Curriculum In Action

Year 6 were very lucky to have a visit from Karen and Clair who work at the Norfolk Record Office to deliver activities on our history unit: The Norwich Strangers. They helped Y6 to recap their understanding of who the Norwich Strangers were, where they came from and why they came to Norwich. Everyone showed curiosity, teamwork, and concentration to have a fantastic workshop; there was even period dress-up involved!

Today year four had a fantastic day trip to West Stow near Bury St Edmunds to visit the Anglo-Saxon Village. They got to explore the artefacts on display in the museum; handled some replica artefacts and were able to look around a reconstructed village of the time. We had to use lots of our historian skills to help us imagine and learn about what life was like for these early settlers in Britain. Our history topic will continue for the rest of the half term as we learn more.

This half term Year 2 have been learning about the Titanic. To learn more about life on board, they used picture sources to find evidence about the different things people could do and the differences between 1st class and 3rd class.

This week, Year 5 explored flood defences as part of their Geography and English project about rivers. Thank you to Mr Marsh and Dr Richardson for taking time out of their day to share the important work they do – we asked lots of questions and even got to stop the flood!

Before the Easter break, we had a Greek day; we enjoyed designing and making our own Greek inspired pots; we all made Greek salads and we held our very own Greek Olympics (without the wrestling!)

Today year 4 were excited to have a visit from polar explorer Adrian Hall. He spoke to us about his expeditions, showed us all the equipment he packed in his rucksack and shared lots of photos at the start of the day. After this, he worked outside with every class, teaching them about map reading and compass skills before they completed a treasure hunt around the school grounds. We had a great day and now feel we know a lot more about the life of an arctic explorer.

Year 3 had a fantastic day at Norwich Castle. They were able to consolidate and further their Ancient Egyptian knowledge. They enjoyed exploring artefacts, seeing a mummy and creating their own Egyptian jewellery.

The children were safe, ready and respectful and asked some super questions. Well done Year 3!

Year 3 had a great afternoon with their reception buddies on Thursday.
They were able to ask about their learning this half term and then share their own fantastic Egyptian non-chronological reports. They have worked so hard on them and it was great to celebrate success!

This week we have been learning about the Desert and the celebration of Valentine’s day. We learnt about what animals live in the desert and why it is so difficult to live there. We also learnt about how people celebrate Valentine’s day and we made cards for our loved ones.

This week in Art, Year 6 created brilliant Mayan prints. Inspired by the geometric shapes and repeating patterns used by the Maya people, children first made cardboard tiles and glued on their designs using string. They then painted the string on the tile and pressed down onto their piece of paper using a variety of colours. We were impressed by their creativity and concentration during this process!

Some children went to Norwich Cathedral with Miss Peek and Mrs Forrest today for a musical art experience. They were able to listen to a range of instruments and watch as artwork was created alongside each piece.

Thank you to Norwich School for hosting us!

This half term, Year 4 have been learning all about food from around the world. This afternoon, they were treated to a masterclass in making Vietnamese Summer Rolls by Mr Cross. They were shown how to soak their rice paper until flexible, before filling it with lettuce, carrot, beansprouts, coriander, basil, spring onion and sweet chilli sauce. Mrs Stevenson was even put to the test to see if she could roll one!

Back in class, all children had the opportunity to make their own, choosing their fillings and then taste them if they wished.

They were very pleased with the results!

Today year four were lucky enough to be able to try a range of different foods from around the world. These included such delicacies as pierogi from Poland, papaya from Mexico and samosas from India. They evaluated their smell, appearance, texture and taste and gave them a score out of five stars. We look forward to making some of our own international cuisine next week.

Year 6 have started their new art topic, inspired by the abstract style of Patrick Heron. This week, we experimented blending colours together in order to create a sunset. Everyone showed creativity and teamwork; a great start!

Year 3 enjoyed creating their own cave art today. They were able to use continuous lines and pastels to create different effects. They also enjoyed creating and using stencils as part of their work. Have a look at their work in action!

This week, year 5 have been busy dreaming big! Over the past few weeks, we have been learning about architecture and dream homes. We have been exploring architectural features and design in homes both large and small. We have been working in teams to create our own dream homes using ideas from our sketch books.

Year 3 have explored Vincent Van Gogh, Alice Kettle and Hannah Rae in art. They thought about different shades and brush strokes, as well as texture. They were able to add stitches to their artist inspired work today and we’re all proud of their finished products!

Today, Year 3 designed their very own fossils using clay and outdoor materials.

They also learnt about the stages of fossilisation and created their own zig zag book.

Before the Easter break, we had a Greek day; we enjoyed designing and making our own Greek inspired pots; we all made Greek salads and we held our very own Greek Olympics (without the wrestling!)

Year 3 completed their puppet theatres today and explored how shadows changed size depending on the light source distance. They were able to design shadow puppets and perform a mini show to their friends. What a great afternoon!

Reception had a wonderful time on our trip to Gressenhall. We met Fairy tale characters, such as Cinderella and Jack. We helped them find their magical objects the Wicked Witch had stolen. We particularly enjoyed the tractor ride on the farm, helping the Ugly-Stepsister with her chores and sliding down the beanstalk slides.

Year 6 have been working hard in their writing lessons to produce informal letters based on Shaun Tan’s ‘The Arrival’. The main character has moved to a new land to pursue a better life and writes to his family to persuade them to come and join him. To get into role and consider what the main character would say to his wife and daughter, children did some hot-seating! We were impressed by how they took to the challenge, considering mature and reflective questions to ask the person in role. We’re looking forward to reading the final letters and seeing them up on the writing wall displays too.

To start their new writing unit, based on the book The Midnight Fair, Year 2 went to the Queen’s Hill Fairground. They played hook a flamingo, hoopla, splat the fish and bean bag toss. They even got to play the tin can alley which had teachers’ faces on them! They had a great morning and are ready to get started with their writing!

Our pupils had an amazing time at Bookbugs and Dragontales Bookshop this week! They had the opportunity to choose new books for our school libraries and even meet the author and illustrator, Ben Rothery, who was working on a window display at the shop.

We can’t wait to see the books we selected in the Book Nook at school!

This week, Year 6 started their English unit based on the graphic novel, ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan. A graphic novel is a story without words and it can still be just as powerful and detailed. We discussed how every illustration is included for a reason and that if you look very closely you gather a huge amount of information from a single image.

Year 6 enjoyed participating in a range of activities to find out clues about their new English book, before it was revealed to them! Children took part in a scavenger hunt, collecting the answers to questions about the characters and themes of the book. Hidden away all around the playground were pictures from the graphic novel with key information attached. They also discovered how the beautiful pictures were drawn and had a go at an art task recreating a piece in the same style. Then, they explored the theme of migration and learnt about refugees. During this time they reflected on why people might have to flee their country and what belongings might be important to bring with them. It was great to see how curious everyone was about our new topic and we look forward to seeing how they get on with their writing over the coming weeks.

Year 3 had a great afternoon with their reception buddies on Thursday.
They were able to ask about their learning this half term and then share their own fantastic Egyptian non-chronological reports. They have worked so hard on them and it was great to celebrate success!

This week, year one and year four pupils buddied up for an afternoon session of African animal research on the iPads. It was wonderful to see such polite and caring partnerships between our older and younger students. Our year ones went away with lots of interesting and useful facts about meerkats, lions and giraffes which they will use to help them with their writing next week. We look forward to them sharing this work with their older buddies at the end of term.

This morning the Year 2 children came into their classrooms and found all of their chairs had been taken away! Luckily this week they have been learning how to use their writing skills to persuade someone so they quickly wrote letters and made posters for their teachers to convince them to give their chairs back. Because of their excellent work, the children were able to get their chairs back and have a comfy rest of the day.

To kick-start their new English unit: Romeo & Juliet, Year 6 enjoyed participating in a variety of Shakespeare-related activities! Children took part in a scavenger hunt, collecting the answers to questions about the famous playwright and his works. They had to match symbols on their sheet to answers hidden away all around the playground. They discovered Shakespearean language and had to decide if phrases given to them were Shakespeare or ‘Fakespeare’. They explored the ancient grudge between the two feuding families in Romeo & Juliet: The Montagues and The Capulets and learnt about their household crests. Children were then tasked with creating their own crest, focusing on the significance of its design, colour and symbols. It was great to see how enthusiastic everyone was about our new topic and we look forward to seeing how they get on with their writing over the coming weeks.

This morning Year 2 and Year 3 spent some time together sharing their writing. Year 2 read their buddy their fairy tale and Year 3 shared their persuasive posters. They all had a great time listening to their buddy’s work!

This week Year 2 have started learning about tally charts. To practise making tally charts they went into the school car park and tallied up the different car colours they could see. After looking at their completed tally charts they found out white cars were the most common in the car park today.

Year 6 have been working hard problem solving in Maths in a range of tasks. We have worked in pairs and small groups and used the ‘Trial and Error’ method to find solutions.

To finish their work on shapes, Year 2 have been sorting 3D shapes into categories based on the properties they have been learning about. There was lots of great mathematical thinking about faces, edges and vertices!

In Year 1 we have been learning about repeating patterns. We started with shape patterns and then moved onto making patterns with a range of materials. The children enjoyed moving around the classroom and experimenting with different patterns.

This week, year 5 have taken part in not one but two maths investigations. On Monday we joined the school maths investigation day and worked using trial and error to find a solution to a problem involving money. On Tuesday, Squirrels were joined by visitors from Isaac Newton who guided them through another investigation.

Year 6 have been working hard in maths and recapping multiplication. In pairs, they taught each other how to multiply 4 by 2 digit numbers together. There was lots of praise and excellent modelling- super teamwork!

Year 3 have worked super hard on partitioning this week and have explored 1, 10, 100 more and less today.

They were able to use base 10, place value counters and arrow cards to support them.

We are so proud of their grit and determination.

Year 3 have enjoyed using different manipulatives to partition numbers to 1000.

They showed great concentration and independence.

Year 3 explored adding 3 addends today.
They showed great independence using different resources and have been working hard at their presentation too.

Today Year 2 have been applying the multiplication and division skills they have been practising in lessons and became tiny teachers! They worked together in pairs to mark a Maths quiz Miss Hunter had completed and fixed any mistakes they found.

Last Friday, the whole school took part in the Schools of Sanctuary: Day of Welcome. During the day, they learnt about the lives of refugees and how we can make our community in Queen’s Hill welcoming. This years theme was ‘Community is our Superpower’.

Children in Year 1 learnt about different playground games that children play from around the world. They played ‘Chinlone’ and ‘Oon’ from Myanmar and ‘Cossak’ from Ukraine. They shared these games with their buddies in Year 4 too.

Children in Year 3 & 4 took part in a live lesson with schools across the country to hear stories from Dina Nayeri about her own personal experiences of being a refugee as a child and fleeing to the United States of America. As part of the lesson, children had the opportunity to try some Taekwondo moves, as taking up this sport was something that helped Dina feel part of her new community when she moved to America.

In Year 5, children designed and wrote postcards to refugee children, welcoming them to Queen’s Hill. They explained how they would be welcomed into the community. Collaboratively, Year 5, along with their buddies in Year 2, designed houses for Moomins after reading about the displacement of the Moomins in ‘The Moomins and the Great Flood’ by Tove Jansson.

Year 6 enjoyed playing a game in their Mandarin lesson this week and keeping score, noting down the correct Chinese characters!

This week in Reception we have been learning about the celebration of ‘Lunar New Year’. We learnt about what foods people eat to celebrate and how they decorate using colourful decorations- we even made our own Chinese Lantern. Children explored different resources and really enjoyed learning about this celebration!

Year 5 enjoyed joining in with a live BSL lesson today. We learnt how to sign our names, the signs for greetings, animals and family members. 

This week, in Mandarin, the children had a tasting session and had a go at using chopsticks, to celebrate the Chinese New Year!

Year 6 have enjoyed beginning to look at languages and their fascinating and fun connections and roots. They have started to see that words and languages from different countries are closely linked and that by looking for clues and cracking codes, understanding other languages is easier than we think!

Year 3 began this term’s French topic on food today using Languagenut to learn the names of fabulous fruits. They extended their language learning to create colourful fruit bowls which they labelled in French! Bien fait tout le monde (well done everyone)!

To celebrate Languages Day Y5 explored the Greek alphabet. We learnt that we use lots of Greek words in English today. Some say there are over 150,000 English words that come from Greek words! Once we learnt the Greek alphabet we used it to have fun cracking linguistic codes. When we joined up with our Y2 buddies we taught them how to write their name using the Greek alphabet and then used what we had learnt to play hangman.

Year 6 have been using ‘World of Languages, Languages of The World’ resources to discover the fascinating etymology of our days of the week. Children compared our days of the week to French and German days, looking for similarities and differences. We explored and investigated the links between Norse and Roman Gods and thought about the connections between languages throughout the world. Children loved looking for clues and cracking codes in order to understand other languages as well as finding out about how many different languages are spoken amongst the year group!

Inspired by the rest of the school’s Curriculum Day, we also had our very own Year 6 Art Challenge linking to Belgian artist Ben Heine’s pencil versus camera work and using the base of the Eiffel Tower as a starting point. It was great to see the creativity of the children and see them engage so well with this task.

Year 2 have enjoyed learning some British Sign Language today during our Languages Curriculum Day. They learnt how to introduce themselves and fingerspell their name. In the afternoon they shared what they had learnt with their Year 5 buddies.

We have been learning about the life cycles of plants. As part of this topic, we have planted a Sunflower seed. We have been looking after them and look forward to taking them home to plant!

Reception had a wonderful time on our trip to Gressenhall. We met Fairy tale characters, such as Cinderella and Jack. We helped them find their magical objects the Wicked Witch had stolen. We particularly enjoyed the tractor ride on the farm, helping the Ugly-Stepsister with her chores and sliding down the beanstalk slides.

Today year 4 were excited to have a visit from polar explorer Adrian Hall. He spoke to us about his expeditions, showed us all the equipment he packed in his rucksack and shared lots of photos at the start of the day. After this, he worked outside with every class, teaching them about map reading and compass skills before they completed a treasure hunt around the school grounds. We had a great day and now feel we know a lot more about the life of an arctic explorer.

To kick-start their new English unit: Romeo & Juliet, Year 6 enjoyed participating in a variety of Shakespeare-related activities! Children took part in a scavenger hunt, collecting the answers to questions about the famous playwright and his works. They had to match symbols on their sheet to answers hidden away all around the playground. They discovered Shakespearean language and had to decide if phrases given to them were Shakespeare or ‘Fakespeare’. They explored the ancient grudge between the two feuding families in Romeo & Juliet: The Montagues and The Capulets and learnt about their household crests. Children were then tasked with creating their own crest, focusing on the significance of its design, colour and symbols. It was great to see how enthusiastic everyone was about our new topic and we look forward to seeing how they get on with their writing over the coming weeks.

This week Year 1 went to the woods to create Easter Gardens. We have been thinking about why The Cross is important to Christians and learning about the Easter story. The children confidently applied all of this knowledge to create some wonderful Easter Gardens! Great work Year 1!

Over the past two weeks Year 6 have been learning about butterflies. They all had some great questions and wanted to learn more about different species of butterflies! Children had a trail quiz to complete and were challenged to find out the answers to their questions. Upon their trail, they found a peacock butterfly in the grass. They were able to get really close up to it and see the beautiful colours of its wings. Some children even got to hold it! 

Year 5 have been working hard on creating bug hotels this week. They have used materials they have found at home to create an inviting habitat for our creepy crawly friends.

We have been learning about the changes that Autumn brings in Reception and so we decided to see if we could find any evidence of Autumn arriving in Queen’s Hills. The children worked in pairs and hunted for Autumn items from a checklist. All of the children did super listening and showed our 3 school rules of Ready, Safe and Respectful!

Year one have made a fantastic start to the year. They have spent the first week exploring the new outside resources. They have created delicious food in the outdoor kitchen and building hand eye co-ordination playing tennis. Children have enjoyed having a go at writing and phonics is underway!

Year 6 had a wonderful morning in the sunshine at the Orchard today. They were able to fix the tree labels they made last year directly onto the steel mesh of the tree guards using zip ties through pre-drilled holes. They also participated in a ‘hands on’ conservation work activity making bee hotels and signs to welcome the bees! Children then had a tour of the site and were given some background information on the conservation work that has been going on in the park. Thank you to the volunteers who facilitated the visit, the children had a really great time and it was a lovely way to complete the project started by last year’s Year 6 children who planted the trees in the Summer term of 2022!

Year 3 enjoyed a trip to Norwich Cathedral today.

We were so proud of how ready, safe and respectful they were.

They learnt all about what advent is and journeyed through the nativity.

Reception have been learning about the festival ‘Diwali’. We learnt about how people celebrate Diwali with fireworks and food. We made Diva lamps using salt dough and created firework pictures too!

Year 2 have continued learning about why light is important for different religions. This week they have learnt about Hinduism and Diwali. They learnt about the story of Rama and Sita and then created their own rangoli patterns.

Year 2 have started learning about why light is an important symbol for different religions. This week they have been learning about the Jewish festival Hanukkah and understanding how a Menorah is an important part of this celebration.

This week, Year 6 have been starting to plan their discursive RE writing to answer the question, ‘Creation or Science: conflicting or complementary?’ Classes began to unpick the structure of the writing and considered lots of elements in order to make the piece cohesive. Children concentrated very effectively to discuss the purpose and audience, the effect they want to have on the reader, the grammatical and punctuation features they need to include and the topic-specific vocabulary. All their ideas are on the classroom working walls to reference throughout the unit. Children also began to think about the main ideas to include in the introduction and worked collaboratively to shared write this section using great communication.

This week Year 1 went to the woods to create Easter Gardens. We have been thinking about why The Cross is important to Christians and learning about the Easter story. The children confidently applied all of this knowledge to create some wonderful Easter Gardens! Great work Year 1!

Year 3 enjoyed learning all about advent at Norwich Cathedral this week.

They were able to hear the Christmas story as well as complete craft activities!

Thank you for having us!

This half term Year 2 have been looking at why light is important for different religions. This week the children have learnt about Diwali and why light is important to Hindus. The children learnt about the story of Rama and Sita and how Hindus decorate with Rangoli patterns and Diya Lamps. They then went outside to create their own Rangoli patterns.

Year 6 have had a busy start to the week! In Maths, children have put their problem solving skills to the test, working on a tricky investigation collaboratively. They have also been learning about Islamic patterns and the geometric shapes found in mosques, linking their learning to RE.

In DT, children carried out Market Research as they began their new project. Before designing their own board games, they tried and tested a variety of games and evaluated their effectiveness. We look forward to seeing (and playing) the games they create!

We have been learning about different symbols in RE. We have thought about what the symbol of the cross means to Christians. We made stained glass windows to help us explore this.

Year 1 have been learning about plants. They planted seeds and are excited to watch them grow. We have also been looking at real plants to notice the parts of the plants and used post-it notes to label them.

The weather is hotting up (hopefully!) and we have been learning about sun safety. As part of our science learning, we found out about how sunscreens are made and how they are tested. We made predictions about the SPF in sunscreens and used UV beads to test out our predictions with a few surprising results! It was clear that no protection at all is very dangerous and that factor 15 offers less protection. Factor 30 and 50 are definitely the best. We also learnt that the amount of sunscreen applied affects the effectiveness. One thing that did surprise us is that even on a cloudy day, UV rays could be damaging. Remember to always wear your sunscreen and take other precautions like covering up, staying out of the sun at the hottest times of the day, drinking plenty of water and wearing a sunhat.

We have been learning about the life cycles of plants. As part of this topic, we have planted a Sunflower seed. We have been looking after them and look forward to taking them home to plant!

Today, Year 3 designed their very own fossils using clay and outdoor materials.

They also learnt about the stages of fossilisation and created their own zig zag book.

Year 2 had a fantastic time at Snettisham Park and had a wonderful day learning about the different animals there. They fed lambs, collected and measured eggs, fed goats and even went on a deer safari!

Year 3 completed their puppet theatres today and explored how shadows changed size depending on the light source distance. They were able to design shadow puppets and perform a mini show to their friends. What a great afternoon!

Reception have been spending the last two weeks looking after chicks. We received eggs and watched them in the incubator until they hatched. The children learnt about a chickens life cycle, names for other baby animals and that the yellow chicks were boys and the brown chicks were girls. We were so inspired by this that we used the chicks to learn about tally charts to vote on names for our chicks, in our literacy lessons we learnt about the story “Dora’s eggs” and used wrote describing words using our phonics and we also made chick pictures and explored nest making.

Year 3 looked at natural and artificial light sources today. They investigated what happened to shadows of different objects as they moved closer and further away. They were able to think and work scientifically and made some great predictions!

Year 3 explored construction today ahead of making shadow puppets as part of their science unit ‘light’.

They worked hard in groups and showed fantastic grit and determination to make these stages out of cereal boxes!

We can’t wait to watch their shows!

In our science lesson this week year four were investigating the melting point of butter, chocolate and cheese. We used hot water and foil cake cases to do this safely, making careful observations over time. We then used these observations to help us draw a conclusion.

Today, a small group of children from Year 4 spent the morning at Taverham High School participating in a Panathlon event. They competed against 8 other schools from the local area in a series of sporting challenges, including: standing long jump, outdoor bowling, cricket and many more. They all showed huge amounts of grit and determination to have a go at each of the activities and represented the school brilliantly. Each child was awarded a medal at the end of the morning for all of their fantastic efforts.

We had so much fun during our Big Toddle! We completed different Physical Development activities such as ‘Balance Along the Tree Branches’ and ‘Don’t Fall in the River’. Parents and carers helped us raise £150 for Bernardo’s- well done Nursery and Reception!

Last Friday, the whole school took part in the Schools of Sanctuary: Day of Welcome. During the day, they learnt about the lives of refugees and how we can make our community in Queen’s Hill welcoming. This years theme was ‘Community is our Superpower’.

Children in Year 1 learnt about different playground games that children play from around the world. They played ‘Chinlone’ and ‘Oon’ from Myanmar and ‘Cossak’ from Ukraine. They shared these games with their buddies in Year 4 too.

Children in Year 3 & 4 took part in a live lesson with schools across the country to hear stories from Dina Nayeri about her own personal experiences of being a refugee as a child and fleeing to the United States of America. As part of the lesson, children had the opportunity to try some Taekwondo moves, as taking up this sport was something that helped Dina feel part of her new community when she moved to America.

In Year 5, children designed and wrote postcards to refugee children, welcoming them to Queen’s Hill. They explained how they would be welcomed into the community. Collaboratively, Year 5, along with their buddies in Year 2, designed houses for Moomins after reading about the displacement of the Moomins in ‘The Moomins and the Great Flood’ by Tove Jansson.

Year 3 had a fantastic time at Whitlingham Adventure.

They tried paddle boarding and canoeing and also completed many different team challenges.

The children showed great grit and determination throughout the day and all were safe, ready and respectful. Well done Year 3!

This week year 1 started practising the different activities that they will complete during our sports morning. The children were really excited to try something new.

Year one have made a fantastic start to the year. They have spent the first week exploring the new outside resources. They have created delicious food in the outdoor kitchen and building hand eye co-ordination playing tennis. Children have enjoyed having a go at writing and phonics is underway!

This half term Year 2 have been enjoying developing their throwing, aiming and agility skills in PE. This week they took part in a carousel of activities to practise what they’ve learnt. They even challenged themselves to adapt the activities to make them trickier!

Year 6 have been enjoying their weekly cricket sessions through Norfolk Cricket’s ‘Chance 2 Shine programme’ this half term. They have been developing concentration, focus, hand-eye coordination and throwing and catching skills. Today the children focused on the accuracy of their bowling and, with grit and determination, many managed to successfully knock down the wickets!

What an amazing turn out we had for our Big Toddle Reception Event today! The children were all dressed up in safari outfits and joined in with a range of activities, including balance beams, obstacle courses and throwing and catching races.

Thank you to all of the parents and carers for joining us and helping to raise funds for Barnardo’s Charity.

We had a fun packed few days at Eaton Vale this year. All the children were amazing and gave everything a go even if they were initially weary. We packed so much in that the photos below do not do it justice but hopefully you will get a snapshot of the lasting memories we built.

Some children went to Norwich Cathedral with Miss Peek and Mrs Forrest today for a musical art experience. They were able to listen to a range of instruments and watch as artwork was created alongside each piece.

Thank you to Norwich School for hosting us!

Year 3 have enjoyed using ‘Scratch’ as part of their computing unit.

Today, they were able to code different instruments to create their very own band.

Miss Peek enjoyed hearing and seeing lots of different performances!

We have had such an amazing first term in Year 5! We have been busy designing, making and evaluating our cam toys, learning how to play jingle bells in music, exploring forces and writing fantastic missing chapters for our class text: Viking Boy. We are now experts on all things Viking and fractions are now our friends! 

The Year 5 team wishes everyone a very happy and restful winter break.

Years 2, 3, 4 and 5 enjoyed a musical performance assembly from Norwich School today.

They were able to hear different instruments and think about how it made them feel.

Thank you to Norwich School for providing our pupils with this opportunity.

Year 6 have been enjoying weekly steel pan music lessons. They have been getting to grips with the different notes and sounds all whilst learning about where steel pans originate from!

Year 3 enjoyed beginning their Charanga unit on glockenspiels yesterday.

They looked at notes D and E and impressed Miss Peek with their call and response skills!

Year 3 explored Heather Hansen’s gestural art today.

They listened to different pieces of music and thought about how it made them feel. They used charcoal to create art and patterns inspired by her.

Some children enjoyed a music recital at Norwich Cathedral this afternoon.

They enjoyed hearing the piano, a cello and a vocalist.

They represented our school well and we are very proud of them.

Year 4 are really enjoying their instrumental lessons as part of their music curriculum. This week they were able to learn the note ‘B’ and even play along to a simple song.

Miss Peek was very proud to pop in and hear Mrs Stevenson’s class progress.

Year 3 have been exploring different musical notes and vocabulary this term. They even had a go at writing their own this week.

They now know what a crotchet, minim and quaver is and are working hard on remembering the note values too.

As part of computing, year 3 were able to code and create their own bands on scratch! What a musical week!

Year 3 have enjoyed using ‘Scratch’ as part of their computing unit.

Today, they were able to code different instruments to create their very own band.

Miss Peek enjoyed hearing and seeing lots of different performances!

This week, year one and year four pupils buddied up for an afternoon session of African animal research on the iPads. It was wonderful to see such polite and caring partnerships between our older and younger students. Our year ones went away with lots of interesting and useful facts about meerkats, lions and giraffes which they will use to help them with their writing next week. We look forward to them sharing this work with their older buddies at the end of term.

This week in year four, we have been learning to code and write algorithms using repeated instructions. Using the free Turtle Academy software, the children were able to create different patterns and shapes, exploring the effect of changing line length, angle and the number of repetitions. They were very excited to see their images appear on the screen as you can see below.

Year 6 got to grips with using a micro:bit this week – a tiny programmable device that enabled children to understand how computers work and learn to code using the language of computers. They familiarised themselves with the device itself and the programming environment before creating their own programs. They then ran their programs on the device. We were impressed by everyone’s curiosity and concentration!

Year 1 were lucky to have some Y6 ambassadors join us for our computing lesson. They showed us how to use a keyboard to type. The children then had a go at writing some sentences.

We have been using micro:bit in our computing lessons. We have enjoyed exploring how to program the controller and designing our own moving icons.

This half term Year 2 are learning about digital photography. They have learnt what makes a good photograph and have used this knowledge to take high quality photographs of objects in the classroom and outdoor scenery.

This afternoon, Year 3 created their own tree diagrams as part of their computing unit.

They thought about yes/no questions and showed real grit and determination.

This week Year 2 have been learning all about algorithms. They drew maps and mazes then programmed their Bee-bots so that they could move from one place to the next.

Year 3 have been exploring programming as part of their latest computing unit.

Today they were able to explain that programming requires a start point and recognise that a sequence of commands can have an order.

They had great fun using scratch to support!

Last Friday, the whole school took part in the Schools of Sanctuary: Day of Welcome. During the day, they learnt about the lives of refugees and how we can make our community in Queen’s Hill welcoming. This years theme was ‘Community is our Superpower’.

Children in Year 1 learnt about different playground games that children play from around the world. They played ‘Chinlone’ and ‘Oon’ from Myanmar and ‘Cossak’ from Ukraine. They shared these games with their buddies in Year 4 too.

Children in Year 3 & 4 took part in a live lesson with schools across the country to hear stories from Dina Nayeri about her own personal experiences of being a refugee as a child and fleeing to the United States of America. As part of the lesson, children had the opportunity to try some Taekwondo moves, as taking up this sport was something that helped Dina feel part of her new community when she moved to America.

In Year 5, children designed and wrote postcards to refugee children, welcoming them to Queen’s Hill. They explained how they would be welcomed into the community. Collaboratively, Year 5, along with their buddies in Year 2, designed houses for Moomins after reading about the displacement of the Moomins in ‘The Moomins and the Great Flood’ by Tove Jansson.

The weather is hotting up (hopefully!) and we have been learning about sun safety. As part of our science learning, we found out about how sunscreens are made and how they are tested. We made predictions about the SPF in sunscreens and used UV beads to test out our predictions with a few surprising results! It was clear that no protection at all is very dangerous and that factor 15 offers less protection. Factor 30 and 50 are definitely the best. We also learnt that the amount of sunscreen applied affects the effectiveness. One thing that did surprise us is that even on a cloudy day, UV rays could be damaging. Remember to always wear your sunscreen and take other precautions like covering up, staying out of the sun at the hottest times of the day, drinking plenty of water and wearing a sunhat.

To continue our topic of “People who help us” we had a dentist come in this week to talk with Reception about the importance of looking after our teeth. We learnt about why we brush our teeth, how many times to brush our teeth a day, how long to brush our teeth each time and the techniques to use. Nikki even brought Barry the dinosaur to help and we got to dress up as a dentist!

Year 4 were delighted to welcome the NHS Cambridgeshire Community Service Trust today to run a 1 hour big worries and anxiety workshop with each of our classes. It was pleasing to see the children coming away with so many new strategies to help them manage their emotions and feelings.

Today, classes visited polling stations 🗳️ to elect their new school council members. we have been learning all about democracy and fairness.

Well done to our new school council members for 24/25! 🎉

Year 6 participated in some great workshops in support of their upcoming move to high school. Our visitors were very impressed by their contributions and maturity.

As part of our curriculum day Year 1 have talked about what it would be like to have to move to a new school or a new place. We read the story ‘Bobble’ and discussed how Bobble felt landing in a new place . The children were incredibly empathetic and we were really impressed by all their ideas about how to make someone feel welcome when they come to our school for the first time.

Year 6 had the chance to learn vital skills through the ‘Crucial Crew’ safety programme during their visit to The Space today. They had workshops from partners including: Norfolk Constabulary, Road Safety, RNLI, St Johns Ambulance and HM Coast Guard. Children found out about staying safe in a fun and interactive way so they feel confident to recognise hazards and know how to safely respond. We were very proud of how engaged children were throughout the sessions.

On Friday 17th November, children across the whole school celebrated their uniqueness by wearing odd socks. The day started with an assembly by the Happiness Heroes, who explained their role in school and upcoming projects they have planned. Back in class, everyone learnt about what bullying is and how to ‘Make a Noise’ about bullying to put an end to it.

The whole school has been working on our self portraits this week, inspired by the work of Angelica Dass and her Humanae project. Here are are some year 5 children tracing their work!

In RHE lessons Year 2 have been learning about celebrating themselves and others. They have discussed what makes a good compliment and then spent some time writing compliments for their classmates so everyone was able to take home a page full of positive messages!

Year 1 have been helping to keep our school tidy during busy time. Some children chose to use litter pickers to pick up any rubbish that they saw.

During our first full week back in school, year 5 have been campaigning for their school council representatives. We learned about democracy and how we keep things fair. The children worked together on their campaigns and made compelling speeches. Well done to all our school councilors who were elected on polling day!

This week, we have been exploring sun safety. In RHE, we have been learning about how to keep safe in the sun and the effects of UV rays. In science, we learnt about processes involved with testing sunscreen and used UV beads to test the effectiveness of sunscreens with different factors. It helped us to understand the importance of wearing sun cream.

On Friday 17th November, children across the whole school celebrated their uniqueness by wearing odd socks. The day started with an assembly by the Happiness Heroes, who explained their role in school and upcoming projects they have planned. Back in class, everyone learnt about what bullying is and how to ‘Make a Noise’ about bullying to put an end to it.

The whole school has been working on our self portraits this week, inspired by the work of Angelica Dass and her Humanae project. Here are are some year 5 children tracing their work!

Year 6 have had a fantastic start to the year and have quickly settled into life as role models to the rest of the school! This week, children have been taking part in our whole school Art project, ‘The Colours of Queen’s Hill’, inspired by Angélica Dass and the Humanae Project which celebrates the diverse beauty of human skin. Using only blue, yellow, red and white, children experimented and mixed their unique skin tones. We have had excellent, mature conversations in class around identity too. We cannot wait to see the self portraits they produce!

Year 2 had a very exciting end to the week meeting some local fire fighters from the North Earlham crew. The children learnt all about the fire engine, listened carefully as the crew explained how they use the different equipment and asked some excellent questions. They also got to see the crew use one of their ladders and were amazed at how high it could go!

Today EYFS and KS1 were lucky enough to learn about fire safety from fire fighters from the North Earlham crew. They learned all about the amazing work the fire service do, and they now know some key fire safety tips! Some children got to explore the fire engine and all of it’s equipment, and even saw the hoses in use! KS2 are looking forward to their turn at learning more about fire safety when they return to our school next week. A huge thank you to Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service for giving up their time to join us today!

We looked at permission in RSE today. We discussed different scenarios and explored why it is important to ask for permission.

Some children went to Norwich Cathedral with Miss Peek and Mrs Forrest today for a musical art experience. They were able to listen to a range of instruments and watch as artwork was created alongside each piece.

Thank you to Norwich School for hosting us!

Year four had a fabulous day out at this year’s Norfolk Show 2025. We learnt about local agriculture, watched farm machinery in action, took part in sports events, learnt all about the armed services and emergency services, sat in some sports cars, watched sheep being sheared, pigs being raced and so much more. The year group came home with many happy memories as well as lots of stickers and freebies!

Last Friday, Year 5 had a fantastic day splashing around at Whitlingham Broad. It was an action packed day and we got to experience paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing, canoeing and climbing. It was great to have the opportunity to develop our teamwork and communication skills and having to work together to overcome challenges.  

Today, a small group of children from Year 4 spent the morning at Taverham High School participating in a Panathlon event. They competed against 8 other schools from the local area in a series of sporting challenges, including: standing long jump, outdoor bowling, cricket and many more. They all showed huge amounts of grit and determination to have a go at each of the activities and represented the school brilliantly. Each child was awarded a medal at the end of the morning for all of their fantastic efforts.

Last Friday, the whole school took part in the Schools of Sanctuary: Day of Welcome. During the day, they learnt about the lives of refugees and how we can make our community in Queen’s Hill welcoming. This years theme was ‘Community is our Superpower’.

Children in Year 1 learnt about different playground games that children play from around the world. They played ‘Chinlone’ and ‘Oon’ from Myanmar and ‘Cossak’ from Ukraine. They shared these games with their buddies in Year 4 too.

Children in Year 3 & 4 took part in a live lesson with schools across the country to hear stories from Dina Nayeri about her own personal experiences of being a refugee as a child and fleeing to the United States of America. As part of the lesson, children had the opportunity to try some Taekwondo moves, as taking up this sport was something that helped Dina feel part of her new community when she moved to America.

In Year 5, children designed and wrote postcards to refugee children, welcoming them to Queen’s Hill. They explained how they would be welcomed into the community. Collaboratively, Year 5, along with their buddies in Year 2, designed houses for Moomins after reading about the displacement of the Moomins in ‘The Moomins and the Great Flood’ by Tove Jansson.

Reception had a wonderful time on our trip to Gressenhall. We met Fairy tale characters, such as Cinderella and Jack. We helped them find their magical objects the Wicked Witch had stolen. We particularly enjoyed the tractor ride on the farm, helping the Ugly-Stepsister with her chores and sliding down the beanstalk slides.

Year 6 had a great time at Go Ape for their very well-deserved end of SATs treat! The children were so excited and were fearless going up on the high ropes course and zip wires! We were so proud of how they represented the school too.

Year 2 had a fantastic time at Snettisham Park and had a wonderful day learning about the different animals there. They fed lambs, collected and measured eggs, fed goats and even went on a deer safari!

Today year 4 were excited to have a visit from polar explorer Adrian Hall. He spoke to us about his expeditions, showed us all the equipment he packed in his rucksack and shared lots of photos at the start of the day. After this, he worked outside with every class, teaching them about map reading and compass skills before they completed a treasure hunt around the school grounds. We had a great day and now feel we know a lot more about the life of an arctic explorer.

Our pupils had an amazing time at Bookbugs and Dragontales Bookshop this week! They had the opportunity to choose new books for our school libraries and even meet the author and illustrator, Ben Rothery, who was working on a window display at the shop.

We can’t wait to see the books we selected in the Book Nook at school!