How are we already at the point of the Christmas holidays? Time has truly flown in Team CB and I can't quite believe that when we return it will be 2022!
Despite lots of exciting festive celebrations going on through school, the class have continued to work incredibly hard right up until the last moment. In our Literacy, we have concluded our writing on the wolf's character description. The language that the class have developed is simply outstanding! From language such as "insatiable appetite", to "devour" and "fiendish" - the class have certainly captured exactly what this unfavourable beast looked like! Mrs Lawson was most impressed when she came in to read some of our extracts! In Maths, we have started a new topic linked to subtraction. I have been blown away at just how speedily the class have picked up this concept. They have been able to subtract practically with resources to model the understanding that subtraction is taking away. They have then progressed to seeing subtracting in the abstract form of the column method. We have successfully found the difference between two numbers where exchanges were needed and the children have a solid understanding of the need to exchange. What superstars you are. In our Geography, we have been busy exploring the features of Rivers and discussing the 3 parts of a river's course. The class were fantastic at identifying the different features of a river and could accurately pinpoint these on a river image. In Science, we have been completing a hardness test to see whether all rocks are hard. After the experiment we were able to conclude that not all rocks were hard and that this could be simply investigated through a scratch test. As it is the festive season, the class have enjoyed the drama of a pantomime. They loved the comedy in Cinderella as well as bopping along to a few of the songs that they knew. What a lovely treat it was for us all. Parents and carers will also be receiving some of the hard work and craft that our class have been busy working on as part of our Art this term, as Christmas cards and calendars will be going home today too. With that in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy, healthy and restful Christmas and New Year! I look forward to seeing you all in January! Miss Baxter
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Over the last fortnight, our class have been working immensely hard as part of their termly assessment week. The class have approached the week with fantastic maturity and a real determination to show and give their best. They have demonstrated their learning across Reading, Writing, Spelling punctuation and Grammar as well as Arithmetic and Reasoning in Maths. I could not be more proud of the brilliantly positive outlook they have had to this round of assessments. In addition, their engagement during feedback to support and develop their understanding for future reference was wonderful to see.
During the course of this week, the class have worked hard to round off their understanding of addition. They have solved word problems and missing digit problems using the information they have learned about the process of addition. As we have now completed addition, we will look to move on to subtraction from next week, where we can apply our understanding of the column method further. In our writing this week, we have introduced a new writing focus. Miss Baxter was unfortunately chased by a wolf at the weekend and the class must help her record an accurate description of the beast to pass on to the relevant professionals. As such we have spent a lot of time working on our oracy skills and expanding our understanding of rich, varied vocabulary linked to the wolf. The class have dual coded to understand new terms and can now successfully recall these through linking to actions and images. Elsewhere, we have been hard at work in our Geography and Science topics exploring Rivers and Rocks in more detail. We have completed many science experiments, including an acid test to determine if the rocks in our rock sample were sedimentary or not. To do this, the class dropped vinegar on to the various rocks and if they fizzed it indicated that they were indeed sedimentary. In music, we have been exploring the glockenspiels further, learning to play the B, C, D and E key to various tunes. We have also been learning about the different language of music and have encountered terms such as minim, crotchet and semibreve. A lovely piece of PHSE came in the form of a visit to the Toybox Tales exhibition we have had in the hall this week. The children studied carefully the different canvases and their images, recognising that all the images included a disability. The class displayed great awareness of what this meant and were able to show clear understanding of how disability can be supported. What a great 2 weeks of learning Team CB! Over the last two weeks, Team CB have been quietly working away to write their fantastic fact books about Mountains. They became mini-Attenbouroughs as they researched all about the mountains before using their notes to write up an informative piece to be shared with the whole school next week. The class have thought hard about how they can give enough detail to those who want to read their work. As such, they have worked hard to include subordinating conjunctions such as if, when, because and although in their final piece. I cannot wait for the rest of school to understand the true importance of protecting these natural wonders!
In Maths, we have been working hard on addition. The class have shown real competence in adding 2 three digit numbers and have a better understanding of the exchange process as a result of practical resources to support their understanding of the written method. Next week, we will begin to apply this learning in context as we work hard to solve reasoning and problem solving based questions linked to the skill. In Science, we have carried out careful observations of unidentified rocks. We considered their texture, colour and appearance when writing descriptions for each rock. The class then had to match their definition to a series of pre-typed descriptions. The class had observed so carefully that they found it easy to identify Sandstone, Granite, Marble, Chalk, Limestone and Slate from the information they were presented with. In Music, we have continued with our work on the glockenspiels. This week we worked on combining the D and E keys into two songs. We looked at minims and crotchets and recognised the difference. We found it much more challenging to swap between notes when crotchets were used as this meant note were only held for one count! In PE, we have been continuing with our hockey focus for this half term. The class worked incredibly hard to apply their dribbling skills whilst under pressure. They quickly realised that in hockey games you cannot only look at the ball, but that you must also have an awareness of your surroundings so that you can spot players from the opposing team who may try to take possession of the ball. As you can see, we have been so incredibly busy and I could not be more proud of how hard our children are working! Keep it up Team CB - you are all superstars! What a fantastic first week back it has been in Team CB! Our week began with the arrival of a letter from David Attenborough asking us to become Mini-Attenboroughs and help inform others in school about the beauty of the mountains and their purpose on Earth. With this in mind Literacy began with exploring how mountains are made practically to support with writing this within our informative text. We then looked at non fiction texts and their features, discussing their purpose and locations. We will begin to plan out our ideas for writing next week to create the information booklet to share with others.
In Maths, we have started a new topic of addition and subtraction. This week, we have been looking at adding and subtracting multiples of 100 as well as basic addition and subtraction involving 1 digit. We will move on next week to focus purely on addition as well as breaking the boundary of 10 and needing to regroup. In French this week we have been exploring how to say our age, the class worked incredibly hard to answer the question "Quel age as tu?". They demonstrated a growing recall of numbers to 10 in French, something which we will continue to consolidate. In Music, we began our new unit Easy E where the children will learn in more detail how to play the glockenspiel. Keep it up and well done Team CB - you are all working so fantastically hard and it is lovely to see! Our Geography topic this half term is all about Mountains and Rivers. As part of that, the class have been busy both in Geography and other subjects expanding their knowledge around these two aspects of physical geography. In our Geography sessions, the class have worked hard to plot mountains in the UK using a map. They have looked at what the brown area means on a map (higher ground) before beginning to investigate the concept of contours. To help them understand this, the class created contour maps to show how a mountain gets narrower and steeper.
In Literacy, we have used an image stimulus of mountains and rivers to inspire our writing. To celebrate National Poetry Day, we have been working hard to create our own poems in the style of one generated by a previous Year 5 child. We have explored nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs as well as making an introduction to SPAMO devices to help create a vivid picture in someone's mind. The class loved sharing their poems with each other as part of our presenting phase of writing with a hot chocolate down at our nature reserve. In Maths, we have been working hard to consolidate our knowledge of place value. We have taken care when comparing numbers using < > and = and have gained confidence in ordering numbers up to 1,000. We have also used our place value grids and counters to support our understanding of adding 1, 10 and 100 and considered what happens when exchanges are needed. As always, it has been a very busy week in Team CB - we have even been carrying out a practical Science enquiry linked to Pattern Seeking. Make sure to check our separate blog post all about this. Pattern seeking in science involves children making observations or taking measurements to explore situations where a variable cannot be easily controlled. It often includes and is centred on a ‘big question’ for children to investigate. Our big question in Team CB was “Do different body parts grow as we get older?” To do this, we measured different body parts of children from Year 1 – 6 and recorded this information. We then plotted this on a scatter graph to show the change over time.
It was interesting to see at the end of the session, that body parts do indeed grow as we get older. Team CB loved inquiring about this and spotting the pattern as children's ages were greater so too were their measurements. As part of our Science this half term, we are focussing on Light. Our challenge was to design a reflective book bag that was suitable for use in the winter months. To do this we created our own science investigation which tested if materials were reflective or not. We used our results to then create our own book bag, which would be fit for purpose in dark weather so children were kept safe.
As always, the class have been busy working away to develop their knowledge and skills across the curriculum.
In Maths, work on place value has continued, with the class exploring numbers up to 1000 and beginning to use their knowledge of number to interpret, record and estimate these numbers on a number line. We have explored missing values and how to calculate these, as well as using information we have to estimate reliably. In the coming weeks we will begin to move away from place value as we head into our learning on addition and subtraction. In our writing we have been working hard to complete our familiar setting description. The children have shown excellent perseverance for writing and have worked hard to create their own paragraph, encompassing a range of different devices such as fronted adverbials, expanded noun phrases and a broadening range of language choices. Well done Team, it has been lovely to see your language grow. In our Geography, we have been creating and labelling our own water cycles in a bag. The class loved making these and they can be found on our window sill as the children are able to see the process of condensation occuring. We have moved on to exploring mountains this week. The children worked hard to use atlas' to find mountain ranges and record their location on a map of Europe. We also spent some time answering some enquiry question. Did you know - the oldest mountain in the world is approximately 3.2billion years old. We also discovered the tallest mountain in the world was Mount Everest and it takes roughly 9 weeks to climb. In our Science, this week we conducted our practical investigation into reflective surfaces that we planned together as a class last week. The children loved using the torch to see which material was most reflective. This really helped the children with designing their own reflective book bag for the winter months! In our foundation subjects, we have been getting to grips with our French. The class have so far learnt basic greetings, how to say if they are well or not and to ask and introduce themselves by name. In music, we have been working on our half termly song "Let your Spirit Fly". The class have been fantastic at listening and appraising and have shown real enthusiasm for using the glockenspiel when finding the pulse. What a fabulous first two weeks we have had in Team CB! I have been so impressed by the class' fantastic attitude towards learning and how much enthusiasm they have shown. What a credit you are to our school Team CB!
Over the last two weeks, Team CB have been busy participating in some transition activities; getting to know their new class and staff members. Our children have worked hard to reflect on who they are as an individual and create an "all about me" inspired piece of artwork to become the front cover of their topic book. The class have also dived straight in to our new Geography topic on Mountains and Rivers. We have began our learning with understanding a key element of mountains and rivers; the Water Cycle. The class worked in groups of 4 to use drama to act out the four key stages of the process. This will help us next week when we come on to making our own Water Cycles in a bag. In our Science topic, we have started to investigate light and have spent time this week sorting and identifying those items which are and are not light sources. We will be moving on to looking at what reflection is next week and we hope to plan our own investigation from this. Elsewhere, in Maths we have been working hard on our knowledge of place value. We have made great use of practical resources such as Base 10 and place value counters to help us understand the way numbers are represented. In Literacy, we are hoping to write our own setting description of a familiar setting (the classroom) in the coming weeks. We have started to investigate features of a good setting description and generate our own examples of these. For instance, we have used our senses to describe the scene and added adjectives to give further detail. Make sure you check back soon to see what else has been happening in Team CB! Hello and good morning to you all. Thank you for finding your way to Team CB's class blog space. Throughout the year, I will be regularly posting on to the blog with updates of our learning journey so you can all share in the excitement of our current learning achievements.
I hope you have all been having a lovely summer where you have had the chance to rest, relax and recuperate ready for your arrival back in school in just a few short days. I am so excited to welcome you all to your new classroom and get straight to work creating wonderful learning opportunities and magical memories! In the meantime, enjoy the last few days of your summer holidays. Why not note down the best thing you did this summer? I would love to hear all about it when I see your smiley faces on Monday! :) Miss Baxter |
Team CB's BlogWelcome to Team CB's blog. Check out our page to see what exciting things we've been learning about each week. You'll also find important messages about key dates and activities taking place in Team CB. Archives
June 2022
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Wombwell Park Street Primary School, Park Street, Barnsley, S73 0HS Telephone: 01226 752029 Email: [email protected] General Enquiries: Our Admin Team will be happy to assist you with any enquiries and direct you to the relevant staff as necessary. Our Leadership team will always be happy to help, as will our Parent Support Advisor Mrs Carol Mason. If you require a paper copy of any of the information found on our website we will be happy to provide you with this free of charge upon request, Please contact a member of our office staff who will be more than willing to help. ECM Trust: http://www.ecmtrust.org/index.html |