The children in Willows have been making their Christmas cards and 2023 calendars.
They used different collage techniques to create their colourful designs.
Don’t they look wonderful!
This week Willows and Cherries classes came together as part of their history topic- Through the Ages.
The children used their knowledge of tri-spiral art created by the Celts to produce their own artwork in the same style.
Take a look at them at work!
As part of their art curriculum, Willows were challenged to make a Bell Beaker pot using clay. They have learnt about the Beaker folk who came over from Europe, at the start of the Bronze Age, and brought with them pots that look like upside down bells!
The children used their knowledge of this piece of history and their artistic flair to create beautifully detailed bell beaker pots. Once they have fully dried the children will paint them.
Have a look at their designs so far…
Willows had a great day on Friday having some fun doing lots of Children in Need activities.
Look at how great they all look in their spots and Pudsey t-shirts!
This half term has been extremely busy and exciting for Sycamores!
We continued our Ancient Greek history topic by visiting the Great North Museum (Hancock) in Newcastle where we saw lots of genuine artefacts found by historians and archaeologists. Afterwards, we played in Exhibition Park and ate delicious ice creams!
As part of our history learning, we invited our parents in for a “Greek afternoon” where we tasted many different Greek foods including: feta cheese, olives and bread with oil. We even made olive leaf crowns, like the ancient Olympians would have worn if they won a race.
We also visited The Word in South Shields as part of our computing work. We programmed new games using Scratch. We learned lots and it was great fun!
In science, we carried out an experiment to test friction. We compared lots of different materials to see which allowed a weight to slide across it the easiest. We discovered that the rougher the material, the more resistance it created.
At the end of term, we filled our marble jar and as a reward we played board games and had ice cream with a choice of a wide variety of toppings.
Check out our photos below to see what we have been up to…
Although it has been a short half term, it has been an extremely busy one for Oaks.
This term we have taken our SATs tests and I have to say, I am extremely proud of each and everyone for their effort, enthusiasm and positivity. This was not just limited to the week itself, but towards their entire time in year 6. I am sure they have done themselves proud.
There were some amazing things happening in SATS week. We definitely enjoyed our SATs breakfasts each day, followed by some entertaining dancing and singing to blast the nerves away!
This term we have continued our integration with Plums in PE, art, PHSE and even for our class trip to the Openzone. At the Openzone we created our own keyring designs which were then made using a 3D printer. We also continued our fantastic work on coding by making and programming a lego robot to dance.
Towards the end of the half term we have really started to think about our transition from primary school to secondary school and this will continue so the children who leave our school are as prepared as they can be.
We also have some interesting leavers’ activities planned so watch this space!
Sycamores finished the first half of the Summer term celebrating the Queen’s jubilee.
Our Queen has now been on the throne for over 70 year. What a great achievement!
In class, we have created some lovely artwork including Queen pop art, crowns and bunting/flags.
We also had a jubilee party, where we played games and had a celebration picnic on the field.
Look at our photos…
In Spring term 2 Oaks continued our fantastic topic: Frozen Kingdoms.
In history we learned about the great age of Arctic Exploration and were amazed when 2 days after learning about Ernest Shackleton and the survival voyage of the Endurance, his ship, which had remained under the Arctic Ocean for over 100 years are finally found! We looked at significant discoveries and evaluated the decisions made by some famous explorers and how these decisions positively or negative impacted the expeditions. We looked at different sources of information and made our own decisions and opinions on events based on facts.
As part of our Science week we looked at adaptability of Polar creatures, such as penguins and found out some incredible facts:
Did you know that Penguins bones are heavy and solid, unlike most other birds and this allows them to stay under water, similar to how a diver uses a weigh belt?
Did you know that a group of penguins is called a raft when they are in water and a waddle when they are on land?
In art we looked an Inuit artists and created our own stencils of arctic animals and even made sculptures out of bars of soap in the same way that Inuit artists use soapstone to create sculptures. In design and technology we looked the history of bridges, how they have changed, improved and developed over time before we create some of our own using masking tape and straws to hold various objects of different weights. We then evaluated our designed, made adjustments and improved our designs.
Mr Graham and Oaks
In Science, we carried out experiments to test how much water was absorbed by different materials, in a set period of time.
The children made predictions first and then tested their thoughts, to reach a conclusion. This also helped to develop their maths skills.
Oaks (Y6), Sycamores and Chestnuts (Y5) have been to Thurston (the South Tyneside Outdoor Activity Centre) in The Lakes.
All children (and staff) had an amazing week! They did lots of exciting things including: canoeing, tree climbing, orienteering, exploring a disused mine, walking up mountains, ghyll scrambling and much much more!
Look at these amazing photos…
