"Pupils behave well. They play happily together and consider each other’s needs very well.""Parents are right to be pleased with the quality of teaching at the school.""Pupils learn well because the work they do provides good levels of challenge and helps them learn new skills."100% of parents said they would recommend this school to other parents"The curriculum supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively.""Pupils get off to a good start in early years."

Kestrels 2019-2020

Mrs Meredith and Mrs Brickwood

What a week for Kestrels! What a week for us all!

Friday 20th March

This has to be the strangest blog entry that I have ever written. Of course these was some amazing learning, as ever, in Kestrels.  However, this week,  I just want to say a few words to the parents and children of Kestrels class

We do not know how long the children will be out of school and I am hopeful that we will get back together in some way. However, to each and every Kestrel I wanted you to  know this. It has been a real privilege for me to teach such a wonderful class of kind, mature, and dedicated children. We have all made so much progress so far this year and you are all in a fantastic position whatever, lies round the corner.

Please look at our home learning page each day and stay in touch with us and each other and let us hope that we can get together in person again really soon.

Stay safe everyone and look after each other,

Mrs Meredith.  

 

Kestrels in Action.

Friday 13th March

We had another varied week in Kestrel class. In maths, we have moved onto exploring the area and perimeter of compound shapes; solving complex reasoning problems. In literacy, we have started to plan our explanation text around the historical significance of the plague.

In PSHE, we learned more about keeping ourselves safe in the online world. We looked specifically at the sharing of images and analysed a range of scenarios considering what the consequences would be for sharing information as well as how to make a situation more safe. 

In science, we reviewed our understanding of seeing light, focusing specifically on why it is we see objects and how different materials absorb or reflect differing amounts of light.

Our year 6's had a great transition visit to Sponne this week for a food technology lesson. They learned how to make bread and seemed delighted with their cooking skills.

We ended the week with our inter-house lapathon as part of our activities to mark 'Sports Relief.' The overall school winners were Yellow house. However, in Kestrels class the Green House smashed it! Well done to everyone who ran with great perseverance and team spirit

Wilkommen in England!

Friday 6th March

This week was a special week in Kestrel class as we played host to our german exchange students. In order that we could share as much with them as possible we had quite a different week! However, key aspects of learning continued. In maths, we completed our study of units of measure by looking at metric and imperial measures for capacity before moving onto 2d shape. We explored the language of shape ensuring that we had a secure grasp of geometrical terms such as obtuse, acute, parallel and perpendicular.

In science we reviewed our knowledge of seeing light and completed an investigation into the shadows formed by different materials. In PSHE, we thought about the information we should share online particularly when signing up to different sites. We used a traffic light system to identify whether we should 'Stop' (not share) 'Think' (reflect & gain adult permission) Go (Share freely).

World Book Day was a great success, with lots of amazing costumes inspired by our favourite book characters. The children completed buddy reading with Robins class and completed some creative reading activities.

in art this week, we learned about the works of the street artist Banksy. We considered whether graffitti was art or vandalism before creating our own unique graffitti signature  or 'tag.'

At the end of the week, we spent sometime learning about microbes and how germs can be spread and importantly contained by proper handwashing. We also considered the best ways to cough and sneeze (into elbows or tissues) in order to prevent the spread of illness.    

A Great Start To The Term!

Friday 28th February

Kestrels hit the ground running with a packed week of learning.

In maths, we started the week solving a range of complex problems involving percentages, before moving on to using and applying units of measure. So far, we have been learning about metric and imperial units of measure for length and weight. In literacy, we have moved onto our next genre of writing - explanation texts. This week we have been analysing the features of an explanation text, as well as looking specifically at causal conjunctions and their use within this text type. In guided reading this week we analysed the poem ' The Charge of The Light Brigade' by Lord Tennyson and used our summarising and inference skills to understand this challenging poem.

We reviewed our learning of electricity in science this week and the children showed that they had retained their understanding of electrical circuits producing some pleasing assessment scores. In RE, we considered what life would be like for a Muslim living in Britain today. We considered the events surrounding a particular Muslim child who was sent home from school for wearing full Muslim dress. The children held a debate about this decision considering their reasons for and against this action.

In PE this week the children started cross country and bench ball for their outdoor and internal PE sessions. The children demonstrated their incredible fitness with James, our PE coach, as they practised competitive distance running.

In history, we are continuing to review the medical practices for the Tudor period. We considered the historical questions we could ask upon discovering an artefact and we also made a hypothesis about what the artefact could be. We then went on to learn more about the weird and wonderful medical practices that the tudors followed. The folk cures used by the poorer people of that time were particularly entertaining - Their cure for asthma was to swallow buttered frogs! Gout - rub half a mouse on your foot. Toothache - blow smoke into your mouth! Do not try this at home!!!!

A 'Marvellous Middle' end to the term!

Friday 14th February

We finished our term with a range of activties including our 'Marvellous Middle' for our current topic. Our 'Marvellous Middle' was a DT day focused on this terms topic of Talking Textiles. Having already investigated how to re-tell a narrative using visual images, we then learned a range of tecniques  for working with fabrics including: stitching, layering, quilting and object placement. We then designed and produced visual narratives to re-tell aspects of the history of medicine and disease making links with our History topic for this term. Some of us re-told aspects of pre-historic medicine, others from Roman, Egyptian or Medieval times.

In literacy, we completed our persuasive letters to 'Giant' who was duly persuaded to return to her rightful place. In maths we started to calculate using percentages and in science we  researched facts about Michael Faraday and then investigated electrical insulators and conductors. We also used our electricity knowledge grids to check whether we had all learned the core knowledge related to our electricity unit.

On Tuesday, it was 'Safer Internet Day.' We learned about the theme of identity and what needs to be considered and respected when portraying our identities online.

Another busy week and a great end to a full term of excellent learning - well done Kestrels!

Variety is the spice of life!

Friday 7th February

Another fantastic range of learning took place this week in Kestrel class. In maths we completed our in depth study of fractions by finding fractions of amounts as well as completeing our formal end of term assessments.

In literacy we drafted our persuasive letters in readiness for our hot write next week. In science, we learned all about the conventional symbols used when drawing electrical circuits and considered the importance of universal symbols to ensure that this potentially dangerous power source is handled safely.

In History, we were researching and reflecting upon the consequences of the 'Black Plague.' The children started to think carefully about the wider societal impact of a disease that eradicated about one third of the population.

In P.E. with Pacesetters we were developing our basketball skills. We focused on dribbling, blocking and scoring with accuracy.

In R.E. we learned why prayer is so important to Muslims and learned about the ritual prayer Salah. In music we were introduced to this terms music which is from the Jazz genre. The children learned to identify the beat/pulse of the music as well as identifying the melody and individual intruments.

On Wednesday, our year 5's attended a PDET maths workshop, joining with other schools from our academy to take part in a r range of maths challenges!

We were joined by a visitor from CSALT who shared all of the work that they have done to support the people of Romania over the last 30years. Some of the stories were quite inspirational as families were helped to build their own housing and develop and grow their own businesses to become self-sufficient.

Phew! All in just one week!

Star of the week: This week we celebrated with Madelyn. Madelyn has made significant progress in her learning over this term and she also represented us brilliantly at the PDET maths day this week. Great job Madelyn.

 

Working Hard in Kestrel Class!

Friday 31st January

Another packed week of learning this week in Kestrels. In literacy we started to write our persuasive letters and in maths we continued to immerse ourselves in the world of fractions; moving onto multiplying and dividing fractions.

In science, we learned about the impact of increasing or decreasing the voltage in a circuit and used this knowledge to help us conclude our experiments from last week. In PSHE we focused on challenging gender stereotypes. We learned how sometimes these stereotypes can be unhelpful and also hurtful.

In history, we started to learn about the medical practices of the medieval period including the beliefs held about the causes of the 'Black Plague.'

We started our DT project for this term - 'Talking Textiles', which is based around telling stories through images. The children studied the Bayeux tapestry and, applying their history knowledge from last term, started to re-tell parts of the story about the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings.

Kestrel Star of the week: We celebrated with Harry today. Harry is outstanding in his attitude to his learning and has made significant progress in all areas of the curriculum. This week he made particular progress in his reading. Well done Harry! 

Feeling Persuasive!

Friday 24th January

We  have been planning our persuasive letters this week in Kestrel class. We shared the book 'Giant' by Juliet & Charles Snape and, using the inspiration of enviromental neglect, we began to think of ways to persuade 'Giant' to return to her rightful home.

In maths, we have continued on our fractions journey solving lots of worded problems, completing investigations and moving on to adding and subtracting mixed numbers. Having posed some interesting questions last week about circuits, we had the opportunity to devise our own science experiments to explore these questions. How many bulbs can one battery light? Can we combine two circuits? and ,what difference does the length of the wire have on the brightness of a bulb? were among the investigations. 

In R.E., we learned what Muslims believe about God using extracts from the Qur'an to help us and in PSHE we were reflecting on difference and the qualities of friendship.

We have been reviewing our grammar knowledge this week and we all made significant steps forward when completing our grammar assessments - well done Kestrels.

On Wednesday we had a special talk by the police on the 'Blue Butterfly' scheme. We re-visited the idea that we should listen to our early warning signals eg butterflies and always tell a trusted adult if we are feeling worried - no matter how small.

Kestrel Star of the Week: We celebrated wkith Ellie this week. Ellie is a fantastic learner in our class and has had a particularly good week working on some tricky fraction problems. Ellie is also a kind and helpful member of the class and we wouldn't be without her! Well done Ellie - a great star this week. 

A Varied Week in Kestrel Class!

Friday 17th January

From fractions to circuits and Roman health, the Kestrels have been learning about a great variety of different subjects this week.

In maths, we have continued to compare and contrast fractions, making use, this week, of common denominators to find equivalent fractions. In literacy, we have been learning how to use persuasive phrases and exaggerated language and in R.E, we have been learning about the beliefs of Islam.

Our history focus this week was the civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome. We learned about how 'Hippocrates', the greek philosopher made significant contributions to modern day medicine and what the Roams believed contributed to a healthy life. We wrote tweets about our understanding of the Roman approach to medicine and disease. - See below

@TherealHippocrates         Stay away from marshes#Miasma#badair#livehealthy

@Therealromandoctor       Make sure to bathe when ill#Keep healthy#bathhouse#socialise

@RomanHealth                   Drink clean water#Aquaduct#Healthybody

 

Finally In science, we reviewed our understanding of circuits and developed our understanding of key vocabulary linked to electricity as well as asking scientific questions to prompt further investigation.

Star of the Week: We celebrated with Hayley this week as she has settled into our school and our class so brilliantly. Well done Hayley. We are lucky to have you as part of team Kestrel!

A Great Start in Kestrel Class!

Friday 10th January

The Kestrels hit the ground running with a fantastic first week back after the winter break!

We started our new topic, "Great Discoveries." In Kestrels class we will be learning all about the history of medicine and disease from prehistoric times through to modern day. We started off by finding out about the views of the Prehistoric and Egyptian civilisations. We learned about primary and secondary sources of information and took on the role of medicine men writing our own chants to oust evil spirits from our patients bodies.

Our stunning start this term was linked to our science topic of electricity. We invited Atomic Tom from Atomic Science into school and Kestrels had an amazing afternoon learning about what electricity is and how it is created. We were able to create static electriciity and understand how this is different from mains electicity. We used a Van De Graaff machine with some 'shocking'results! See our pictures below for more detail!

In literacy, we started to immerse ourselves in our new text type - persuasive letters. So far we have become familiar with both the structural and grammatical features of this style of writing. In maths, we have started to learn about fractions. We have been making generalisations to help us understand the value of fractions and compare their sizes, as well as representing fractions pictorially.

In ICT, we learned about how easy it is for a profile to be changed on line and the importance of having private profiles in order to protect our personal data. In PSHE, we learned how differences can sometimes lead to bullying behaviour and held some extremely mature discussions around the importance of respecting a whole range of differences. 

A special welcome to Hayley who has joined our class this term. She has settled in brilliantly and already feels like part of the team!

Star of the Week: This week we celebrated with Lucas. Since the beginning of the academic year Lucas has been working really hard on his maths and writing as well as developing his independence when studying all areas of the curriculum. He is making massive progress and we are incredibly proud of him!    

A Fabulous finish for Kestrels!

Friday 19th December

This week was a wonderful mix of great learning and preparations for Christmas.

We started the week finding out about the scientist Sir Isaac Newton as part of this terms science focus on forces. Later in the week, we moved on to look at the forces present within gear mechanisms and finally review all of our forces knowledge from the whole term.

On Tuesday, we joined with the rest of the school to take part in our Christmas Carol concert. It was a lovely service where Reverand Paula helped us understand the symbolism behind Christmas Crackers! Well done to Olivia, Giorgio, Sam, Tawny and Ellie who completed readings for us. We also enjoyed our christmas lunch prepared wonderfully by Di and Tina!

In History, we learned how the Viking and Anglo-Saxon reign came to an end in 1066 as a result of the outcome of 'The Battle of Hastings.' We also reviewed our whole topic so that we could re-tell the story of how the vikings invaded, settled and finally surrendered to the Norman reign.

On Thursday morning, we joined with the Kingfishers and Herons classes to take part in this term's fabulous finish - ' The Great Debate!' In small mixed class teams, we debated the merits of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. We then voted to see who would win the titles of: The most powerful, The greatest Leaders, The most influential and the most interesting. It was fantastic to see the children passionately discussing all that they had learned with the other classes!

We finished our study of this terms artist Gustav Klimt by exploring once again his use of symbolism. We analysed his painting 'Life and Death.' We then created a whole piece of art using symbolism to represent death. 

We ended the week dressed in our christmas jumpers with some fun games to get us into the christmas spirit!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone. Thank you for all of your lovely cards and gifts and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

Magnets and Multiples!

Friday 13th December

We've enjoyed another busy week in Kestrels class. In literacy, we have been exploring the impact that punctuation can have on the meaning of sentences. For example, without the comma,  poor grandad would have been in serious danger in the following sentence! Hurry up and shoot, grandad. 

In maths, we have been identifying and applying a range of number properties including multiples, factors, square and prime numbers whilst in science we have been investigating magnets and magnetic materials.

In history, we have been learning how the Anglo Saxon and Vikiging era came to an end. We considered the challenges of selecting a successor to the throne when there was no heir to inherit the role. We also learned about the events leading upto and surrounding the Battle of Hastings.

In R.E. we considered how Mary and Joseph would have felt about their son being the Messiah. We thought of questions to ask them and using evidence from the bible tried to understand events from their perspective.  In French, we received cards and then made and sent Christmas cards to our french pen pals.

Kestrel Star of The Week: We celebrated with Olivia this week as she has been working incredibly hard even setting herself maths challenges in the mornings to improve her accuracy in formal calculations! Well Done Olivia - Keep going!

 

Advent -ures in Kestel Class!

Friday 6th December

The start of the week really got us into our Christmas preparations as a group of children from Kestels and Kingfishers attended the Cluster Carols service at Towcester church. The children sang their performance songs brilliantly and joined in with gusto during the congregational carols. Special mention to Josh for singing the first verse of 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' and to Charlie for an amazing reading. The children also enjoyed a well deserved win at the cluster quiz. Thank you to Mrs Cockerill for helping us during our visit!

We also welcomed the CSalt trust into school who shared a pictorial representation of the Christmas story with us. The children were able to reflect on the story as well as ask questions.

On Thursday, we made Christmas trees using recycled books for Fridays Christmas Fair and enjoyed our usual Buddy Reading with our year 1 buddies.

Although we completed assessments in a lot of subjects, In science, we investigated the impact of levers and concluded our experiments on pulleys and levers. In literacy we completed our narratives based on the film Road's End.

Star of the Week: We celebrated with Taylor this week, who produced an incredible narrative using excellent vocabulary and a great range of sentence structures. However, most impressive was the atmosphere that she created throughout her story - well done Taylor! 

 

Pulleys, Plots and Ping Pong!

Friday 29th November

Kestrels had another packed week of learning this week. In literacy, we developed our description of character and started our narrative stories while in maths we continued to develop our formal methods of division. We applied these skills to problem solving and expressed remainders as decimals and fractions.

In science, we investigated the effect of pulley systems and learned how they can assist in the lifting of heavy items due to the effect of mechanical advantage. We made different pulley suystems and compared and contrasted their relative effectiveness.

In R.E. we were finding evidence in the bible to support the christian belief that Jesus was the Messsiah. The children analysed the text in the book of Mathew and identified key evidence that showed Jesus in this role.

We joined with some children from Kingfishers class to practise our songs for the Cluster Carol service next week and have made pleasing progress in our singing of some tricky harmonies.

On Thursday, we enjoyed reading agian with our reading buddies. We changed buddies this week and it was great to hear how much progress the Robins class are making with their reading. We are also enjoying our new class novel by Louis Sachar - 'There's a boy in the girl's bathroom'. This is a complete contrast to our previous novel set in viking times! However, we are really enjoying the humour and antics of the main protagonist Bradley Chalkers!

We also had great fun this week taking our turn on the new school table tennis equipment- spectators and players alike! Some closely fought matches were played and we are starting to develop our table tennis skills.  

Star of the Week: We celebrated with Giorgio this week, who produced some truly outstanding writing for his narrative. His careful choice of vocabulary created a wonderfully moody atmosphere for his sinister tale and made us all stop and take note. Fantastic work Giorgio; well done!

A Clean Sweep!

Friday 22nd November

This week in literacy, we have really enjoyed developing our plotlines for our version of Road's end, aswell as thinking carefully about the descriptive language that we will be using and the different sentence structures that we could employ. Our grammar focus this week has been the passive voice. We have learned how to securely identify the subject, object and verbs in active and passive sentences and we have also been changing sentences from active to passive!!

In maths, we have dived deeper into division! we have been developing our fluency using formal methods and have been learning how to interpret remainders correctly when answering worded problems. In science, we analysed our results and concluded our experiments on water resisitance. In R.E, we have been reflecting on the big question -  'Was Jesus the Messiah?' as we learned more about christian beliefs. In history, We have been starting to understand the significance that key historical figures played in the unification of England! Finally, In art,  we were inspired by our artist Gustave Klimt and designed frames using metallic gilding techniques. What a busy week.

We were very proud to receive the first 'Cleaner's Cup' award during celebration assembly as we had, for the week, kept our classroom the tidiest at the end of each day! Well done Kestrels and thank you for nominating us Maggie and Lynn!

Star of the week: We were also proud to celebrate with Angus today, who is an amazing learner in our class - always working hard and showing great determination and perseverance when things get tricky. He also does everything with a great sense of humour and a kind heart! Well done Angus!

Another packed week!

Friday 15th November

In literacy, we were introduced to our inspiration for our narrative; an intriguing film called Road's End! We analysed the film, thinking about the deeper meaning of the plot. We learned how to accurately punctuate the dialogue contained within the film and finally we used a model text to innovate an extract from the film.

In maths, we have been completing lots of reasoning challenges using our known multiplication facts as well as improving our multiplication of decimal numbers. We ended the week by looking at how the order in which we complete operations can have quite a dramatic impact on the answer to any given calculation! 

In science this week, we learned about a new force - Water resistance. We devised and conducted experiments to explore the impact of this force.

On Tuesday, we were joined by Claire Reetz who worked with the children to help them prepare for this Sunday's special shoebox service. We hope to see lots of you there to help us with the service!

On Thursday, the year 6's attended a 'Young Citizens Day' in Daventry. The children learned about all aspects of keeping themselves safe as a citizen. They completed workshops on substance abuse, Crime, Making emergency calls, Hate crime, online safety and fire safety. The day was incredibly informative, however, what made the day so special was the outstanding enthusiasm and conduct that our year 6's showed throughout the day! Well done Kestrels! A big thank you must also go to Mrs Woods who accompanied us!

As part of Anti bullying week, our year 5's completed some incredible games focused around the importance of kindness and just how much our haapiness and well being is dependent upon the kind words of others.

We ended the week with music using the track 'Happy' by Pharrell Williajms and developed our ability to find the beat of the music as well as improving our breathing and vocal skills with a range of exercises in readiness to perform the track ourselves. 

Star of the week: We were really pleased to be celebrating with Lucy this week. Lucy has had an amazing week, pushing herself to answer lots of challenging maths questions as well as focusing hard on her writing. With this kind of focus Lucy we know you will smash year 6!!!  

A Week to Remember!

Friday 8th November

Kestrels have had a great start back to the term! 

In literacy, we have moved onto our new writing genre - narrative texts. We have analysed our model adventure narrative and identified its structure and grammatical features. In maths, we have started to develop our skills in formal methods of multiplication; ensuring fluency in short and long multiplication as well as developing our reasoming and problem solving skills.

In history, we compared and contrasted the lives of Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. Whilst each has their unique attributes there were many things that they had in common such as housing, lifestyle and social structure. We also learned about methods of communication and investigated the Viking use of Runes to label items: we even created our own burial stones with Rune epitaphs. 

In R.E. we were learning about the work of Traid craft and how this is an example of christians putting their beliefs into practice. In P.E. we learned some of the skills required for tag rugby; we worked on our dodging, turning and tagging skills.  

On Thursday, we all joined together for a special remembrance service with the Royal British Legion. As a school we reflected on the sacrifice made for us all. We were particularly proud of Josh A and Giorgio who read poems as part of the service. They both read beautifully and captured the mood of this solemn occasion.

Lots of Learning in Kestrel Class.

Friday 25th October

We started the week completing some end of term assessments. The children all performed really well and should be pleased with their progress!

On Monday and Tuesday, along with the rest of the school,  we visited the Life bus and learned about keeping ourselves healthy in a range of contexts. In science, we focused on analysing the results of our air resistence experiments and ensured that we completed our conclusions using scientific language. We also generated additional investigation questions to deepen our understanding of this force.

In literacy this week, we completed our setting descriptions. We started by innovating from a model text before composing our own descriptions of a viking settlement. In maths, we completed our focus on addition and subtraction by solving a range of challenging reasoning and investigation questions. In R.E. we thought about how Christians might behave today to fight for freedom and justice.

In art we continued to learn about the works of Gustav Klimt. This week we explored his use of symbolism and created our own mythical creatures to symbolise abstract nouns such as fear, bitterness and envy. In music, we studied the song Happy by Pharrell William. We learned about its genre and musical influences as well as understanding its chronological context. We were interested to see when the composers, who we are learning about as a whole school, were prevalent. We also learned some new musical terms such as tempo and dynamic. In French, we wrote greetings cards to our french pen pals.

Kestrel Star of the week: This week we celebrated with Lily. Lily has been working extremely hard all term and has produced some fantastic writing as well as being a kind and caring member of the class - Thank you Lily!

A Marvellous Middle in Kestrels Class.

Friday 18th October

Our week started with a fantastic day immersed in the world of Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. We were joined by Erik Erikson, a viking jarl (earl), who shared how vikings were named, what they wore, and how they lived. He also gave us an insight into viking law and order and weaponry. The children had the opportunity to handle lots of viking artefacts as well as dressing up in armour and everyday clothes from the era. What a super way to start the week and an excellent marvellous middle for our topic!

In Literacy, we have started to look at setting descriptions and have focused on learning how to use figurative language to best effect when constructing descriptive sentences. In maths, we have been solving multi-step problems using both addition and subtraction. We had great fun in science this week as we were learning about a different force - air resistance.  We made parachutes of different sizes to understand the impact of surface area on the speed of descent of a parachute!

In P.E. this week, we were building our upper body strength in gym. We used ropes and bars to climb and complete forward and backward flips! In PSHE, we took on the role of agony aunts and uncles as we tried to solve frienship dilemmas. I'm sure this excersise will help us to manage our own difficult situations more easily. In R.E., we were reflecting upon the ten commandments and how their meaning gave direction to how people should live their lives.

After all of this activity, we loved reading with our year 1 reading buddles again this week!

Kestrel Star of the week: This week Josh A. was our star! Josh has been so thoughful and reflective in his learning this week; really pushing himself to improve his work and secure his understanding. Josh also represented us when meeting with an external R.E. visitor and discussed R.E. in our school with maturity and skill. Well done Josh!

A Great Week for Kestrels Class.

Friday 11th October

This week we have been solving problems and reasoning with addition and subtraction in maths, whilst in literacy we completed our non chronological reports. The children should be rightly proud of their writing as they have all pushed themselves to produce their best writing.

In science we analysed our results from our friction experiment and used these to draw conclusions- making sure that we included all of our technical vocabulary. In art this week we started to learn about the austrian artist Gustav Klimt. We analysed some of his early pencil sketches and experimented with our own sketching and shading techniques. In history we learned how Danelaw was established in England once the vikings had settled here and finally in PSHE we discussed what it was to be a good friend and created our own recipes for a healthy relationship!

Our year 5's spent every afternoon this week completing their bikability course. They had great fun and represented our class and the school extremely well. We hope they have many safe and enjoyable bike rides ahead of them!

Star of the week: This week we celebrated with Panos, who has produced some excellent work in maths and science as well as being an incredibly focused learner in our class. Well done Panos you really are a star!

 

From Vikings to Friction.

Friday 4th October

Another varied week of learning for Kestrels.

We've started to delve a bit deeper into our Viking topic and we have learned all about one of the first viking invasions at Lindesfarne. We have also started to learn about King Alfred and how he maintained his kingdom when the vikings started to colonise England. We are continuing to write our reports about viking life and we have been working hard to maintain a formal tone throughout.

In maths, we have moved from negative numbers to addition this week. We used an airship game with numberlines to help us understand the concept that adding negative numbers reduces the value of the starting number and taking them away increases the value - Tricky stuff!

In science we have been learning about another force - friction. The children designed their own enquiry questions and conducted fair tests to explore the effects of this force. In French, we have been learning how to introduce ourselves by sharing our name, age and where we live. Thanks to Mrs Brickwood, I'm sure we will be fluent soon!

Star of the Week: Congratulations go to Bella this week, as she was selected to be our star! Bella is quite an inspiring learner in our class as she is always pushing herself to join in with the learning to secure her understanding. She has also produced some outstanding writing this week too! Great work Bella- keep it up! 

 

A bumper crop of learning during Harvest week.

Friday 27th September

What an excellent week of learning we've had in Kestrel class.

In maths, we've been rounding decimal numbers to 1 and 2 decimal places, as well as starting to look at negative numbers. In literacy, we've planned our report on the Vikings and have written our introductions making sure that we orientate our readers and in science, we have concluded our experiment on gravity. We learned that objects have weight as a result of gravity pulling us to the centre of the earth.

On Thursday, we shared our reflections, as part of our harvest service, on animal conservation. At school we had reflected upon the cruelty that mankind sometimes shows towards animals. Hunting and deforestation can mean that animals become endangered or even extinct. We performed "Animals in danger" during the service which is a song that asked us to put ourselves in the animals shoes! None of us would have been happy to trade places! Special mention must go to Giorgio who ably supported us on the electric guitar.

We enjoyed our second reading buddies session with Robins class and also enjoyed learning our "pick up a book" song all about the joys of getting lost in a book. Those Kestrels undertaking 'Amazing Animation'  as part of Friday university this week also enjoyed creating their own animation sequences using Pivot animation. 

Star of the week: It was Charlie's turn in the spotlight this week as we celebrated his excellent writing. Charlie has been putting in so much effort into his writing and it is really starting to pay off. Great job Charlie!

Lots of learning for Kestrels.

Friday 20th September

We had another busy week of learning this week.

We started to improve the writing skills that we need for report writing and have written a model introduction about the Anglo Saxons. In maths, we have been considering how to round numbers to the nearest, 1000, 10,000, 100,000 and even the nearest million!! We have also been solving some rather tricky reasoning problems.

In history we learned all about why and when the vikings invaded Britain. We also used the school ipads to complete some research on the vikings everyday life and customs. To accompany our topic, we are really enjoying our class novel Viking Boy by Tony Bradman. Each plot twist has us on the edge of our seats and we can't wait to read the next installment!!

We have been working hard on a range of reading vipers in guided reading and this week we were looking to improve our ability to explain our understanding using evidence from a text.

 Our ICT knowledge was put to the test on Tuesday, as we learned how to develop our word processing skills.  Our outdoor P.E is netball this term and we started to look at shooting goals.. As you will see from our photos, we are doing well! In R.E we were reflecting on how Moses would have felt when God spoke to him from the burning bush.

We ended our week thinking about how to be a good friend. We were considering helpful and insensitive respnses to a range of different scenarios and how our words can impact on our friend's feelings. In Kestrel class we want to focus on giving helpful comments to our firends so that they feel, positive, cared about and happy!

What a lot of things we have learned this week!

   

Working Hard in Kestrel Class.

Friday 13th September

Kestrels threw themselves wholeheartedly into a full working week this week!

In maths, we have been understanding the value of numbers up to 10 million, as well as decimal numbers with up to 3 decimal places. We also finished the week by revisiting some core calculation skills from last year.

In literacy, we started to look at the features of report writing. We looked at both the structural and grammatical features of the text in readiness for starting to write a shared text next week. We also reviewed our grammar knowledge, in order to understand what our priorities should be for this term.

We have started to learn more about what life was like before the Vikings invaded Britain. We learned about the Anglo-Saxons - who they were and where they came from, as well as what daily life would have been like during this time.

In French, we reviewed lots of vocabulary and then applied this to understanding everyday conversations.

Thursday, saw us taking part in our new school initiative - Reading Buddies. Kestrels paired up with Robins class (Year1) to spend some quality time reading with each other. Kestrels shared some favourite books and then listened to the Robins read. We are looking forward to next Thursday's Reading buddies session.

We ended the week with a fun Hotshots taster session! Have a great weekend and I hope to see some of you at church on Sunday.

A Great Start For Kestrel Class.

Friday 6th September

The Kestrels had a great start back after their summer break. This week we have completed a range of activities linked to our history topic "This Is My Land." We have: made Viking shields; deliberated over artefacts to identify whether they were from the roman, anglo-saxon or viking era; played a range of invasion games and learned about the viking's belief in many gods by creating a viking god card game.

We also organised a number of key roles for our class and school this week. We voted for our new school councillors and congratulations go to Olivia and Taylor who are our chosen representatives. We know they will do an amazing job on our behalf!

The children also gave some impressive speeches to apply for the roles of House and Vice Captains. Congratulations to our new leaders who are;

Blue House: Leo (C) Panos (V)

Red House: Charlie (C) Olivia (V)

Green House: Harry (C) Sam (V)

Yellow House: Bella (C) Josh (V)

 

I was also delighted to celebrate with the children who completed the Summer Reading Challenge. I was particularly impressed with the range of genres that the children chose to read. They used this opportunity to push themselves out of their comfort zone and try something new. Well done Bella,Charlie, April, Giorgio, Ellie, Tawny,Sam and Alice!