Informal letter writing in Year 6

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.

Year 2’s Fairground Adventure

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!

Year 6 ‘The Arrival’

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 and Reception Buddies

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!

Year 1 & Year 4 buddy research

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.

Year 2 Writing

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.

Shakespeare 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.

Year 2 and 3 Sharing Work

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!

Phonics in Reception

Children have been working hard and enjoying learning new sounds everyday. We also welcomed parents in this week for an ‘Introduction to Phonics’ meeting to help understand how we teach phonics using the Read, Write, Inc scheme.