This term, Sycamores have been learning about Africa.

A few weeks ago, we cooked South African milk tart and yellow rice. Both of these were delicious and we wanted to eat more! After making them, we wrote instructions so we could remember how to make them again.

We looked at lots of different maps of Africa. We named all the countries in Africa – can you believe there are over 50? Then, we looked at the geography of Africa by naming rivers, mountains, deserts and seas (amongst many other physical features).  We created our own detailed maps.

We have compared African life to the way we live in the UK. We watched video clips of children living in different parts of Africa to compare their lives to our own. We were shocked to find out that despite some children in Africa living similar lives to us, many are less unfortunate and struggle to have enough food.

In art, we produced some amazing animal print work. We created our own printing pads using sponge and cardboard. This was very difficult to cut and shape the parts to look like animal skin. Eventually, we produced some amazing art work.

In English, we have read the book “Journey to Jo’burg”. The story really made us think carefully about apartheid in South Africa. We couldn’t believe the terrible ways black people were treated in the past. These thoughts allowed us to have some excellent class discussions and produce some fantastic descriptive writing. We also learned about Nelson Mandela and the positive effect he had on modern day South Africa; helping to end apartheid.

Finally, we received a visit from “Show racism the red card”. Patrick told us about modern day racism and how it is still a problem today. We learned lots from this practical session. The children asked (and answered) many sensible questions, showing real maturity and understanding.

Please encourage your child to access Mathletics and Spelling Shed. All children should have login details. If they don’t, then please message Mr Mills on Dojo and he will help.