Our class is called Emperors.  We are taught by Mrs Watkins and supported by Miss Cameron.

PE Days

Emperors will have PE on a Tuesday and a Friday. Children will need to wear their PE kit to school on this day and will remain in them all day. They will not need uniform to change into.  Please ensure your child has the correct PE kit so they can participate successfully. 

Library Slot

Your child will get an opportunity to visit the school library on Friday afternoon. They will have the chance to borrow a book that they can share with you and read for pleasure. These books will go home and returned by our next library slot. 

Home Learning

Each week the children will be given a maths and English home learning task and some high frequency words to learn. Home learning books will be handed out every Friday and should be returned the following Wednesday. Please note, home learning should not take more than 30 minutes. If your child is struggling with this, please make a note for us in their home learning book. 

Give Me Ten - Children are expected to read for at least ten minutes every day and should record this in their reading record. Children should bring their reading record to school every day. We hope to see lots of children becoming Reading Champions this year! 

Maths Magicians - There are a number of key mathematical facts that children should know and remember. These are, of course, taught in school but it is essential that children practise them at home too. You can find out which facts your child is currently working on by checking their maths record book. This is also where you should record their daily practice. Children's maths record books should be brought to school every day. Children will be quizzed on their maths facts every Friday. As they progress through the different stages of facts, children have the opportunity to earn rewards and work towards becoming Maths Magicians!

Numbots/TTRS - Number bonds and times tables are a vital part of mathematical knowledge and understanding. It is crucial that your child practises these skills when they can at home by logging onto the Numbots/Times Table Rockstars website.

Handwriting - Using www.letterjoin.co.uk, your child can practise their handwriting at home. There are desktop and tablet login details that can be found by clicking on the writing star at the top of the page.

Spring 2

The children have achieved so much this term and we are so very proud of each and every one of them.  

In English, we finished reading ‘Big Blue Whale’ by Nicola Davies and wrote our own non-chronological report all about this amazing creature. We then read the wonderful book, ‘Julian is a Mermaid’ by Jessica Love. In this narrative unit we focused on using the present tense and developing our descriptive writing skills, writing some amazing descriptions of all the sea creatures Julian saw in his imagination. We also wrote our own story based on the book but using our own character and setting. We published these in our best handwriting!

In maths, we have been learning how to tell the time to five minute intervals. Please continue to practise this over the holidays as it can be quite tricky! We have also been learning about doubling and halving and how to apply these concepts to word problems. We tried really hard to apply all our learning in our end of term arithmetic and reasoning assessments.

In science, we completed our unit on Plants. We have completed a number of experiments using different types of seeds to determine what plants need to grow. We really enjoyed identifying different leaves around our school site and our trip to Batchwood Woods to investigate different plants and trees that grow there.

In geography, we considered the enquiry question ‘Why does it matter where my food comes from?’ We explored where different fruit and vegetables come from, why Devon has so many dairy farms and the export of bananas from Costa Rica. We developed a basic understanding of trade and economic activity. We really enjoyed our trip to St Albans market where we questioned stall holders on where their fruit and vegetables came from and how they reached the UK if they came from abroad.

In RE, we have been exploring the question ‘How important is it to Christians that Jesus came back to life after his crucifixion?’ We have learnt all about the Easter story and enjoyed finding out about Palm Sunday, the crucifixion and resurrection when Reverend Gibbs visited our class.

In PSHE, we have been learning about how to stay healthy. We have discussed the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet and found out about the different food groups. We even tasted some amazing fruits and cheese after our visit to St Albans market.  

In computing this half term we have been creating tally charts, pictograms and block diagrams to demonstrate our favourite colours, pets and favourite animals using a program called Jet2data.

We hope you have a very relaxing holiday and return to school fresh and ready to learn on Tuesday 22^nd April!

Spring 1

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, 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. We have also read ‘Big Blue Whale’ by Nicola Davies and been focusing 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.

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 lotus 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 really enjoyed welcoming Mrs Cameron to Emperors class and hearing about the toys she used to play with as a child. Thank you also to Isabelle who brought in a ha’penny board that we all enjoyed playing with. 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.  

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

Autumn 2

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 wonderful, relaxing holiday. We trust you will return to school refreshed and ready to learn!

Autumn 1

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 have learned 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!

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 also discussed the achievements of different individuals, such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and Mo Farah, as well as reading and discussing the meaning behind stories from West Africa, including ‘Why do mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears?’ by Verna Aardema.

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 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.

Here are some photographs of our amazing learning this half term: