Welcome to Jackdaws Class!

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

In English today, the children began to explore our new class text ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.  At first, we revealed and examined the front cover of the text and ordered the key parts of the story plot.  Some children then took the role of Mr Wonka.  They introduced themselves to the class and explained the ‘Golden Ticket Competition’!  The children then had to justify to Mr Wonka why they wanted to find a golden ticket and what they were looking forward to most during their visit.  All of the class then took part in a ‘Hunt for the Golden Ticket’ where they each had to find a ticket for themselves.  Finally, during roleplay, the children told their partner how they had found the golden ticket, how they had felt during their search and what they were looking forward to during their visit.

We had a fantastic lesson and have now begun to read the story!

Our Trip to the British Museum:

Year 4 had an amazing trip to the British Museum this week. They were very patient on the long journey and it was definetely worth it, as we got to see some of the amazing Ancient Egyptian artifacts at the museum. We got to see some of the things we have learnt about in class: such as farming equipment used during Shemu season; spells from the Book of the Dead (which would have protected someone in the journey to the afterlife) and even a mummified body! It was great to see real hieroglyphics and how historians uses the Rosetta Stone to first learn how to translate these symbols into a language. When we were back in school, we even had the chance to write our own messages in hieroglyphs.

Well done year 4 for your amazing work throughout the trip!

World Book Day!

Jackdaws Class had a fabulous day celebrating their love of books on World Book Day!  The children came to school dressed as their favourite book characters (wearing some fantastic creations) and took part in a variety of events.  These included: The Big Footy Quiz, Reading Buddies with reception children, making their own book marks and creating their own comics or an alternative book cover for their favourite book. We also read, a lot.

International Day!

As part of international day, children in year 3 and 4 have been learning about the country Taiwan. Throughout the day children have been immersed in the language, food, landscape and culture of Taiwan. They have learnt a traditional tale ‘The Salty Sea’, explored the country on a map and studied its landscape, learnt to write their name in Mandarin, created their own Taiwanese menu and sampled some traditional food, including bubble tea (boba tea) a popular drink from Taiwan.

On Wednesday 15th January, Children in Year 3 and 4 had an exciting opportunity to attend a dance festival at Bartholomew School hosted by Step 2 Dance Company, specialists in street dance, breakdance, and hip hop styles. The event was a celebration of movement and creativity, with the teachers showcasing their skills in these energetic and dynamic styles. The children had the chance to watch inspiring performances, learn new choreography, and participate in a large scale dance performance. It was a morning filled with energy, teamwork, and a sense of achievement as they embraced the joy of dance and developed a deeper appreciation for these urban dance forms.  

Art- Ancient Egyptian Scrolls:

In this lesson, we explored Ancient Egyptian artwork and identified the common patterns, colours and images that are found within them. We used this information to create our own version, applying this knowledge of pattern, colour and image we collected earlier. We had the chance to create a wash using paint and then use pastels (oil and chalk), charcoal and coloured pencils to create a design. It was challenging to apply some of the shading and drawing techniques to this new style, but after some exploration Year 4 were able to create some fantastic pieces.

Our visit to the Baptist Church

As part of our RE topic on Christianity, we visited the Baptist Church to find out more about religious symbols of Christmas and what they might mean to a Christian.  During our visit, we explored key symbols including the Star, manger, the three gifts from the Three Kings or Wise Men and Advent candles.  We also learnt about the Christingle and the importance of the Christingle service, for children, as a reminder that Jesus came to Earth as a child himself and offered hope to the world.

Science Detectives:

Year 4 had a fantastic time being circuit detectives during science this week. We had the opportunity to use equipment from Science Oxford to investigate faults in some electrical circuits.  The chidren used their prior knowledge of circuits and switches to investigate, identify and fix the faults within each circuit.

Viking Day!

Year 4 had a fantastic Viking Day this week and they all looked amazing (and somewhat fearsome) in their Viking outfits. We began our day learning about push and pull factors that caused the Vikings to leave their homeland and travel across the seas to Britain.  We explored the Viking invasion of Britain and how they attacked the holy monastery at Lindisfarne. Then, we got ourselves ready for a Viking invasion by planning and making Viking shields, equipped with ‘iron’ bosses to protect our hands during battle. Year 4 used accurate colours, patterns and even runes to decorate their shield and they look amazing!

Finally, it was time for the children to act out an invasion…we acted out scenes of the Vikings attacking the innocent monks and discussed how the monks might have felt and why they didn’t defend themselves. 

We had an amazing day!

Arthur and the Golden Rope:

During this lesson, we explored the front cover of our new class text ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’ and made thoughtful predictions using the clues we could see.  We then visited the Marsh, on a quest, where we found and investigated some mysterious items that could be connected to the text. Using our knowledge of the front cover, we discussed the relevance of each object. It was fantastic to go on a mini quest and try to uncover the meaning behind these strange objects.

Week 6

Mental Health Awareness Day

As part of Mental Health Awareness Day, the children were invited to come to school dressed in something yellow.  They took part in an assembly about the importance of mental health and how we can take care of ourselves.  The children then spent some time in class reflecting upon this, and they took part in some activities that allowed them to feel calm and thoughtful.  This included listening to our class story, completing a piece of artwork using oil pastels and a meditation and yoga activity which encouraged the children to focus upon their mind and body.

Year 4 Parent Meeting:

Week 4

Year 4 went on an overnight residential to Hill End! 

What an amazing adventure Year 4 have had!  After arriving at Hill End, the first day was spent either as an Anglo-Saxon or a Viking.  The Vikings were taught how to fight and defend, ready to challenge the Anglo-Saxons and take their villages.  The Anglo-Saxons explored their villages and discovered what daily life would have been like.  They took part in village jobs such as wheat grinding, foraging and tanning.  The Vikings later invaded the Anglo-Saxon village and took some of the villagers as prisoners.  In response, the Anglo-Saxons then had to offer sufficient silver for the prisoners to be released.  Sadly, the Vikings invaded a second time and took the village as their own.  The Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings spent some time developing skills such as axe throwing, archery and spear throwing to prepare for a final battle.  It was a fantastic battle, from which the Anglo-Saxons emerged victorious!

The second day was a team building day!  The children were challenged through games such as ‘Crossing the Swamp’, using Land Skis and ‘Rolling the Caterpillar.  They persevered, solved problems and ultimately had fun!   

The residential was an amazing success and the children were brave, showed care for each other and were fantastic representatives for our school and our school values.  

Well done Year 4!

Week 2:

In our first science lesson we were introduced to our new topic...SOUND! We learnt that sounds are vibrations that travel through a medium (air, water), but to prove this, we used a range of interesting equipment. The tuning fork in the water helped us both see and feel the vibrations of the sound. A particular favourite of the class was hitting the drum and watching the rice dance about. It was VERY loud and quite messy, but it was great to see and feel the vibrations alongside hearing them.

Week 1:

During class yesterday, we were sent to investigate an event that had occurred in the marsh. As we arrived, we noticed the surrounding setting and took note of different sights and sounds we saw. After exploring further, a discovery was made! Giant clawed footprints, fangs and a variety of huge eggs were found. What has been going on in the marsh over the summer? We discussed our findings as a class, and we think that some dragons have been nesting there for the last six weeks! Hmmm maybe we shouldn’t have brought the eggs back to class…some unhappy dragons may come looking for them.