EXCITEMENT FOR TOPICS
It is wonderful to see the level of excitement and engagement the children are showing for their learning as their topics develop this term.
Year 5's ‘Mission to Mars’ is under way! The children looked at the different planets in the Solar System by comparing them and finding out how many days/years each one takes to orbit the Sun. They then created a moving model of the Solar System with each child walking at different speeds; this included Mercury jogging around the Sun and Neptune walking very slowly!
Year 2’s topic is ‘Up, Up and Away!’ The children have begun learning about the History and Science behind hot air balloons. They worked as a team to make their own tissue paper ‘envelope’ of a hot air balloon. After learning that hot air is lighter and less dense than cold air, they used hot air from a hair dryer to make their tissue paper balloon rise! The children are now looking forward to learning about the Montgofier brothers who invented the first hot air balloon! Year 4 are also thinking about hot air balloons as they are set to travel around the world with their ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ topic. Creating their own hot air balloons using paper mâché, the children are set to explore countries and cultures from across the continents.
A series of clues led our Year 1 children to their topic title ‘Paws and Claws’. They listened to different noises and worked out that they were all animal sounds and then spotted that there were paw prints on the classroom floor! This inspired them to think about the questions that they need to investigate to help them learn about different animals. Decoding has also been used by our Year 3 children. They have been introduced to hieroglyphs in their ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ topic and learnt how to translate between our alphabet and symbols used by the Ancient Egyptians. The children enjoyed cracking a code written in hieroglyphs before scribing their own secret messages for their friends to decode.
In Early Years, the children received a special delivery of a ‘Supertato’ adventure to kick start their topic ‘Caring and Daring Heroes’. They turned into superheroes by taking on different craft activities, using collage to create capes, painting masks and making their own badges! They shared the special powers they wished they could have and made puppet characters inspired by their favourite superheroes. They have also started learning about the very important heroes in our community such as doctors, nurses and the police.
I look forward to seeing how the children’s topics unfold and inspire them as we progress through the Autumn Term.
Mrs Zoe Hubbard - Headteacher
