We experimented with some frozen dinosaur eggs. The tiny dinosaurs were encased in the ice and we used different tools to free them. We predicted that the eggs would melt quickly if we poured the warm, soapy water over them. Our hypothesis was correct and we had freed all 6 dinosaurs in no time! We then had a go at using some metacognition to explain our hypothesis and debated with our friends!
Ash and Beech have had some very exciting visitors this week. On Monday, an incubator arrived with 10 chicken eggs. The incubator kept the eggs warm and we watched as the chicks started to hatch from their eggs. The chicks started off looking rather soggy but soon warmed up and got very fluffy! We learnt all about the life cycle of a chicken and shared our own knowledge with our friends. We linked this in with our learning for science week. We learnt that the orange/brown chicks are females (hens) and the yellow chicks are males (cockerels).
When the chicks were dry and strong, we moved them to the brooder box with a special heat lamp to keep them warm. The chicks huddle together to keep warm.
We used the chicks as inspiration for our literacy writing and wrote some independent sentences about the chicks. We used some of our fantastic adjectives and were resourceful by using the vocabulary wall. We loved challenging ourselves to up level our sentences and encouraged one another to be resilient.
We also developed our oracy skills by debating! We used the question ‘are eggs alive?’ as our hook. We discussed our ideas and decided that not all eggs are alive as you can eat chocolate eggs! We used some fantastic metacognition reasoning to elaborate and justify our opinions. We then extended our learning even further by discussing some statements. We found ourselves in a cognitive conflict but collaborated as a team and got out of the learning pit!
On Thursday, we got to have chick cuddles! We were very careful and patient with the chicks and loved holding them.
The children at Little Acorns have really enjoyed our most recent topic- Dangerous Dinosaurs! We have discovered interesting facts about herbivores and carnivores! Became palaeontologists as we dug for dinosaur fossils in the sand! We have explored frozen dinosaur eggs! We have built our own dinosaurs from junk modelling! What an exciting topic!
Year 6 have been enjoying Science Week this week! At the beginning of the week, we tried an ‘Odd One Out’ activity. We had to look at the similarities and differences between three pictures and then discuss which one we thought was the odd one out and why. Another activity we tried was ‘Zoom In, Zoom Out’ in which we saw a picture of something zoomed in and after each ‘zooming out’, we had another guess as to what it might be thinking carefully about the appearance, texture, colour etc. Here are some of the guesses we had:
Our final activity for Science Week was to create a ‘Robo-bug’. We had to think very carefully about the ‘why’, or the purpose, of the robot and then design it focusing on the features it would need to achieve its goal. Here are some of the designs.
This week is Science week and today we looked at pictures and discussed what we thought was going on in them. In one of the pictures, we thought that a group of people were dancing and we talked about what is different about the dancers, how children might dance compared to adults and how bodies move. We listened to a variety of music types and even had a dance with Mr Quint! It was lots of fun! 
As you know, this week is Science week and year 5 turned into scientific investigators yesterday to learn about the reproductive parts and functions of a flower. Have a look at the pictures below:
For one of our activities in science week Year 2 have been having discussions about the odd ones out!
They had to look at the 3 images and discuss as many similarities and differences as they could. They thought about:
- appearance
- what they do
- where they might be found
Then, as a class we decided which one is the odd one out and why. The class thought about justifying all of their answers … there was no wrong answer! Palm class then had a go at creating their own.
Year 2 have been investigating how the level of water in a glass bottle or jar affects the sound made when either tapping the glass with a pencil, blowing across the top of the bottle or running a wet finger around the rim.
They have been making predictions about how they think the water will effect the sound and finding out how full the bottle or jar must be to make a high-pitched sound or a low-pitched sound.
Here are some photographs of some of their experiments as well as their findings.
This afternoon, year 3 began their new topic of Rocks, Relics and Rumbles. We became geologists as we studied a range of rocks to find out if they were metamorphic, sedimentary or igneous. We first used our excellent observations skills on the rock’s appearance, then we used wire to investigate if the rock was hard or soft. Finally, we used pipettes to drop water to test if the rock was permeable or impermeable. All of these tests led us to discovery the rock type. We had a lot of fun and we’re excited to learn more about our topic.
Foundation have been very busy this week! We have been learning all about 2D and 3D shapes in our maths learning. We went on a shape hunt, created some shape pictures and even challenged ourselves to create repeating patterns. In phonics, we have been practising our tricky words. We extended ourselves using our oracy skills to put the tricky words into context! In literacy, we have been learning about the North and South Poles! We made some beautiful pictures and labelled them. We have also been creating our own winter themed songs and used our metacognition minds to challenge ourselves in all areas of our learning. Some children had a go at redrafting their work to make it even better! We have really enjoyed our Cornerstones topic “Starry Night” and this week, we completed some interesting ice experiments! We even wrote our hypothesis (vocabulary word)! Well done Foundation for your amazing enthusiasm, eagerness and positive attitude towards your learning. You are superstars and we are so proud of you!
We watched a video to celebrate and reflect on all of our brilliant learning. Here is a short snippet:
A huge thank you to all of the parents and carers of Ash and Beech for your continued support! Have a lovely half term! 🙂
Have a look at our incredible learning below:
Wow, another fabulous week in Foundation. In our cornerstones learning we have discussed how we see the moon. We loved getting our hands dirty to create the texture of the moons surface.
We have really enjoyed reading our up-levelled ‘Dear zoo’ story map. The children loved using the vocabulary ‘quickly, immense and stretchy’. The children are extremely proud of their performances.
The children have worked incredibly hard to produce their own narrative writing. They have written the ‘Dear zoo’ story using their own ideas.
We have been working hard in Year 6 this week. Not only have we introduced some new skills (in PE and Computing), we have also been embedding some already known skills.
In P.E., we have been using netball as our focus game. This week we were trying to attract the attention of our team mates – without alerting the opposite time. This can be quite tricky! We were also reinforcing our passing skills – using the chest pass and bounce pass.
In Computing, we have been using data from the voyage of the Beagle to create line graphs. These line graphs showed the distance of the Beagle from its home port.
We have also been applying our literacy skill in our SOLE sessions. We had a may to create a poem about the Galapagos. Here are two examples:
Finally, in Science, we have been studying evolution and adaptation. One part of this involved looking at how a specific animal had adapted over time. One of our favourite activities was our beak investigation. Inspired by Charles Darwin’s research on Chaffinches, we experimented with different tools and seeds to see which worked best.
I hope you enjoyed looking at some of what we have done this week.
This week the children have been learning about teeth as part of our work on Bile, Bottoms and Burps.
They have been looking at the structure of a tooth as well as learning about the different types and their functions.
They made collages, posters and fact files of their new learning. Now they are ready to carry out scientific investigations about the teeth relating to PSHE- learning how to keep teeth healthy.
Watch this space for the science investigations carried out next week!
For the Hook day, we had an exciting time learning about the digestive system- including the names of each part such as the oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestines as well as the rectum and anus. We learnt how the food enters and moves through our body.
We carried out an investigation to show the journey and we made “poo” !!!
We also made models of the digestive system and posters to reinforce our new learning.
Then we used our IT skills to explore Curioscope – an app which maps 3D views of the internal organs of the body.
By the end of the week, we journaled the Hook and wrote reflections on our new learning including the Learning Values that supported us to achieve!
We have loved learning about the weather and had great fun today learning about Sir Francis Beaufort. He was responsible for inventing a wind scale to help sailors. We were wind detectives and looked for clues in a series of pictures, working out whether it would be safe at sea. Have a look at a few of the pictures and see what you can spot.
We then went outside to the pirate ship and re-enacted how we might stand and move if the wind suddenly became stronger when we were at sea. The children worked hard at using facial and body expressions to show how they would feel.
We are over a week into our remote learning for some children and Year 4 are showing what resilient and resourceful learners they can be! This term’s topic -Burps, Bottoms and Bile! – has got off to a rather gruesome start looking at the digestive system.
Here are some of the things they children have produced to show they learning.
Ash and Beech class have been working incredibly hard in their new bubble. Miss Redwood and Miss Banning have been extremely proud of all the Foundation children’s resilience and enthusiasm this week.
This week we put on our wellies and went on a fantastic nature walk. We discussed nocturnal animals and looked at these animals in more detail. We really enjoyed learning about one more and one less in our maths lessons. The children loved collaborating to represent one more/one less in a tens frame.
The children enjoyed seeing Miss Banning on the ‘big screen’ and playing a game with her. They told her about their week in school with Miss Redwood and what they did for Christmas.
Well done to all of Foundation for a fantastic week!
We have learned an incredible amount during our computing lessons this week.
We used the Chromebooks to create tables to record the data from our science investigations in. Later, we used Google Slides to create a presentation about everything we have learned during this topic. We can now insert images, change the back ground, add extra slides, change the font and more. Most importantly, we can now share our work with Mrs Jeffery and our friends.
Some of us chose to create our won slides all about Christmas during SOLE.
Palm class had fun with glitter today. We did an experiment using glitter as germs to see how easily and quickly germs spread.
One person in the group had glitter on their hands. Everyone then did activities such as colouring and clapping and then we had a look to see how the glitter had spread.
We found that germs spread quickly spread between all the children, over the floor and onto what we were using. Glitter even ended up on our soap dispenser!
Great fun was had by everyone and the classroom is looking very sparkly!
In Foundation, we have been creating circuits. The children have used different components to create circuits. They really enjoyed making the bulb light up and developing their understanding. The children loved answering questions about why things were/weren’t part of a working circuit.
Today in Year 3, we used force metres to measure the magnetic forces of our magnets. We recorded our results into a table to help us remember which magnets were the strongest and which magnets were the weakest. I wonder if you were surprised by how strong magnets can be?
This week, we started our new topic- Mighty Metals! To introduce our topic, we investigated what forces were needed to make different apparatus on the fit trail move. We discussed that our legs were doing most of the hard work pushing and pulling to make the fit trail move. We even found a piece of equipment that required us to twist! What objects around your house need a force to move? Can you identify which force it is?
As a part of our topic ‘Tomorrow’s World’ we experimented with circuits today.
We reminded ourselves what a simple circuit was (including series and parallel circuits) and then had a go at building our own.
The challenge was, to create a circuit where we could alter the output. Someone suggested that if we added in a second bulb, this would make the light given off dimmer – altering the output. Someone else suggested adding a second battery to make a motor go faster – altering the output.
Yesterday in Oak class, we explored the Fit Trail as part of our Mighty Metals science topic. When we were exploring the trail, we were thinking about metals, forces and magnets. The children were discussing how they think the playground equipment moves.
Have you ever thought about how playground equipment moves whilst you were at a play-park?
This week (and last), in Ebony class we are covering learning that was missed as a result of lockdown.
One of the things we have been looking at is algorithms. These are basically sets of instructions that can be given to a computer or robot. We used the beebot app, giving the beebot sets of instructions to move about an increasingly complex map without making any errors. Sometimes we made errors and had to re-write our algorithms.
We have also been studying Galileo Galilei and the impact he had on the whole world. We learnt about the discoveries he made, as well as how this information was received by the wider world.
Lastly we looked at some apsects of our solar system including: why we have day and night, how the earth rotates, how the earth orbits the sun and how we are moving through space.
Here are some examples of our work:
Last week, and some of this week, Year 5 have revisited a unit of learning – Playlist- from the lockdown period. This is to ensure children have understood some of the main pieces of knowledge that may have been missed from this learning journey.
So far this term the topic ‘Frozen Kingdom’ has really grabbed Ebony class.
We have been studying many aspects of the Arctic and Antarctic including adaption, evolution, climate change and icebergs. We are now looking forward to studying the Titanic and what went wrong.
Some amazing homework has already started to come in as can be seen from the pictures.
What a busy start to the term! It is obvious that the children are glad to be back – they have shown such a great attitude to learning – even in these tricky times.
Here are some of the things we have done over the past two weeks:
We have been revisiting the Compass for Life – looking at our North Star and how we are going to get there.
We have been learning more about the Zones of Regulation and how we can get back into the Green Zone so that we can perform as efficiently as possible.
We have been writing letters to our future selves – explaining what lockdown has been like and how we are feeling about the next year.
We have started our new topic ‘Frozen Kingdom’. We have already started studying icebergs – including a real life example – to see how they act in the water.
I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Here is a glimpse into what the group with Mrs Jeffery has been up to over the last week.
We worked on our collaboration skills. Some of us made musical instruments whilst other choreographed a dance and sang to accompany the musicians. Later we performed it.
Some of us took a closer look at predators. Some children created their ultimate predator by combing more than one.
We also spent some time building time machines. Later we used the chrome books to label the different parts and write about where we would go and why.
We all loved singing a song about the continents. we sang this over and over and over. We will never forget it now and neither will Mrs Jeffery. Later, we made power points about the different continents, drew our own muddled up maps and found different creatures that live on each continent.
We have also enjoyed playing ladders in P.E.
We love see what you have been up to. It is wonderful to see so many of you completing the Google Forms. Please do keep sharing your learning with us through photos or sharing your documents online.
Here is a science project carried out. They thought carefully about the type of scientific enquiry they might do (observation, research or a test)
Learning about parts of a plant.
Learning about flowers.
Creating a glossary to help with using scientific words in an extended write.
Matching words to their meaning.
Finding features of fiction books.
We have been blown away by the incredible effort our Year Two children have been putting into their learning at home. They are working hard with their maths using the Google Forms, using scientific vocabulary in literacy and carrying out lots of science as part of their SOLE work. Please do keep sending in your wonderful photos.
Lots of children have been working hard at home on our new topic ‘Wiggle and Crawl’. I have really enjoyed seeing the photos of your learning and hearing about the adventures you have been on in search of mini beasts. I’m very proud of the hard work an effort you are putting in. Keep it up.
Year 2 you are incredible.
It is great to see that so many of you have thrown yourselves into our new topic. It’s a shame the weather has turned as it’s a great one for being outdoors.
I love how creative some of your are being at home with your maths and making patterns. Some of you have made pooters ready for all your bug hunting and lots of you are already learning lots of awesome facts.
Have a look below at different word classes some people have been sorting after going on their bug hunts.
What’s the best minibeast you have found so far?
Please keep sharing your learning with us. We love to see what you have been up to.
Some of our home learning has been based around boats. We asked you to have a look at images of boats to find what they are made from and then test some of these material so see why they would be useful to make a boat.
We have enjoyed looking at the activities you have all been up to and the wonderful effort everyone is putting in. There have been its of creative ways of learning being demonstrated.
Here are some of the images and learning that you have sent in for your material investigations.
Today Year Two made predictions about what would happen when ice that was different colour would melted. What do you think will happen?
We will be using what we learn to help us with our up coming art work.
This week, year 1 and 2 have been helping to get the pond ready for its liner. This mostly involved moving stones out the was to prevent it from being punctured and getting it ready for levelling by the Year 6 children.
Years 1 and 2 have been doing lots of work on plants. They have been learning how to draw them in the style of Georgia O’keeffe. They have learnt language used to describe them and then used this to help them identify different plants. They even used their sorting skills to classify different leaves.
Written by Green Team Members.
Today, the Green Team were weeding in the vegetable patch and pulled up a reddish. It isn’t fully grown but it is still edible. It can grow to the size of a gold ball as it turns into a sphere shape.
We also looked in on how are pizza patch is growing and were happy the tomatoes are getting nice and tall.
Year One put their water squirts to the test today. We all came up with a set of rules and then the competition began to see whose would squirt the furthest.
This afternoon Year 5 have carried out a variety of investigations involving forces. They have learnt about air-resistance, gravity, friction, magnetism as well as pushes and pulls.
Look out in the spring for some lovely colourful flowers. Green Team worked hard in their lunch time today to plant some bulbs given to us for free from Bulbs4Kids.
This afternoon Year 1 ventured outside into the woods to make self portraits. We then worked together to make a model of our bodies. We will be using these during the first term next year, when we will learn more about parts of the body and our senses.
Over the last few weeks we have watched our tiny caterpillars grow and change. Now they are wonderful Painted Lady butterflies and we have let the into the big wide world.
Today, year 3 have spent most of their day researching about and investigating rocks. We had a carousel of activities including: making a game on scratch, making a poster about sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks, observational drawings and finally a scratch test to test which rock would be the best to make a statue for Willy Wonka!
We’re going on a bug hunt.
What a beautiful day!
Keep your eyes peeled for any bird sightings on our feeding station. Thank you to those who have brought in your own feeders too. We hope to make some soon so please bring in a yoghurt pot or two.
Thank you.
We had something very exciting arrive in the post today. Our baby caterpillars. Over the next few weeks we will get to watch them grow. We also explored the school grounds too, limboing under brambles and finding our own baby creatures.
