Curriculum maps and class letters

Practising your times tables

You can use the links below to practise the times tables we have been rehearsing in class. 

Jubilee celebrations and outdoor learning day

To celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, we designed and made crowns for a class competition. Congratulations to Johanna, Justin and Robert who were our winners!

For our outdoor learning, we tested our egg parachutes and were excited to discover if our eggs would land safely. Unfortunately, not all of them did!

We then tested our engineering and design skills to create solar ovens to melt chocolate buttons using the sun's energy. Well done to Selin who recognised the importance of using a black material to absorb heat!

Rationing

In history we are learning about the Second World War and the significance of the Battle of Britain. After listening to some information about rationing, we used our oracy skills to discuss whether we felt rationing had a positive impact on the country's health. Here are some responses:

I agree because it made people more healthy. The national loaf had vitamins in it. They had lots of sugar before rationing. (Robert)

I agree because it is healthy and nutritious instead of eating unhealthy foods like chocolate or candy and other foods. (Francesca)

I agree because it would make people have a healthy diet and there would be no fats, no unhealthy things, no sugar, just healthy things like vitamins, whole grains and fruit and vegetables. (Ivy)

We then used pasta and scales to recreate the amount of food an adult was given in a week!

Forces

We have been learning about balanced and unbalanced forces acting on an object. We know that if forces are balanced, an object will be stationary or travel at the same speed, while if the forces are unbalanced, it will start move or fall, speed up, slow down or change direction.

Here are some balanced forces we discovered in the classroom!

PSHE: Zones of Regulation 

Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Caruana and Mrs. Garbutt supported us in recognising different feelings. We have created toolkits so we can recognise how we are feeling, such as worried or angry, and ways to help us manage these emotions. 

Responding to music

We listened to an explanation about using paint and colour to describe a piece of music. Next, we watched an orchestra perform Grazyna Bacewicz's piece 'Overture'. We used different crayons, pens and types of marks to respond to the music we heard. Some of us even draw marks higher or lower on the page to match the change in pitch!

Coding in computing

We are practising linking objects and actions to create algorithms. Today we gave the fish specific instructions to move in our aquariums! 

Earth Day: Friday 22nd April 2022

To celebrate Earth day we created pledges so we can protect our amazing environment. 

Outdoor Learning Day - March 2022

Oak class were very inquisitive about the weather and temperature before we began our day so used a thermometer and looked at the weather forecast: we discovered that snow was predicted!

We enjoyed our visit to Panshanger Woods, building some fantastic dens and enjoying the natural environment, being careful not to damage the bluebells!

On our return to school, we were given the challenge to use rope and tarpaulin (and any other materials on the KS2 playground) to construct a shelter that could fit our group and support itself. This proved very challenging with the strong winds but as you can see, we applied our skills of perseverance, problem solving and collaboration to create some amazing structures! 

World Book Day

Oak class celebrated our magical theme with fantastic costumes and poems inspired by the mysterious selkies, who can transform from seals into humans. 

Gymnastics

In our final lesson, we collaborated with a partner to create a sequence which included:

1 straight jump;

1 roll - barrel or straight;

1 inverted movement - bridge or shoulder stand;

1 individual balance;

1 partner balance.

We also considered linking these elements with travelling movements. 

Charcoal mark making

In art we are exploring formal elements of art. We have started by looking at how to use different types of marks with charcoal, which we learnt is often made from willow!

Ukulele Performance

Oak Class have been learning how to play 'Starlight star bright' on their ukuleles. They were given the choice to play banjo style free strokes using the notes 'G A G E' or create a thumb brush strum. Here is part of the performance which we gave to Miss Perry and Mrs Hammond!

Reversible and Irreversible changes 

To continue our learning on changes of materials, we looked at the difference between reversible and irreversible changes through a practical investigation. We observed a match, candle wax, raw egg and jelly cube before heating using a tea light and then looked at how they changed.

We identified that the jelly and candle wax were examples of reversible changes as the materials melted and then re-solidified once cool. The match and egg were examples of irreversible changes as the wood became burnt and the egg was cooked!

Children in Need 2021

We celebrated Children in Need by decorating images of Pudsey Bear.

Our School Council representatives and Worship and Wellbeing Ambassadors then applied their excellent oracy skills to decide and announce winners from Year 4 and 5. 

Thank you to Andrew as well for the amazing drawings he created to raise money for this worthy charity. 

Beautiful canal art flower pots

After looking at the fantastic colours and patterns used to decorate objects on canal boats, we planned our own designs to paint onto plastic flower pots. We used acrylic paints and paint pens to add details inspired by roses and castles. Here are some of our examples. 

Trip to the River Mimram

On Tuesday 12th October we visited the River Mimram in Panshanger Park to learn more about this habitat. We were joined by Jo, the Panshanger Park People and Wildlife Officer, who told us that the river was special because it was chalk. We also learnt that chalk rivers are vey rare and the rock helps to clean the water, which is why it looks so clear! 

Wearing our wellington boots, we then waded into the river to take 'kick samples' with a pond dipping net. We carefully carried the nets back to our group and used a key to identify the creatures we collected. We discovered that there were lots of dragon fly and beetle larvae!

After pond dipping, we took magnifying glasses and collection pots and explored the meadow, looking for different minibeasts. 

Thank you to all of the adults who supported and made our trip so much fun!

Make 100 and 1000!

To support our mental addition and subtraction strategies, we looked at different ways to make 100 and 1000. Here are some of our ideas:

UK rivers

We combined our maths and geography skills to make scale models of key UK rivers. The River Severn was the longest at 354km while our local river, the River Beane, was the shortest at only 18km!

Investigating dissolving

In science we have been looking at materials and their properties. To investigate solubility, we took sugar, salt, sand, cake sprinkles, peppercorns and flour and mixed them into water to see if they would dissolve. We discovered that salt and sugar are soluble in water!

Welcome to Oak Class!

The children in Year 4 and 5 applied their design and technology skills to make their own felt. They took different coloured strands of wool, soapy water and layers of bubble wrap to bind the fibres together and create their fabric. Templates of oak leaves were then cut out of black sugar paper and their felt was placed behind this.

Building on this skill, the children applied running or backstitch to decorate the edge of an oak leaf. 

These pieces of work will be proudly displayed in our classroom to welcome visitors!