Junior School Newsletter – Lent Term 2021 – Week 6

This week’s newsletter for Rossall Junior School and Nursery.

YEAR 6

The words of the 1982 hit by Fat Larry’s Band ‘Zoom, you chase the day away’ (I’m sure you remember it well!) has certainly been pertinent this half term, and the time has flown with our daily video calls!

As we approach a well-earned break, it is so rewarding to see the Year 6 children bright-eyed and bushy-tailed each morning, raring to go for another day. Their enthusiasm and interest in our ‘Politics and Parliament’ topic have been incredible and the morning discussions about worldwide issues are sure to carry on long after we move onto our next theme.

The highlight of our week has been filming news reports and the children have thoroughly enjoyed recording themselves as newsreaders reporting on the actions of the ‘Suffragettes’ in their plight to gain votes for women. The reports were very entertaining, as well as being informative, and I think the BBC news team could learn a lot from our amusing and dramatic performances!

YEAR 5

We have started our Zoom lessons with a song and a dance this week, some have been my choice, some the children’s. It has been wonderful to watch the reactions to the different songs from joy when they recognise the song and begin to sing along to a quizzical look when an 80’s classic was played! Plato said that “music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind and flight to the imagination.” I could not agree more. The music has lifted all our spirits and energised us to work hard. 

Arthur has completed his quest and vanquished Fenrir with brains, not brawn, a victory for the unlikeliest of heroes. The children have written their own quests inspired by Arthur and his adventures. Needless to say, they were fabulous! We have spent this week consolidating our learning in Mathematics and are well on our way to mastering fractions. 

I could not be prouder of the children and their achievements this half term. They have worked hard and thoroughly deserve to have a wonderful half-term rest!

YEAR 4

This has been the perfect week to show off our talents in Year 4 as we round off our work for this half term!

The authors in the class have been able to show off their writing talent as they retell the story of either Tranio or Liv’s Escape from Pompeii in our final writing task!

Our Mathematicians have got to grips with some rather tricky divisions!

Year 4’s budding scientists have shown their knowledge in some very entertaining films all about ‘States of Matter’ and our historians have re-created Hadrian’s wall using Lego and other building materials!

As you can see Year 4 are a talented bunch, not only that but as their teacher, I have been so proud of all of their efforts and enthusiasm! Every day they have made me smile and I just want to say ‘Thank you Year 4’!

Happy holiday!

YEAR 3

It has been such a busy half-term full of learning, fun and perseverance in Year 3. This last week has seen us wrapping up our Stones and Bones topic with a real bang. The pupils have written their own Stone Age adventures stories, inspired by the book Stone Age Boy, showcasing all the writing skills we have learnt. The children also created their own Stone Age Quizzes to test other people on their prehistoric knowledge – see if anyone can beat Year 3! In Maths this week we have started Statistics and Data Handling, with the children making their own pictograms. For Science, we have finished our learning on Rocks and Fossils by designing individual fact files to share our knowledge. 

Lockdown? What lockdown? Nothing stops Year 3 from learning! I am so proud of the Year 3 children for everything they have achieved under such challenging circumstances, and you should all be proud of yourselves!

Have a well-deserved break this half term!

YEAR 2

I could not be more proud of what Year 2 have achieved over the last six weeks. They have all put in so much effort into all of their learning and have been a delight to teach over Zoom!

This week, we have been creating our St Paul’s Cathedral models! I have had the delight of seeing the creations, some very colourful, some extremely large and some looked so realistic you could not tell they started off as recycling!

In Language, we have finished our persuasion letters to other fairytale characters instructing them to help save the animals by planting more trees.

In Maths, we have started our statistics Unit and have been creating tally charts and pictograms.

Today, we all dressed up as a fairytale character to celebrate the end of half term with a fun day of storytelling activities!

YEAR 1

What a fantastic finish to our week, and half term. On Thursday we celebrated Chinese New Year – The year of the Ox. We learnt about the Chinese animals of the zodiac, enjoyed themed Maths and Language work and chose from a range of activities linked to Chinese New Year. 

Then today we joined Reception and Year 2 and enjoyed a fairy tale theme day. We dressed up as our favourite book character, made our own picnic lunch for our teddy bears picnic and watched Mr Turner recreate the role of the Big Bad Wolf! We then had story themed activities to complete; art, craft, science and even some yoga.

We have even had time to squeeze in some research about Rio De Janeiro and compare it with London, our own capital city. We have found out about Bears and created our own information text, created a fairy tale collage, and completed our Maths unit on subtraction. 

Well done everyone, we have made it to half term! Finally time for some rest and relaxation!

RECEPTION

Traditional tales are a great reading tool for young readers when they are first starting out. Not only are the tales fun, but they provide a wealth of learning for young readers. This term we have read several traditional tales and the joy I have seen in the children’s faces as they join in with repeated refrains or laugh as a character falls into a pond, has been wonderful. If our children aren’t having fun with what they are reading, they aren’t going to want to continue reading.  

Many of the tales we have looked at together have included powerful lessons such as doing your best (The Three Little Pigs), not talking to strangers (Little Red Riding Hood), and not touching things that don’t belong to you (The Three Bears) and have been taught all through time.

We have also developed our critical thinking skills, learning about the beginning, middle, and end of stories. We have looked at story plots, character traits, and settings. Not only that, but we have looked at problems and solutions to problems, through our investigations building bridges and boats.

So much is changing in the life of a child. Fairy tales can help a child see circumstances in their own lives and deal with those circumstances with healthy emotions. The children are all now excited to dress up as their favourite characters for the day and finish this topic with some fun and exciting activities, including a special performance! 

Have a lovely break, with some time away from the screen, where we can all hopefully enjoy some sunshine and fresh air!

NURSERY

Its time to celebrate…

This week has seen us celebrate for various reasons. Chinese New Year sees us celebrate the beginning of spring and the start of a new year. We were kindly provided with the most amazing resources to help the children understand and learn about this celebration. Children learn so much through their senses and having the opportunity to see and touch real objects will have lasting memories. We even had a visit from a Chinese Dragon who entertained us before we had our lunch.

Spring is definitely on the way. During our fresh air Friday adventure session, the children have been noticing the changes around the school environment. This week, the children were excited to see little shoots appearing in the soil and are looking forward to watching them grow. Next time they go out they will measure the shoots so they can monitor the growth each week. This enables the children to use their maths skills by looking at the numbers on the ruler, using their writing skills by marking down their numbers and becoming aware of the world around them by watching things change over a period of time.

It is also Valentine’s Day this weekend and the children have been making cards. They have been drawing their own heart shapes on the front and we have been asking the children why they love their parents. The answers are the cutest things ever and will show you that its the little things that make the difference. 

Carrying on with our book of the month Rainbow Fish we introduced an artist to the children Henri Matisse. He used goldfish in many of his paintings which during his trip to Morocco he noticed how the locals would daydream for hours gazing into goldfish bowls. For Matisse, the goldfish came to symbolize a tranquil state of mind and paradise. When the children paint, it allows them to express their thoughts, learn about patterns, design and decision making.

In the baby room, Dear Zoo is a big hit with the babies. They have enjoyed putting on the animal masks and trying to make the noises of the animals. The staff have created animal boxes so the children can pretend to feed the animals. They concentrate so hard trying to pick up the cereal and use the spoon to feed them. However, I do think it was one spoon for them and one spoon for the animals!

They have also used their creative skills by making a lovely heart to go home for Valentines Day. You are never too young to show how much you love someone. 

AWARD WINNERS

RECEPTION – This weeks certificates of achievement go to Alicia and Josephine.

Alicia has been trying so hard with all her activities and evens asks for more! She was very imaginative in her language work this week and created a new ending for the story of ‘The Gingerbread Man’.

Josephine has thoroughly enjoyed all the investigational and practical activities. This week, she has planned and made a fantastic junk model robot and could recognise all the different 3D shapes she had used.

YEAR 1 – Well done to this week’s certificate winners Abrianna for fantastic story writing, and Emma for excellent research about bears.

YEAR 2 – Ben W for always adding humour to our Zoom sessions! Alfie S for putting an amazing amount of effort into his model of St Paul’s Cathedral.

YEAR 3 – In Year 3 this week’s certificates go to Alfie and Sam, who have both made huge progress over this half term, in terms of their independence and motivation towards their learning. 

YEAR 4 – Molly for being Principled – always doing the right thing in her work and as a role model for others,a nd Dawood for excellent effort and enthusiasm in maths.

YEAR 5 – Maya and Alicia for always smiling, working incredibly hard and producing super work. 

YEAR 6 – Ruby (6S) Outstanding Commitment and Dedication on Every Task. Ranveer (6S) Outstanding Contribution in Class Discussion. Sinmiloluwa (6R) Outstanding Ability in all Learning Activities. Roxanne (6R) Excellent Commitment and Enthusiasm in all tasks.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICTURES FROM THIS WEEK