Science – animals including humans
We have started our new science topic which is all about animals. Some children were surprised to find out we are animals (mammals) too!
We will be learning about mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians and how they can also be grouped into carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.
Help at home by talking to your child about animals you have as pets, or that you see when you are out and about.
Design Technology – sewing
Our new topic this half term is design technology…and we’re learning to sew!
We are going to design a puppet and then make it. Before we do that though, we are learning different stitches and evaluating good and bad examples.
A very insightful comment from a child summed up sewing so far…
It’s harder than it looks!
Platinum Jubilee celebrations
We had a fun-filled day today. All the children and staff shared a picnic lunch on the field, listening to some 50s music. We then all congregated on the field again, sang the national anthem and each class showcased a Wake Up Shake Up (WUSU) dance through the decades that the Queen has been on the throne. We went from 1950s (Mambo No 5/Lou Bega) all the way to 2020s (Blinding Lights/The Weeknd). It was so much fun! We hope that everyone has a happy and healthy half term.
1,2B Jubilee!
We had a fun-filled day celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee today. Thank you for coming in red, white and blue. I think we all looked great!
Living and Learning – Body Image
We have been talking about what makes us special, individual and unique. Not everyone can be good at everything and not everyone is the same. We talked about how to give and receive compliments, celebrating each other’s successes.
Amazing animal visit
We had some interesting visitors in school yesterday…
It was a chance to meet some animals and find out more about them. The children asked some excellent questions.
What does the bearded dragon eat?
How long will the snake live for?
Why are there two rabbits and two guinea pigs together?
How big will the giant snail get?
We also made sure we washed our hands after touching the animals.
Walk to School Week winners
Lots of families joined in with Walk to School Week last week. The Buffers and St Phillips car parks were busy with people walking some of the way, if they couldn’t walk all the way from home. Thank you for joining in and helping to make our school and community an even happier and healthier place to be. Here are some of our lucky winners!
Art – observational and abstract drawings
We have been looking closely at plants and flowers in our science lessons. We have also done some observations drawings of flowers last week. This week, we thought back to our learning about Paul Klee and did some abstract drawings using his style as an inspiration. Some of our flowers were upside down, different colours or with faces and other shapes on them.
We were very pleased with them and some people consented for their art to be shown on the big screen in class.
Living and learning : consent
This week, we have been particularly talking about consent (permission) in our Living and Learning lessons. We talk about consent all the time though, for example, when we’re taking photos or video.
We also talked about different scenarios and how we can respond appropriately.
Geography topic : comparing the UK and Kenya
This half-term, we are geographers. As part of our Explorers topic, we’re comparing a place in the United Kingdom with a place in another country. We are comparing Kenya to the United Kingdom and Nairobi to London. We are focussing on the physical and human geography of these two places and noting the similarities between the two capital cities. Ask your child to tell you all about Nairobi.
As well as visiting Kenya, we have been learning about the seven continents, five oceans and about how the equator splits the earth into two hemispheres.
We have really enjoyed learning the continents and oceans by listening to and singing along to these great songs:
How can you help?
Google Earth is a brilliant tool to help develop children’s understanding of space, place, scale and interdependence. Zoom right in on your home and then zoom out to reveal the area of Leeds that you live in. Zoom further out to see what city you live. Zoom further for the county. A little further and you might start to spot some national parks. Further still and you can see the country that we live in. Keep zooming and you’ll see the continent we live in (though this isn’t labelled).
Quizzing your children about some locational knowledge will help them to remember important information.
- Which continent do we live in?
- Which country do we live in?
- In which hemisphere is our country located?
- Which county do we live in?
- Which city do we live in?
- Which part of Leeds do we live in?
- Which four countries make up the United Kingdom?