17 January 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Vocabulary is the focus of this week’s homework. This is because we’ve just begun a new Geography topic and with it comes new Geography vocabulary.
Here’s a list of key words that are being learnt and applied as part of our learning. Over the half-term, practise using these words with your child.
Years 1 and 2 Geography vocabulary:
- locality: an area or neighbourhood
- environment: the surroundings of a human, animal or plant
- recycling: turning waste into new materials
- pollution: something harmful or poisonous in an environment
- to survey: to find the opinions of a group of people by asking them questions
- physical geography: physical geography looks at the natural things in our environment
- human geography: human geography looks at changes in the environment by humans
- issue: an important topic or problem that needs discussion
- solution: a way of solving an issue or problem
Years 3 and 4 Geography vocabulary:
- tectonic plates: different pieces of the Earth’s crust which fit together like a jigsaw and move in different directions and at different speeds
- volcano: an opening in the Earth’s crust that allows magma, ash and gases to escape
- magma: molten rock (rock so hot that it has turned into liquid) which is underneath the Earth’s crust
- lava: when magma reaches the surface of the Earth it is called lava
- active volcano: these have a recent history of eruptions and are likely to erupt again
- dormant volcano: these have not erupted for a very long time but may erupt at a future time
- extinct volcano: these are not expected to erupt in the future
- land-use: the specific purpose that an area of land is used for
- geothermal: heat produced from within the Earth (geo means earth and thermal means heat)
Years 5 and 6 Geography vocabulary:
- climate zones: different parts of the world grouped by temperature and rainfall (eg the Met Office give six: arid, equatorial, Mediterranean, polar, snow and temperate)
- climate change: a change in climate (temperature and rainfall) over a period of time (also known as ‘climate crisis’ and ‘climate emergency’)
- global warming: an outcome of climate change: a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the Earth (also known as ‘global heating’)
- latitude: imaginary lines which show how north or south a place is (the equator is the best-known line of latitude)
- fossil fuel: a non-renewable energy source, formed from the remains of plants and animals that died millions of years ago (eg coal, oil, gas)
- renewable energy: a source of energy that is sustainable so it will never run out (eg wind energy, solar energy, tidal energy)
- emission: an emission is something that been released into the world (eg carbon dioxide is an emission created when fossil fuels are burned)
- erosion: a process where materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water
- groyne: a low wall or barrier built out into the sea from a beach to slow erosion
Some of these words have been introduced already but there may be others that are going to be covered in the coming weeks.
10 January 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Our first Talk Time of 2025 has a reading and oracy theme.
I know a poem.
This week, you’re going to be learning a famous poem. It takes great resilience and remembering skills to be able to learn a poem – two of our 8Rs for learning.
Y1,2: Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan
On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the Cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There’s a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can’t catch ’em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!
Y3,4: Catch a Little Rhyme by Eve Mirriam (CC)
Once upon a time
I caught a little rhyme
I set it on the floor
but it ran right out the door
I chased it on my bicycle
but it melted to an icicle
I scooped it up in my hat
but it turned into a cat
I caught it by the tail
but it stretched into a whale
I followed it in a boat
but it changed into a goat
When I fed it tin and paper
it became a tall skyscraper
Then it grew into a kite
and flew far out of sight …
Y5,6: If by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
These talking points could be used to support your initial reading and understanding of the poem:
- What’s the poem about?
- Can you work out the meaning of tricky words and phrases by using the clues in the poem?
- What’s the rhythm of the poem? Where do you pause for breaths?
- Are there any rhymes (words ending with the same sounds (eg cat and hat)?
- What other patterns do you notice (repeated words/lines, line lengths, themes/key messages)?
When you have a sound understanding of your chosen poem, turn your attentions to reading it aloud with confidence and clarity. This week’s Remember 2s (R2s) will help with that:
- Speak clearly in a loud voice without shouting.
- Pause for breath at the right places to make sure you read at an appropriate pace.
- Face the reader as often as you can.
Here are some creative strategies that you might use to help you remember the poem – do what works best for you:
- Create actions to go with certain words or phrases.
- Draw a series of pictures to help you remember what comes next.
- Say or sing the poem in a unique or funny voice.
Echo phrases/lines with someone at home.
13 December 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time relates to our Science learning. Each class has been finding out about one or two scientists as part of their Science lessons.
I can show off my knowledge of different scientists.
Year 1,2: Florence Nightingale / Charles McIntosh
Year 3,4: Jane Goodall
Year 5,6: Carl Linnaeus, Sarah Fowler / Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla
Have a chat with someone at home about the scientist that you have been learning about in your Science sessions. There’s a short text about one of the scientists that you could read with your child.
Here are some things that you could discuss:
- what they did
- how they worked like a scientist
- why their work was important
- whether their work has an impact on life today
Challenge: Do you know of any other scientists? Can you talk about their work and say how it has impacted life today?
05 December 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time poses a moral question:
Is physical health more important than mental health?
What is physical health?
Physical health is about a healthy body. This includes proper nutrition and plenty of physical activity.
What is mental health?
Mental health is about a healthy mind. Mental health is a sense of identity and self-worth; positive family and peer relationships; an ability to be productive and to learn.
Have a discussion with friends and family at home. Consider what physical and mental health looks and feels like for you. Does this match up to your friends’ and family’s ideas?
After the discussion with friends and family, what conclusion do you reach? Do others around you agree?
29 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time relates to this half term’s Art topic.
I can compare and contrast different artworks/architecture/designs.
I can give my opinions, and back them up with reasons.
In our Art lessons, we’re thinking about the work of these artists (Y1,2) / architects (Y3,4) or designers (Y5,6) and we’re using the following vocabulary:
Y1,2 Artists:
Vocabulary: pointillism, op art
Y3,4 Architects:
St Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren
London Aquatic Centre, Zara Hadid
Vocabulary: architect, architecture
Y5,6 Designers:
Vocabulary: pattern, repetition, symmetry, foreground, background
The key to this task is being able to explain thoughts and opinions. It’s worth remembering that the opinions of one person may not match those of another and that it’s okay to disagree.
We’d like your child to speak confidently and passionately about art. Using ‘because’ will encourage your child to think carefully about their own interpretation of the art. Offering your own opinions may also help your child to consider alternative viewpoints and perspectives.
Discussions about the art could take place in a number of ways. Here’s a couple of suggestions:
- Discuss each piece separately before then looking at them side by side.
- Have both pieces side by side from the start.
Whichever approach you opt for, referring to these questions and the vocabulary above will help to focus your discussions at home:
- Explain what you like about each piece.
- Explain what you dislike about each piece.
- How are the two pieces similar?
- How are the two pieces different?
Considering what is most important to you, which piece do you prefer?
22 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time has a social theme:
What job would you like to do when you’re an adult and what skills and knowledge will help you to do it?
- Think about a job or career you might like to do when you’re an adult. Why do you think this job would be fun or interesting?
- What skills (things you need to be good at) would help you in this job?
- What knowledge (things you need to learn) would be important for this job?
- What interpersonal skills will you need?
- Which subject(s) in schools will help you to develop knowledge or skills which would help you to do this job?
Encourage your child to think creatively and discuss their ideas with you. Their answers don’t need to be perfect, just thoughtful and imaginative. Why not draw a picture of yourself doing the job you chose and label the picture with tools, skills or places related to your job!
15 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.
I know how to STOP bullying.
Our school vision is to be a happy and healthy place to learn. School will not be a happy and healthy place if we don’t know how to stop bullying.
As it’s Anti-Bullying Week, this week’s Talk Time homework is about what bullying is and how to stop it. In fact, ‘STOP’ is an acronym that provides a clear definition of bullying:
Several Times On Purpose
Getting upset/angry in the heat of the moment or accidentally bumping into someone isn’t considered bullying – as long as it’s a one-off. An example of bullying would be someone saying on multiple occasions that you can’t join in with their game. As part of your discussions at home, ask your child to identify examples of what bullying does and doesn’t look like.
‘STOP’ not only tells us what bullying is, but also how to make it stop:
Start Telling Other People.
The sooner we all tell others, the sooner bullying can stop. As well as give examples of bullying, make sure your child knows people at home and at school who they would alert if they were aware of bullying.
Encourage your child to remember both: Several Times On Purpose and Start Telling Other People.
This week’s Remember 2s (R2s) are actions to take if you see, or are the victim of, an unpleasant behaviour:
- Challenge the behaviour with that person. It may well have been accidental or something not intended to be hurtful.
- Tell that person that you don’t like that behaviour and that you want it to stop.
- If the behaviour occurs again, let a trusted adult know so they can explore the situation.
08 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
There’s a social theme to this week’s Talk Time as we think about our speaking and listening skills.
Agree or disagree: speaking is more important than listening!
Spend a few minutes having a conversation about your day with a someone at home. After the chat, reflect on how much time you spent speaking and how much time you spent listening. Would the conversation be the same if you didn’t speak/listen as effectively?
Below are some statements about effective listening and speaking which may help you when deciding whether you agree or disagree on the above statement.
Effective listening entails simultaneously observing, understanding, and generating ideas.
Effective speaking means being able to say what you want to say in such a way that it is heard and understood.
In school this half-term, we’re focussing on some of the physical skills of speaking. In particular, we’re ensuring children project their voice.
When discussing this at home, help by making sure your child speaks confidently, clearly and coherently (no mumbling!).
18 October 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
There’s a democracy theme to this week’s Talk Time as we think about electing our new Junior Leadership Team (JLT). It’s important for everyone to feel their opinions are important and their thoughts and feelings are listened to and valued. Democracy is about knowing that sometimes we are given the power to choose and make decisions as individuals and as a group. This leads us to this week’s Talk Time:
I can talk about what characteristics a good leader should have.
Thinking about the term democracy, take some time to think about what characteristics make a good leader and the reasons why.
Also, think about situations at home when voting can help solve problems.
Additionally, if you would like to become a member of the JLT…
Use this time to think about your own characteristics and why you feel you would be a good representative for your peers. Use these ideas to prepare a speech to share in school on Wednesday 23rd or Thursday 24th October for the upcoming elections on Thursday 24th October.
11 October 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Vocabulary is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.
Thinking about the new topic vocabulary, I can begin to use these words at home.
This half term, we’ve all been historians, learning specifically about The Great Fire of London/Ancient Greece/ Stone Age to Iron Age and Ancient Egypt. Here’s a list of key words that are being learnt and applied as part of our learning:
Years 1 and 2 History vocabulary:
| timeline | a drawing showing events in the order that they happened |
| similarity | like something else |
| difference | not like something else |
| artefact | an object made by a person that gives us information about life in the past |
| cause | the reason for something happening |
| diary | a book used by a person to write about daily events in their lives |
| firebreak | an obstacle used to stop the spread of a fire |
| consequence | the result or effect of something happening |
| innovation | an improvement or replacement for something |
Years 3 and 4 History vocabulary:
| period | a phase in time |
| civilisation | a period of human development that is considered most advanced |
| golden-age | a period of time during which a very high level of achievement is reached |
| government | the group of people responsible for ruling a country |
| monarchy | a king or a queen |
| democracy | a type of government where the people living there make decisions |
| oligarchy | a type of government where a small group of people make the decisions |
| Parthenon | an important temple in Athens built during the golden-age |
Years 5 and 6 History vocabulary:
| archaeology | the study of human history through analysis of artefacts and other remains |
| henge | a monument consisting of a circle of stone or wooden uprights |
| innovation | an improvement or replacement for something |
| civilisation | a period of human development that is considered most advanced |
| hieroglyphs | a writing system which uses picture of an object to represent a word, syllable or sound |
| Rosetta Stone | an inscribed slab of stone which was the key to translating Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| pharaoh | a ruler in ancient Egypt |
| pyramid | a large stone monument built as a burial tomb for pharaohs and other important Egyptians |
| afterlife | life after death |
Some of these words have already been discussed in lessons but there may be others that are going to be covered in the coming weeks.
Encourage your child to think back to their History learning so far. The following questions might prompt your child to remember even more about the vocabulary:
- What does this word mean?
- Can you use the word in a sentence?
- Can you (where possible) give an example of this?
- Have you seen a picture or video that links to that word?
- Can you link this word to one or more of the other words?
Which of these words would you group together?