At last some fine weather to enjoy.  At school, we have been enjoying our fantastic school grounds at playtimes but also for our learning.  The children at school and at home have been thinking about how we could improve our school grounds to make it an even better outdoor learning environment.  We will begin next week with the children who are at school, by having a general tidy up in the orchard.  If your child attends school on Wednesday, they will need clothes they can work in as well as wellies and gardening gloves if you have some.  They can also bring small tools with them to use such as secateurs to use to cut back some weeds etc.  We have also been using the orchard and field for some orienteering activities which has been really enjoyable and good for map reading skills.  

This week we have been finding out about the epic Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf in readiness to read Kevin Crossley-Holland's version and to write some of our own 'overcoming the monster' stories.  We will pause this teaching sequence next week while we celebrate World Book Day (Thursday) using the theme "Share a story".  All week we will be reading, writing and sharing stories - but with a difference!

We have come to the end of our unit on algebra in maths which the children have done very well with.   It's great to hear children using the maths vocabulary naturally (equations, expressions, substitution) and not just in maths lessons.  On Monday, we will be doing an end of unit assessment followed by some problem solving and reasoning work over the rest of the week so we can start our new unit when all the children return.

It has been good to see that many children are still engaging with the whole curriculum and have taken up some of the afternoon challenges such as creating algorithms, learning about Lent, using French, and doing a bit of music. Some pictures below illustrate some of their work.

Have a good weekend and enjoy the fine weather.  I really can't wait until 8th March when we will begin our road to 'normal' again (whatever that may be!)

,Well, we have come to the end of another half term of lockdown learning.   You should be very proud of your children and of yourselves for the way that you, and they, have all approached this challenging time with positivity and resilience.  Thank you so much for your support.   I hope that the children have found the more flexible and creative approach to afternoon activities stimulating - we will continue in this way after half term.  I have enjoyed seeing the fossils made at home and at school as well as some nice entries for the geography challenge that Miss Radbourne set.  At school, we did some sewing in design and technology to create some Spring representations and some children got creative at home making flowers out of paper too.  Some children created a French menu - I wonder if any of them will be serving their dishes up on Valentines Day?  The children came up with some good ideas this afternoon for the pupil voice charter which we will be sending on to our Trust Champion Ed Finch.
During half-term there is no work set so it is an opportunity for you all to rest and recharge your batteries.  I hope it won't be too long before all the children can return to school as I am missing them so much!  In the meantime, I hope they will continue to engage as they have been, so they are ready to return to school learning as soon as it is allowed.
I believe Mr Foreman is setting a fun half term challenge which you will be able to find on the school website under School News.  There may be time left to buy a virtual balloon for the virtual balloon race that FONTS are organising - please help them to raise even more money for your children's school.  More details here: https://ecoracing.co/user/page/1349
Now time for the kids to get away from those screens and have some much needed fun and relaxation!
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We have been expressing ourselves this week as part of child mental health week.   Children have chosen to express themselves through music, art, cooking and even through what they have been wearing.  Today we dressed to express ourselves in whatever way we chose.  Whereas some chose to wear bright coloured clothes to express happiness, others wore a face covering and headphones to express how they were fed up of being stuck at home and on a laptop all the time! This week was a chance for children to express their feelings whatever they might be and to look forward to a hopeful future!  The children have finished their artwork and poetry this week and I will post some of their fantastic examples.  We have now finished out maths unit on percentages with an end of unit assessment today and generally the children seem fairly confident in their understanding.  It's important for them to recall a few equivalent facts which can help them: 1/2 = 0.5 = 50%  1/4 = 0.25 = 25% 3/4 = 0.75 = 75% - why not challenge your children to remember these facts?
We are continuing to learn all about Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and will be writing a biographical text about him as well as learning more about his theory.  Next week we are going to have a go at making models of fossils - the evidence for evolution!
I have enjoyed meeting with some children on a one to one basis to support them with their learning or just to chat about how things are going.  I will be doing this regularly from now on and will endeavour to meet with every child over the next week- even if it's just to say hello.  Please ask children to keep checking the stream in Google Classroom in case I ask them to meet with me. Additionally, Miss Ruby has begun some 'catch-up' sessions with some children and will meet children again next week in pairs - look out for your meeting link and time on Monday or Tuesday.
Have a great weekend everybody - it's getting colder again - but hopefully dry, so wrap up warm and get out in the fresh air!