Week beginning 24th June

Maldon and Essex Life Saving Club- this week Owls had a visit to improve their life saving skills. They continued our work on the recovery position, how to make a 999 phone call, how to give CPR and had the opportunity to use (practise) defibrilators.

English- we have begun a new unit on biographies this week. As our topic is based around theme parks this half term, we have researched Walt Disney, ready to write about him next week!

Maths- Year 5 and 6 have joined together this week and begun an enterprise unit together. They have been using their maths skills to work out the costs of different ingredients for a recipe and whether it would be cheaper to buy from shops with sales on or not. The children are working towards a final task of a bake sale to raise money to support our Readathon charity and an end of year treat!

Week beginning 10th June

English- this week the children have entered a writing competition. They had to plan and write a mini saga based on a period in history which interested them. Some have written about the Egyptians, Romans, WW2, the Great Fire of London! We've had such a variety of time periods. They typed their entries and sent them off on Thursday- hopefully they will be successful!

Maths- this week Year 5 have continued their work on decimals, specifically adding and subtracting. They have used mental strategies and written strategies to add and subtract decimals with different numbers of decimal places. They have all been very successful at this! Well done Year 5!

PSHE- we have had two sessions of PSHE this week to make up for a missed session last week. Firstly, we spent a session thinking about stereotypes in the work place and how to challenge these. Then on Friday we were introduced to the idea of gambling and how this, at first glance, seems to be more of an issue impacting adults however, we recognised that a lot of pop-ups' offering 'prizes' in games that we play online can involve gambling too! The Year 5s and 6s are becoming so confident at taking part in discussions within our PSHE lessons. They listen to each other's opinions respectfully and can ask and answer questions knowledgably and empathetically.

Week 5

SATs

Firstly, well done to all our Year 6s for working so hard this week- we are incredibly proud of all of you! The children have taken part in their Grammar and Punctuation, Spelling, Arithmetic and two Mathematical Reasoning papers this week and have shown such fantastic perseverence.

Year 5

This week Year 5 have had a mixture of Mr Forster, Mrs Graves and Mrs Robertson teaching them- all of whom have said how sensible they have been in trying to make the Year 6's week as stress free and calm as possible. Thank you Year 5!

Maths- This week the children have started their unit on coordinates. The children looked at plotting and reading coordinates, solving problems with coordinate and finding missing coordinates.

English- the children have been working on sentences openers using the DADWAVERS acronym. Hopefully they will be able to remember what different types of sentences openers these prompt them to use in their writing- ask them!

Have a lovely, well deserved weekend, and we will see you all back and ready to continue working hard in the lead up to half term on Monday!

Week 4:

English: This week we have drafted, edited and improved and then written up a final copy of a letter home from our main character to a loved one. The children planned how their 'informal' letter writing style might sound; what they could include about their time since the plane crash and how they might finish their letter on a hopeful note. The children have all written brilliant letters!

SPaG: Revision- this week we have revised word classes including: nouns (all types), adverbs, adjectives, verbs, subordinate and coordinate conjunctions, adverbial phrases, prepositions... to name but a few. Although we were a little 'iffy' at the beginning of the week, we were showing great confidence by the end!

Maths: Year 5 have been finding missing angles on a straight line and around a point this week. This has tested their written methods for addition and subtraction for some of them! On the whole however, the children now are showing great understanding of angles!

Week 3

English- this week we have continued our work on The Explorer. We have been revising our speech punctuation and learning how to use semi colons to join two main clauses together which could otherwise be linked with 'and'. 

SPaG- our focus has been tenses. We have looked at how to recognise the perfect present tense compared to the past tense and how to recognise both the past and present progressive tense.

Maths- Year 5 have moved on to angles this week. We have classified acute, obtuse, right and reflex angles. We have also learnt how to use a protractor, this was quite tricky so we shall continue our work on this next week too! Year 6 have been looking at angles in a triangle and quadrilaterals and learning how to draw shapes accurately.

In Art and Geography, we were locating Brazil and then drawing red and black face designs modelled on the indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest.

Week 2:

English- We are loving The Explorer! What a fantastic books. This week, Owls have: written descriptions with compound adjectives; written paragraphs of possibility using adverbs and modal verbs and done some drama to help us plan for dialogue next week. The children's homework is a revision of their dialogue punctuation ready to write on Monday!

Maths- Year 5 have moved onto statistics! We have been plotting and reading line graphs and interpreting tables and two-way tables. The children have done really well! Year 6 have been learning all about how to measure and calculate angles and understand the properties of triangles.

Science - we have started our new topic of life cycles and began with the life cycles of mammals.

PSHE- Today we thought about money. We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of spending and saving- the children had some really positive conversations- very mature!

Summer Term- Week 1

English- this week we have started a new unit, all inspired by the book, The Explorer by Katherine Rundell. We have had a fantastic week studying the first 3 chapters and using this to inspire out writing. We will continue to be studying this text over the next few weeks.

SPaG- this wee we have been revising direct and indirect speech.

Maths- Year 5 have moved onto area and perimeter of rectangles and compound shapes- they have all done really well but it has reminded us how important it is to keep practising our times tables!!

Week beginning 18th March

English: this week we have moved onto a new unit- poetry. We have begun studying the poem- The Kraken. We have worked on performance skills, thought about the story of the poem and looked at the imagery within it. We then began writing our own similes, metaphors and personification linked to the theme of the kraken.

SPaG: we have been looking at how to use commas to avoid ambiguity. There are activities set on EdShed should the children like to practise!

Maths: Year 5 have continued looking at decimals. They have ordered and compared them. We then moved onto percentages and what 'per cent' means. We shall continue with percentages next week.

The Year 6 have been looking at a very important part of maths: fractions to decimals and percentages.

PSHE: as a class we have thought about what prejudice and discrimination means and what it might look like in Britain today compared to throughout history. The children were able to take part in some very mature discussions- they were very empathetic towards other's feelings and beliefs.

Week beginning 11th March 2024

This week was TEST week - which the children loved (!). We tested the Year 6 children on the end of KS2 SATs for 2022 to see how they did. They all worked really hard - ask your child how they did!

In RE, we were continuing to look at the question 'What difference does the resurrection make to Christians?' This week, we created a visual time-line of what happens on Good Friday,Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday for Christians and why Easter is the most important time of year for them.

In Science, we started our new topic 'Properties and their materials' and learnt the vocabulary - transparent, translucent, opaque, hardness and magnetism. 

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Week 6:

Next week we have our class assembly so this week Owls class have been involved in the writing, editing and perfecting the performing side of their assembly script. Hopefully you will have seen them at home practising their lines in preparation!

Within our SPaG sessions we have been looking at the semi-colon and the two ways we can use it. We have practised this as a class in group writing activities, independently and we have tried some exam style questions on Edshed- there are some activities set for the children to have a go at from home too!

Maths- Year 5 have continued their work on decimals this week by looking at equivalent fractions and decimals. We have thought about the need to find equivalent fractions with a 10 or 100 as the denominator in order to convert it to a decimal. 

Week 5!

Maths: In maths this week Year 5 have moved on to thinking about decimals and how they relate to their work on fractions. We have looked at tenths and hundredths pictorially, as partitioned numbers and a whole decimal numbers both below 1 and over 1. We have also then looked at finding equivalent fractions and decimals in the tenths and hundredths.

In Year 6, the children have been learning all about adding and subtracting decimals and thinking carefully about where they should be positioned.

English: Within English, Owls class have been writing scripts for a news show where they have been interviewing Tim Peake from the ISS. They had to include all the features of a script including: introductory paragraph, names in the margin, colons after each speaker, stage directions in brackets. They did a really good job!!

In Computing, we finished off our flat-file databases by using a very well known database to search effectively for a set criteria.

Have a lovely half term!

Week 4

In Religious Education this week, we have been looking at Humanism and what it means to be non-religious.

In maths, the Year 6 have been looking at algebra - expressions and equations. Year 5 have been looking at multiplying fractions by integers.

In English we have edited, improved and published our biographies on well known astronauts- they are now stuck in the children's books ready for you to see at Parents' Evening!

In Science this week, the children were looking at the motion of the planets and the differences they take to orbit the sun.

In computing, we continued our personal databases - we had some great ones ranging from computer games to animals!

Have a great weekend!

Week 3:

English- this week we have researched and begun writing biographies for well-known astronauts. The children spent some time thinking about the different features we would need to include in a biography before collecting as much information as we could on an astronaut of their choice. They have written introductions, early life, school and education and successes paragraphs and next week will write the conclusion before editing and publishing.

Maths- this week we finished our unit on multiplication and division. The children now have a confident method for multiplying up to a four digit number by a two digit number and using the short method for division.

PSHE- this week we looked at how to help a casualty. We thought about how to make an emergency phone call, how to assess a situation before running in to help and how to put someone who was unconscious but breathing into the recovery position.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs G

Week 3

In maths, we have been finishing our topic of ratio and we completed an end of unit assessment. Then we moved onto algebra!

In Science, we tried to create a model of the solar system. Here are a few of our creations:

In art, we used charcoal and chalk to create some still life artwork using our 5 precious objects as our models.

Finally, in dance, we created a sequence to reflect creating a rocket, flying to an unknown planet and exploring that planet. We had some very creative dances!

Have a great weekend!

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Week 2:

English- we finished our diary entries from Tim Peake's point of view during his trip to the ISS and we edit, improved and published these to go on display in our classroom.

PSHE- this week we looked at how to deal with injuries causing bleeding. We have followed the St John's Ambulance guidance and the children have received certificates for their work.

Maths- Year 5 have moved on from long multiplication to short division this week. Those who have confident times tables knowledge have found this method quite simple, especially compared to the long multiplication from the last couple of weeks! Year 6 have been looking at scale drawing, proportion and solving problems using ratio.

Art - we started our topic of 'Still life' where the children started to sketch five personal objects that were important to them.

In Religious Education, we investigated differing opinions on the theory of God.

Week 1 of 2024!

Happy New Year!

English- this week we have begun a unit on writing diary entries, we began by writing our own about a day over the holidays and have now moved on to focusing on Tim Peake's journey into space. We have taken notes on his preparation and time in space and done some drama, ready to begin writing next week!

PSHE- we are currently working on how to keep ourselves safe online and the impact of things we say and do on online platforms.

Maths- this week Year 5 have worked really hard on learning the long method for multiplication of numbers up to 4 digits by 2 digits- they've done so well!

In Year 6, the children have been learning about ratio and scale drawing in maths.

We have started our dance sessions based on our previous topic - Theseus and the Minotaur and our science lessons all about our solar system.

In Computing we began to look at flat-file databases and in RE we started to think like philosophers and understand how other people think about God.

Have a lovely weekend!

15.12.23

This week, we performed our Christmas play - 'Superstar'! All the children did brilliantly and performed with enthusiasm and gusto! Well done all!

Year 6 - in maths, the children have been learning all about converting metric units and then solving problems using these conversions - really tricky but all the children persevered!

In Religious Education, the children were looking at the Hagia Sofia in Turkey - it has an amazing history and we were locating all the countries that have influenced this incredible building throughout time.

In Computing, we were continuing to program our Microbits to make step counters. A thoroughly interesting lesson which all the children really enjoyed!

Have a great weekend!

Mr Forster   

Autumn 2:

Year 5- this week we have been learning how to add fractions. We started with fractions with the same denominator then moved on to adding fractions with denominators which the children then had to find common multiples of. We have worked really hard on this and the children have some homework practising this skill. 

Year 6 - this week, we have been working on fraction problems. In computing, we have all been using our brand new Google Chromebooks and programming our Microbits. 

We have been practising our Christmas play this week. The children have worked really hard and I am sure they are all going to blow you away with their performance on Monday!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Graves and Mr Forster

Autumn 2- 

English- we have continued working on our persuasive devices this week. Firstly we create persuasive adverts for a labyrinth and then we did a 'hot task' and wrote a persuasive letter to a gentleman trying to change his opinion on spiders. The children have done really well trying to include all the new persuasive language we have learnt and most of us have included rhetorical questions too!

Maths- this week we have moved on to fractions. We have been looking at how to find equivalent fractions of unit and non-unit fractions. We will continue with fractions until Christmas!

In PSHE we have looked at sleep and how important it is for our physical and mental health. The children created a short advert to teach others the importance of sleep.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Graves and Mr Forster

Autumn Term 2

Welcome back! I hope you all had a fantastic break. 

This week in English, the children have been begun looking at the myth of Theseus and the minotaur. We have only read the first two paragraphs and have used this to inspire some persuasive writing. We have been writing in the first person, as Theseus, trying to persuade our father- King Aegeus- to allow us to go to Crete to defeat the minotaur. The children have spent a lot of time thinking about the language to use in order to persuade their audience to do what they want. They've worked really hard and this has paid off in some fantastic pieces of writing!

In maths, year 5 have been continuing to look at different types of numbers. We have covered prime, square and cube numbers this week and their homework will reflect this. Yesterday we also began looking at multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000- the children were really confident in this! It was fantastic!

Well done Owl class on a great week.

Year 6 I hope you have a fantastic week away next week, I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!

Mrs Graves and Mr Forster

Thursday 19th October

English- this week Owls Class have written, edited and produced their non-chronological reports on the Ancient Greeks and they have done a fantastic job! We did some writing as a class, some paired writing and some independent writing, all working towards on superb finished product! These pieces of writing are now going up on display in our classroom.

Maths- Year have have continued their unit on multiplication and division this week by looking at factors, multiples and prime numbers. We played some fantastic games on the tablets this week too which, if possible, the children may like to have a go at over the holidays to keep their learning fresh! The links are: 

https://www.roomrecess.com/mobile/Zap-A-Zoid/play.html

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/multiples-and-factors

Have a fantastic half term!

Mrs Graves

Year 6

In Maths this week, we have been learning:

MON - Equivalent fractions and simplifying

TUES - Fractions on a number line

WEDS - Comparing fractions (numerator)

THURS - Adding simple fractions 

In History, we have been looking at the different eras in Ancient Greece and placing these on a timeline. We also looked at the Ancient cities of Athens and Sparta and compared the two.

The children also presented their favourite black British women in our Black History Month assembly and they all did brilliantly!

Have a great half-term!

Mr Forster

Friday 13th October

This week in Owl class we have started a new unit in English. We have begun looking at non-chronological reports. We began the week in the library and created our own success criterias for what to include in a non-chron. We then had time to do personal research on what daily life was like in Ancient Greece before creating a plan for our layout. We ended the week writing the introductory paragraph. Next week we shall begin writing each of the paragraphs of information under the headings the children have planned for.

In maths, year 5 have begun their unit on multiplication and division. We have so far looked at multiples and common multiples. The children's confident knowledge of their times tables has been really beneficial!

In our SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) lessons we have been focusing on how to use apostrophes for singular and plural possession- the children's homework reflects this.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Graves

Week 4

In English, the children have planned and written their own Greek myths. They thought about an appropriate hero, villain, Greek gods they could include and a conquest that their hero must go on. They have written their Greek myths as their first Hot Task of the year, meaning it has been completely independent. They've been really enthusiastic about writing them!

In maths, Year 5 have begun their unit on addition and subtraction. We began the week looking at mental methods for adding and subtracting large numbers and have finished the week on written method for numbers with more than 5 digits.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Graves

In Year 6 maths we have been studying: long division with remainders, revision of place value, solving problems with division, solving multi-step problems (using all 4 operations) and order of operations (BODMAS).

In Science this week, the children were looking at reflection and planned an experiment to demonstrate how a periscope works.

In Religious Education, we look at the Christian view of the soul and how it compares with Karmic religions.

Have a great weekend,

Mr Forster

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In Year 6 maths, we have been looking at square and cube numbers, long multiplication, short division and long division - quite a week! Great tenacity demonstrated by the class!

In PE, we have been continuing with our striking and fielding games and in Art we have been creating some rather interesting self-portraits using charcoal!

In guided reading, we are continuing with our book 'Clockwork' which is becoming rather tense!

In spellings, we have been continuing to practise our silent letters (knight, thumb, solemn etc.)

Have a great weekend!

Mr Forster 

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Week 3

In English this week, Owls class have finished our writing on Perseus and Medusa. The children have written some absolutely fantastic pieces and we can't wait for you to be able to read some of them at Parents Evening, coming up at the end of the half term.

In maths, Year 5 have finished their unit on place value by rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 and 10,000. We have spent quite a lot of time on this as it was quite tricky when rounding large numbers but hopefully, in the children's homework this weekend, you will see that the children now have a good understanding!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Mrs Graves

Week 3

In Year 6 maths this week, we have been looking at the rules of divisibility, common factors and multiples and prime numbers.

In guided reading, we have continued with our new chilling class book, 'Clockwork' by Philip Pullman.

In spellings, we have looked at words with silent letters and also revised our understanding of the word ending -ough.

In Religious Education, we continued on our journey of understanding "What is good?" by looking at the differences between Christian and Karmic outlooks. 

Have a great weekend!

Week 2

This week in English, Owl Class have been continuing to study the myth Perseus and Medusa. We have worked really hard this week on creating a piece of writing with suspense. The children have bee using a range of sentence type, figurative language and onomatopoeia. There writing has been fantastic! Next week we shall be moving on to looking at using dialogue in their writing and therefore their homework this week is to practise this in preparation!

In maths, Year 5 have continued to think about the place value of number. We have looked at partitioning numbers up to 1,000,000 and placing numbers up to 1,000,000 on empty numbers lines- the children have needed to work out the value of unlabeled intervals by finding the difference between the start and end number and dividing that by the number of intervals.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Graves

Week 2 - Year Six:

Here is our curriculum map of Class Owl's learning intentions for the Autumn term:

In Maths this week, the Year Six children have finished their unit on place value and subsequently completed an assessment! We have now started our new unit: addition and subtraction.

In Science, we learnt that light travels in a straight line and we demonstrated this in class. Great science learning Class Owl:

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First week back!

What a fantastic week we have had getting used to the new Owls class members and routine! All of the children have settled in beautifully and it has been a pleasure working with them!

In English Owls class have begun our Ancient Greeks unit on Perseus and Medusa. So far, we have written the beginning of the story in our own words and have written some fantastic character descriptions of the three, grey ladies using figurative language. We are going to continue studying this myth next week.

All members of Owls class have been set homework today, it can come back into school as soon as it is finished but by next Friday at the latest please. The children also need to complete their TT Rockstars practise each week.

In maths, year 5 have been looking at the place value of numbers up to 1 million. We have been thinking about how to read the numbers, how to write them in words and digits and how to manipulate those numbers if a column is increased over ten. 

Have a brilliant weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Mrs Graves

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In Year 6 maths, we have been learning all about place value up to 10,000,000 (that's a lot of zeros!).

In the afternoon, Owl Class have started our new Art topic "Make my voice heard" and created their own graffiti tags. We also began our Religious Education topic "Why should we be good?" and investigated the philosophers Plato and Socrates. 

In Computing, we thought about how we can stay safe on-line and created our posters using Word.

Have a great weekend,

Mr Forster

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