Autumn 2 Week 4
Another busy week of learning in Reception Class. This week we learnt about Hanukah, a Jewish festival. The children drew pictures of the temple that was destroyed and wrote some words and captions. They also thought about special things that they have and how they would feel if they were destroyed. They made cards to wish people Happy Hanukah and they made a menorah using their handprints. Wonderful building of temples were created too!
In Literacy, we read the story Whatever Next. The children acted out the story using props and we sequenced pictures from the story. The highlight was decorating a big rocket to use in our space station. The children loved dressing up as an astronaut and boarding the rocket. It was wonderful to see the children practising their writing in the Space Station when writing boarding passes and writing including letters home to tell mum or dad about their adventures. They also drew and wrote a list of what they would take to space. In our Art area, the children made rockets with squares and triangles that look lovely displayed in the class.
In Maths, we have been learning about repeated patterns. Children have been extending patterns and making their own patterns by using nature objects and objects we use in the class. The children have also been drawing their own patterns. We made noises with our bodies to create patterns.
Each day, we have been working hard practising our class Nativity. Thank you for the costumes that have been sent in. If you have not sent a costume in, please can we have them next week.
In our Ten Ten lesson, we thought about how we are all special and unique. The children wrote what they thought was special about them on stars and decorated them. We through about all of the children’s amazing qualities and how we have special gifts and talents.
Remember to wear one item of purple clothing on Monday.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mrs Carey
Year 6 Week Beginning 13.11.23
This week has been Anti-Bullying week! The week launched with both children and staff wearing odd socks to school; this fun opportunity encouraged everyone to express themselves and celebrate their individuality!
As we are celebrating the Year of Diversity at Pope Paul, our Anti-Bullying Week focussed on the message of anti-racism. In class, the children learnt about what racism is and how they can be actively anti-racist. They also learned about unconscious bias. During lesson time, the class explored different scenarios where an anti-racist would speak out against racism through actions and words. They also made connections between anti-racism and our own school mission prayer, where we strive to respect and care for each other and to build a better world.
In Maths, Year 6 have been focussing on prime numbers, factors, common multiples, square and cube numbers and they have begun to write and edit the first drafts of their diary entries, in English.
In Science, Year 6 had lots of fun creating models using themselves, to show how light helps us to see.
Home learning has been set on the following websites:
Mathletics
SPaG
Spelling Shed
Please remember to practise your multiplication skills regularly using TT Rockstars.
Regular daily reading
Please familiarise yourself with our class song for the Advent service. Parts and lines will be given out next week.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms Pemberton
Friday 17th November 2023
This week as part of Anti-Bullying week, we have focussed on race, racism and what it means to be anti-racist. We discussed how we can stop racism in our actions and how we can be a good friend by promoting kindness and ending racism. The children created their own ‘say NO to racism posters’ understanding that racism hurts feelings – it makes people feel sad, lonely and confused; racism is unfair and they should feel proud of what makes them feel different and special.
Our English learning using the Spider and the Fly has continued. We have looked at ‘alien sentences’ to help build up our sentence structure knowledge and identify what aspects of a sentence are missing in in order to make them complete.
In Maths, we completed our work on using compensation to add and have been working hard on subtracting 2-digit numbers mentally. In Science, we have begun our new topic on forces and magnets. On Thursday, we took part in an investigation to test what surface created the most friction.
We have also begun our RHE curriculum and the children learnt to unpack the Sacraments of Baptism and
Reconciliation, understanding that through prayer, the Sacraments and their friendships and relationships with others, will bring them even closer to Jesus.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Remember, Class Trip to the Science Museum is on Tuesday 21st November. Please check your school comms account to give permission etc. Children should wear their full school uniform.
Home Learning:
Mathletics
TTRs
Spellings on spellingshed
Autumn 2 Week 3
This week was Anti Bullying Week. We read the story The Ugly Duckling and spoke about how the ducks behaved. We thought about how the Ugly duckling was just different to the other ducks, he was not ugly. The children took turns to hot seat the Ugly Duckling and answer questions about how he was feeling when he was left out and then how he felt when he turned into a swan. The children did some wonderful pictures with speech bubbles to show how the duckling was feeling.
Then we thought about bullying and what it meant. The children learnt that bullying is when something happens over and over, not just a friend being unkind once. The children made posters to persuade people to be kind and not to bully. Then we thought about what we would do if we we were being bullied. The children drew around their hands and wrote the names of people they would talk to. The children thought about how they were different to their friends and made love hearts with a message about their differences. We talked about how we should not be unkind to someone because of the colour of their skin, hair or what they were wearing.
On our Art table the children made wonderful collages of ducks and swans. Then we learnt about the life cycle of a chicken. The children cut and sequenced pictures and made their own nests using natural materials. As we were learning about things that fly, the children made different things that fly using different materials.
In our outdoor shed, the children have been playing in the shop. They have been writing shopping lists and receipts.
In Maths, we continued comparing weighs of objects and explaining when something was heavier, lighter or the same. In Ten Ten, we listened to the last part of the Creation story and drew pictures and made a dance to show what God has created.
In Phonics the children have been revising the letter formation of the Phase 2 sounds, reading and writing words. It is wonderful to see how children’s letter formation is improving. Thank you for supporting your children with this.
This week we have been busy learning songs for our nativity and practising reading and acting. If your child has lines to learn, please support them with learning them and saying them loudly. I have sent home a letter to explain what your child will need to wear. Please send these in by Friday 24th November.
On Monday 27th November, we will be learning about Advent. The children should wear something purple. The rest of their clothes can be school uniform.
Have a great week!
Mrs Carey
Friday 10th November, 2023
The focus this week has been remembrance. The children brought in photos and pictures of loved ones and wrote the names of family members and friends who have died and as a class we had an act of worship to pray for them in class and outside. The children showed such reverence during this time and we thank Grace, Noemi, Iustin and Hugo who lead us in prayer. We also took part in a school pilgrimage today, where we went from class to class and looked at their remembrance displays.
In Maths we have continued with our work on addition and subtraction using the Think 10 and Think 100 method. The children particularly enjoyed the dice game of Zero the Hero!
In PE we have begun our topic of gymnastics looking at travelling and balancing. The children worked hard in their groups using the PE apparatus in the Main Hall.
In English we have been looking at providing evidence for our answers when reading. We thought about what opinions we have of the spider and the fly and why we have them.
In Recorders we have begun learning for our recorder concert. There are a number of things occurring in Year 3 this half term. Please put these dates in your diaries:
Tuesday 21st November: Class Trip to the Science Museum for a Music Workshop
Wednesday 29th November: Class Trip to Westminster Cathedral to participate in the Advent Service.
Monday 11th December: Egyptian Day in school (The children will be transported to Ancient Egypt and are asked to dress up in their best Egyptian outfits in preparation for their day of learning all about the Ancient Egyptians!)
Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs McNamara and Mrs Lines
Home Learning:
Spellings on spellingshed
Mathletics
TTRs…log on and practise your timestables!
Year 5 – 03/11/23
Welcome to a new half term!
In Art this week, we used watercolour and wax resist to create these beautiful winter landscapes:
In PE, we made a start on our new netball unit and practised chest passes:
This morning, Julia, Phoebe and Sophie led us in a collective worship on the theme of love. Well done girls.
Home learning for this week:
| Maths | Mathletics assignments – revision of this half term’s place value concepts:
· Working with negative numbers (Quest) · Counting using negative numbers (Quest) |
| Reading | 5 tests on Readtheory or 20 minutes of reading per day |
| SPaG | Assignment on spag.com:
· Direct speech punctuation (A) |
| Spelling | Log on to Spelling Shed using your EdShed login, and play a variety of games to practise this week’s spelling rule: Words containing ‘-cial’, ‘-sial’ and ‘-tial’
· initially · controversial · controversially · financial · financially · commercial · provincial · initial · palatial · spatial |
Happy bonfire weekend 🎆
Miss Donatantonio
Friday 3rd November, 2023
Although this week’s weather has meant a change in lunchtime routine, the children have enjoyed their time inside and outside using the school hall as another area to enjoy playtime where table tennis, lego and drawing are available to them as well.
In Maths the children have moved from working on mental addition using ‘think 10’ to ‘think 100’ and are learning to explore the various ways this strategy can assist them in mental addition.
In English, we have been using the poem ‘The Spider and the Fly’ to build up our grammatical understanding. We have begun by familiarising ourselves with the text by performing it.
In art, the children have spent time using clay to make their 3D art sculpture of their favourite Roald Dahl character…here are some examples. Can you spot Matilda/the tortoise from Esio Trot/the crocodile? Next week, the children will spend time painting their sculptures when they are dry.
In Recorders, the children have been revising the notes learnt last half term and we hope to be ready for a small concert to show you nearer Christmas. Date of concert T.B.C. This week Corrado, the Italian teacher, spent time teaching the children about the seasons and numbers 1-20.
Today in science, we investigated if having longer legs meant you could jump further. We will look at our results next week.
In the month of November, we remember people who have died. If you know some who has died, please send in their photograph (write their name on the back) so we can include them in our daily prayers and add their name/picture to our class prayer corner.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy the fireworks!
Mrs McNamara and Mrs Lines
Home Learning
Spellings have been set on spelling shed. Print outs of the spellings for this half term will be given out on Monday. You can also download them here.
Mathletics and TTRS.
Autumn 2 Week 1
I hope you all had a restful half term. It was lovely welcoming the children back to class and hearing all their exciting news.
In English this week, we have started a non-fiction unit all about sharks. The children have enjoyed reading non-fiction books, writing their own questions about sharks and creating blurbs for non-fiction books.
In Maths they have been using their estimation skills – please use this video to support them at home with their learning https://vimeo.com/732217773
They have also published their Autumn poetry, which I hope you enjoyed reading with them at home. In Art, they have used watercolour paint and crayon to create Autumn pictures.
In PE, we have been learning to create counter tension and counter balances.
In the month of November, we remember people who have died. If you know some who has died, please send in their photographs (write their name on the back) so we can include them in our prayers.
Home Learning
Spelling – ing suffix – Please learn this spelling list and complete the handwriting sheet.
skipping
hitting
joking
hoping
hiding
swimming
taking
Reading – please read with your child and return their book on Friday.
Mathletics – activities have been set.
Autumn 2 Week 1
We hope you had a wonderful half term. This week we have been learning about Diwali. First we listened to the story about Rama and Sita to understand what Hindus are celebrating at Diwali. The children drew pictures of the story and wrote some words using the sounds we have learnt. With blocks, the children built a bridge to go over water like the story. The children also drew around their hands and decorated them with henna patterns. We looked at Rangoli patterns and made them with natural materials and drew some on the playground. In our home corner, we had fun dressing in saris. Using clay, the children made diya lamps and then painted them. Hindus celebrate Diwali with fireworks so we learnt about the Gunpower Plot and we made pictures using chalk and paint. When the rain came, we put powder paint in the puddles to make fireworks. Then we made sparklers and junk modelling rockets.The children loved dancing around and making movements with their sparklers. The children also made posters to tell people how to keep safe with fireworks.
In Maths, we have been learning about measuring. We have been measuring with different resources in the class including cubes, blocks, lego and paper clips. The children have been measuring how high tables and chairs are, measuring each other and measuring and comparing their feet.
In Phonics, we have learnt the letter l and diagraphs ll and ss. The children have been practising reading and writing words with these letters. For the next few weeks, we will be revising the sounds we have already learnt and reading and writing words. Please practise saying the sounds and writing the letters.
In the month of November, we remember people who have died. If you know some who has died, please send in their photographs. Write their name on the back so we can include them in our prayers.
This week we started our Ten Ten topic – Created and Loved By God. We read the beginning of the Creation Story and the children drew and painted the things that God made.
On Friday, we enjoyed meeting our reading partners.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mrs Carey and The Early Years Team
