Week ending Friday 24th March 2023

This week has been another busy week and I am sure we are all looking forwards to a little break over the Easter holidays.
 
English
This week we wrote poems about seasons using figurative language such as similes and metaphors. Can you guess which season this is? Like a kiss, the snow falls on the bare limbs of trees, A thick, white blanket covers the earth, And nature sleeps beneath. Brown branches bare no fruit. But life is stored within.
The children had to make sure they started a line in their poem with a  simile using ‘as’ or ‘like’ , used personification (attributes of humans), used metaphor e.g. a whiteblanket, used ambitious vocabulary – thesaurus and wrote their poem in lines using punctuation at the end of each line.
We then continued with our class text, ‘The Promise’, where we planned and began to write our own sequels to this wonderful story. If you wish to see the story, here is the link The Promise - Full Film - YouTube.
 
Maths
This week we learnt about percentages. We looked at equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages, finding fractions of an amount and using percentages in problem solving that involved one or two steps. At the end of the week we also had a lesson on finding the area of any triangle using the formula: ½ base x perpendicular height and also finding the area of a parallelogram using the formula base x height.
 
French
In French this week we continued with our focus on eating breakfast but incorporated a small writing assessment to see how much progress the children had made. The children had to read sentences in English and write them out in French. They also had to read a short passage (a letter) and respond in French, using a checklist as they went. The children have made so much progress in French and for me, the best thing about this, is seeing their confidence grow to have a go, and not be afraid of making a mistake!
 
DT
We have continued with our DT unit with a focus on sewing and the added theme of Easter! We began three weeks ago by designing an Easter Egg, that included the first letter of our name and then designed any added extras! We used this design to begin making a template for drawing around onto felt, which we then cut out and used a blanket stitch to fasten together. Today, we made sure we stuffed our egg and stitched it back together safely and neatly. This involved lots of perseverance and patience (from both staff and children!) but they are really starting to come together. 

Year 7 Book Club Transition Activity
On Thursday afternoon Miss H and Mrs Skelton from Okehampton college visited us with a group of Year 7 students as part of their in school book club and transitional project. They shared bits of a Year 7 text (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) and together they summarised, questioned and clarified what they had read in order to form opinions about the text. The children worked in small groups and discussed their ideas. It was lovely to see three past pupils in that group and I know we have a brilliant group of readers this year, many of which may like the opportunity to join a book club in future! 

Mrs Ware took part in the first parents evening of the two and I will look forwards to seeing you next week for the second part on Thursday 30th March. We also have our SATS information evening on Tuesday 28th (next week) where we hope to see as many of you as possible in the classroom.

Next Friday 31st March, the children who are going on the residential will also be taking part in an online assembly with other children attending to find out a bit more information about what the trip will look like, travelling arrangements, daily activities etc. 

Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful weekend!