Year Group Updates - Years 1, 3 & 5

Year 1 Update
Year 1 have had a very royal start to the term. We have been learning about what a monarch is and their role in British history. We briefly learnt about King Charles and his role as king and the late Queen Elizabeth's role in the United Kingdom. We then made our own crowns to wear and went on a royal walk around the school; children even learnt how to do the late Queen's famous wave.
We also read the book 'The Queen's Hat' by Steve Antony. In the book the Queen's hat gets blown away and travels around London visiting famous landmarks. Children acted out the story and even came up with suggestions for other locations in London where the hat could have blown to.
In Art, children have learnt about Victorian fine artist Marianne North and her passion for painting flowers.
In Science, we have also started to look at plants and the parts of a flower (stem, leaves, petals and roots). Children also learnt the purpose of each part to support a flower to grow and stay healthy.
In PSHE, we discussed how to stay clean and hygienic. We looked as soap, sponges, toothpaste and a toothbrush and discussed how often we should be washing/brushing and why it is important to stay clean and healthy.
Year 3 Update
Before the holidays, Year 3 children proudly shared their published books to Year 1s. They enjoyed narrating their stories and answering some interesting questions.
Year 3 have got some really exciting work to look forward to in the Summer Term as well. To kicks things off, children discovered how to make tea as part of their English work. The children are already getting lost in the world of India as we read the story ‘Cloud Tea Monkeys’ by Mal Peet & Elspeth Graham. This will progress into the children writing thank you letters from the point of view of the main character, Tashi.
In Maths, we are learning about money. Being able to count and use money is not only an important life skill but also helps
the children’s mental arithmetic. By using physical money, the children are learning how to add and subtract and count change.
Meanwhile in Geography, the children have already been showing off their knowledge of the continents and countries while
recapping the countries which make up the United Kingdom and noticing their physical and human geographical features. Finally in Science, children have started learning about light. This is a really fun topic which involving lots of experiments like testing shadows and reflecting light. We have had great discussions about defining darkness and the importance of light in our daily lives.
Year 5 Update
This week we have continued with our writing based on the book, Beowulf, by Michael Morpurgo. We have looked at the hero and his attributes and written in role as Beowulf to help us retell the legend. The children have worked hard this week to complete the retelling and they should be very proud of the outcomes.
We have also started reading the book, Wonder, in reading lessons. This focuses on looking different but feeling the same as everyone else. We have displayed the key message from the book in our Year 5 corridor to help the children focus on the theme of kindness.
This term will be a busy one with the focus being on getting the children ready for Year 6.