Spring 1 update

We have had such a busy half term in Emperors! We are so proud of all the children and the progress they have made this half term.  

In English, we read ‘Big Blue Whale’ by Nicola Davies and focused on writing in the simple present tense, using punctuation such as question marks and commas for lists in preparation for writing our own non-chronological report. We also read an alternative version of the traditional tale, ‘Rapunzel’, written by Bethan Woolvin. We worked on using expanded noun phrases, extending sentences with different conjunctions and using the past tense consistently. We then wrote our own version of the story with our own characters.

In maths, we have been learning about money and trying to make different amounts using different combinations of coins. We have completed a unit of work on statistics and data and practised reading tallies, grouping data and understanding bar charts. We have also focused on learning more formal methods of addition and subtraction and have applied this to some problem solving.

In science, we have started our unit on Plants. We have learnt about what plants need to grow and the different stages of the life cycle of a sunflower. We have planted our own cress seeds and hope that they will continue to grow over half term.

In history, we have been investigating the decade of the 1960s, specifically looking at toys and games and comparing them with those we play with today. We have been learning about chronology, placing key events in our history on to a timeline and discussing significant events that occurred in the 1960s. We had a fantastic time at St Albans Museum finding out about and playing with toys from the past.

In RE, we have been exploring the question ‘Does praying at regular intervals help a Muslim in their everyday life?’ We have learnt about the Muslim prayer routine, the mosque as a place of worship and considered reasons why Muslims might pray.

In PSHE, we have been considering our dreams and goals and focusing on resilience and teamwork skills.

In computing this half term, the children have been exploring algorithms, programming the beebots to follow a simple set of instructions and learning about the term debugging. On internet safety day, we considered the safe and responsible use of AI, thinking about how we use it in our homes already.

We wish you all have a relaxing half term and come back to school energised and ready to learn!

Autumn 2 update

We have had such a busy half term in Emperors! The children have all worked so hard and we are very proud of each and every one of them.

In English, we studied the wonderful book ‘Last Stop on Market Street’ by Matt de la Pena. Using expanded noun phrases and exciting verbs, we wrote a description of our own journeys around the school, describing everything we saw and heard. Through the book ‘Dragon Post’ by Emma Yarlett, we learnt about different forms of communication, such as postcards, e-mails, text messages and formal and informal letters. We practised writing our own letters, taking care to set them out correctly and to use appropriate language.

In maths, we have been focusing on addition and subtraction, adding and subtracting one and two digit numbers. We have also been recapping our understanding of part/whole models and practising making bar models to represent maths calculations. We have learnt about the term ‘inverse’ and been practising writing different addition and subtraction calculations for a range of bar and part/ whole models.

In science, we have been learning about materials. We have considered the properties of different materials and explored the reason why some materials are used to make certain objects. We have also investigated which materials would be most suitable for the three little pigs’ houses, testing lego bricks, spaghetti and marshmallows and cardboard.

In geography, our enquiry question, ‘Why don’t penguins fly?’ has led us to explore the features of Antarctica and how penguins are adapted to living there. We have compared Antarctica and the Sahara Desert as well as looking at the similarities and differences between Antarctica and the Arctic.

In RE, we have been exploring the question ‘Why do Christians believe God gave Jesus to the world?’ We have been learning about Bible stories in which Jesus has shown kindness to others as well as learning about advent and the Christmas story.

In PSHE, we have been investigating stereotypes and assumptions in our unit of work, ‘Celebrating Differences’ We discovered that both boys and girls in our class enjoy a range of sports and other hobbies and concluded that we should not make assumptions about people based on their gender or how they look.

In computing this half term, we have been learning about digital photography. We have been considering what makes a good photo and how to take a good photo. We have also recapped important rules about asking consent before taking or using a photograph of someone.

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hope that you have a wonderfully relaxing holiday. We trust you will return to school refreshed and ready to learn!

Autumn 1 update

What a busy half term we have had in Emperors! The children have all worked so hard and we are very proud of each and every one of them.

In English, we started the year with a piece of writing about the children’s hopes and dreams for the year ahead. We then wrote some amazing stories based on the book, ‘The Frog and the Stranger’ by Max Velthuijs. We really enjoyed the text ‘How to Make Friends with a Ghost’ by Rebecca Green and wrote our own instructions on how to be a good friend to others. Over the last two weeks, we have been enjoying poems, such as ‘Sugarcake Bubble’ by Grace Nichols and ‘Cats’ by Eleanor Farjeon from ‘The Puffin Book of Fantastic First Poems’. We also wrote our own autumn poems, using some fantastic expanded noun phrases.

In maths, we have been working on place value, representing, ordering and comparing numbers to one hundred and addition and subtraction. We have enjoyed using concrete resources, such as base ten, place value cards and coins to represent different two digit numbers. We have been challenging ourselves by finding the position of different numbers on number lines with varied start and end points.  

In science this term, we are learning about living things and their habitats. We have been sorting different living things, recapping what all living things need to survive and studying different kinds of habitats and how animals are adapted to them. We really enjoyed our minibeast hunt in our forest area at school!

In history this term, we have been finding out about different history makers such as Guy Fawkes, Marie Curie, Malala Yousafzai and Emmeline Pankhurst. We discussed what it takes to be a history maker and attempted to compare and contrast the actions of these significant individuals. During black history month, we have also been discussing the achievements of different individuals, such as Rosa Parkes, Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman.

In RE lessons this term we learnt about Humanism and explored humanist beliefs and symbols. We discussed how we can treat other people and our world with care and respect.

In PSHE this half term, we have been exploring class rules, discussing making positive choices and thinking about how our behaviour can impact on other people. We concluded that we all need to follow certain rules and behave in a kind and positive way so that our whole class can feel safe, happy and able to learn effectively.

In computing this term, we have been learning about technology around us and how it can help us both in school and in the wider world. We have also considered how to use technology responsibly.

We hope you have a relaxing half term and return to school on Monday 3^rd November refreshed and ready to learn!