Willow Class Blog 2024/2025

Term 4 Week 2

It's been a very busy Writers' Week!  The children wrote and edited their chosen Australian Dreamtime story.  They worked so hard and they are really proud of their work, as am I.  I hope you got a chance to go and read them after school on Friday afternoon.  They also had a wonderful lesson with Mrs Lovegrove learning about Aboriginal Art.  They achieved so much in the two hour session and the finished paintings are amazing.  They are also all proudly displayed in the hall.  On Thursday we came in dressed as a favourite book character for World Book Day.  Everyone looked amazing and spoke very enthusiastically about their chosen book and why they would recommend it to others.  I think we all now have a few extra books to add to our reading wish lists!  

Term 4 Week 1

This week we began our whole school Writers' Week which culminates with a writing display in the hall for parents next Friday.  The theme is 'traditional tales around the world' and Willow Class are focussing on Indigenous Australian Dreamtime stories.  This week involved lots of storytelling! We created story maps and used drama to retell three different Dreamtime stories.  I was so impressed with how well the children remembered the stories and the beautiful description and detail they included in their retelling.  In maths, we worked hard calculating the perimeter of shapes, first by counting on a grid, then adding lengths and finally finding missing lengths to calculate the perimeter.  We also created our own perimeter zoo! Each child used the squares to draw an animal before counting the perimeter.  In science, we started to learning about our skeletons, naming and describing the functions of some of the bones in our bodies.

Next week we look forward to our dress-up day for World Book Day on Thursday and  an art session linked to our Dreamtime stories with Mrs Lovegrove.

Term 3  Week 6

This week we completed our learning on the Romans by thinking about the lasting impact the Romans left in Britain such as a network of roads, town centres, written records and a legal justice system.  The children ranked each of the legacies in terms of how important the contribution of each item is to our lives today.  They then used the Chromebooks to type a report about what the Romans gave to us.  In maths, we continued our work on measures by finding equivalent measures using mm, cm, m and km.  On Thursday afternoon we learnt about different Romans houses and we designed and created our own colourful Roman mosaics.

Wishing everyone a happy half term break!

Term 3 Week 5

It's been a busy week in Willow Class!  We learnt how to write a kenning poem in English before writing kenning poems about ourselves.  We then had great fun guessing who had written each poem.  Next, we researched and wrote kenning poems about Roman soldiers.  In maths, we moved on to a new unit of learning measuring length.  There was also a lot of measuring involved in our science lesson as we had to measure time and temperature when investigating the question, 'Does the temperature of water affect the speed that ice melts?'  Alongside the careful measuring there was also some great teamwork shown.  In history, we learnt how Britain became part of the Roman Empire.  This week was Children's Mental Health Week .  Alongside our discussions in class and in worship, we enjoyed joining in with some of the BBC Moodbooster activities. If you fancy doing some at home, here is the link: www.bbc.co.uk/teach/moodboosters

Term 3 Week 4

We wrote and edited our Roman myths in English this week.  We also practised our handwriting by writing them up as mini books, which we will finish off and illustrate next week.  In maths, everyone worked so hard on division.  While year 3 concentrated on solving division calculations with remainders, Year 4 used their prior learning on this to learn the short division or 'Bus Shelter' method - great work, everyone! In history we recapped what Britain looked like before the Romans invaded and evaluated  how different aspects of life in Iron Age Britain might have affected the success of the Roman invasion.  We used our completed shields to try out the famous 'tortoise' formation and thought about how it aided the Roman army.  We had a lot of fun sending emails on Purple Mash in Computing.

Term 3 Week 3

We continued our work on Roman myths in English this week.  We read the story of the Roman goddess of harvest, Ceres.  We then wrote multi-clause sentences to retell the myth using a range of conjunctions such as when, since, until, before, after, so.  We also planned our own Roman myth which we are excited about writing next week.  In maths, we learnt to multiply using partitioning (breaking the number into tens and ones) and we also learnt to use the short (column) method to multiply.  In the afternoons, we enjoyed designing and making our Roman shields . We were also treated to a fun Latin lesson by Dominic's mum, Mrs Fec.  

Term 3 Week 2

We continued our work on Roman myths in English this week.  We read and compared different versions of the tale of Romulus and Remus as well as writing dialogue between the two brothers over the best hill on which to build their settlement.  In maths, we continued our work on multiplication by finding factors of numbers.  We drew 'factor flowers' to help us work in a systematic way and to remind us that factors always come in pairs.  After learning where, when and how the city of Rome was first founded, we thought about how the Roman army helped to expand the Roman Empire.  

We are looking forward to designing and making Roman shields next week.

Term 3 Week 1

Happy New Year and welcome back to term 3!  

In Willow Class, we dived straight in to our new topic of The Romans.  Please find this term's learning on our curriculum map on the Willow Class information page on this website.

In English, we read and discussed a range of Roman myths, creating a list of everything they taught us about Roman gods and goddesses.  We learnt about Roman numerals in maths and I was so impressed at how quickly the children learnt to read, write and solve calculations using them.  Our science this term is 'States of Matter.'  We learnt about what makes a material a solid, liquid or gas.  There was some great thinking especially when discussing salt, sand and lemonade! We were pleased to have indoor PE this week- the children performed some wonderful balances in gymnastics.

Term 2 Week 7

This week we have been very busy with Christmas crafts, making some beautiful Christmas cards and stained glass windows.  We used a short film called 'The Lighthouse' as our stimulus in English.  We wrote descriptions of the storm at the beginning and also tracked the changing emotions of the lighthouse keeper throughout the film.  We wrote descriptions showing how the lighthouse keeper was feeling e.g 'sweat dripped from his brow' rather than stating how he felt.  To complete this term's science learning about light, we conducted a fair test to see how the distance of the light source (torch) affected the size of the shadow.  Wow!  What a busy week!

The children have worked so hard this past term, and most definitely deserve a well-earned break!

Wishing you all a happy and peaceful Christmas holiday.

Term 2 Week 6

After we finished writing our explanation texts, we presented them neatly, remembering all the features they needed including diagrams,  labels and a glossary of technical words.  They are all interesting, engaging and attractive - well done Willows!  We used our multiplication and division knowledge to solve real life word problems in maths, including some tricky multi-step problems for the year 4s.  In the afternoons, we enjoyed some Christmas crafts- making snowflake sun catchers and completing our DT project of sewing our Christmas stockings!

Term 2 Week 5

We planned and began writing our explanation texts about volcanoes in English this week.  We realised how much knowledge we already had, but also used some selected websites to find some interesting new facts.  Lots of children were very excited to discover the biggest volcano is actually on the planet Mars!  In maths, we continued working hard on our multiplication and division facts- the 8 x table for year 3 and 7x table for year 4.  We thought of different ways to remember each fact and the children are doing really well remembering these.  On Tuesday lunchtime we were very excited to receive a flypast from Santa!  He circled the school waving at us all in the playground!  In preparation for sewing our own Christmas stockings next week, we learnt three different stitches - running stitch, back stitch and blanket stitch.  We also designed what we would like our stockings to look like and the colour and type of stitches we will use where. 

Term 2 Week 4

This week has been Assessment Week across the school and I was very impressed with how each child in Willow Class worked hard and gave each assessment their all.  They are very useful for me to see what the children know, and what we need keep working on.  Our afternoon lessons continued as normal.  On Monday afternoon, we created some volcano art inspired by a piece created by the artist Nick Roland.  After drawing and colouring the volcano using pastels, we used paints to create lava by tapping paint brushes, blowing the paint using a straw and flicking paint using a toothbrush.  Everyone created some wonderful and unique art work.  We were lucky to have a cold but sunny day on Thursday so we could continue our science work learning about shadows. 

Term 2 Week 3

This week, we used all our work in English so far this term to write our own 'Escape from Pompeii' stories.  There was some wonderful language used and a sprinkling of speech too!  In maths, we have been working really hard learning our times tables and related division facts- x3 for the Year 3s and x6 for the Year 4s.  We thought about both the positives and negatives of living near a volcano in geography.  In science, we had great fun exploring and understanding shadows.  The children were really creative making skylines, Stonehenge and shadow puppets.  On Friday the PTA treated the whole school to a wonderful theatre production of the Selfish Giant with lots of audience participation.  It was fantastic!

Term 2 Week 2

This week was Anti-Bullying Week with the theme: Choose Respect.  We enjoyed taking part in Odd Socks Day to celebrate what makes us all unique.  We learnt about volcanoes in geography, learning about why they happen and where they occur.  We read the next part of our book 'Escape from Pompeii' in English and wrote powerful descriptions of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  We also learnt about using inverted commas to punctuate direct speech and wrote conversations between characters in the book.  In Science, we learnt about reflective materials and conducted an experiment to order different materials from the most to least reflective.  We made the most of Wednesday's sunny afternoon to get outside and practise our hockey dribbling.

Term 2 Week 1

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed a good half term break.  Please see this term's curriculum newsletter outlining the learning for this term on the Willow Class Information page on this website.  Our over-arching topic this term is 'Extreme Earth'. 

We began reading and exploring the book, 'Escape from Pompeii' in English.  We used a thesaurus to generate lots of synonyms for the verb 'shake' and then wrote our own short poems to describe the earthquake.  In maths, we learnt how to multiply by 10 and 100; learning why there is a 0 in the ones when you multiply a whole number by 10 and why there is a 0 in the ones and tens when you multiply a whole number by 100.  We learnt about the different layers of the Earth in geography and began learning about light sources in science.  In PE we learnt about the different positions in netball and had a proper match.  Meanwhile, some of the girls went to a football tournament at Langtree.  They did amazingly well and came home with the first place trophy! Fantastic!

Term 1 Week 8

We worked really hard to finish writing our sensational Stone Age reports this week.  They are packed full of interesting facts and information.  Our history took us from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age and then the Iron Age.  We thought about how life changed with the discovery of these metals.  We learnt all about Iron Age hillforts and designed and planned planned our own hillfort.  In maths, we recapped rounding numbers before using rounding to estimate answers to calculations.  In our PSHE lesson, we thought about the different emotions we all feel and we thought about suitable strategies to manage difficult emotions.

I've been so impressed with Willow Class' hard work this term and I wish everyone a happy half term.

Term 1 Week 7

In science this week, we turned our focus to soil.  We thought about what what soil is made of and discussed the different types of soil such as sandy soil, clay soil, chalky soil and peat.  We investigated further by putting soil in a bottle, adding water and shaking it  100 times!  We left it for 24 hours before looking at all the layers it had separated into.  We completed our online safety computing unit  by completing an online quiz to show all we have learned.  We continued our work on column subtraction in maths and I am impressed with how hard the children are working to understand this method.  We have planned a report bout the Stone Age using all our knowledge from the term so far and we look forward to writing and illustrating it next week.  

Term 1 Week 6

On Tuesday, we had a fabulous trip to Earth Trust to learn even more about the Stone Age.  No one let the weather dampen their spirits and everyone represented Checkendon Primary School beautifully!

Term 1 Week 5

This week we have been doing lots of making to help us with our learning.  As part of our English work, we followed a set of instructions to make a woolly mammoth model.  We then thought about whether the instructions were easy to follow and why this was and whether the instructions could be improved in any way.  In science, we learnt about fossilisation and we used created our own fossil models to help us to understand the process.  We have began a new unit in maths - addition and subtraction.  We learnt how to clearly set out our calculations and started to learn about exchanging.  We will continue this next week.

We look forward to going on our school trip to Earth Trust to learn more about the Stone Age next Tuesday.

Term 1 Week 4

We have had a busy week of learning in Willow Class.   We used our planning from last week to write action-packed Stone Age stories.  They were full of adventure and excitement and I really enjoyed reading them all.  Continuing our Stone Age work, we worked in pairs using the tablets to research the Stone Age village, Skara Brae.  We found out so many interesting facts and information about how the  Stone Age people lived in the Neolithic period.  In science, we investigated permeable and impermeable rocks.  The children were able to predict which rocks they believed would allow water to pass through them using their science learning from the term so far.  We then tested them to see if the predictions were correct.  Happily, we also managed to dodge the rain and play some 3v3 games of netball using the skills learnt so far!

Next week, we start our instruction writing in English using the book 'How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth'.  We will also be learning all about Stonehenge. 

Term 1 Week 3

We continued our work on the Stone Age by looking at Stone Age artefacts this week.  We thought about what they tell us about the Stone Age and also what information we can deduce from them.  There was lots of interesting discussion.  In science, we explored different rocks.  First, we observed them carefully and described them, then we looked in reference books to classify them as igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic before researching what they are used for.  We had our first lesson using the Chrome Books in Computing this week.  We learnt about logging in and why it is so important to keep our passwords safe.  We created freeze frames in groups to plan our own Stone Age stories in English and we are looking forward to writing them next week.  There were some fantastic ideas so I am really looking forward to reading them!

We began the week with a visit from PCSO Haynes. In our session, we focussed on equality and the similarities and differences between us all.  

In English, we continued our work on our class text 'Stone Age Boy'.  We focused on adverbials of time (such as ' as dusk fell) and adverbials of place (such as 'next to the cave.)  We used these to write a letter home as if we were the central character in the text describing our adventures in the Stone Age.  In our maths this week, we practised placing numbers on number lines up to 1000 and, for a challenge, 10,000.  We also practised counting in steps of 50 and 25.  Our science began with an introduction to the three main types of natural rock - igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.  We used the power of chocolate to help us remember how these different rock types were formed!  We continued our history by learning about cave art; thinking about how we can use it to help us find out about the Stone Age and the materials used.  We then worked in pairs to create our own fantastic versions.

Term 1 Week 1

Welcome (back) to Willow Class!   I have been so impressed with how everyone has settled back to school and has been so quick to learn the class routines.  We have jumped straight in to our topic 'The Sensational Stone Age'.  We thought about where the Stone Age fits on a timeline and explored what Stone Age people used to survive against threats.  We also started reading our class book, 'Stone Age Boy'. In PSHE, we thought about our school rules and how important it is for us to work as a team. We created a beautiful class display (see below) to illustrate this.  When the sun shone on Wednesday afternoon, we enjoyed some fun PE games outside.

Next week, we look forward to a visit from PC Ben and our first Forest School session on Monday.