Spring 2 update

What an amazing half-term we have had in Tortoiseshells! We have really managed to jam pack this half-term by celebrating World Book Day, Science Week and all of our learning in and around that. The children have thrown themselves in the deep end and really shone throughout the half-term. 

English

This half-term we have kept the children in suspense with our stimulus for writing being a short video. We have only just revealed the ending of the video called 'The Lighthouse'. The children have been learning to write, to create suspense for their reader and keep us on the edge of our seats. They have created their own characters and settings and flown us into their imaginations by using their best descriptive language. They have produced some amazing stories we are excited to share! 

Maths

In maths this half-term, some children have tacked long multiplication and division and are really beginning to get to grips with problem-solving and showing amazing self-belief to figure out more difficult questions. Another group has been working on their addition and subtraction this half-term and using the column method to solve problems – even problems with missing numbers! Other children have covered more number problems with their addition, using their number bonds to 10 to answer more difficult questions and to work mentally. 

Geography

One of the Hub groups have been learning about fair trade – they have learnt about the Silk Road, who fair trade benefits and what it means and where our food comes from. Similarly, the other hub group have been learning all about where our food comes from in the UK. We have learnt about farms, why some places in the UK have more farms – for example, Devon, and how our food gets to our plate. 

Computing

This half-term has been all about pictograms! We have been using a program to create our very own pictograms of what bugs we have found, what colours we have found in the classroom and what each other's favourite books are! We have learnt to use a tally chart and interpret data to answer questions. 

Science

We have continued our work on plants this half-term. We have thought about all of the things a plant needs to grow, how some plants look different because of what weather they like, what trees grow near us at school and have even planted some of our own seeds!

Spring 1 update

We are so proud of all the Tortoiseshells and their determination to succeed this half-term. They have all come back determined to show off their learning powers to all the adults that they come across. We have also welcomed a new addition to our class this half-term – welcome Leo! We have loved having you join us.

English

In English this half term the children started by reading all about incredible jobs (that you’ve probably never heard of!) The children then began writing their own non-chronological reports about a topic that interests them. They taught us about everything from motorways to animals. In the last few weeks we have dived into the world of Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance. The children have created descriptive recounts or newspaper articles all about this epic journey! The children have learnt about fronted adverbials, similes, metaphors and using exciting vocabulary to impress their readers. Other children in the hub used this journey to write their own epic adventures about their journey to school.

 

Maths

This half term some of the children have covered ‘thinking 10’ to tackle mental addition and subtraction. We have been learning all about how we can apply our number bond to 10 learning to be able to solve problems (even with 3 digit numbers!) mentally.

Other children have tackled multiplication and division and learning different methods to solve more difficult questions and how these strategies can simplify our questions and make them easier to understand and solve.

Some others have been learning all about estimating on number lines- learning about benchmarks, estimating where a number lands on a number line and then even using number lines to solve addition questions.

 

Hub group history

This half term we have dived into the 1960s, we have thought about how the toys are different and how the internet has impacted the toys that are made. The children have worked on using their oracy skills to compare the 1960s to now. We have also thought about key events in the 1960s and how those have impacted us now.

 

Year 5 and 6 history

This half term the children have learnt about the Shang Dynasty. They have been thinking about how people lived in the Shang Dynasty, they have become archaeologists and explored artefacts found from the Shang Dynasty and what it might mean about how people lived at the time.

Hub group science

We have been learning all about plants! We have learnt about what they need to live, the different parts of a plant and even planted and grew our own seeds! Next half term we will continue thinking about plants and the what the jobs are of the parts of the plants.

Hub group computing

This half term we have been learning all about programming and we have programmed our own BeeBots. We learnt that computers are very literal so we have to practice giving clear instruction to our friends and the robots.

Hub group art

The children have loved creating their art exhibition pictures this half term. They have created amazing pieces using water colours and hiding some of their pages to create the peace symbol.