Year 5 English - Finding Dialogue from the Text on a Spectrum
Bringing Characters to Life: A Spectrum of Dialogue in Year 5 This term, Year 5 have been immersed in the moving world of Goodnight Mister Tom. To deepen our understanding of the protagonists, we stepped away from our desks for a unique, kinaesthetic lesson exploring the power of voice and personality. We created a visual "Character Spectrum" to map out the distinct personalities of Mister Tom, Willie, and Zach: Blue: Representing Mister Tom at his most blunt and gruff. Grey: Capturing Willie’s quiet, hesitant timidity. Red: Reflecting Zach’s vibrant, cheerful exuberance. Mrs Thompson put our listening skills to the test by reading anonymous lines of dialogue from the novel. Without knowing the speaker, the children had to physically move and place themselves on the spectrum based on the "flavour" of the speech and the emotions conveyed. It was a brilliant way to see how Michelle Magorian uses language to build such distinct identities. The children were incredibly perceptive at picking up on the subtle cues in the text! By stepping into the shoes (and voices) of these iconic characters, Year 5 have gained a much richer insight into how authors portray growth and change through dialogue.
Year 5 Maths - Exploring 3D Shapes
Getting to Grips with Geometry: Year 5 Explore 3D Shapes! Our mathematicians have been busy transitioning from flat planes to the third dimension! After mastering the worlds of angles and polygons, we’ve levelled up our Shape unit by investigating 3D solids. This wasn’t just a lesson from a textbook; it was a full "hands-on" investigation. We filled the classroom with physical shapes, allowing the children to handle, rotate, and examine them from every angle. What we’ve been investigating: Naming Names: We’ve been identifying everything from cubes and cuboids to various pyramids and prisms. The Big Three: Using our tactile models, we’ve been counting and recording the faces, edges, and vertices of each shape. Real-World Connections: Learning how these geometric properties help us understand the world around us. It was brilliant to see the children’s 'aha!' moments as they felt the sharp vertices of a pyramid or traced the long edges of a prism. The level of focus was fantastic—it’s safe to say our students are shaping up to be excellent geometricians!
Year 5 Visit to Darwen Library Theatre
Behind the Scenes: Year 5 Take Over Darwen Library Theatre! Our Year 5 artists traded the classroom for the spotlight this week with an incredible trip to Darwen Library Theatre. As part of our current project on Set Design, we went backstage to see how the magic actually happens! It was an action-packed morning where our pupils moved from the audience to the wings: Atmospheric Art: We learned how lighting technicians use colour and intensity to completely shift the mood of a scene. The Science of Sound: We experimented with audio modification—the echo and reverberation effects were a huge hit! Stage Presence: Every student had the chance to step up to the microphone on stage to deliver their best jokes. (We might have some future stand-up comedians in our midst!) VIP Access: A huge thank you to the staff who showed us the inner workings of the backstage areas. The team at the theatre were absolutely fantastic with the children, who blew us away with their insightful questions and curiosity. "It wasn't just a trip; it was a masterclass in how creativity meets technology!" Check out some of the highlights from our visit!
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Year 2 - Art - Worry Dolls
In this creative Art lesson, Year 2 explored the origin and purpose of Worry Dolls, learning how these traditional figures help hold our worries for us. Using twigs collected from around the school grounds, the children carefully selected sticks that suggested human forms, identifying natural shapes for arms and legs. To bring their characters to life, they mastered wrapping techniques with colourful wool, adding vibrant textures to their unique creations. It was a wonderful way to combine fine motor skills with an important discussion about wellbeing and sharing our feelings.
Year 2 - History - Bayeux Tapestry
In this lesson, our Year 2 historians became detectives to uncover how William the Conqueror claimed the English throne. By exploring the Bayeux Tapestry—a 70-metre embroidery nearly 1,000 years old—the children hunted for historical clues like crowns and thrones. Through a "gallery walk" and caption-matching challenge, they pieced together the story of the Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings. It was wonderful to see the children recognise how royal traditions, such as coronations, have remained remarkably similar from King Harold’s time to the present day!
Year 4 Computing - Effective Searching Online
In this week's Computing lesson, Year 4 were looking at how to stay safe whilst searching online. We looked at different child-friendly search engines and worked in partnerships to try and complete the questions we needed to find the answers to. We found out we had to be precise and concise with our wording when searching for different things, as this really could affect the kind of results we received. It was definitely a lesson were lots was learnt!
Reception- Fine Motor Skills- Supertato
The classroom was a hive of focused energy as the Reception children transformed into little heroes to create their very own Supertato characters. Using the Mr. Potato Head sets, the children carefully exercised their fine motor skills, pinching and pushing colorful ears, eyes, and capes into the plastic spuds to bring their defenders of the fruit aisle to life. The creative mission continued at the art station, where the children demonstrated impressive hand-eye coordination and scissor control to navigate around the curves of their paper potatoes. Once the cutting was complete, the real decision-making began; with tongues poked out in concentration, they sifted through a tray of vibrant felt, glittery masks, and paper boots to select the perfect heroic ensemble for their new starchy sidekicks.
Year 4 Geography - River Features
This week's Geography lesson was all about the different features of a river. We found out about the different river courses and what we could expect to find at each one and were all amazed to find out that all rivers end up at the sea! We had to work as a team to represent what we had been learning about, by creating our very own representations of rivers and their features out of Lego, before presenting our creations to others. It really helped us learn what we needed to include and all of the different feature names.
Reception- Literacy- Evil Pea Tricky Word Hunt
Equipped with their trusty clipboards and a sense of urgent mission, the Reception children transformed into miniature detectives on a high-stakes scavenger hunt. The "Evil Pea" had been up to his usual mischief, scattering the Phase 3 tricky words across the nooks of the classroom and the hidden corners of the garden. While the group initially set themselves the modest challenge of uncovering five elusive words, their competitive spirit and growing confidence quickly took over. As they ticked off words like was, my, and they, the thrill of the chase proved infectious; rather than stopping at their goal, the children eagerly pressed on, scouring the flowerbeds and bookshelves to ensure no word was left behind in the Pea's villainous wake.
Nursery/Pre-school- Maths- My Pattern
In Maths this week the children have been working on an arrangement of Patterns. Working on patterns helps children understand simple pattern routines which this later translates into spotting patterns in numbers (like the 10s times table ending in 0) and recognising the structure of phonics in reading.
Year 3 - Maths - Finding Unit Fractions Of Amounts
Year 3 have been smashing their fractions unit this week. We've been mastering finding fractions of amounts by using our times tables knowledge.
Year 5 Science - The Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant
Science in Action: From Seeds to Stems! Our classroom was buzzing with discovery this week as we dove deep into the fascinating world of botany. We kicked things off with a human timeline, where students held up posters representing the different stages of a flowering plant's lifecycle. It was a true team effort as the rest of the class debated and directed their peers into the perfect order—from tiny seed to full bloom! Once we mastered the "big picture," we got our hands dirty with some tulip dissections. Using careful precision, we identified the hidden reproductive parts of the flower, labelling the anthers, filaments, and ovaries to understand how plants create the next generation. Highlights of our hands-on learning: Lifecycle Logic: Mapping out growth through collaborative problem-solving. Flower Anatomy: Peering inside tulips to find the "machinery" of nature. Minty Experiments: Taking stem cuttings from mint plants to explore asexual reproduction. We’re currently waiting to see if our "clones" will take root and grow into exact copies of the original plant! Check out our young scientists in the photos as they explore the wonders of the natural world!
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