What a brilliant and busy start to the Vita et Pax school year. Find out what fun and exciting learning opportunities the children have undertaken this term!
EYFS
Well what a great and busy start we have had to our first term. All the children have settled so well into their new surroundings and are eager to explore and share their new learning experiences. The children have really enjoyed our topic on Transport and have recorded many types using a variety of materials which have developed great sharing opportunities. The children were really lucky to be able to investigate a real car, from looking at an engine to discovering where a spare tyre is kept.
We are lucky that we are now allowed to develop the children’s imagination skills by dressing up and using sensory materials to have hands-on experiences which in Covid times had been impeded. Long may this continue!
Year 1
The children have had a busy and successful start to Year One. In English this term, the children have been exploring the book ‘Mr Gumpy’s Outing’ By John Burningham. We used Pie Corbett’s technique of talk for writing to help us understand the new text. The children took part in a book talk where we spoke about our favourite part in the story and what we would have done if we were on the boat with Mr Gumpy. The children went on to learn the story using a story map and they gave each character in the book a special action. We then visited the early years and performed the story. Finally, we created our own story maps with our own characters.
The children have also been working hard in Maths where we have been learning about place value and we have used our knowledge when looking at number order and pattern. We have been learning about our families in RE and how they show us love and care. The children have written prayers for their families and discussed how their families help them and keep them safe. The children have enjoyed Art with Mrs Brown, learning about the primary and secondary colours. They have used their learning to mix colours, create warm and cold paintings and they have contrasted colours. In Humanities the children have explored transport and they had fun surveying the Early Years and Year 2 to find out how everyone in the infants travels to school.
During STEAM the children have been exploring how we as humans use water. We discussed what would happen if we had no water and how we use water to give us food. The children also explored healthy eating and they created their own fruit kebabs. Fun was had by all!
Year 2
We have had a busy half term in Year 2! In English, we have enjoyed the story of ‘Meerkat Mail’ by Emily Gravett; writing postcards, diary entries and even our own animal adventure stories! Our Maths work has included addition and subtraction, as well as beginning to learn our times tables by heart. We have practised using bar models to support our understanding of worded problems too. In RE we have discussed the beginning of our world through the Creation Story. We created our own comic strip versions with drawings to match. Our Humanities lessons have taken us through the history and development of transport, from the first plane made by the Wright brothers right through to designing our own futuristic models! STEAM has encompassed the exploration of animals that live in water, researching a range of aspects including their diet and their adaptations. We have finished our half term with our Harvest assembly performance, in which we all worked hard to learn our lines and beautiful songs to share. We can’t wait to see what this half term will bring!
Year 3
We have had a very busy start to the autumn term and the children have all settled in to year 3 well. The children have been exploring water transport in their humanities lessons and how this mode of transport has developed over time. Starting from the simple Viking longship to a modern day yacht. The children also had the opportunity to create their own sail boat using the Japanese art of paper folding, Origami.
Another highlight of the term was when the children learnt about the infamous graffiti artist, Banksy. The children were given a printed brick wall and coloured chalk to create their own graffiti pieces. We had cheeky graffiti monkeys, red love hearts and colourful rainbows. Year 3 is full of talented artists!
Year 4
In Class 4 we have been learning about air transport in Humanities, where we created pictures that gave the illusion of planes flying. We also made our own model aeroplanes! In Art we did sketching, we drew self-portraits and also drew pictures of each other. In English we have been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and have made some fantastic posters on the life cycle of chocolate. In R.E. we created stain glass window pictures of Joseph. In Spanish we learnt about the different parts of the face. In P.E we have been playing netball and learning to swim. In music we have been learning the harvest songs and how to play the Glockenspiel.
Year 5
Over the past six weeks, Class 5 have been working extremely hard in class, whilst showing a real love of learning.
In English, we have been studying The Iron Man by Ted Hughes and the pupils really got to grips with the imagery and figurative language on show in the text. They wrote their own incredibly vivid descriptions of the Iron Man and even produced a report to warn the farmers in the story about the Iron Man.
The students have challenged themselves superbly in Maths. Solving problems involving ratios, calculating area and perimeter and shapes and developing a deeper understanding of fractions. Whatever their starting point, the children have shown an excellent level of focus and commitment in lessons.
Transport has been the area of focus in humanities and the pupils have studied different forms of transport with a particular focus on space travel. Culminating in the launch, (some successful and some not so successful) of our very own rockets!
STEAM lessons have led us to learning about the importance of access to clean drinking water. The pupils found out about Pa, who is a young boy from Madagascar, how his life was changed when he finally got access to clean running water. We studied the effects of water pollution and challenged our ideas and concepts of just how vital clean water is, by researching a variety of real-life articles. Some of our findings shocked us and we had some wonderful discussions about ethics regarding pollution.
Finally, in RE we have been finding out about the importance of being unique and us made in the image of God. We learnt about the highly inspirational story of Maximilian Kolbe and how he kept his values and his belief in God despite the tumultuous events that were going on around him.
The students have really come into Year 5 with a positive attitude and are already showing such maturity in their learning, both at school and with their homework.
Year 6
It has been an eventful start to Year 6! In English, we have been reading and learning about the book Private Peaceful. The best thing about this was that we acted out many scenes and were able to immerse ourselves in the story. Furthermore, in Maths we have been exploring lots of different topics such as pi and area/perimeter of composite shapes. We also proved many formulas such as the area and perimeter of a circle. In RE, we have been learning about unconditional love and looking at the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Prodigal son. The highlight was painting pictures of the Prodigal son. Next, in STEAM we have been looking at various types of pollution. To tackle this seismic issue, we prepared a letter with practical solutions for Boris Johnson. For humanities, we have been looking at the history of transport. We found it fascinating to compare all the different transport types which have developed and evolved throughout history. During Spanish, we have been looking at how to ask for meals in a restaurant…just in time for the half-term holiday! For music, we have been learning harvest songs and beats in a bar. Our highlight was performing the ‘Harvest Samba’. Finally, during our P.E. lessons, we have been developing our netball and tennis skills. We are looking forward to learning even more during the next half-term!
Thank you to all our parents for your support and contributions to our school. You really are part of our Vita et Pax family!
